TANGENTIAL

peripheral

only slightly connected

digressing

of superficial relevance if any
SYN - digressive
"a tangential remark"

of or relating to or acting along or in the direction of a tangent
ANT - relevant
"tangential forces"

"He knew that these sort of issues were merely tangential to the office of the presidency and it killed him to see the country vote based on them."

"She really had only a tangential influence on his life."

"The place were he lived was only of tangential interest to finding out about who he was."

TENDENTIOUS

biased

showing marked tendencies

having or marked by a strong tendency especially a controversial one
SYN - tendencies
"distinguishing between verifiable fact and tendentious assertion."

"He really couldn't trust this tendentious report and so he went to do some research of his own."

"How could he respect someone's opinion who was always shamelessly making such tendentious remarks."

"Whereas he was always careful not to come off as tendentious, she didn't seem to mind."

TENDER

to proffer or offer

a formal proposal to buy at a specified price
SYN - bid

offer or present for acceptance

"He had really wanted to tender the paper to his professor, but first wanted to make a few changes."

"He had tendered to by the house and was waiting to her back from the owners."

"They had only had one tender so far so they decided to leave the add in for a few more weeks."

"When he explained to me that the company was going to merge with ford I tendered my resignation."

TENUOUS

having little substance or strength

flimsy

weak

having a consistency
"a tenuous fluid"

very thin in gauge or diameter
"a tenuous thread"

lacking substance or significance
SYN - flimsy, fragile, slight, thin
"a tenuous argument"

"She was rather tenuous and he knew he could do better than that - find someone at his level willing to challenge him."

"It was a rather tenuous paper and he knew he had to do something to meat it up."

"All that was holding the shirt together was this tenuous string."

TERSE

breif and concise in wording

breif and to the point
SYN - crisp, curt, laconic
"short and terse and easy to understand."

"She had made a point to be terse with him so that she wouldn't have to go into the whiny details of their relationship."

"Thankfully this year she had made a point to be terse in her address to the student body."

"He never was a fan for such cold terse conversations."

TIMOROUS

timid fearful, diffident
SYN - fearful, trepid
"In a timorous tone."

"She could tell he was acting timorous around her and he really didn't know why."

"He had hated how timorous he was in these situations - he had to attack them with a powerful sense of courage."

"She wasn't attracted to a timorous deadbeat like him, she wanted a brave warrior who could thrill her."

TIRADE

a long and extremely critical speech

a harsh denunciation

a speech of violent denunciation
SYN - broadside, phillipic

"He wondered who this tirade was for - he knew he was supposed to be the recipient but he wasn't paying any attention so he assumed it was for their own good a release of their anger."

"She had endured the tirade by her boyfriend and then left the room with her head high in the air never speaking to him again - the boy was crushed and confused - what he was hoping she was gong to be after the speech."

"At first he thought what he must have done to deserve this tirade, but than after that he just looked at it with amusement because nothing they said to him could effect him unless he wanted it to and so their attempt to change something by yelling changed nothing."

TORPID

lethargic

sluggish

dormant

slow and apathetic
SYN - inert, sluggish, soggy
"a mind grown torpid in old age"

in a condition of biological rest or suspended animation
SYN - dormant, hibernating
"torpid frogs"

"he was left in a torpid state and would only be revitalized when she came back to him later."

"she had laughed at the torpid movements of her students on their way to the groups- they didnt realize how good they had it."

"If there was one thing he couldn't stand is all the people who went about their daily life's in such a torpid manner - if they weren't going to do it the best they could or if they didnt care, they shouldnt do it at all - and if life is that hard they should just kill themselves we've got an over-population problem as is."

TORTUOUS

winding, twisting

excessively complicated

highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious
SYN - byzantine, convoluted, involved, knotty, tangled
"tortuous negotiations lasting for months"

marked by repeated turns and bends
SYN - twisting, voluminous, winding
ANT - simple

Not straight forward

"how was he able to sift through this tortuous document in front of him, he needed to learn to be clearer and more verbose."

"the road to get there was so tortuous that he was forced to pay attention."

"It was almost as if he worked on making his plan this tortuous so that no-one would understand it enough to refute it."

TRACTABLE

docile, easily managed

/easily managed (controlled or taught or molded)
SYN - manipulable
"The natives....being...of an intelligent tractable disposition"

readily reacting to suggestions and influences
SYN - amenable
ANT - balking, refractory, uncontrollable, unmalleable

"He new how important it was for him to have some sort of grounding which would allow him to be decisive about his life, but at the same time make sure that his mind was always tractable."

"she suffered from closing up and no longer being tractable - it was what gave her strength and kept her down."

"The material was tractable enough that he was able to make really cool shapes out of it."

TRANSIENT

fleeting

passing quickily

brief

one who stays for only a short time
"transient laborers"

lasting a very short time
SYN - ephemeral, fugacious, passing, short-lived, transitory
"Youth's transient beauty."

"He had a hard time dealing with the transient nature of his passions."

"His whole life was rather transient when seen in the big picture."

"He had only a transient encounter with her, but it had a lasting influence over his life."

TRENCHANT

sharply perceptive

keen

penetrating
SYN - clear cut or distinct

having keenness and forcefulness and penetration in thought, expression, or intellect
SYN - searching
"trenchant criticism"

characterized by or full of force and vigor
SYN - hard-hitting
ANT - unintelligent
"a trenchant argument"

clearly or sharply defined to the mind
"trenchant distinctions between right and wrong."

"He really had been shocked and amazed by the trenchant responses he got from his play - he had finally found a group of friends worth having."

"He was talking to a bunch of nimwits who would not understand the greatness of his trenchant speech."

"She had been extremely smart and put in only the most trenchant people in her cabinet."

TRUCULENT

fierce and cruel

eager to fight

/defiantly aggresive
"a truculent speech against the new government."

"He had a truculent attitude and dared anyone in the room to say something smart to him."

"He was unsure how to respond to such a truculent personality - it was almost as if he had to adopt reverse psychology to get anything through to him."

"He was so truculent that it made the whole room tense up."

TYRO

novice, greenhorn, rank amateur

/someone new to a field or activity
SYN - beginner, initiate, novice, tiro

"He was but a tyro, yet acted like he had been doing it for years."

"She scoffed at the challenge from the a tyro like him."

"She knew she was only a tyro and so did not get down when she was unable to complete the task."

UBIQUITOUS

existing everywhere at the same time

constantly encountered

widespread
SYN - omnipresent

"Christianity had an ubiquitous presence in the country."

"He could never understand how God could be one person, yet also be ubiquitous."

"It had become a ubiquitous phenomena and everyone from maine to california were dong the macarena."

UNFEIGNED

genuine

not false or hypocritical

not pretended
SYN - genuine, true
"her interest in people was unfeigned"

"she could tell right away that this was an unfeigned called for help and so she rushed over to assist."

"It was hard to tell if this was a real unfeigned confession of love or just a word he was tossing around to get what he wanted."

"It was a testament to his character and veracity that she had never known him to be anything but unfeigned."

UNTENABLE

indefensible

not viable

uninhabitable

/(of theories etc.) incapable of being defended or justified
SYN - indefensible

"this was an untenable proposal and the teachers had all agreed to table it."

"the house was on the verge of being untenable, but he could put up with a lot for 150 a month."

"this was an untenable solution to their problem and he would not content himself with it."

URBANE

sophisticated

refined

elegant

showing a high degree of refinement and the assurance that comes from wide social experience
SYN - polished, refined, svelte
"maintained an urbane tone in his letters"

"He was urbane and as far from the boorish personalities that he went up against as possible."

"She had worked for years on perfecting this urbane manner that could make her seem rich even though she wasn't."

"The man never let up, he did everything elegantly and sophisticated, he could make sitting on the shitter look urbane."

VACILLATE

to waver indecisively between one course of action or opnion and another

waver

be undecided about something
SYN - hover, oscillate, vibrate

move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern
SYN - fluctuate, waver
"The line on the monitor vacillated"

"Unlike his opponent who was never afraid to waffle, it was uncharacteristic of him to vacillate on a subject - especially one like this."

"he watched as the wind caused the bag to vacillate across his vision."

"this indecisiveness was killing him and getting him no-where the more he would vacillate about these type of decisions the more time he was wasting and opportunities he was missing."

VARIEGATED

multi-colored

characterized by a variety of patches of different color

/having a variety of colors
SYN - varicolored

"As he looked at the pied blanket he decided he would exam each variegated section to see what the artist had been thinking."

"He had not wanted to go outside after the new face wash he had been using made his face variegated."

"He had a hard time seeing through the variegated stained glass on the church walls."

VERACITY

truthfullness, honesty

unwillingness to tell lies

"It was because of her veracity that she had been able to build up trust with her co-workers."

"He couldn't be in a relationship with someone - no matter how hot they were - if they didn't value veracity the way that he did."

"he had been living under the illusion that she had some sort of veracity that made all those rumors he had heard which contradicted he action and speech, impossible."

VERBOSE

wordy

/using or containing too many words
SYN - long winded, tedious, windy, wordy
"Verbose and ineffective instructional methods."

"Because of how verbose his speech was it had a soporific effect on the audience, something that embarrasingly became obvious when snoring began to drown out his voice."

"He had a habit of being too verbose which was an irreconcilable trait for the very terse Annie."

