1. Cohort – a group of people with a shared characteristic.
Synonyms: companion, comrade, disciple, follower, accomplice, adherent
Antonyms: enemy, foe, opponent, adversary
Usage: 104-million-strong cohort continues to expand at an accelerating pace.
2. Sporadic – occurring at irregular intervals or only in a few places; scattered or isolated.
Synonyms: desultory, fitful, infrequent, intermittent, irregular, isolated
Antonyms: common, constant, frequent, systematic
Usage: Since my father left my mother and me twenty years ago, he has made sporadic appearances in my life.
3. Emblematic – serving as a symbol of a particular quality or concept; symbolic.
Synonyms: representative, demonstrative, suggestive, symptomatic, indicative
Antonyms: actual, literal, nonsymbolic
Usage: Waving to someone is an emblematic way to say goodbye.
4. Sluggish – slow-moving or inactive.
Synonyms: heavy, inactive, lethargic, listless, slack, stagnant
Antonyms: active, alert, energetic, lively
Usage: The game is similar to previous one, though it is sometimes sluggish due to hardware restrictions.
5. Skulduggery – underhand, unscrupulous, or dishonest behaviour or activities.
Synonyms: sharp practice, underhandedness, chicanery
Antonyms: artlessness, forthrightness, guilelessness, ingenuousness
Usage: The people will not believe him, they will always suspect skullduggery.
6. Attune – make receptive or aware.
Synonyms: accommodate, accustom, adapt, conform, acclimatize
Antonyms: disarrange, disagree, refuse
Usage: He must have been attuned to the signs.
7. Lucrative – producing a great deal of profit.
Synonyms: advantageous, gainful, remunerative, bankable
Antonyms: poorly paid, unprofitable
Usage: While my mother’s bakery has not been profitable this year, it was quite lucrative last year.
8. Incarcerate – the state of being confined in prison; imprisonment.
Synonyms: captivity, confinement, restraint
Antonyms: freedom
Usage: The police are going to incarcerate the teen who keeps committing acts of violence.
9. Avarice – extreme greed for wealth or material gain.
Synonyms: avidity, covetousness, cupidity, frugality, greediness
Antonyms: generosity, philanthropy
Usage: Motivated by avarice, the employee stole thousands of dollars from the company vault.
10. Arraign – call or bring (someone) before a court to answer a criminal charge.
- Synonyms: incriminate, indict, summon, criminate, inculpate, prosecute
- Antonyms: exculpate, exonerate, discharge
- Usage: His lawyer was not present when the suspect was set to arraign.