1. LACERATION (NOUN): cut, wound
Synonyms: lesion, injury
Antonyms: closure
Example Sentence:
Somehow he got up with the only injury a laceration in his chin.
2. REPRIEVE (NOUN): relief of blame, responsibility
Synonyms: abatement, deferment Antonyms: continuation
Example Sentence:
Bad weather, however, gave her a reprieve; a spring rainstorm forced a postponement,
pushing her appearance back 24 hours.
3. TAWDRY (ADJECTIVE): cheap, tasteless
Synonyms: sleazy, tacky Antonyms: sophisticated, nice
Example Sentence:
Her tale is one of frequent drug abuse and an over-eagerness to please her tawdry boyfriend.
4. BLIGHT (VERB): ruin, destroy
Synonyms: mar, taint Antonyms: improve, repair
Example Sentence:
Increasingly, cities long left to rot are rising from the ashes of blight as they try to become shining examples of new urbanism.
5. ABSTEMIOUS (ADJECTIVE): restraining behavior or appetite
Synonyms: ascetic, moderate Antonyms: greedy, hungry
Example Sentence:
For several years he was so abstemious that he had eaten but one meal a day.
6. CREPUSCULAR (ADJECTIVE): lack of light
Synonyms: darkened, dull Antonyms: bright, luminous
Example Sentence:
This crepuscular conflict requires a new vocabulary and a familiarity with a new type of history.
7. BLUNDERBUSS (NOUN): blundering person
Synonyms: blunderer, klutz
Example Sentence:
With this hurried adjuration, he cocked his blunderbuss, and stood on the offensive.
8. CRINGE (VERB): flinch, recoil from danger
Synonyms: cower, kneel Antonyms: face, come forward
Example Sentence:
She was inclined to cringe before all humanity like a beaten dog.
9. ENVENOM (VERB): forgiveness
Synonyms: embitter, acerbate Antonyms: heal, mend
Example Sentence:
These notaries are strange fellows; they envenom everything.
10. BOMBAST (NOUN): boasting
Synonyms: bluster, exaggeration Antonyms: plain speaking, modest
Example Sentence:
In the midst of all her bombast, I suddenly saw her as the sad, lonely old woman she was.