1. POIGNANT (ADJECTIVE): affecting, painful
Synonyms: disturbing, heartbreaking Antonyms: cheerful, wonderful
Example Sentence:
More than 50 years later she went there to see his grave and wrote a poignant memoir of their lost life together.
2. SEVERANCE (NOUN): division
Synonyms: detachment, demarcation Antonyms: union, juncture
Example Sentence:
Doubts and tensions between the two sides further exacerbated after US President announced the severance of ties with Taiwan in 1978.
3. COLLUDE (VERB): conspire
Synonyms: plot, intrigue Antonyms: forget, neglect
Example Sentence:
In the last two years, more than 15 of the market's traders have been kidnapped. One businessman says that corrupt government officials and the Afghan security services often collude in these crimes.
4. MAZY (ADJECTIVE): difficult to understand
Synonyms: complicated, convoluted Antonyms: easy, clear
Example Sentence:
All day and all night, the waves threw themselves dementedly against their rocky barricade, sending an endless roar like heavy traffic through the glacial rooms and mazy, echoing corridors of the old house.
5. GLADE (NOUN): dell
Synonyms: meadow, valley
Example Sentence:
We had broken suddenly into a lovely glade of greensward surrounded by ancient trees.
6. RETICENT (ADJECTIVE): secretive, quiet
Synonyms: hesitant, shy Antonyms: extrovert, outgoing
Example Sentence:
Sensitive to the victimization of blacks throughout American history, whites tend to be reticent about criticizing them, especially on racial matters.
7. BLEB (NOUN): swelling
Synonyms: sore, abscess
Example Sentence:
One day, as he was bathing her, a bleb of shampoo had streamed into her eye, and she had kept a hand pressed to it for the rest of the day.
8. VET (VERB): analyze, test
Synonyms: inspect, ponder Antonyms: overlook, ignore
Example Sentence:
She was the right age (in her fifties), and her personal background had been vetted
during the Senate confirmation hearings.
9. ACCLIMATE (VERB): make or become adjusted, adapted
Synonyms: accustom, accommodate Antonyms: soften
Example Sentence:
The Korbels did not have much time to pull their lives together and acclimate themselves to English culture.
10. PREROGATIVE (NOUN): right, privilege
Synonyms: immunity, perquisite Antonyms: duty, obligation
Example Sentence:
It is the prerogative of the High Court to accept or reject the public interest litigation in many countries.