"She had a hard time explaining it without getting accused of being verbose - the truth was it was a complicated subject and couldn't be discussed tersely."

VEXATION

annoyance

irritation

anger produced by some annoying irritation
SYN - annoyance, chage

the psychological state of being irritated or annoyed
SYN - botheration

something or someone that causes anxiety
SYN - concern, headache, worry

the act of troubling or annoying someone

"because of her stolid manner towards him she had become a vexation in his life."

"the music of the video game being played in the other room had become an impossible-to-overcome vexation."

"He had been stuck in this vexation for quite sometime and he was willing to do anything to get out of it."

"It was similar to the vexation of having a song stuck in your head."

VIGILANT

alertly watchful

carefully observant or attentive
SYN - argus-eyed, open-eyed, wakeful
"the vigilant eye of the town watch"

"He had been aware of his vigilant mother ten steps behind and so hadn't made his move yet."

"Because of the vigilant watch of her friends, he couldn't touch her so he instead whispered dirty, sexual things in her ear."

"Because of the tension between the two their meeting had a few vigilant spectators."

VIRULENT

extremely harmful or poisonous bitterly hostile or antagonistic

extremely poisonous or injurious
SYN - deadly, venemous
"a virulent insect bite"

infectious
ANT - atoxic, non-toxic

harsh or corrosive in tone
SYN - acerb, acrid, bitter, blistering, caustic, sulferous, vitriolic

"He did not like the virulent tone of his speech, and made alterations to his speech to adjust accordingly."

"She should have realized that when you come you have a virulent approach you should expect nothing less than a defensive comeback."

"He knew the substance was virulent and so stayed away from it at all costs, even leaving behind his expensive breifcase that had accidently been in contact with it."

VISCOUS

thick

sticky

/having a relatively high resistance to flow
SYN - syrupy

having the sticky properties of an adhesive
SYN- gluey, glutinous, gummy, mucilaginous, pasty, sticky, viscid

"After everyone was done with the food, liquid fight they slowly wiped the viscous mixtures off their bodies and began to clean up."

"After having been left out for days the dish whcih was formally liquid had turned into some sort of disgusting viscous substance, but they were too hungry and poor to care."

"She had just been sprayed in the face with this viscous excretion, but smiled and pretended to not mind."

VITIATE

to corrupt, debase, spoil, make ineffective

corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuiality
SYN - corrupt, debase, debauch, demoralize, deprave, misdirect, pervert, profane, subvert

make imperfect
SYN - deflower, impair, mar, spoil

take away the legal force of or render ineffective
SYN - invalidate, void

"She cringed every time she saw her boy hanging out with these folks who she knew would vitiate him irreparably."

"It was amazing how quickily he was able to vitiate the rules that had stood in place and establish himself as leader."

"She was a young sweet girl who was sick of the stereotype and so longed for a ruffian to vitiate her innocence."

VITUPERATE

to use harsh condemnatory language

to abuse or censure severely or abusively

berate

spread negative information about
SYN - rail, revile, vilify

"He knew that the last thing he should do right now was to vituperate him and make him even more angry."

"She knew that she didn't deserve to have someone vituperate her like this - but she got over it."

"No matter how many people would vituperate him - he remained happy and calm - he existed separate from their opinions."

VOLUBLE

fluent, verbal, having easy use of spoken language

marked by a ready flow of speech
"She is an extremely voluble young woman who engages in soliloquies not conversations."

"He was remarkably voluble considering he had just gotten into the country."

"He was voluble in at least four different languages - he had used this to sleep with woman from every continent."

"She was taken aback by how voluble he was in this nonnative language."

VORACIOUS

having an insatiable appetite for an activity or pursuit

ravenous

/excessively greedy and grasping
SYN - rapacious, ravening
"paying taxes to voracious governments"

devouring or craving food in great quantities
SYN - edacious, esurient, wolfish
ANT - unacquisitive
"voracious smile"

"He had been so voraciously pursued by her at the beginning he got used to and even started to depend on this sort of affection."

"He had voraciously went about reading his philosophy, until he had read every word he had ever written."

"He hated having to give more money to these voracious companies when he could be giving it to his local video store."

WAFFLE

to equivocate

to change one's position

/pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
SYN - hesitate, waver

"He had been prone to waffle on this topic before, so not too many people took his claim that seriously."

"It was important in politics, not to necessarily be right, but just not to waffle."

"He had won the debate, not because of some great deed on his own part, but rather because his rival had waffled on his plan for social security."

"for too many people waffling is considered a sign of weakness or later hypocrisy, but this was absurd - i would hope that someone would change their position constantly whenever they receive new relevant information."

WAG

wit, joker

/a witty amusing person who makes jokes
SYN - card

"He had been amused by this wag for a while, but was growing impatient and was ready for the main event."

"Of course he saw the danger of taking her to see this wag, her comedic side could easily fall in love and he'd be single again."

"Sad, sullen, stygian he was in no mood to her from this wag"

WELTER

turmoil

bewildering jumble

a confused multitude of things
SYN - clutter, fuddle, jumble, mare's nest, smother

VERB - toss, roll, rise and fall in an uncontrolled way
"The shipwrecked survivors weltered in the sea for hours"

roll around
"pigs were wallowing in the mud"
SYN - wallow

"The facts were in a welter that no-one could unravel."

"He had hoped that he would be able to welter in the sea a bit before having to go back to their inland hotel."

"The different elements of this deal had begun to welter and everyone had to take a break to sort things out."

WHIMSICAL

capricious

fanciful

determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason
SYN - capricious, impulsive
"The victim of whimsical persecutions."

"He had simply been the victim of her whimsical passion - which he should have seen coming and never tied his self-worth to her passion for him."

"Leading such a whimsical life was like asking to fall since an unexamined life is not worth living at all."

"How had he gotten himself entangled in her whimsical fantasies."

ZEALOUS

fervent

ardent

impassioned, devoted to a cause

marked by active interest and enthusiasm
SYN - avid

"She had been such a zealous participant in the church that it was rather surprising when she told everyone that she no longer believed."

"This sort of zealous behavior towards things that she would later rescind her stance on should have taught her to question her reactions - but it didn't"

"In the beginning they were both zealous about the relationship, but this sort of heightened fervor could not last."

STEEP

to saturate or completely soak, as in to let a tea bag steep

let sit in a liquid to extract a flavor or to cleanse
SYN - infuse
"steep the fruit in alcohol"

"his plan was to go home steep his body in hot water and then fall asleep to an old movie."

"the fact that you had to steep the fruit in a very specific kind of alcohol further extended the prestige and sophistication of the drink."

"as he let the tea bag steep he walked across the room to complete some other chores."

STENTORIAN

extremely loud and powerful

/used of the voice
SYN - booming

"He had been rather stentorian in his speech, which made him come off as a capable leader."

"The music was so stentorian that they could feel the base of their structure shaking."

How was he going to compete with the stentorian voice of his rival."

STOLID

dull, impassive

having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
SYN - impassive
"Her face showed nothing but stolid indifference"

"She wondered if anything could get past this stolid facade of his."

"When it came to their relationship she had been completely stolid."

"His stolid manner was because he didn't want to fall into the trap of accepting other's sympathy and having his well-being related to their reaction."

STRIATED

marked with parallel bands

grooved

"He watched with a sense of power over the striated city he was now the leader of."

"The building's outside was striated and people could almost always be found on Halloweeen hiding between the columns."

"He had wondered what had inspired the artist to create such a striated sculpture."

STRUT

the supporting structural cross-part of a wing

brace consisting of a bar or rod used to resist longitudinal compression

"He leaned his head against the strut as he looked past her and thought about all he was leaving behind."

"In a truly bond-like moment he had jumped up and grabbed the strut right as it was about to take off."

"The question for them was how to make the strut both effective and stylish."

STYGIAN

gloomy, dark

hellish

dark and dismal
ANT - supernal

"He had no desire to spend time with the stygian crowd that usually attended such discussions."

"He was in a stygian state after the break up, but he knew that in this darkness there was profundity so for that he was thankful."

"He no longer had that life net, that warm illusion of someone always being there even in stygian moments like this."

SUPERFLUOUS

exceeding what is sufficient or necessary

serving no useful purpose
SYN - otiose, pointless, purposeless, senseless, wasted

more than is needed, desired, or required
SYN - excess, extra, redundant, spare, surplus
ANT - valuable
"delete superfluous (or unnecessary) words."

"He realized that it would be superfluous to address the nation again about the economy, when there was nothing new to be said."

"She didn't really care to deal with him and all of his superfluous conversation."

"He tried as hard as possible to get rid of the superfluous parts of his paper to meet the word limit, but to him all the words were necessary they all had served a purpose."

SURFEIT

an overabundant supply

excess

to feed or supply to excess

/the state of being more than full

the quality of being so overabundant that prices fall
SYN - glut, oversupply

eating until excessively full
SYN - repletion

VERB - supply or feed to surfeit
SYN - cloy

Indulge (one's appetite) to satiety

"The debate now was a much better debate to be having - not how to deal with the huge debt, but how to use their surfeit."

"this surfeit was a nasty habit he had gotten from childhood when his parents told him that he couldn't leave until he cleared his plate."

"Because of her surfiet of water to the plants, she had killed them."

