Misleading

Examples:

- a fallacious conclusion

- a fallacious testimony

- consumers who harbor the fallacious belief that credit card spending will never catch up to them

untruthfulness / lie

Examples:

- the quality of state being mendacious

- highly fictionalized "memoirs" in which the facts were few and the mendacities many

- you need to overcome this deplorable mendacity, or no one will ever believe what you say

to know, sense, or understand by intuition

Examples:

- He was able to intuit the answer immediately.

- She intuited a connection between the two crimes.

to sail around

Example:

- The ship circumnavigated the world.

to go around or bypass

Examples:

- We circumvented the problem by using a different program.

- He found a way to circumvent the law.

roundabout; not direct in course or in language

Examples:

- We took a circuitous route to the airport so as to avoid the massive traffic jam on the highway

- Their logic seems a bit circuitous

being or presenting a comprehensive or panoramic view

Example: a panoptic view of the city.

to analyze in terms of grammatical constituents

Example: students were asked to parse the sentence.

a remedy for all diseases

or

an answer or solution for all problems

Examples:

- The law will improve the lives of local farmers, but it is no panacea.

- A woman who seems to believe that chicken soup is a panacea for nearly everything.

a natural liking for or attraction to a person, thing, idea, etc.

Examples:

- people with an affinity to darkness.

- pork and fennel have a natural affinity for each other.

- there's always been an affinity between us.

- He never felt any affinity with the other kids in his neighborhood.

government by the people (rule of the majority)

Examples:

- the nation has chosen democracy over monarchy.

- in a democracy, every citizen should have the right to vote.

- the company is not a democracy; decisions are made by a board of directors, not the workers.

corrupt or capable of being bought

Examples:

- a venal arrangement with the police.

- that judge is known for being venal and easily bought.

a coming into being or use

Examples:

- the advent of spring.

- the advent of pasteurization.

- the advent of personal computers.

Aberration (noun)

Aberrant (adjective)

the act of departing from the right, normal, or usual course

Examples:

- For her, such a low grade on an exam was an aberration.

- a study of sexual aberration

- although genetic aberration is rare it can happen to people who have a shortage or surplus of DNA sequences.

- a year of aberrant weather.

- aberrant behavior can be a sign of rabies in a wild animal.

Anomaly (noun)

Anomalous (a-naw-ma-les) (adjective)

something anomalous: something different, abnormal, peculiar, or not easily classified

Examples:

- We couldn't explaing the anomalies in the test results.

- her C grade is an anomaly, as she's never made anything except A's and B's before.

- that  was an anomalous year for the housing industry.

Allowing the possibility of several different meanings; of uncertain significance.

Examples:

- He responded to reporters' questions with equivocal answers.

- the experiment produced equivocal results.

easily understood; completely comprehensible

Example: he is able to recognize his wife in his lucid moments.

to bring about abruptly

Examples:

- her death precipitated a family crisis.

- the budget problem was precipitated by many unexpected costs.

to make milder or less severe

Examples:

- he couldn't assuage his guilt over the divorce.

- life contains sorrows that cannot be assuaged.

characterized by great knowledge

Examples:

- the most erudite people in medical research attended the conference.

- an erudite lecturer on the latest discoveries in astronomy.

not transparent or translucent; not allowing light to pass through

Example: the opaque water of the muddy river.

wastefully or recklessly extravagant

Example: the prodigal child always spent her allowance the minute she got it.

something hard to understand or explain

Examples:

- To his friends, he was always something of an enigma.

- one of the great enigmas of our time.

heated or vehement in spirit, enthusiasm, etc.

Example: a fervent desire to change society.

to soothe, appease, or mollify: appease

Examples:

- The angry customer was not placated by the clerk's apology.

- The administration placated protesters by agreeing to consider their demands.

