1. IMMACULATE (ADJECTIVE): very clean; unspoiled
Synonyms: spotless, flawless
Antonyms: defective, imperfect
Example Sentence:
The clinic, a large house surrounded by single-family homes, is immaculate, smelling of fresh cilantro and coffee beans.
2. SIMULACRUM (NOUN): copy
Synonyms: carbon, duplicate Antonyms: dissimilarity, opposite
Example Sentence:
They radiate from the surface of the skin and reproduce a simulacrum, as it were, of the surface.
3. STEELY (ADJECTIVE): cruel, heartless
Synonyms: brutal, callous Antonyms: sympathetic, gentle
Example Sentence:
She's a steely ingénue, a fair-faced heroine, a leading lady.
4. EXIGUOUS (ADJECTIVE): scanty
Synonyms: bare, confined Antonyms: plenty, many
Example Sentence:
There are plenty of references to them indeed, but they are exiguous and dull.
5. REMISS (ADJECTIVE): careless, thoughtless
Synonyms: lazy, forgetful Antonyms: scrupulous, mindful
Example Sentence:
And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated.
6. OOMPH (NOUN): energy
Synonyms: fortitude, potency Antonyms: inactivity, dullness
Example Sentence:
All the oomph in the U.S. economy was delivered by the top 10% of households.
7. CATACLYSM (NOUN): disaster
Synonyms: calamity, catastrophe Antonyms: blessing, miracle
Example Sentence:
Men everywhere felt that the social system was threatened with a cataclysm.
8. ACCROACH (VERB): claim without justification
Synonyms: assume, expropriate Antonyms: abstain, refuse
Example Sentence:
Perhaps most controversially, constructor is authorized to accroach land wherever it wants.
9. MANEUVER (NOUN): move, tactic
Synonyms: action, procedure Antonyms: ignorance, cessation
Example Sentence:
So Italy faces a plague of maneuver, of futile deals, endemic deadlock and, sooner rather than later, a new round of elections.
10. STERN (ADJECTIVE): serious, authoritarian
Synonyms: harsh, rigid Antonyms: easy, flexible
Example Sentence:
The country had very good technical training, but its labor laws were stern.