SYCOPHANT

toady, servile, self-seeking flatterer

parasite

a person who tried to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage
SYN - ass-kisser, crawler, lackey, toady

"Ayn is a remarkable woman, but in my opinion, she was not helped by her sycophants. She's like a movie queen with her retinue, or a prize-fight champion who's followed by a bunch of hangers-on, or a big crooner and his worshipers."

"He was disgusted by these sycophants that would follow him around, did they even read his philosophy and understand that he was completely opposed to this sort of servile ass kissing."

"He realized now that he had been nothing but a pathetic, weak, sycophant."

TABLE

to remove (as a parliamentary motion) from consideration

hold back to a later time
SYN - defer, hold over, postpone, prorogue, put off, put over, remit, set back, shelve

"He knew he had to do everything he could to get them to table the discussion until next week, when he would be more prepared to defend his side."

"After much discussion that only made things more confusing and divisive they were forced to table the proposal until next month's meeting."

"The House had a lot of hope and confidence in the bill, but it was tabled as soon as it got to Congress."

STAND

a group of trees

a growth of similar plants (usually trees) in a particular area
"they cut down a stand of trees."

"It was hard for him to see what was going on through the stand in front of him."

"he maneuvered quickly through the stand in front of him and beat the other group to the flag by ten minutes."

"Whereas he saw the beauty of nature in this particular stand, his friend standing next to him saw the possibility of building crappy plastic toys on the land."

PREVARICATE

to deliberately avoid the truth

to mislead

be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information
SYN - beat around the bush, equivocate, palten, tergiversate

"He could tell both politicians had become masterful at these sort of attempts to prevaricate about their pasts."

"he had no tolerance for the way she would prevaricate him about her feelings."

"He wanted to get to the pith of this story and all this prevarication was really getting him, usually phlegmatic, rather irritated."

PRECIPITATE (VERB)

to cause, happen before anticipated/required

bring about abruptly
"the crisis precipitated by Russia's revolution"

"His entrance had served to precipitate the surprise, making everyone hate him."

"The downfall of these banks only precipitated the inevitable economic collapse and loss of rank of the United States of America."

"The passing train served to precipitate the end of the babies nap and the halcyon quiet associated with it."

PRECIPITATE (ADJ)

acting with excessive haste or impulse

done with very great haste and without due deliberation
SYN - hasty, overhasty
"wondered whether they had been rather precipitate in disposing the king."

"They were precipitate in finishing the project which you could tell when you took a close enough look at the lines outlining the squares."

"He made a point not to be precipitate with cooking and preparing the meal - it had to be just right."

"He precipitately finished his meal when he found out his friend had been here."

PRECEPT

practical rule guiding conduct

rule of personal conduct
SYN - principle

a doctrine that is taught
SYN - commandment, teaching
"he believed all the christian precepts."

"He had a number of precepts set up for himself."

"Instead of looking at Nietzsche like the skeptical scholar he had always been, he accepting most of what he said unquestionably as precepts for his for everyday life."

"It wasn't that he was just being a stubbornly defiant teenager, he just fundamentally disagreed with the precepts of the school."

PRECARIOUS

uncertain

risky

affording no ease or reassurance
SYN - unstable
"a precarious truce"

fraught with danger
SYN - parlous, perilous, touch-n-go
"the precarious life of an undersea diver"

not secure
SYN - shaky

"It was a really precarious situation and it needed to be handled while in a phlegmatic mood."

"He felt like he was in a very precarious mindset and any sort of relationship would be a disaster, at the same time though he longed for the touch of a woman."

"She didn't know what to expect by throwing herself out there precarious lifestyle of being single, but she knew it would be better than this."

PRATTLE

to babble meaninglessly

to talk in an empty manner

/idle or foolish and irrelevant talk
SYN - blather, chin music, idle talk, prate

speak rapidly and incessantly (about unimportant matters)
SYN - blab, chatter, clack, gabble, gibber, palaver, piffle, tattle, twaddle

"he could feel his competitors get an edge on him, studying away in some corner of the university while he was stuck here engaged in this prattle."

"As he did his smile and nod to the prattle of the person he was standing next too, he thought about having sex with the girl across the room."

"He knew the silliness of it all, how you were expected to endure a certain amount of prattle that neither person liked and then ask the person if they want to come home with you."

PRAGMATIC

practical rather than idealistic

concerned with practical matters
SYN - matter of fact, pragmatical
"a pragmatic approach to the problem"

experience and observation rather than theory
SYN - hardheaded, hard-nosed, practical

"he really valued his pragmatic opinion of the situation since he tended to err on the idealistic side."

"While he lived in some far off Utopian world, bob had the kind of pragmatic wisdom and thought that could give one all sorts of worldly pleasures."

"The trips and experiences that she has had throughout her life gave her a pragmatic wisdom that no amount of book-oriented education could give her."

PONDEROUS

weighty

unyielding

slow and laborious because of weight
SYN - heavy, lumbering
"a ponderous yawn"

having great mass and weight and unwieldiness
ANT - lightfooted
"ponderous weapons"

labored and dull
"a ponderous speech"

"He continued to be ponderous in his enacting more green solutions to energy."

"How could he justify this ponderous pace when so many people were dying every minute a decision wasn't made - this was likely to go down as one of the worst moments in President Clinton's term."

"He new he would have to make do with his families ponderous minivan...but even with this he was bound to beat Jimmy to California."

POLEMICAL

controversial

argumentative

/of or involving dispute or controversy
SYN - polemic

"This was a rather polemical conclusion which he represented as undisputed."

"He presenting this polemical topic in order to spruce up the conversation with a little philosophical argument."

"The polemical debate over abortion was center stage at the presidential debates - showing first hand the powerful role religion plays in this country."

PLUCK

courage, spunk, fortitude

the trait of showing courage and determination in spite of possible loss or injury
SYN - gutsiness, pluckiness

"The boy had so much pluck that he knew he would complete the task."

"It was her pluck which both allowed her to do great things, but also caused injury and downfall when unsuccesful."

"When it came to war, also known as everyday life in the modern world, it was essential to your success that you have pluck."

PLETHORA

an overabundance

a surplus

extreme excess
SYN - embarrassment, overplus, superfluity

"they were experiencing a plethora of new recruits which allowed them to only select the choicest."

"It was this plethora of food in front of them which made their hungry bellies roar."

"experiencing a plethora of looks from girls, he realized the haircut had been a good idea."

PLATITUDE

a superficial remark, especially one offered as meaningful

a trite or obvious remark
SYN - banality, bromide, cliche, commonplace

"He would always offer up these platitudes and think that he was some sort of genius because of it -- little did he know how much people laughed at him behind his back."

"He was sure that he missed nothing by tuning her out for a minute most likely she had just said another platitude."

"The progress of the conversation was held back by the various platitudes that were contributed by the philistine observers."

PLASTIC

moldable, pliable, not rigid

capable of being molded or modeled (especially of earth or clay or other soft material)
SYN - tactile
"plastic substances such as wax or clay"

capable of being influenced or formed
SYN - pliant
ANT - inelastic
"The plastic minds of children"

"The teachers found that if they made clear on the first day that the rules weren't plastic than the students wouldn't try to test them all the time."

"He enjoyed seeing a student like him who had learned so much yet at the same time still had a very plastic mind."

"he knew he wouldn't worry too much about the suit, it was plastic enough that they could fix anything wrong with it later."

PLANGENT

pounding, thundering, resounding

loud and resounding
""The plangent minority"

"they knew that if they just kept at it the president would have to listen to there plangent protests."

"IT was the plangent uproar from the audience that made them feel compelled to do another encore."

"Their band was known for their plangent concerts that were overflowing with dionysian life."

PLAINTIVE

mournful

expressing sorrow

"he did atleast feel plaintive when the old man passed away."

"although normally phlegmatic, he was extremely plaintive following these attacks on Joanie."

"how could they expect her to be even the least bit plaintive, when the man had done so much harm to her - she only felt hatred, and relief that he had died."

PLACID

peaceful

calm

(of a body of water) free from disturbance by heavy waves
SYN - quiet, smooth, still, tranquil
"a ribbon of sand between the angry sea and the placid bay"

not easily irritated
SYN - equable

even tempered
ANT - stormy
"remained placid despite the repeated delays"

"He found it remarkable that she was able to remain placid throughout the onslaught of abuse she took from her kids."

"It was this ability to stay placid no matter what the situation called for that set him apart."

"She couldn't stand the placid atmosphere at the party - to her it was just being one step away from death."

PLACATE

to appease

to calm by making concessions

cause to be more favorably inclined
SYN - appease, assuage, concilliate, levify, mollify, pacify

"He had hoped that by bringing her these dark chocolates he would be able to placate her attitude towards him."

"He was in fiery opposition to this proposal and there was no amount of emotional appeal that could be used to placate his stance."

They knew that the most important task ahead of them was to find some way to placate the animal while he was in their presence."

PITH

the essential or central part

the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience
SYN - center, core, essence, gist, heart, marrow, meat, nitty-gritty, substance

"He knew that this silly banter was useless and that they needed to get to the pith of the argument."

"It was the pith of their trip and the fact that someone was trying to taint this event led them all to take up arms against the perpetrator."

"The problem was the pith of their ideology was just plainly false - it couldn't even be true."

PIRATE

to illegally use or reproduce

/someone who uses another person's words or ideas as if they were his own
SYN - plagerizer

copy illegally

"He couldn't believe how people nowadays would unquestionably pirate music. "

"If you weren't a pirate nowadays you were instead considered a square."

