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Accessible (adj)

Easy to reach or to approach

The introduction to the complex novel was, thankfully, written in clear accessible language.

Synonyms: approachable, attainable

Accommodate (verb)

To give consideration to

The hospitable couple was happy to accommodate the needs of their finicky guest.

Synonyms: oblige, abet

Advantageous (adj)

Giving an advantage

The house's location in the best school district was advantageous to the seller.

Synonyms: favorable, beneficial

Adversary (noun)

One who opposes or resists

Franklin hoped to defeat his adversary in the afternoon's tennis match.

Synonyms: opponent, enemy

Absolve (verb) To forgive; to free from guilt

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Marta felt greatly relieved after her mother absolved her for breaking the vase.

Synonyms: exculpate, pardon

Accentuate (verb)

To emphasize

Carla used red ribbons to accentuate the coppery tones in her hair.

Synonyms: highlight, stress

Aerate (verb)

To supply with air

Every spring, Soloman used his tiller to aerate the compact soil.

Synonyms: oxygenate, carbonate

Aesthete (noun)

Person having or affecting sensitivity to beauty

Consuela's friends called her an aesthete when she claimed that Monet's paintings made her cry.

Synonyms: connoisseur, epicure

Anthology (noun) A collection of selected literary pieces

The writer was thrilled when his story was included in an anthology of American masterpieces.

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Synonym: collection, compilation

Antidote (noun)

Something that relieves or counteracts

Veronique found that listening to French music was an antidote for her homesickness.

Synonyms: cure, remedy

Apathetic (adj)

Showing little or no emotion

Carmine was concerned about his usually cheerful brother's apathetic attitude.

Synonyms: impassive, indifferent.

Appalling (adj)

Inspiring dismay or disgust

Hector found his roommate's habit of leaving his dirty socks on the floor appalling.

Synonyms: dreadful, awful

Appraise (verb)

To evaluate the worth of

Simone, an expert in African sculpture, was asked to appraise the ambassador's collection of masks.

Synonyms: assess, review

Archaic (adj) Characteristic of an earlier time

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In the world of high fashion, two-year-old shoes are considered positively archaic.

Synonyms: antiquated, ancient

Archetypal (adj)

Characteristic of the original model or perfect example

Shakespeare's sonnets are considered archetypal love poems

Synonyms: classic, consummate

Augment (verb)

To make greater

Wanda read the dictionary every night to augment her vocabulary.

Synonyms: enhance, amplify

Authoritarian (adj)

Favoring absolute obedience to authority

Marco's authoritarian mother never allowed him to watch more than one hour of television a day.

Synonyms: strict, despotic

Avian (adj) Relating to birds

The old man affectionately referred to pigeons as his "avian friends."

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Synonyms: bird-like

Awe (noun)

Emotion combining dread and wonder

Charlie was in awe of his uncle, a professional football player and chess champion.

Synonyms: veneration, amazement

Belated (adj)

Past the normal or proper time

Even though I forgot his birthday, I hoe my father accepts my belated card.

Synonyms: tardy, overdue

Benefactor (noun)

One who offers financial help

Michael's aunt and benefactor paid his college tuition.

Synonym: patron

Beneficial (adj)

Helpful

there is no doub that eating vegetables is beneficial to one's health.

Synonyms: advantageous, salutary

Benevolent (adj) Kind, helpful

Sherman revealed his benevolent side when he offered to help Carter with his

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homework.

Synonyms: altruistic, generous

Brandish (verb)

To shake or wave menacingly

The baseball player was fined for brandishing his bat at the opposing pitcher.

Synonyms: flourish, swing

Buffer (noun)

Protective barrier

The dense trees acted as a buffer against the heavy rain.

Synonyms: cushion, mediator

Buffoonery (noun)

Foolish behavior

Clarence, an irrepressible comic, was held after cass for his buffoonery.

Synonyms: jocularity, clowning

Camaraderie (noun)

Spirit of friendship

The manager hoped the retreat would increase the camaraderie among the feuding workers.

Synonyms: sociability, espirit de corps

Catastrophic (adj) Relating to extreme misfortune

The effects of the massive hurricane were catastrophic.

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Synonyms: devastating, disastrous

Celebrated (adj)

Widely known, respected

The fans waited for hours to catch a glimpse of the celebrated actress.

Synonyms: admired, famous

Censure (verb)

To find fault with

The critical teacher was quick to censure her students for even small mistakes.

Synonyms: blame, criticize

Civility (noun)

Politeness

The usually unruly Thomas acted with great civility when his favorite uncle visited.

Synonyms: courtesy, consideration

Clairvoyance (noun)

Ability to see things beyond ordinary perception

Rosa used her clairvoyance to help Alexander find his lost keys.

Synonyms: divination, foretelling

Clairty (noun) Clearness

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The refreshing water in the mountain stream was remarkable for its clarity.

