VocabularyUnit 3

adversary

I am happiest when I see NC State beat its adversary, Chapel Hill.

antagonist

alienate

isolate

Since he was so mean and violent toward his friends, he completely alienated himself from society.

artifice

The magician used artifice to get his audience to believe his tricks.

coerce

compel

The bully, with his fists in the air, coerced the poor kid to give him his lunch money.

craven

cowardly

He did not want to look craven in front of his friends as they all encouraged him to jump off the diving board 30 feet up.

culinary

Chef Ramsay is a culinary dictator who expects nothing less than perfection in the kitchen.

demise

downfall

Because Icarus refused to listen to his father, his actions led to his demise.

exhilarate

excite

The students were completely exhilarated when they found out there was a two-hour delay for school the next day.

fallow

It is better for students to continue to use their minds over the summer instead of leaving their creative energies fallow for two months.

harass

Telemarketers only seem to harass people when they’re trying to have a relaxing dinner with their family.

hound

inclement

In North Carolina, cars covered halfway with snow is an obvious sign of inclement weather; however, in Chicago, it is considered just a standard Thursday.

liquidate

eliminate

The best time to buy anything in bulk is when a store is having a liquidation sale to get rid of any remaining merchandise.

muse

meditate

The hardest decision I’ve ever had to make came when I mused over which meal number I wanted at Chick-fil-a.

negligible

I found that dusting in places no one can see was a negligible task, so I moved on to vacuuming.

perpetuate

prolong

Many aging celebrities turn to plastic surgery to try to perpetuate their youthful good looks.

precedent

pattern

Parents who donate to good causes set a precedent for their children to be charitable as well.

punitive

penalizing

Shoes that contort feet in this painfully unnatural way are definitely intended to be punitive in nature.

redress

remedy

We had to call a professional to come redress our internet problems because we could not figure out what the issue was on our own.

sojourn

stay

As you can imagine, I was not disappointed when we had to take a sojourn in Greece on our way to China.

urbaneIf being urbane requites corsets and stiff posture, I’m fine being a slob.