"the professor knew that the paper in front of him was the work of a pirate."

PINE

to lose vigor (as through grief)

to languish

to yearn intensely

/have a desire for something or someone who is not present
SYN - ache, languish, yearn, yen

"Everytime that he would pine in this way for his ex-girlfriend he would quickily remind himself of joys of his single life, the misery of their dating life, and the general uselessness of pining for someone who doesn't want you."

"He had to remind himself that it wasn't her specifically that he would pine for but rather the desire that he had associated with her."

"As he walked through these circles he could tell that people pined for a revolution."

PIED

multicolored, usually in blotches

having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly
SYN - calico, motley, multicolor, painted, varicolored

"It was this pied album cover of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs that had been the first thing he saw in the morning."

"The pied walls of the kid-painting classroom gave the place a unique life."

"The shirt was pied from the many different painting jobs he had used it for."

PHLEGMATIC

calm

sluggish

unemotional

showing little emotion
"a phlegmatic...and certainly undemonstrative man."

"The way that she was able to so phlegmatically react to the break up is what had just killed him."

"He knew that when it came to his pursuit of truth he would have to strive to be phlegmatic about his results."

"She found his phlegmatic personality rather uninteresting and boring."

PHILISTINE

narrow-minded person, uncultured and exclusively interested in material gain

a person who is uninterested in intellectual pursuits
SYN - lowbrow

smug and ignorant and indifferent or hostile to artistic and cultural values
SYN - anti-intellectual

"Why did he even bother communicating with these philistines?"

"He considered himself above the pursuits of philistines, even though his heart still desire for their acceptance and happiness."

"She knew that she would never acheive intellectual greatness if she were to continue surrounding herself with these philistine co-workers."

PERVASIVE

having the tendency to permeate or spread throughout

/SYN - permeating
"An error is pervasive if it is material to more than one conclusion."

"The idea was rather pervasive once it was introduced to these young christian kids."

"It was a pervasive fallacy that would plague science for the next 100 years."

"The republicans realized that they could always make their ideas pervasive amongst their supporters as long as they hooked it onto religion in some way."

PERVADE

to permeate throughout

spread or diffuse through
SYN - imbue, penetrate, permeate

"He couldn't believe how much each of these words would pervade the minds of the audience."

"The disease would start out small but then pervade through the human body."

"The ideas had struck everyone's inner revolutionary and would now pervade every inch of the political community."

PERUSE

to examine with great care

examine or consider with attention and detail
"please peruse this report at your lesuire."

"He was hoping that he would have the opportunity to peruse the manuscript before it went to the press."

"He knew that he must peruse this situation if he were to understand its meaning."

"His mistake was in the way that he perused her statements as if they were said with any meaning, clarity or wisdom."

PERSPICACIOUS

acutely perceptive

having keen discernment

acutely insightful and wise
SYN - sagacious, sapient
"much too perspicacious to be taken in by such a spurious argument"

mentally acute or penetratingly discerning
SYN - clear sighted
ANT - foolish
"much too perspicacious to be taken in by so spurious an argument."

"He was amazed how perspicacious this man was."

"She could tell by how perspicacious he had been that he was going to be a great president."

"He was full of a revolutionary drive and subversive instinct, but was perspicacious enough to know how far he could push it."

PERORATION

the concluding part of a speech

flowery, rhetorical speech
"he summarized his main points in his peroration"

"the beginning part of her speech was rather unremarkable but her outstanding peroration would be remembered for years."

"With his peroration he chose to once again hammer home the need for a Ron Paul presidency."

"He knew he needed a strong peroration to leave the crowd with something for them to remember."

PERNICIOUS

extremely harmful

potentially causing death

exceedingly harmful
SYN - baneful, deadly, pestilent

working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
SYN - insidious, subtle
ANT - innocuous

"It was the pernicious unreasonable thought of his subconscious that was slowly consuming him and needed to be realized and attacked as soon as possible."

"It was a pernicious disease and needed to be noticed and realized as such as soon as possible."

"He saw all of this pernicious government spending and knew that it would one day destroy the country."

PERIPATETIC

walking about

moving

/a person who walks from place to place

/traveling especially on foot
SYN - wayfaring
"peripatetic country preachers."

"He gained a reputation with his peripatetic lectures."

"It was an audacious plan - a peripatetic campaign across the entire state."

"Only he would think the peripatetic lifestyle that had been chosen for them was desirable."

PERFUNCTORY

cursory

done without care or interest

nasty and without attention to detail
SYN - casual, cursory, passing

As a formality only
SYN - proforma
ANT - careful

"he voted in sucha perfunctory manner that it pissed Brad off that it would hold the same weight as his vote."

"the problem with democracy is the perfunctory way that people approach citizenship."

"She was angry at her student's perfunctory attempts at these papers."

"Why had he thought that her perfunctory smiles actually meant anything."

"Her perfunctory words had successfully deceived him and he had given his heart away."

PERFIDY

intentional breach of faith

treachery

betrayal of a trust
SYN - perfidousness, treachery

an act of deliberate betrayal
SYN - treason

"The campaigns had lost any hope of gaining the people's favor, because of their continued perfidy."

"After having worked up so much trust between them this act of perfidy was surprising and disappointing."

"Not explaining to him how she felt or why she went to dinner with him was the kind of perfidy that was killing him inside."

PENURY

poverty

destitution

a state of extreme poverty or destitution
SYN - indigence, need, pauperism

"How could anyone accomplish something great living in penury."

"His time living in penury taught him to appreciate the times he had had money."

"The christian upbringing that she had had led her to treat help out anyone suffering from penury."

PENURIOUS

penny pinching

excessively thrifty

ungenerous

not having enough money to pay for necessities
SYN - hard-up, impecunious, penniless

excessively unwilling to spend
SYN - parsimonious
ANT - rich
"lived in a most penurious manner, denying himself every indulgence"

"how could anyone think about the future, or going back to shcool when they were living in such a penurious state."

"Now that he was penurious, he actually found himself to feel more alive - he was so close to starving to death that he savored every bite, and each new day was someting he had earned through fighting through the previous one."

"she found his penurious ways despicable - but then again her own encounters of money could be described as evanescent."

PENCHANT

strong inclination

liking

/SYN - predilection, preference, taste

"the irish have a penchant for blarney."

"He tried to give an unbiased interpretation of the political scene, but his penchant for leftist ideas came through."

"whenever there were two beers that were equal in price he always followed his penchant for local brews. "

"Wisconsonites are known for having a penchant for cheese, beer and guns"

PELLUCID

transparent, easy to understand, limpid

/trasmitting light
SYN - crystal clear, limpid, lucid, transparent
"A pellucid brook"

(of language) transparently clear
SYN - perspicious
ANT - opaque
"pellucid prose"

"He refused to even attempt any of these great works simply because they weren't pellucid."

"He had a gift for writing pellucid statements, which is why he was so accessible and popular."

"Her body moved elegantly through the pellucid water of the pool."

PEDESTRIAN

commonplace, trite, unremarkable, quotidian

/lacking wit or imagination
SYN - earthbound, prosaic, prosy

"he knew that in order to get what he wanted out of this life he couldn't deal with such pedestrian people, he needed to be driven to the top and surrounded by brilliant minds."

"the pedestrian conversation the two people were having completely bored him."

"he had a strong desire to be with her, but he knew that his desire for greatness and her satisfacton with the pedestrian was an incompatible difference - the bitch had to go."

PEDANTIC

overly concerned with the trivial details of learning or education

show-offish about one's knowledge

/marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning especially its trivial aspects
SYN - academic, donnish

"Watching this person slave over such a ridiculous part of the problem, he vowed to himself that he would never allow himself to become this pedantic."

"She was completely put off by his pedantic behavior and his refusal to see it as such."

"The professor suffered for the pedantic aura he gave off in public."

"Although most thought of him as pedantic, they were just trying to justify for themselves their own pathetic lifestyle."

PECCADILLO

slight offense

/a petty misdeed
SYN - indiscretion

"How could he be so ruthless towards her for this peccadillo."

"It was easy to look past all the peccadillo things she had done in the past, but this was of a different league and he had to address it."

"What kind of a thug was he anyways? he would feel overwhelmingly guilty even for commiting peccadillos like this."

PAUCITY

scarcity

an insufficient quantity or number
SYN - dearth

"They wondered how they were going to survive the winter with the paucity of food they had."

"The university had thousands upon thousands of people, but a paucity of good intelletual souls."

"He would do so much with his life if he wasn't constantly limited by the paucity of his funds."

PASTORAL

rural

a music composition that evokes rural life
SYN - idyll

A literary work idealizing the rual life (especially the life of shepards)

relating to shepards or herdsman or devoted to rasing sheep or cattle
SYN - bucolic
"A pastoral economy"

idyllically rustic
SYN - arcadian
"charming in its pastoral setting."

"This pastoral environment made him realize how much he had hated living the urban lifestyle in the big city."

"Her parents would always send her postcards with pictures glorifying the pastoral life in an effort to have her move back home."

"Although it was hard to resist the appeal of this pastoral lifestyle, he knew it was not the everything it was cracked up to be."

PARSIMONIOUS

cheap, miserly

excessively unwilling to spend
SYN - penurious
"parsimonious thrift relieved by few generous impulses"

"she was through trying to go out to eat with her parsimonious boyfriend."