Synonyms: lucidity, limpidity

Colossal (adj)

Immense, enormous

After pushing with all his might, Frank realized he could never move the colossal boulder.

Synonyms: gigantic, tremendous

Combative (adj)

Eager to fight

The teacher suggested the combative student channel his aggression into boxing.

Synonyms: aggressive belligerent

Combustion (noun)

Act of burning

Campers must use fire with great caution to prevent combustion of the parched brush.

Synonyms: igniting, kindling

Commemorate (verb) To mark by a ceremony

Each year, the Franklins commemorate their anniversary by visiting the site of their first date.

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Synonyms: observe, remember

Comparable (adj)

Similar, equivalent

Helen will only accept something of comparable value for her ticket to the concert.

Synonyms: akin, analogous

Composed (adj)

Calm

Although her stomach was in knots, the actress appeared perfectly composed when she took the stage.

Synonyms: serene, unperturbed

Comprehensible (adj)

Understandable

Shannon spoke slowly so her directions would be comprehensible to her foreign visitor.

Synonyms: intelligle, coherent

Compulsion (noun)

An irresistible impulse

Tamar, a shoe fanatic, could not resist the compulsion to buy the shiny red boots.

Synonyms: urge, obligation

Condone (verb) To treat as acceptable

Crystal condoned her friend's

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late arrival because she found it hard to be on time herself.

Synonyms: excuse, sanction

Conduit (noun)

Means for transmitting or distributing

Jason, a notorious gossip, was a conduit for information about his friends.

Synonyms: channel, pipeline

Corrective (adj)

Intended to correct

The school decided to take corrective measures to prevent truancy.

Synonyms: remedial, curative

Corroborate (verb)

To support with evidence

"Unless you can corroborate your story, it will not be admissible in court," the attorney told his client.

Synonyms: verify, prove

Corrosive (adj)

Bitingly sarcastic

The cruel Estella's corrosive comments made Pip cry.

Synonyms: caustic, sardonic

Cunning (adj) Showing clever insight

The general devised a cunning

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strategy to outfox the enemy.

Synonyms: crafty, ingenious

Curtail (verb)

To make less

Doreen decided to curtail her spending after she bounced a check.

Synonyms: shorten, reduce

Deferment (noun)

The act of delaying

Sybil was frustrated by the deferment of her much anticipated vacation.

Synonyms: postponement, reprieve

Defiant (adj)

Showing bold resistance

The defiant toddler refused to leave the park.

Synonyms: impudent, disobedient

Demean (verb)

To lower status

The embarrassing photograph demeaned the candidate in the eyes of the voters.

Synonyms: humble, degrade

Demeanor (noun) Behavior towards others

Carlos was well liked because of his charming demeanor.

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Synonyms: disposition, comportment

Derelict (adj)

Abandoned

The derelict house was condemned as a public hazard.

Synonyms: destitute, forsaken

Derivative (adj)

Lacking originality

Critics panned the movie as a derivative version of last year's Best Picture.

Synonyms: banal, cliche

Diffident (adj)

Lacking self-confidence

The diffident student never raised her hand in class, even when she knew the answer.

Synonyms: timid, bashful

discern (verb)

To recognize as separate as distinct

The pastry connoisseur was able to discern Swiss from Belgian chocolate.

Synonyms: detect, discriminate

Disconcert (verb) To throw into confusion

Jennifer's outspoken criticism of the meal disoncerted the

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waiter.

Synonyms: unnerve, bewilder

Disdain (noun)

Feeling of contempt

The arrogant writer did not hide his disdain for his uneducated dinner companion.

Synonyms: scorn, discersion

Distortion (noun)

The act of twisting out of shape

The story about the actress in the gossip column was a distortion of the truth.

Synonyms: contortion, mutilation

Drab (adj)

Dull, monotonous

The drab winter scene made Keisha long for the vibrant colors of spring.

Synonyms: dreary, colorless

Drub (verb)

To defeat decisively

The powerful young boxer drubbed the longtime champion.

Synonyms: beat, thrash

Dubious (adj) Questionable

Karl found Kevin's claim that he was sick dubious, as he had

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just seen him playing football.

Synonyms: suspect, doubtful

Duplicity (noun)

Deceptive thought, speech, or action

The life of an undercover detective is filed with necessary duplicity.

Synonyms: deceit, dishonesty

Ecstatic (adj)

Overwhelmingly emotional

They were ecstatic when their team won the championship game in the last second.

Synonyms: overjoyed, rapturous

Egotist (noun)

Self-important person

Darren dreaded carpooling with the egotist Shelly, who talked about herself nonstop.

Synonyms: blowhard, braggart

Elate (verb)

To fill with joy

It elated Margaret to be awarded first place in the science fair.

