penitent | feeling or expressing remorse for misdeedssynonym: remorseful, shamedantonym: unrepentant_____ means deeply sorry, ashamed, and full or remorse. If you feel sorry– or just want to appear sorry– you should adopt a _____ manner. |
ruminate | reflect deeply on a subjectsynonym: mull over, ponder, meditate, brainstormantonym: ignore, neglectWhen you _____, it means you are thinking very deeply about something. You’re likely to be so lost in thought that you stare off into space and don’t hear people when they call your name. |
shrewd | marked by practical hardheaded intelligencesynonym: smart, astute, keen, sharp, slyantonym: blunt, ignorant, inept, slow, obtuseIf you are _____ in your spending, you can make a small salary go a long way. Use the adjective ___ to describe a person or thing that is smart or clever in a practical sort of way. |
bolster | support and strengthensynonym: help, aid, maintain, sustainantonym: block, halt, discourage, stopWhen you cheer up a friend who’s feeling down, you ____ them. To ____ is to offer support or strengthen. |
filch | make off with belongings of otherssynonym: swipe, snatch, embezzle, stealantonym: give, offeerYou can _____ money, time, and stuff, but I wouldn’t recommend it. _____ing is stealing, as in “You _____ed my cookies!” |
loathe | find repugnantsynonym: abhor, despise, hateantonym: love, admire, cherishIf you ____ someone or something, you hate them very much. You might not choose to eat raw carrots if you dislike them, but if you ____ them, you might have a hard time even having them on your plate. |
sequester | keep away from otherssynonym: close off, isolate, secludeantonym: reveal, come togtherThe word ____ describes being kept away from others. If your sister tells you to stay out of the way so she can cook dinner for her new boyfriend, you might _____ sequester yourself in your room. |
castigation | verbal punishmentsynonym: punishment, penaltyantonym: reward, honorIf your coach yells at your team for sloppy play, her post-game speech might be called a ____. A ____ is a harsh verbal reprimand. |
suffice | be adequate, either in quality or quantitysynonym: satisfy, enoughantonym: displease, missTo ____ is to be enough, in either quality or quantity. It may not be gourmet all the time, but if your food is healthy, it will ______. |
venial | warranting only temporal punishmentsynonym: minor, pardonableantonym: not pardonableSome crimes are unforgivable. Others are ____ — _____ crimes and sins are excusable. They’re not a big deal. |
vice | a specific form of evildoingsynonym: frailty, bad habitantonym: good, right, modestA ____ is a moral falling or bad habit. Traditional examples of ____ cheating and gambling. |
slander | words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of anothersynonym: misrepresentation, smear, defamationantonym: approval, compliment, praise_____ is the act of making a false, negative statement about someone. A ruthless and unscrupulous politician might ____ his opponent. |
bawdy | humorously vulgarsynonym: dirty, off-color, obscene, lewdantonym: moral, decent, clean_____ describes humor that if off-color. A ____ joke might be about going to the bathroom, or about some other naughty, vulgar topic. |
denote | have as a meaningsynonym: stand for, designateantonym: conceal, deny, refuseTo _____ is to draw attention to something or to show what it means. All of the googly-eyed looks that a girl gives to a boy might do more to ______ her feelings for him than leaving a note in his locker. |
forsake | leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurchsynonym: desert, quit, relinquishantonym: allow, approve, continueTo _____ another person is to leave them entirely, usually in a moment of need. |
restitution | the act of restoring something to its original statesynonym: regaining, indemnity, payment, refundantonym: fee, penalty____ is the act of making up for damages or harm. Remember the time you knocked the ball out of the park, scoring a home run but breaking a house’s window in the process? You had to make ____ for the broken window, paying for its replacement. |
maim | injure or wound seriously and leave permanent disfigurationsynonym: mangle, injure, disfigure, harmantonym: aid, fix, cure, heal, improveTo ____ something to disfigure it through force or violence. Wartime battles have a tendency to ____ soldiers. |
pernicious | exceedingly harmfulsynonym: deadly, dangerous, toxicantonym: good, harmless, healthy____ means harmful and subtle, such as a poison gas that causes cancer in those exposed to it over the course of years. |
amorous | inclined toward or displaying lovesynonym: loving, affectionateantonym: hateful, unfriendlyIf you are shot with a mythological arrow by Cupid, the Greek god of love, you may find yourself making _____ advances on the next person you meet. _____ means having strong feelings of love. |
perplex | be a mystery or bewildering tosynonym: amaze, mystified, confuse, baffleantonym: assist, clarify, explainto _____ someone is to amaze, baffle, bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, mystify, or puzzle them. _____ things are hard to understand. |
Othello Vocabulary #2
August 9, 2019