"How could anyone be so parsimonious as to not spend the small amount to experience such a life changing once in an eternity event."

"going to the movies with stoic stan was like going to the casino with parsimonious paul - no fun."

PARSE

to break a sentence down into grammatical components

to analyze bit by bit

/analyze syntactically by assigning a constituent structure to (a sentence)

"He needed some to parse this sentence so that he could understand the mechanics of writing."

"He decided that he would start the rather time-consuming task of parsing every sentence in Ulysseus so that a reader's guide could be produced that would allow someone to read ulysseus and learn grammar at the same time."

"She just wanted some simple advice not for him to parse her entire paper."

PARODY

a humorous imitation intended for ridicule or comic effect; especially in literature and art

/a compilation that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style, usually in a humorous way
SYN - burlesque, charade, lampoon, mockery, pasquinade, spoof, take off, travesty

make a spoof of or make fun of

"As he once again gave his impression of Bush, the audience realized they were watching a true genius of parody."

"The movie was a parody of all those bad sci-fi films."

"He hadn't set out to make parody, but the more his hero looked instead like a fool he realized it was the more appropriate idea."

PARAGON

model of perfection

an ideal instance
SYN - idol, perfection

model of excellence or perfection of a kind
SYN - apotheosis, nonpariel, saint

"He wanted to represent a paragon for the people of the future who realized that God is Dead"

"The spirits were down and no one had any motivation to change - what they needed was some sort of paragon whom they could strive to be like."

"The problem was that they had a different idea of what the paragon was for a human life."

PANEGYRIC

formal praise, eulogy, encomium
(panegyrical means expressing elaborate praise)

/a formal expression of praise
SYN - encomium

"Unlike his rival he did need such a panegyric reception from these people and so was more than happy to let him receive all of their praise - it was, afterall, only going to make him weaker."

"He knew the key to his success and his enlightenment was to remove his existence in other people's minds - whether they would want to boast him up with panegyric lyric or tear him to pieces with disparaging slander, both were equally irrelevant in his mind."

"She bathed in the glow of this panegyric speech."

PALLIATE

to make something seem less serious, to gloss over, to make less secure or intense

/lessen or try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
SYN - extenuate, mitigate

provide physical relief, as from pain
SYN - alleviate, assuage, relieve

"He realized that she was brought along to palliate his anger and becuase he knew this it only caused to inflamme him further."

"Instead of wanting to palliate his suffering she was rather indifferent."

"He had seen the terrible inside of him, the weakness, the cowardly, the boy and he desperately needed this music to palliate this feeling of depression."

PAEAN

a song or hymn of praise and thanksgiving

a formal expression of praise
SYN - encomium, eulogy, panegyric

"They were all taken aback by the emotional paean given at his retirement."

"She loved thanksgiving, if for no other reason than hearing the beautiful paean's at her church."

"He knew that she was worth every ounce of praise the paean attributed her."

OSTENTATIOUS

characterized by or given to pretentious display

showy

/intended to attract notice and impress others
SYN - pretentious
ANT - unpretending
"an ostentatious sable coat"

"It was a shamelessly ostentatious opening scene."

"Little did they know their ostentatious appearance wasn't going to impress anyone at this party."

"It was important to see past all of his ostentatious behavior and see who the real man was - a shameless, insecure hack."

OSSIFIED

tending to become more rigid, conventional, sterile, and reactionary with age

literally, turned into bone

/set in a rigidly conventional pattern of behavior,habits or benefits
SYN - fossilized
"An ossified bureaucratic system."

"Over the years the rules had become ossified and the thought of changing them never even occured."

"After 30 years of debating on such topics his beliefs were ossified."

"The problem with people who followed her is that they unquestionably allowed their belives and outlooks to be ossified - they no longer allowed themselves to change their beliefs or understand a different perspective."

OPPROBRIUM

disgrace

contempt

scorn

state of disgrace resulting from public abuse
SYN - obloquy

a state of extreme dishonor
SYN - infamy
"The name was a by-word of scorn and opprobrium throughout the city."

"Normally this type of opprobrium would destroy a man, but for Brad the opinions of society never really meant a damn - he didn't find happiness in the abstract realm of reputation but rather in the concrete actions of his life and the thoughts in his mind."

"Having derived so much of her identity from her pop-culture status the hardest part was not the guilt of the crime, but the opprobrium that resulted."

"The acts of violence and terror were treated with opprobrium by the peaceful society."

ONEROUS

troubling, burdensome

not easily borne
SYN - burdensome, taxing
"my duties weren't onerous"

"It was an onerous task, but he knew if he were to successfully complete it he would turn out stronger than he was beforehand."

"In this weakened state he couldn't handle such an onerous calling."

"The relationship became onerous and they knew they had to do something about it."

OFFICIOUS

meddlesome

excessively pushy in offering one's services

intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
SYN - busy, interfering
"bustling about self-importantly making an officious nuisance of himself."

"He hated anyone who was in the field of marketing because of all the officious people he had expeienced who carried that label."

"They were shameless, officious advertisements, and his inability to do anything about it made him once again realize his powerlessness in this modern capitalist society."

"Even though he normally despised the behavior, he now found himself officiously promoting his band."

ODIOUS

evoking intense aversion or dislike

unequivocally detestable
SYN - abdominable, execrable
"consequences odious to those you govern."

"He knew it didnt make sense, but he was odious towards any thought or mention of her."

"What did he ever do to become such an odious presence in her life?"

"He believed in challenging everything and so was odious to the thought of living in such a brainwashed monoculture."

OCCULT

hidden, concealed, beyond comprehension

/VERB
become concealed or hidden from view or have it's light extinguished
"The beam of light occults every so often."

hide from view
"the lids were occulting her eyes."

ADJ
hidden and difficult to see
"occult blood in the stool."

having an import not apparent to the senses nore obvious to the intelligence
SYN - mysterious, secret
ANT - visible
"occult lore"

"The meaning of the film was occult, which was always going to attract viewers who want to figure out the puzzle."

"her figure was occult behind the curtain."

"His true feelings were occult to her."

OCCLUDE

to obstruct or block

block passage through
SYN - block, close up, impede, jam, obstruct, obdurate

"She stood in the doorway to occlude his exit."

"Her troubled past had altered her brain chemistry to occlude ever feeling a sort of deep connection."

"The bars had been put up to occlude unwanted visitors."

OBVIATE

to anticipate and make unnecessary

/do away with
SYN - eliminate, rid of

prevent the occurence of
SYN - avert, avoid, debar, deflect, fend off, head off, stave off, ward off
ANT - necessitate, need, require

"The criminals had thought they had the perfet plan, but they hadn't counted on the ability of the buildings security to obviate the situation."

"Whereas hurricanes used to have a damaging effect on coastlines the technologies introduced in the middle of the 21st century have allowed humans to obviate them entirely."

"His adroit leadership was marked by the ability to obviate the many troubles that had plagued previous presidencies."

OBTAIN

to be established, accepted, or customary


/be valid, applicable, or true

SYN - hold, prevail

"I knew that our laws would obtain, even faced with such a subversive enemy."

"It is importan that this sort of excellence will obtain into the next decade of this business."

"The morality still obtained, even though the fundamental religion behind the concepts had been declared false."

OBSTREPEROUS

noisily and stubbornly defiant, aggressively boisterous

"obstreperous keys"

ANT - compliant

"kept up an obstreperous clamor"

"I immediately turned the other way when i heard the obstreprous tone of his argument."

"Everyone, he thought, had some sort of love for obstreperous behavior, which is why talk of political upheavel and revolution was so enticing."

"He would never be respected as a thinker if he didnt tone down his obstreperous personality."

OBSTINATE

stubborn

hardheaded

uncompromising

persist stubbornly
"He obstinates himself against all rational argument."

tenaciously unwilling or marked by tenacious unwillingness to yield
SYN - stubborn, unregenerate

stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
SYN - cussed, obdurate, unrepentent

resistant to guidance or discipline
SYN - contrary, perverse, wayward
"An obstinate child with a violent temper."

OBSEQUIOUS

slavishly attentive

servile

sycophantic

attempting to win favor from influential people by flatter
SYN - bootlicking, fawning, sycophantic, todayish

attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner
ANT - sincere
"obsequious shy assistant"

"Little did she know that he was intractible to such obsequious pleas."

"He looked on in disgust as this she did her obsequious routine on yet another guy."

"He had no tolerance for weak people who get a head in life by being obsequious."

OBFUSCATE

to deliberately obscure

to make confusing

/make obscure or unclear

"He had hoped that by using all of these big confusing words he would obfuscate the real meaning of what he was saying."

"The distance and glass put between the spectators and stage were used to obfuscate their perception."

"He made sure to make a lot of annoying noises during the other man's argument so that it would ofuscate what he was saying."

OBDURATE

unyielding

hardhearted

intractable

stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
SYN - cursed, obstinate, unrepentant

showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings
SYN - flint, flinty, granitic, stany
ANT - regenerate
"The child's misery would move even the most obdurate heart."

"The years of hardships and tough-times made him obdurate to her appeals for his heart."

"The president prided himself on being obdurate about the Iraq War."

"He had gotten this far in the ruthless business world by by obdurate in such circumstances, but he knew this was a defining moment in his life were he could really do something that mattered."