Synonyms: delight, thrill

Eloquent (adj) Fluent, expressive

Kim, an eloquent speaker, was

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the best choice to make the presentation for the group.

Synonyms: articulate, persuasive

Elusive (adj)

Hard to grasp

The words to the song are elusive, as the singer tends to mumble.

Synonyms: evasive, obscure

Embellish (verb)

To decorate

Sari embellished the plain curtains with satin ribbons and tassels.

Synonyms: adorn, garnish

Entangle (verb)

To involve in trouble

Jonah regretted entangling Parker in his legal difficulties.

Synonyms: embroil, implicate

Epistolary (adj)

Contained or carried on in letters

The shoebox filled with letters was the ony remains of Ming's epistolary friendship with Emile.

Epitaph (noun) Brief statement honoring a dead person

"Beloved by all," was the

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epitaph Edgar chose for his wife's tombstone.

Synonyms: inscription, eulogy

Equitable (adj)

Fair and equal

The judge made an equitable decision dividing the estate evenly among the sisters.

Synonyms: impartial, unbiased

Ethical (adj)

Conforming to accepted standards

Mary did the ethical thing and turned in the diamond necklace she found.

Synonyms: honorable, moral

Eulogy (noun)

Speech or writing in praise of deceased

Ernesto delivered a moving eulogy at his uncle's funeral.

Synonyms: homage, panegyric

Euphoria (noun)

Feeling of great happiness

Cassandra was overcome with euphoria when she met her long-lost sister.

Synonyms: elation, ebullience

Exalt (verb) To elevate by praise

The fireman was publicly

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exalted for his heroism.

Synonyms: glorify, honor

Exasperation (noun)

The state of being irritated

The longer Jorge waited in line at the ticket counter, the more his exasperation grew.

Synonyms: irritation, frustration

Exception (noun)

A case to which the rule does not apply

The teacher made an exception and let Gina eat her snack in class.

Synonyms: anomaly, deviation

Extant (adj)

Currently existing

Some consider Clint Eastwood the greatest extant American director.

Synonyms: living, surviving

Extenuating (adj)

Partially excusing

The extenuating circumstance of Calviin's illness caused the teacher to excuse his lateness.

Synonyms: mitigating, qualifying

Extol (verb) To praise highly

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The statesman extolled the ambassador who single-handedly negotiated the peace treaty.

Synonyms: glorify, exalt

Facade (noun)

false or superficial appearance

Emily's smile is just a facade masking her broken heart.

Synonyms: mask, deceit

Fidelity (noun)

State of being faithful

Unlike her fickle friend Benji, May Belle was known for her fidelity.

Synonyms: loyalty, devotion

Finite (adj)

Having definite limits

The exasperated mother had finite patience for her toddler's tantrums.

Synonyms: limited, circumscribed

Flagrant (adj)

Noticeably offensive

The executive was fired for his flagrant abuse of the company expense account.

Synonyms: glaring, outrageous

Flaunt (verb) To display showily

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Sheila, who could not resist bragging, flaunted the "A" marked on her test paper.

Synonyms: parade, brandish

Flaw (noun)

An imperfection

The otherwise perfect diamond had a tiny flaw that reduced its value.

Synonyms: defect, blemish

Flourish (verb)

To make bold, sweeping gestures

The fairy godmother flourished her wand and turned the pumpkin into a carriage.

Synonyms: brandish, wave

Foil (noun)

One that enhances or underscores by contrast

The sweet cookie was a perfect foil to the sour lemon sorbet.

Synonyms: complement

Fragile (adj)

Delicate

Jade placed the fragile vase out of reach of her rambunctious boys.

Synonyms: frail, brittle

Fraud (noun) Trick

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The con man's fraud involved selling swampland to gullible investors.

Synonyms: deceit, racket

Frugal (adj)

Thrifty, cheap

The frugal shopper only bought items that were on sale.

Synonyms: sparing, provident

Futile (adj)

Without purpose, completely ineffective

Arguing with Andrew is futile because he never changes his mind.

Synonyms: hopeless, vain

Gargantuan (adj)

Gigantic

The gargantuan monster towered over the ten-story bulding.

Synonyms: enormous, colossal

Garish (adj)

Offensively bright

The garish wallpaper offended Jerome, who preferred subtle colors.

Synonyms: gaudy, loud

Genial (adj) Sympathetic, friendly

The genial host warmly

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greeted his many guests.

Synonyms: pleasant, cordial

Grandiose (adj)

With an affectation of grandeur

The sweeping, grandiose staircase looked preposterous in the modest entry hall.

Synonyms: pretentious, pompous

Gravity (noun)

Importance, significance

Understanding the gravity of his error, Ken offered his humblest apology.

Synonyms: seriousness, magnitude

Gruff (adj)

Rough or stern in manner or speech

Heidi's grandfather was gruff, barking stern orders and hardly smiling.

Synonyms: surly, brusque

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