Synonyms: idealize, exalt Antonyms: condemn, despise
Example Sentence:
To do so is to deify a celebrity for being what we need them to be, while willfully ignoring who they really are.
2. BYZANTINE (ADJECTIVE): complex
Synonyms: complicated, difficult Antonyms: simple, easy
Example Sentence:
Now they've responded to our criticisms—with typical Byzantine bureaucracy and towering ineptitude.
3. ABORT (VERB): stop or cancel something
Synonyms: halt, interrupt Antonyms: begin, start
Example Sentence:
Ellen makes her choice, and she throws herself down the stairs to abort the baby.
4. EXTORTIONATE (ADJECTIVE): oppressive
Synonyms: greedy, exacting Antonyms: libel, generous
Example Sentence:
She took the house at his own price; she accepted his terms, extortionate and grasping as they were.
5. COGENT (ADJECTIVE): effective
Synonyms: compelling, convincing Antonyms: invalid, weak
Example Sentence:
The author makes a cogent argument as to why women should consider the long-term repercussions of being on the pill.
6. TENUOUS (ADJECTIVE): weak, thin
Synonyms: delicate, insubstantial Antonyms: certain, strong
Example Sentence:
Today Liberians go to the polls in what will be a defining moment for their tenuous democracy.
7. CONFLUENCE (ADJECTIVE): coming together
Synonyms: assemblage, junction Antonyms: division, separation
Example Sentence:
This Garden is located at the confluence of four rivers.
8. ABADDON (NOUN): place of the condemned; bad situation
Synonyms: nightmare, purgatory Antonyms: calm, contentment
Example Sentence:
He is termed Abaddon, the angel of the bottomless pit—the prince of darkness.
9. BUCOLIC (ADJECTIVE): rural or rustic
Synonyms: pastoral, agrarian Antonyms: urban, cultivated
Example Sentence:
They are both in the study of my old farmhouse, in a room that has three nice sized windows, each with a lovely, bucolic view.
10. BEQUEATH (VERB): give in a will
Synonyms: bestow, entrust Antonyms: take, keep
Example Sentence:
Which will, in turn, mean they retire with less wealth, and bequeath less wealth to their children.