NOXIOUS

harmful

injurious

injurious to physical or mental health
"noxious ideas"

"She had a noxious effect on him."

"He tried to stay away from such noxious events as much as possible."

"She was already in a broken weak state and couldn't handle the noxious weather outside so remained housebond."

NONPLUSSED

baffled, bewildered, at a loss for what to do or think

filled with bewilderment
SYN - at a loss, puzzled

"The rapidity and oddity of these events left him frozen and nonplussed"

"This startling confession caught him by surprise and he was nonplussed."

"There was nothing sweeter than putting these normally decisive, unquestioning, straight and arrow guys nonplussed."

NOISOME

foul-smelling

unwholesome

causing or able to cause nausea
SYN - loathesome, offensive, quesy, vice

offensively maodorous
SYN - fetid, foul-smelling, furky
ANT - wholesome

"Far from a nice place it was rather noisome."

"He wanted to save time but he couldn't handle the noisome of the alley."

"He had almost prided himself on coming off as noisome to these uptight, nice Christian folk."

NICE

exacting, fastidious, extremely precise

excessively fastidious and easily disgusted
SYN - dainty, prissy, squemish
ANT - awful, dirty, lousy
"too nice about his food to take to camp cooking"

"He was so nice about his desk papers that he nearly attacked the student when they started to mess up his stacks."

"How nice these people were about everything went against his own personality and he had an irressistable drive to start messing things up and making them atleast a little gross and dirty."

"He had become so nice about what he wore that he now lacked all the character which comes with a little messiness."

NEOPHYTE

a recent convert

a beginner

novice

any new participant in some activity
SYN - entrant, flegling, freshman, newbie, starter

"He was neophyte in the language, but was already contribuing neologisms -- even if it was perhaps unbeknowst to him."

"You will have to excuse me, I am a neophyte with regards to this activity."

"I am a neophyte to the art of guitar so you will have to excuse the noise."

neologism

a new word, expression, or usage

the creation or use of new words or senses
SYN - coinage

"The urbandictionary was a hot bed of neologism."

"What made Nietzsche great is he understood the form and power of words and used neologisms that he new would reach into the public sphere - literally forcing his philosophy into the culture."

"He prided himself on the neologisms contained in his speech."

"George Bush is infamous for the accidental neologisms in his speeches."

NEBULOUS

vague, cloudy

lacking clearly defined form

lacking definite form or limits
SYN - cloudy
"nebulous distinction beteen pride and conceit"

lacking definition or definite content
SYN - unfixed
ANT - distinct
"nebulous reasons"

"In this base form of existence without the brainwashing and strictures of civilization the distinction between what was good and what was evil was nebulous."

"Where one of the philosophers started and the other ended was rather nebulous."

"It was hard for her parents to justify giving her more money for school when she had such nebulous goals."

NASCENT

coming into being in early developmental stages

being born or beginning
"A nascent insurgency."

"It was only a nascent hazard but they knew this would be the nadir of their journey."

"The students all had a nascent desire to learn at the beginning of class, he had hoped by the end of the semester they will have developed a lifelong passion."

"It was only a nascent story, but he knew it was going to be a good one."

NADIR

low point, perigee

an extreme state of adversity

"It was in this nadir that he was able to find out what his true character was."

"He had reached the nadir of his academic career."

"Even at the nadir of her journey, she never gave up her hope and drive."

MUNDANE

of the world

typical of or concerned with the ordinary

found in the ordinary course of events
SYN - everyday, quotidan, routine, unremarkable

concerned with the world or worldly manners
SYN - terrestrial
ANT - extraordinary
"mundane affairs"

belonging to this earth or world
"Yet a mundane wonder of unimagined kind."

"His religious drive and the indoctrination of his childhold refused to let him see his rightful place as just a mundane person living a mundane existence."

"He knew he saw something special, and refused to believe it was just a mundane occurence."

"She was tired of this mundane life that she was leading and desired something more."

MOROSE

sad

sullen

melancholy

showing a brooding ill-humor
SYN - dark, dour, glowering, glum, moody, saturine, sour, sullen
"A morose and unsociable manner"

"She refused to expose herself to philosophy becuase she perceived it to only create such morose personalities like Charles."

"She had a hard time cheerng up and getting involvement from him when hew as in such a morose state."

"He noticed that her morose responses to his questions required further attention."

MOLLIFY

to calm or soothe

to reduce in emotional intensity

cause to be more favorably inclined
SYN - appease, assuage, concilliate, gentle, pacify
"she managed to mollify the angry customer"

make more temperate, acceptable or suitable by adding something else
SYN - season, temper, make less rigid or softer

"Luckily he had a great deal of close friends that were able to mollify his sadness after the break up."

"The boy was a whirlwind of anger and required someone around to mollify his behavior."

"she was able to mitigate the situation by being able to mollify each individual student separately."

MITIGATE

to make or become less severe or intense

to moderate

lessen or try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
SYN - extenuate, palliate

"He knew he wasn't going to completely rid them of the problem, but he was atleast hoping to mitigate it."

"The situation calmed down when the adriot teacher stepped in to mitigate."

"She was the perfect mentor for him as she was able to harness his wild energy will mitigating his anger and aggression."

MISCREANT

wretch

villian

a person without moral scruples
SYN - reprobate

SYN - unbelieving, heretical, depraved, villanious

"The Joker was the perfect miscreant to counter the straight as an arrow batman."

"He can't believe that such a miscreant was allowed in their presence."

"She cringed whenever she went to one of her parent's parties since she knew she was bein viewed as a miscreant by all the moral oral's on their high horses."

"As he sat with blood on his hands he wondered what had made him become so miscreant."

MINCE

pronounce or speak affectedly, euphemize, speak too carefully

also too take tiny steps, tiptoe

/to utter or pronounce with affectation

walk daintly
"she minced down the street"

pronounce in an affected way, as with studied elegance and refinement

"He could tell that she was mincing her words when she talked with these older gentlemen."

"He knew that he would have to mince his dialogue this evening becuase of the haughty people who were going to be there."

"It was an embarassment as everyone could see he was simply mincing his words."

"She wanted to tell him to not mince his words but tell it to straight."

"She minced across the room so as to not disturb anyone."

MINATORY

menacing, threatening

threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
SYN - baleful, forbidding, ominous, sinister

"He looked up at the minatory full moon before stepping into the deep woods."

"The minatory wind spelled disaster and the people of the town began their hurrication."

"It was because of this minatory group of kids who moved to the neighborhood that the family constructed their metal fence and installed a security system."

MILK

to exploit, to squeeze every last ounce out

exploit as much as possible
"I am milking this for all its worth!"

"He had hoped to milk as much knowledge from this class as was possible."

"I wanted to milk her for every last bit of information i could get."

"She set out to milk the relationship for as much money as possible before dumping his ass."

METTLE

courage

spirit

the courage to carry on
SYN - heart, nerve, spunk

"It was this mettle that allowed him to accomplish the task to the greatest of his ability."

"He might not have had equal skill in mind or body, but his mettle was indefatigable ."

"It was in this moment that she found in him the mettle to continue on."

"She was at a low point when the music gave her the mettle to climb forward."

MERETrICIOUS

cheap, gaudy, tawdry, flashy, showy

attracting by false show

like or relating to a prostitute
"meretricious relationships"

tastelessly showy
SYN - brassy, cheap, flashy, loud, tacky, trashy
"A meretricious yet stylish book"

based on pretense
SYN - gilded, specious
"A meretricious argument"

"He had a meretricious style that made him both repulsive and oddly attractive in her eyes."

"The movie had gotten such a high opening weekend because of the meretricious advertising campaign."

"She couldn't believe that he had fallen for such a meretricious girl, but she was confident that he would discover her true nature eventually."

"He had endured so many meretricious conversations that evening that when he stumbled upon this ingenuous discussion of love he was ecstatic."

MERCURIAL

characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood

liable to sudden unpredictable change
SYN - erratic, fickle
"mercurial twists of tempermant"

"He couldn't handle her mercurial personality any longer and dumped the girl."

"It was a rather mercurial peace, which did little to ease the tension in the room."

"The boss was so mercurial that no-one knew what to expect."

"He had decided that he just needed to accept the mercurial nature of the earth and learn to live with such inconsistency."

"The christian herd follower wants consistency, calm and peace and dreads the often mercurial aspect of human nature."

MENDACITY

the condition of being untruthful

dishonesty

the tendancy to be untruthful

"The only thing worse than the mendicant people on state street are the ones who do it with mendacity."

"He found it rather distressingly amusing that so many people in today's society fall for the mendacity of corporations."

"After having watched three hours of politicians speaking he turned the TV off -- he had heard enough mendacity for one day."

MENDICANT

a beggar, supplicant

a pauper who lives by begging
SYN - beggar[

practicing beggary
"mendicant friars"

"Brad was absolutely disgusted by the mendicant homeless on state st. Seriously."

"He despised anyone who lived such a mendicant lifestyle."

"She was supposed to be reverent and respectful to the mendicant holy men on the street, but all she could feel was disgust -- did they not know how to make a buck? why should i care about their so-called "enlightenment?"

MEET

fitting, proper

/being precisely fitting and right
"It is only meet that she should be seated first"

"I was considered meet that she would be sitting next to nelson mendala after she too had overcome years of adversity."

"She arrived at the dance in a meet outfit."