Zeal (noun)

Zealous (adj)

eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something

Example:he was uncomfortable with their lavish parties and their collector's zeal for the most expensive, most ostentatious brand names.

to hold oneself back voluntarily, especially from something regarded as improper or unhealthy

Examples:

- two members voted for the proposal, six members voted against it, and two abstained.

- he abstained from alcohol.

extremely bold or daring

Examples:

- This is her most audacious role so far

- She made an audacious decision to quit her job.

to dry thoroughly; dry up

Examples:

- add a cup of dessicated coconut to the mix

- naturally desiccated bodies are common in Egyptian museums

worth of praise: commendable

Examples:

- improving the schools is a laudable goal.

- you showed laudable restraint in dealing with that ridiculously demanding customer.

Pedant (noun) (peh-dint)

Pedantic (adj)

one who makes a show of knowledge or his or her learning

to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute

Example: she has vacillated on this issue.

to corrupt or make impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance or element; use cheaper, inferior, or less desirable goods in production of something - i.e. to adulterate food

Example: the company is accused of adulterating its products with cheap additives.

Impulsive, unpredictable

Examples:

- employees who are at the mercy of a capricious manager.

- the court ruled that the punishment was arbitrary and capricious.

to produce, cause, or give rise to

Examples:

- the issue has engendered a considerable amount of debate.

- a suggestion to go out for pizza that didn't seem to engender any interest.

- policies that have engendered controversy

- the issue has engendered a considerable amount of debate

of the same kind or nature

Example:a fairly homogeneous collection of examples

talking or tending to talk much or freely; talkative

Examples:

- the loquacious host of a radio talk show

- a loquacious and glib politician

pertaining to a practical point of view. being practical as opposed to idealistic.

Example: his pragmatic view of public education comes from years of working in city schools.

evaporating rapidly; changeable

Examples:

- the stock market can be very volatile.

- the protests are increasing, creating a volatile situation in the capital.

Apathy (noun)

Apathetic (adj)

lack of feeling or emotion

Example: people have shown surprising apathy toward these important social problems.

to provide supporting evidence

Examples:

- the witness corroborated the policeman's testimony.

- my personal experience does not corroborate your faith in the essential goodness of people.

lasting one day only; lasting a very short amount of time

Example: the autumn blaze of colors is always to be treasured, all the more so because it is so ephemeral.

using few words; expressing much in few words; concise

Examples:

- he had a reputation of being laconic.

- the sportscaster's color commentary tends to be laconic but very much to the point.

to lessen in force or intensity

Examples:

- Emergency funds are being provided to help mitigate the effects of the disaster.

- Medicines used to mitigate a patient's suffering.

true nature of someone or something; or a special characteristic

Examples:

- she conducted herself with propriety

- they debated the propriety of the punishment that he was given.

to reduce in amount, degree, or severity

Examples:

- As the hurricane's force abated, the winds dropped and the sea became calm.

- We waited for the wind to abate.

to leave secretly

Examples:

- the suspect absconded to Canada

- the patron absconded from the restaurant without paying his bill by sneaking out the back door.

an extremely deep hole

Examples:

- the submarine dove into the abyss to chart the previously unseen depths.

- looking down at the dark ocean from the ship's rail, the cruise passenger felt as though he was starring into an abyss.

to speak in favor of

Examples:

- the vegetarian advocated a diet containing no meant.

- he advocates traditional teaching methods.

to increase in power, influence, and reputation

Examples:

- The supervisor sought to aggrandize herself by claiming  that the achievements of her staff were actually her own.

- a movie that aggrandizes the bad guys and makes the cops look like dopes.

to combine; to mix together

Example: Giant industries amalgamated with Mega Products to form Giant-Mega Products Incorporated.

something out of the place in time

Examples:

- The aged hippie used anachronistic phrases like groovy and far out that had not been popular for years.

- The novel is full of anachronisms.

similar or alike in some way; equivalent to

Example:

- bad-mouthing your sister is analogous to slapping her in the face - it's just as bad.

to annoy or provoke to anger

Example:

The child discovered that he could antagonize the cat by pulling its tail.

