false, insincere

Bombastic

pompous, ostentatious;

 intended to impress others

Colloquial

vernacular

(using the language of the people--how they

 speak in a certain area or time)

Concrete

actual, specific, particular

Connotative

alludes to; suggestive

Cultured

cultivated, refined, finished

Detached

cut-off, removed, separated

Emotional

expressive of emotions

Esoteric

 [es-uh-ter-ik]

understood by a chosen few;

private, confidential

Exact

verbatim, precise

Figurative

serving as an illustration;

beyond the literal

Formal

academic, conventional

Grotesque

[groh-tesk]

hideous, deformed

Homespun

folksy, homey, native, rustic

Idiomatic

peculiar, vernacular

Insipid

uninteresting, tame, dull

Jargon

vocabulary for a certain profession

Learned

[lur-nid]

educated, experienced

Literal

apparent, word for word

Moralistic

puritanical, righteous

Obscure

unclear

Obtuse

dull-witted, undiscerning; not persceptive

Ordinary

everyday, common

Pedantic

[puh-dan-tik]

didactic, scholastic, bookish

Plain

clear, obvious

Poetic

lyrical, melodious, romantic

Precise

exact, accurate, decisive

Pretentious

pompous, gaudy, inflated

Provincial

[pruh-vin-shuh[image]l]

rural, rustic, unpolished

Scholarly

intellectual, academic

Sensuous

passionate

Simple

clear, intelligible

Slang

lingo, colloquialistic

Symbolic

representative, metaphorical

Trite

common, banal, sterotypical

Informal

casual, relaxed, unoffical

Vulgar

coarse, indecent, tasteless