"It was meet for the occasion that they were all served vegetarian meals."

MAVERICK

an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party

someone who exhibits great independence in thought and action
SYN - rebel

"he would never compromise his beliefs for any reason, which allowed him to proudly bear the label of maverick, but made him wholly unpractical and unproductive."

"As a philosopher he was a true maverick, as all the greats where."

"how could a girl resist this maverick who stood on his own, and stood strongly!"

MARTIAL

associated with war and the armed forces

suggesting war or military life
SYN - warlike
ANT - nonmilitary

of or relating to the armed forces
"martial law"

"The reason for his intransigent attitude towards these hippies was his martial upbringing."

"Having only experienced the martial victory and defeat, he was rather intractable to the idea of peaceful progress."

"It was these martial aspects of the country that allowed them to become the power they are today."

MALLEABLE

capable of being shaped or formed

tractable

pliable

easily influenced
SYN - ductile

capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out
SYN - ductile, tractile
ANT - intractable
"Malleable metals such as gold."

"They just barely couldn't fit the body into the box, luckily the box was malleable and they were able to manipulate it to fit."

"They tables were made out of some sort of malleable metal."

"Unlike the intractable light post, the car was made out of a rather malleable alluminum frame."

MALINGER

one who feigns illness to escape duty

avoid responsibilities and duties e.g. - pretending to be ill
SYN - skulk

"It was an outrage how could his boss not see that Josie was a malinger."

"He couldn't stand these constant accusations of being a malinger - if only they knew what he was going through."

"He had finally been fired after the accusations of being a malinger had spread all throughout the office and made it to the big-wigs."

MAGNANIMITY

the quality of being generously noble in mind and heart, especially in forgiving

liberality in bestowing gifts
SYN - largess, munificence, open-handedness

"It was the magnanimity of these democrats that was really tearing apart the country - how could people learn responsibility when they were just handed things."

"He couldn't help but realize how grateful he was for his parents continued magnanimity throughout his life."

"As he lay in this pile of presents he wondered how had been blessed with such magnanimous friends."

MALEVOLENT

having or showing often vicious ill will, spite or hatred

wishing or appealing to wish evil to others
"failure made him malevolent toward those who were succesful."

having or exerting a malignant influence
SYN - malign, evil, malefic
ANT - unmalicious
"malevolent stars."

"In these weeks after the break up he was malevolent towards all happy couples."

"The malevolence born from his stay in vietnam had never left him."

"He tried to convince himself that she only had had a malevolent influence over him and that he was better off without her, but he knew that this was a lie."

"To treat people with such a blind malevolence was an accurate indicator of one's ignorance."

MALADROIT

clumsy

bungling

/not adroit
"maladroit propaganda"
SYN - inept, awkward

"no matter how much he worked on presenting himself calmly and cooly, he always came off as maladroit when it came to style."

"When it came to sports though, he was shown to be a maladroit performer."

"As governor she was maladroit so why do we her to be adroit as VP."

LUMINOUS

characterized by brightness and the emission of light

softly bright or radiant
SYN - aglow, lambent, lucent
"A sly luminous with stars."

"In that red dress she looked especially luminous"

"He was taken aback by the luminous opening of the curtains."

"With the full moon behind her she had a luminous quality that made her angel like."

"I could tell by your luminous texture that you have been eating better and exercising regularly."

LUMBER

to move heavily and clumsily
SYN - pound

"The heavy man lumbered across the room."

"He had lumbered over to the other side of the room in an exaggerated expression of his lethargic attitude towards the activity."

"As the prisoners remained in the Giant's dungeon they planned their escape by the predictable times that he would lumber across the floor above them to go to the bathroom."

LUCID

clear, easily understood

(of language) transparently clear
SYN - crystal clear, pellucid, perspicious
"pellucid prose"

having a clear mind
"a lucid moment in his madness"

capable of thinking and expressing yourself in a clear and consistent manner
SYN - coherent, logical
"a lucid thinker"

"It was really important for him that he be in a relationship with someone who was lucid."

"He was in a terrible place after he got dumped and it was near impossible for him to be lucid."

"What made him such a great leader and teacher was his ability to be so lucid about such convoluted and confusing subjects."

LUBRICIOUS

lewd, wanton, greasy, slippery

/having a smooth or slippery quality
"The skin of cephalopods is thin and lubricious."

characterized by lust
SYN - lustful, prurient, salacious
ANT - non-slippery
"eluding the lubricious embraces of her employer."

"He couldn't help acting in a lubricious manner around her, especially when she wore such scandalous clothes."

"He was amazed at the lubricious surface that they were expected to fight on - how could anyone get any traction on this?"

"He had been taken over by this lubricious passion and was now ten blocks out of his way following her."

LOQUACIOUS

extremely talkative

full of trivial conversation
SYN - chatty, gabby, garrulous, talkative

"He really had a hard time getting away from the loquacious girl he had mistakenly started talking to."

"It normally was embarrassing to have his loquacious mother around when they were around such silent serious types as this, but the awkward silence that hung over their heads now made him wish that that she was around."

"He wanted to show that he was fun and interesting without coming off as too loquacious."

LIST

to tilt or lean to one side

/cause to lean to the side
"erosion listed the old tree"

tilt to one side
SYN - heel
"The ship listed to starboard."

"This had served to list the political candidate to the left."

"After the leg shortening she no longer had to worrying about listing to the right."

"The weakening of this support beam listed the house."

LIMN

draw

outline

describe

trace the shape of
SYN - delineate, outline

make a portrait of
SYN - depict, portray

"watching how easy it seemed to be, he had wondered why he had hired someone to limn the bowl set for him instead of doing it himself."

"all he was asking for was for her to do a simple limn of the object - not some perfect picture-like representation."

"In order to make the crime-scene come to life they made a point to limn the bodies exactly where they were when the police got there."

LIEN

legal claim on a property

/the right to take another's property if an obligation is not discharged

"He had been afraid of her lien on the land, so had not wanted to involve the authorities in the dispute."

"Because of the bank's lien, he knew that he had to obey their orders."

"The lien he had over her house had served as insurance for him since she was hard to trust."

LAUD

to praise highly

praise, glorify, or honor
SYN - exalt, extol, glorify, proclaim

"He hated having to acknowledge it but he lived for moments like this when these great people would laud his accomplishments."

"He must be strong, he must not depend on the judgments of others, even if all they want to do is laud your behavior."

"she lauded the high respect for honesty and truth that the professor exhibited."

lethargic

drowsy

dull

deficient in alertness or activity
SYN - unenergetic
"bullfrogs became lethargic with the first cold nights"

"he was feeling rather lethargic yet knew that he had a lot to do in the next few days so overcame his lassitude and got shit done."

"He couldn't stand being around such lethargic people all the time, which is why he quit hanging out with the potheads and sought a different sort of enlightenment."

"This type of summer rain always had a lethargic effect on the students."

LASSITUDE

languor

weariness

a state of comotose torpor (as found in sleeping sickness)
SYN - lethargy, sluggishness

a feeling of lack of interest or energy
SYN - languor, listlessness

weakness characterized by a lack of vitality or energy
SYN - initiation, lethargy, slackness

"a huge challenge in studying for the GRE is overcoming the lassitude associated with hours of vocab work."

"He prided himself on being able to overcome this type of lassitude and motivate himself."

"NIN and rage against the machine were the perfect solution to lassitude."

LACONIC

using few words, terse

brief and to the point
SYN - crisp, curt, terse
"The laconic reply"

"He had been grateful that the speaker had opted to give a laconic speech, since last year they were forced to endure a three hour lecture."

"He had a knack for giving laconic answers to these complex questions."

"After each long-winded question, the rock star suavely replied in a laconic way."

JOCULAR

humorous, amusing

/ADJ - characterized by jokes and good humor
SYN - jesting, jocose, joking

/ADVERB - with humor
"They tried to deal with this painful subject jocularly."

"It had been a jocular mood before the boring square of a professor walked in and started teaching."

"Every time they ended up hanging out with Jim it ended up being a jocular time."

"He refused to let the situation get him down, instead got over it jocularly by watching a couple episodes of Home Movies."

JEJUNE

vapid, uninteresting, nugatory

childish, immature, puerile

lacking in nutritive value
SYN - insubstantial
"The jejune diets of the poor."

displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity
SYN - adolescent, juvenile, puerile
ANT - wholesome
"jejune responses to our problems."

Lacking interest or significance or impact
SYN - insipid
"Jejune novel"

"He had no motivation to deal with the jejune people that were going to be at the party."

"All she had to her name was a jejune publication about the social welfare systems of the 1920's."

"He found it amusing how the board of directors tried dealing with the jejune proposals of their young colleague."

"It was the jejune way he would talk about his feelings which drove woman away from him."

IRRESOLUTE

uncertain how to act

weak
ANT - bent on, dead-set
"The committee was timid and mediocre and irresolute"

"It was in this irresolute state that she dropped this bomb and even though he was ambivalent towards their relationship his weak state made the whole thing really hard to take."

"He was irresolute about almost every decision in his life - this, he felt, was the most honest perspective though."

"There was nothing uglier and less-attractive about him than how irresolute he could be."

"She being at her core irresolute about the topic was no match for the decisive Jimmy - but i guess we will never know who was on the right side of the debate."

