Unit 4 - Improving Vocabulary skills EAP-0090 - Chapter 27

Noun

Adjective

Verb

Adverb

Cryptic:

Synonyms: mysterious, enigmatic, puzzling, obscure, ambiguous, hidden, secret Antonyms: straightforward The high school students developed a CRYPTIC language in which everything meant the opposite of what it said. "Poor" meant "wonderful," "essential" meant "not important," and "ugly" meant "beautiful." The meaning of the language was hidden to those who didn't know its secret. "Cryptic" means "having a vague or hidden meaning," as in: The cryptic note my girlfriend left on my door said only "A bridge over troubled waters." Messages like LOL and WCB seemed quite CRYPTIC until a friend explained that they were abbreviations for expressions like Laughing Out Loud and Will Call Back. On the TV show, the detective refused to reveal his theory of who was the murderer. “When the bald man sings, all will be clear,” was his CRYPTIC reply to anyone who asked.

Deficit

Deficient:

Synonyms: lacking, poor, underprovided, short, incomplete, wanting Antonyms: abundant The Troyers' new house is beautiful, but the yard is completely DEFICIENT in trees or shrubs. It will be more attractive when it's less bare. The sentence suggests that a yard "deficient in trees and shrubs" is bare, or lacking in plantings. "Deficient" means "lacking some characteristic or element," as in: Having too little iron in one's blood may mean that one's diet is also deficient in that mineral. Anna sometimes appears to be DEFICIENT in common sense. For example, she went to an interview for an office job wearing ripped blue jeans and a baseball cap. People whose diet is severely DEFICIENT in vitamin A can suffer loss of vision and even complete blindness. On the other hand, a diet with too much vitamin A can cause the skin to turn yellow or orange.

Depiction

Depictive

Depict:

Synonyms: portray, show, represent, describe, illustrate, paint, give a picture Antonyms: The little boy went through a stage in which whenever he drew, he DEPICTED dinosaurs strolling through a field of tulips. The boy represented the dinosaurs in pictures. "Depict" means "to represent in pictures or words," as in: The painting "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso depicts the wartime destruction of a Spanish village. The novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time DEPICTS in vivid detail the way a person with autism sees the world. In various parts of the world, ancient people made paintings on cave walls to DEPICT animals, hunting scenes, and other daily concerns.

Detriment

Detrimental:

Synonyms: harmful, damaging, disadvantageous, unfavorable, injurious, Antonyms: beneficial Some beauty practices of the past were quite DETRIMENTAL to health. For example, women once brightened their eyes with drops of belladonna, a poisonous herb. We can conclude that using poison drops in the eyes is harmful. "Detrimental" means "harmful," as in: Doug and Karen are so convinced that watching television is detrimental that they don't even own a TV set. Realizing that their constant arguing was   DETRIMENTAL to their relationship, Gene and Irene decided to talk to a counselor to try to save their marriage. Constantly criticizing a child is DETRIMENTAL to his development. Such a child may never reach his full potential.

Implicit:

Synonyms: understood, implied, unspoken, contained, couched, inherent, hidden, indirect Antonyms: explicit Jose always felt there was an IMPLICIT understanding that he and Marissa would someday marry. Marissa, however, felt no such unspoken agreement, as Jose learned when she married someone else. Jose mistakenly believed that he and Marissa had an unstated understanding that they would marry. The sentences indicate that “implicit” means the same as “unspoken.” "Implicit" means "suggested but not directly expressed," as in: Harris understood the implicit threat when the man he owed money to said, "I'm sure you want your family to stay healthy." Sadie and Earl are not officially engaged, but they have an IMPLICIT agreement to be married after she has finished her military service. When the restaurant hostess said, “There are no tables available,” Mr. Landis showed her a twenty-dollar bill and asked, “Are you sure?” The IMPLICIT message was that he would pay to be seated.

Inhibition:

Inhibited

Inhibit

Synonyms: reserve, hang-up, shyness, embarrassment. Self-consciousness, Antonyms: spontaneity When the service was rude and the food arrived cold, Mrs. Lanker still hesitated to complain. Mr. Lanker, however, felt no such INHIBITION, and he told the restaurant manager exactly what he thought. Mr. Lanker did not hold back his criticism. "Inhibition" means "a holding back or blocking of some action, feeling, or thought," as in: Like most two-year-olds, Isaac has no inhibition about running around naked. In certain situations, INHIBITION can be a very good thing. It may keep us from saying everything that pops into our head, and that’s often best. Zelda has no INHIBITIONS when it comes to her hairstyle. She’ll dye her hair pink or shave it into a Mohawk if she feels like it.

Ironic:

Synonyms: sarcastic, satirical, biting, ironical, tongue in cheek Antonyms: In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the children who are the main characters are terrified of a weird neighbor, Boo Radley. In an IRONIC twist, it is Boo who saves their lives later in the book. Although the reader might expect Boo to harm the children, he turns out to be their rescuer. "Ironic" means "meaning the opposite of what is said," as in: "Ken should really become more serious about school," was Beth's ironic comment when she heard he had made perfect grades that semester. It’s IRONIC that Matt is such a good athlete, as neither of his parents have any athletic talent or interest in sports. The absolutely worst-behaved boy in my class, who was constantly in detention and was suspended more times than anyone could count, is today a high school principal. Now that is IRONIC.

Rupture

Rupture:

Synonyms: crack, split, shatter, burst, break, breakup, come apart Antonyms: We had the misfortune of staying in the hotel along with a bunch of noisy teens. They spent the night dropping water balloons off the balcony, then screaming with laughter as the balloons RUPTURED on the pavement below. The balloons must have burst on the pavement. "Rupture" means "to burst or break apart," as in: In 1889, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, became flooded under seventy feet of water when a dam above the town ruptured. It’s important to replace car tires before the rubber wears down to a thin layer. If a tire RUPTURES while the car is going at a high speed, the results can be tragic. Ever since a balloon he was blowing up RUPTURED in his face, the little boy begins crying every time he sees a balloon.

Saturation

Saturated

Saturate:

Synonyms: soak, drench, douse, dowse, steep, marinate, flood, dry out Antonyms: Clifford thinks he’s dieting because he eats a lot of salad, but when he SATURATES the entire salad with oily dressing, the calories really add up. Since “ the calories really add up,” Clifford must be soaking his salads with dressing. "Saturate" means "to soak, load, or fill as much as possible," as in: Sam eats his cereal so slowly that the milk saturates every flake, and then he complains that it isn't crunchy. The first step in making bran muffins is to add a cup of milk to two cups of bran cereal. Then the mixture must sit until all the liquid is absorbed and the cereal has become completely SATURATED with milk. A week’s worth of rain has thoroughly SATURATED the ground. Huge puddles are everywhere, as the earth cannot absorb any more water.

Vindictiveness

Vindictive:

Synonyms: spiteful, malicious, bitter, mean, cruel, hurtful, nasty, unkind, malevolent Antonyms: kind, benevolent I didn't know how VINDICTIVE my little cousin could be until I baby-sat with him. After I'd scolded him for being naughty, I found a box of tacks emptied onto my chair at the dinner table. The speaker's little cousin sought revenge for being scolded. "Vindictive" means "vengeful," as in: Leon becomes vindictive whenever a woman turns him down for a date. He takes revenge by spreading false stories about her. Fired employees are often required to leave the workplace immediately, because a VINDICTIVE person might try to get back at an employer by stealing material or destroying records. Although Shari and Javier went through a bitter divorce, neither is VINDICTIVE. Both say, “We loved each other once. Why would we try to hurt each other now?”