1. Precipitous – dangerously high or steep.
Synonyms: abrupt, craggy, dizzying, sharp, arduous
Antonyms: calm, flat, kind, nice
Usage: You should think before you do precipitous stunts that endanger your life.
2. Abase – to reduce or lower, as in rank, office, reputation, or estimation; humble; degrade.
Synonyms: belittle, debase, degrade, demean, diminish, disgrace, dishonor
Antonyms: compliment, elevate, enhance, esteem, expand
Usage: I watched my colleagues abasing themselves before the board of trustees.
3. Espionage – the practice of spying or of using spies, typically by governments to obtain political and military information.
Synonyms: intelligence, reconnaissance, shadowing, tailing
Usage: Espionage is a secret way of finding out what your enemy doesn’t want you to know.
4. Absurdity – a state of flustered excitement or fear.
Synonyms: craziness, farce, folly, foolishness, insanity, silliness, stupidity
Antonyms: intelligence, judgment, seriousness, wisdom
Usage: To believe that the earth is flat is an absurdity.
5. Convulse – to shake violently; agitate.
Synonyms: shake up, torment, agitate, bother, disturb
Antonyms: calm, order, quiet, soothe
Usage: He convulsed hard five times.
6. Ticklish – difficult or tricky and requiring careful handling.
Synonyms: awkward, delicate, precarious, thorny, touchy, volatile
Antonyms: firm, stable, strong
Usage: Car makers are facing the ticklish problem of how to project products at new buyers.
7. Contrite – feeling or expressing remorse at the recognition that one has done wrong.
Synonyms: apologetic, humble, remorseful, repentant, attritional
Antonyms: hurtful, indifferent, mean, unrepentant
Usage: Show how contrite you are by writing an apology letter.
8. Abstruse – difficult to understand; obscure.
Synonyms: : esoteric, perplexing, enigmatic, complex, complicated
Antonyms: clear, concrete, lucid, obvious
Usage: Most of the medical research on the subject seems abstruse to the average man.
9. Hurl – throw or impel (someone or something) with great force.
Synonyms: fire, fling, heave, lob, sling, chuck
Antonyms: hold, keep, receive
Usage: Angered at this, his father hurled him into the sea.
10. Gambit – an act or remark that is calculated to gain an advantage, especially at the outset of a situation.
Synonyms: artifice, design, device, gimmick, jig, maneuver
Antonyms: frankness, honesty
Usage: Once again my brother got a free lunch by performing her gambit of leaving her purse at home.