IRASCIBLE

easily angered

prone to tempermental outbursts

quickily aroused to anger
SYN - choleric, hotheaded, short-temper

characterized by anger
ANT - good-natured
"An irascible response."

"It was during this irascible outburst that she finally was able to realize she did not want to be with him."

"How had he, usually a calm person, became so irascible lately."

"He couldn't stand how irascible she was - they would have the littlest disagreement and it would escalate into a full-scale shouting match."

"She had been afraid to bring it up because of his history of being irascible."

INVETERATE

deep-rooted, ingrained, habitual

in a habitual and longstanding manner

SYN - chronically

"This was an inveterate and intractable view of his which it was rather useless to address."

"The sound of the highway had become so inveterate that it was a rather chaotic experience when they left their house and went into the city."

"It was hard for him when the inveterate visits of his uncle stopped - they had always been healing and he had depended on them for years."

"He had developed an inveterate tendency to hate anyone who suggested that knowledge wasn't the key."

INVEIGLE

to obtain by deception or flattery

influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
SYN - blarney, cajole, coax, sweet-talk

"She had had an easy life beacuse of her ability to inveigle whatever she wanted."

"It was so obvious now that the powerful politician's wife was inveigling the man into changing his position."

"He had despised her for having inveigled the important information out of him at the bar - she was on his turf now though."

INVECTIVE

abuse

abusive or venomous language used to express blame or censure or bitter deep-seated ill-will
SYN - vitriol, vituperation

"He had been inured by this invective behavior and she lost all control over him and the pleasure it gave her."

"He approached her with such an invective manner that she immediately ignored what he was trying to say almost as if her self-preservation instinct had taken over."

"After having unleashed this invective she immediately felt guilty and apologized."

"What he didn't understand is why she said this invective in the first place without thinking it through"

INURED

accustomed to accepting something undesirable

made tough by habitual exposure
SYN - enured, hardened
"Our successors...may be graver, more inured, and equable men."

"What I lack is an inured personality which - so essential to surviving love - is only gained through experience."

"Because he was so inured yet remained open-minded and thoughtful he made the perfect politician."

"He couldn't understand why she was so insensible to the pain that he was going through, until he thought about how inured she must have been becuase of her past."

"Brad is a total pussy who needs to face some real challenge and know the strength one can approach love with when one had been inured."

"Having been inured to the beatings, the slave's moans for help were now only a facade to prevent a different or more severe punishment."

INTREPID

steadfast and courageous

invulnerable to fear or intimidation
SYN - audacious, brave, dauntless, fearless, hardy
"Intrepid pioneers."

"Battles aren't won by craven individuals, it takes an intrepid group of people.":

"Intrepid, mocking, violent and unconcerned, this is how wisdom want's us; she is a warrior and loves only a woman."

"It was this intrepid attitude of his that allowed him to succeed at anything that he did."

INTRANSIGENT

refusing to compromise

impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, reason
SYN - adamant, inexorable
"In intransigent conservative opposed to every liberal tendancy."

"Just like his intractable predecessor, this leader was completely intransigent when it came to the war in Iraq."

"He couldn't deal with her intransigent nature when it came to almost every political belief that she had."

"How, having studied the amount of philosophy which he had, could he ever be so intransigent on so many topics - where had his skepticism gone."

"He hated having to deal with these intransigent people, whether it be the left, the right, or the so-called "the independents.""

INTRACTABLE

not easily managed or directed

stubborn

obstinate
"Intractable metal."

"He had admired his intractable stance on the issues of fiscal responsiblity."

"This intractable attitude was seen as one of President Bush's strong point amongst the stubborn simple people of the red states, whereas it was considered one of the worst and most damaging things about him in the blue states."

"He had come upon an intractable obstacle which was going to take all of his skill, intelligence and strength to get over."

INTIMATE

to imply, suggest or insinuate

give to understand
SYN - adumbrate, insinuate

imply as a possibility
SYN - suggest

"She had tried to intimate the idea to her bosses without outrightly telling them so that they could present the idea as their own, since she knew if it came directly from her it would be rejected for that reason alone."

"She intimated her desire for intimacy."

"All he was trying to do was intimate that something should be done about the cost of electricity, but instead it created a fracas amongst the co-workers."

INTERPOLATE

to interject

estimate the value of
SYN - extrapolate

insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby
SYN - alter, falsify

"He had hoped to interpolate these damaging words into the speech."

"Nietzsche suffered from her sister interpolating his unfinished works."

"He had to make sure that whatever from this point to the final print no-one especially not bobby, would be able to interpolate his work."

"He had asked if it would be okay if he could interpolate a few words between the two bands performances."

INSULARITY

narrow-mindedness

isolation

the state of being isolated or detached
SYN - detachment

"He didn't understand why he - a free-thinking questioner of all - missed his ex-girlfriend who had developed a willful insularity."

"It was in this exploration of his self that he - instead of self-discovery - developed views marked by insularity."

"How could someone live there whole lives living in such an insularity manner - cut off from the world and close-minded?"

"He attributed beliefs such as this to the cultures insularity."

INSOUCIANT

unconcerned, carefree, heedless

marked by blithe unconcern
SYN - casual, nonchalant
"An elegantly insouciant manner"

"What had really gotten to him was the way his topic was treated with such an insouciant attitude."

"The ladies loved him because he treated them and his fame in such an insouciant way, giving off the persona that he didn't need either."

"When he introduced himself he tried giving off an insouciant vibe so that he wouldn't show how much he wanted this and the lengths to which he would go to get it."

INSOLENCE

an attitude or behavior that is bold and disrespectful

/the trait of being rude and impertinent
SYN - cheekiness, crust, freshness, gall, imprudence

an offensive disrespectful act

"The teacher was shocked to see such an increase of insolence in the students"

"She wondered what kind of previous experiences he had had with her that caused him to react with such insolence to her relatively innocuous comments."

"What did he do to deserve being treated with such insolence."

"It was his insolence which had both caused her to be both attracted to him and constantly frustrated with him."

INNOCUOUS

harmless, causing no damage

not injurious to physical or mental health

not causing disapproval
SYN - unobjectionable
ANT - baneful, degrading pestilent
"confined himself to innocuous generalites."

"Because of his craven disposition, he ended up only saying rather innocuous things at these meetings."

"People were murmuring about what a brave and revolutionary speech it was, but they must have been fooled by the man's charisma, because I thought it was rather innocuous."

"He finally convince her to take this special, rather innocuous, home remedy."

INSENSIBLE

unconscious

unresponsive

incapable of physical sensualism
"insensible earth"

unaware of or indifferent to
"insensible to the suffering around him"

barely able to be perceived
"an almost insensible change"

unresponsive to stimulation
SYN - senseless
ANT - sensitive
"He lay insensible where he had fallen."

"It was in this insensible state that Joe was in that Cheri noticed just how vulnerable he really was."

"He remained insensible to the situation, even when he was told his huge fortune was disappearing."

"He had drank himself into a dangerous, insensible state. It was a true call for help."

INSIPID

without taste or flavor

lacking in spirit

bland

lacking taste or flavor or tang
SYN - bland, flat, flavorless, savorless, vapid
"insipid hospital food"

"It wasn't that there was anything wrong with her it was just that she had a rather insipid personality - and he wanted someone with some life and flavor."

"It was an insipid steak and they swore never again to come to the overpriced restaurant."

"He was no longer gonig to content himself with the insipid T.V. dinners, but rather he would treat himself to a home-cooked meal at his mothers."

INIMICAL

damaging

harmful

injurious

not friendly

"an inimical critic"

"He hated having to deal with the customers, but what was even worse was his inimical co-workers."

"It was putting up a defense against this inimical group that had occupied most of the corporate offices time."

"She prided her self on being practically immune to the anger and harm these inimical people threw at her."

INIMITABLE

one of a kind, peerless

defying imitation

"An inimitable style."

"She had prided herself on the fact that she had a truly inimitable personality."

"They had an inimitable sound which drew crazies from all all corners of the music universe to their concerts."

"The crowd was witnessing an inimitable performance and everyone knew it."

INGENUOUS

artless

frank and candid

lacking in sophistication

/charcterized by an inability to mask your feelings
"An ingenuous admission of responsibility."

//showing innocent or childlike simplicity and candidness

lacking craft or subtlety

"He had been so ingenuous in their previous interactions, he felt he could trust his comments."

"It was refreshing to her such an ingenuous admission."

"He had always known he lacked the persuasive manipulative powers which others had, but to him being ingenuous was not a downfall but a positive."

INFELICITOUS

unfortunate

inappropriate

/not appropriate in application
"The infelicitous typesetting was due to illegible copy"



marked by or producing unhappiness
SYN - unhappy
ANT - congratulatory, well-chosen
"Infelicitous circumstances."

//not appropriate or well-timed

"It was these infelicitous events which had caused Marjorie to flee town early."

"It was an infelicitous comment and it put everyone feel awkward for a moment."

"She shouldn't have been so surprised by the inappropriate, ill timed comments, he had a history for such infelicitous remarks."

INELUCTABLE

certain, inevitable

impossible to avoid or evade
"inescapable conclusion"
SYN - unavoidable
"An ineluctable destiny"

"He knew that these were the ineluctable consequences of his actions and he was ready to face them."

"It was the ineluctable change of employees that had really made his job miserable over the last few years."

"The economic downturn was ineluctable and people began to act accordingly - namely they stopped spending as much."