Antipathy (an-ti-pe-fee) (noun)

Antipathetic (adj)

extreme dislike

Examples:

- The antipathy between the French and the English regularly erupted into open warfare.

- The author's antipathies and prejudices are obvious.

to judge a dispute between two opposing parties

Examples:

- The councile will arbitrate among the interest groups.

- Since the couple could not come to agreement, a judge was forced to arbitrate their divorce preceedings.

intense and passionate feeling

Examples:

- Bishop's ardor for the landscape was evident when he passionately described the beauty of the scenic Hudson Valley.

- candidates for citizenship reciting the oath allegiance to the US with all the ardor that they could muster.

to reduce in force or degre; to weaken

Example:

The Bill of Rights attenuated the traditional power of governments to change laws at will.

severe or stern in appearance; undecorated

Examples:

- the lack of decoration makes military barracks seem austere to the civilian eye.

- he was known for his austere style of writing.

predictable, clichéd, boring

Examples:

- he used banal phrases like "have a nice day, or another day, another dollar"

- he made some banal remarks about the weather.

to support; to prop up

Example:

- the presence of giant footprints bolstered the argument that Sasquatch was in the area.

-

pompous in speech and manner

Examples:

- The ranting of the radio talk-show host was mostly bombastic; his boasting and outrageous claims had no basis in fact.

- a bombastic speech intended to impress the voters in her congressional district.

harsh, jarring noise

Example:

- the junior high orchestra created an almost unbearable cacophony as they tried to tune their instruments.

impartial and honest in speech

Example:

- The observations of a child can be charming since they are candid and unpretentious.

to punish or criticize harshly

Examples:

- many Americans are amazed at how harshly the authorities in Singapore castigate perpetrators of what would be considered minor crimes in the US.

- the author castigated the prime minister as an ineffective leader.

something that brings about a change in something else

Examples:

- the imposition of harsh taxes was the catalyst that finally brought on the revolution.

- the bombing attack was the catalyst of the war.

biting in wit

Example:

- Dorothy Parker gained her reputation for caustic wit from her cutting, yet clever, insults.

Chauvinist (noun or adj)

Chauvinistic (adj)

someone prejudiced in favor of a group to which he or she belongs.

Example:

- The attitude that men are inherently superior to women and therefore must be obeyed is common among male chauvinists.

deception by means of craft or guile

Examples:

- Dishonest used car sales people often use chicanery to sell their beat-up old cars.

- He wasn't above using chicanery to win votes.

convincing and well reasoned

Examples:

- swayed by the cogent argument of the defense, the jury had no choice but to acquit the defendant.

- the results of the DNA fingerprinting were the most cogent evidence for acquittal.

to regard or treat (something bad or blameworthy) as acceptable, forgivable, or harmless.

Examples:

- A government that has been accused of condoning racism.

- He is too quick to condone his friend's faults.

intricate and complicated

Examples:

- Although many people bought "A Brief History of Time", few could follow its convoluted ideas and theories.

- A convoluted explanation that left the listeners even more confused than they were before.

too trusting; gullible

Examples:

- Although some four year olds believe in the Easter Bunny, only the most credulous nine year olds also believe in him.

- Few people are credulous enough to believe such nonsense.

a gradual increase

Examples:

- The noise rose to a crescendo

- The crescendo of tension became unbearable as he Evel Knievel prepared to jump his motorcycle over the school buses.

appropriatness of behavior or conduct; propriety

Examples:

- The countess complained that the vulgar peasants lacked the decorum appropriate for a visit to the palace.

- High standards of decorum are usually required when attending the opera.

respect, courtesy (usually do to a superior or an elder)

Examples:

- The respectful young law clerk treated the Supreme Court justice with the utmost deference.

- Her relatives treat one another with deference.

to speak of or treat with contempt; to mock

Example:

- The awkward child was often derided by his cooler peers.