1. Alchemy – a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or combination.
Synonyms: magic, sympathy, attraction, rapport
Antonyms: animosity, antipathy, disaffection, antagonism
Usage: Finding the person who’s right for you requires a very subtle alchemy.
2. Embody – to stand as a symbol for something
Synonyms: incorporate, personify, embrace, integrate, exemplify, manifest
Antonyms: exclude, scatter, afford, alienate, misunderstand
Usage: The national flag is supposed to embody the spirit of our country.
3. Fissure – a narrow opening or crack
Synonyms: crevice, breach, chink, cranny, split, rupture
Antonyms: barricade, fixation, ameliorate, hangout, emend
Usage: A fissure in the glass of the fish tank caused a slow leak.
4. Folklore – native sayings, stories, beliefs, and customs
Synonyms: tradition, mythology, wisdom, culture, superstition
Antonyms: variation, invention, truth, alteration, conception
Usage: Tribal folklore dictates a female must wed no later than her sixteenth birthday.
5. Dialectic – the practice of reasoning that arrives at a truth by the exchange of logical arguments
Synonyms: controversial, disputation, persuasion, analytic, argumentative
Antonyms: illogical, absurd, insanity, ineptitude
Usage: A brainstorming session was in full effect as members used dialectic tactics to problem-solve.
6. Vernacular – everyday language; the way people really talk with each other
Synonyms: dialect, jargon, idiom, informal, argot, lingo
Antonyms: literary, standard, aerial, preferential, lofty
Usage: The vernacular of today’s young people is very confusing for some of the older generation.
7. Ectomorph – a lean body type that generally lacks both fat and muscle
Synonyms: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, introvert
Antonyms: receptor
Usage: In general, people with an ectomorph body type are lightly muscled and tall.
8. Heyday – the period of a person’s or thing’s greatest success, popularity, activity, or vigour.
Synonyms: prime, peak, bloom, acme, pinnacle, blossom, culmination
Antonyms: low point, bottom, nadir
Usage: The paper has lost millions of readers since its heyday in 1964.
9. Hubris – an excess of confidence; having too much pride and personal worth
Synonyms: arrogance, insolence, conceit, disdain, loftiness, vanity
Antonyms: modesty, respect, timidity, humbleness
Usage: Since she won the beauty pageant, she has allowed her hubris to turn into arrogance.
10. Dizzy – having or involving a sensation of spinning around and losing one’s balance.
Synonyms: faint, woozy, flighty, frivolous, unstable, weak, shaky
Antonyms: clear-headed, sensible
Usage: She felt dizzy from breathing off the top of her lungs.