VOCABULARY UNIT 9

AUXILIARY

• adj. giving assisstance or support; n. a helper, aid
• syn: adj. additional (n. reserve
• ant: adj. main
• When my phone broke, I had to use my auxiliary phone.

CANDID

• adj. frank, sincere; impartial; unposed
• syn: forthright, unbiased
• ant: misleading
• My friends are candid when it comes to talking bad about each other.

CUBICLE

• n. a small room or compartment
• syn: hole-in-the-wall
• ant: auditorium
• When people get a new job they usually get a cubicle or a small room.

DRUDGERY

• n. work that is hard and tiresome
• syn: toil, labor, grind
• ant: fun, amusement
• Most landscapers have long drudgery and don't get paid a ton.

Envoy

• n. a representative or messenger (as of gov.)
• syn: ambassador, minister
• Sometimes my uncle acts as an envoy to the President of the United States.

Escalate

• v. to elevate; to increase in intensity
• syn: raise
• ant: decrease
• After Mike Brown got shot, riot escalated to where people burned the American flag,

Expedient

• n. a means to end; adj. useful
• syn: n. device; adj.) serviceable
• ant: inconvenient
• As an expedient, I used a piece of wood as a ramp.

Feign

• v. to pretend
• syn: fake
• I used to feign headaches so I could nap in the nurse's office.

Flair

• n; a natural quality, talent, or skill; distinctive style
• syn: bent, gift
• ant: incapacity
• Some people have told me I have a flair for running but I don't enjoy it that much.

Grievous

• adj. causing sorrow or pain; serious
• syn: painful
• ant: joyful
• When my dog died I had a grievous attitude.

Heterogeneous

• adj. composed of different kinds, diverse
• syn: mixed
• ant: uniform, of a piece
• I know people who are heterogeneous in different languages.

Horde

• n; a vast number (as of people), a throng
• syn: crowd
• ant: few
• On Black Friday, a horde of people are waiting outside of stores.

Impel

• v. to force, drive forward
• syn: urge, push
• ant: restrain, curb
• The natives impelled the new goers to leave their land.

Incredulous

• adj. disbelieving, skeptical
• syn: mistrustful
• ant: believing
• When I see news on Twitter I have incredulous beliefs on whether it's true or not.

Inscribe

• v. to write or engrave; to enter a name on a list
• syn: enroll
• ant: erase
• I inscribed my name into a tree in Ellicottville.

Monologue

• n. a speech by one actor; a long talk by one person
• syn: soliloquy
• ant: conversation
• In Julius Caesar, Brutus has a monologue in one of the early scenes.

Prognosis

• n. a forecast of the probable course and outcome of a disease or situation
• syn: projection
• When my mom had cancer, the doctor gave her a prognosis that he would be able to remove it.

Rasping

• adj. with a harsh, grating sound; n.) harsh sound
• syn: adj.) scraping
• ant: adj.) smooth
• When I had bronchitis, I had a rasping cough that was nasty sounding.

Repugnant

• adj. offensive, disagreeable
• syn: hateful, odious
• ant: pleasing, attractive
• When skunks are scared they let out a repugnant smell.

Scuttle

• V. to sink a ship by cutting holes in it; to get rid of something in a decisive way; to run hastily, scurry; n.) a pail
• syn: v. abandon
• ant: v. rescue
• In movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean, they scuttle the British then go underwater as a skeleton.