Essentials Vocabulary - Week 2
adroit: [uh-DROIT] Adjective Meaning
Expert or nimble in the use of the hands or body. ●
Usage ●
He is proving to be an adroit doctor who has saved many lives. You have to be an adroit soccer player to qualify for the team.
Synonyms
Skilful, resourceful, ingenious, dexterous
Antonyms
clumsy
affable: [af-uh-buh l] Adjective Meaning
Pleasantly easy to approach and to talk to. Showing warmth and friendliness. ● ●
Usage
John is a popular boy with an affable smile. We need an affable salesperson to increase the number of customers.
Synonyms
Personable, warm, friendly, amiable, cordial
Antonyms
Unfriendly, disagreeable, impolite
affirm: [uh-FURM] Verb Meaning
To state or assert positively. To express agreement with or commitment to. ●
Usage
●
Singing the team anthem affirms one’s loyalty to their sports’ team. The museum curator cannot affirm which of the paintings is genuine.
Synonyms
Assert, confirm, declare, guarantee, agree
Antonyms
Deny, forget, veto
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affluent: [AF-loo-uh-nt] Adjective/Noun
Meaning
Having an abundance of wealth, property, or other material goods. (adjective) A rich person. (noun) ●
Usage
●
He desires a more affluent lifestyle and is willing to work hard for it. (adjective) The high-end restaurant attracts affluent customers, especially on weekends. (noun)
Synonyms
Moneyed, prosperous, rich, upscale, well-off
Antonyms
Destitute, failing, poor
aggregate: [AG-ri-git] Noun/Adjective/Verb
Meaning
Formed by the conjunction or collection of particulars into a whole mass or sum. (adj) A sum, mass, or assemblage of particulars. (n) To bring together; collect into one sum, mass, or body. (v) ●
Usage
● ●
This aggregate rock is made up of various minerals and elements. (adj) This group is an aggregate of students from different districts. (n) The samples collected in the swamp should be aggregated in the laboratory. (v)
Synonyms
Cumulative, combined, accumulated
Antonyms
Individual, uncombined, particular
ailment: [eyl-muh nt] Noun Meaning
A physical disorder or illness, especially of a minor or chronic nature. ●
Usage ●
She is suffering from a rare ailment and several medicines have been ineffective. The doctor is quite good at curing common ailments.
Synonyms
Ache, sickness, disease, disorder, illness, malady
Antonyms
health
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alternate: [AWL-ter-neyt] Verb/Adjective/Noun
Meaning
To interchange repeatedly and regularly with one another in time or place. (v) Being in a constant state of succession or rotation; constituting an alternative. (adj) A person authorized to fill the position, exercise the duties, etc., of another who is temporarily absent. (n) ●
Usage
● ●
You have to alternate with your brother in mowing the lawn. (v) Create an alternate email for your social media accounts so your school email’s inbox is not flooded with notifications. (adj) The alternate teacher is liked by the students and the faculty. (n)
Synonyms
Backup, substitute, surrogate, interchange, double, stand-in
Antonyms
Primary, noncyclic
amass: [uh-MASS] Verb Meaning
To gather for oneself. To collect into a mass or pile. ●
Usage ●
My father loved comic books and amassed a great number of them in his collection. Amassing a large number of followers on Twitter is difficult.
Synonyms
Assemble, collect, compile, garner, hoard
Antonyms
Disperse, divide, scatter, separate
amenable: [uh-MEE-nuh-buh l] Adjective Meaning
Ready or willing to answer, act, agree, or yield. Open to influence, persuasion, or advice. ●
Usage ●
Some leaders like amenable team members in order to avoid conflict in the team. He was an easy-going child and amenable to change.
Synonyms
Agreeable, responsive, susceptible
Antonyms
unsusceptible
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ancestral: [an-SES-truh l] Adjective Meaning
Descending or claimed from ancestors/forefathers. Serving as a forerunner, prototype, or inspiration. ●
Usage
●
Our family’s ancestral h ome needs to be regularly maintained and renovated. Having blue eyes is an ancestral trait which dates back to my great-great-grandfather.
Synonyms
Familial, genealogical
Antonyms
none
annotate: [AN-uh-teyt] Verb Meaning
Usage
To supply with critical or explanatory notes. To comment upon in notes. ● ●
It is quite challenging to annotate the works of Shakespeare. You are free to annotate the textbooks with supplemental notes.
Synonyms
Comment, commentate, construe, define, elucidate
Antonyms
Confuse, mystify, obscure
anomaly: [uh-NOM-uh-lee] Noun Meaning
A deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form. An odd, peculiar, or strange condition, situation, quality, etc. ●
Usage
●
Kevin’s calm and quiet demeanour is an anomaly in this noisy class. An anomaly in the results of the laboratory tests caused the experiment to be halted.
Synonyms
Aberration, abnormality, deviation, inconsistency, irregularity, oddity
Antonyms
Conformity, normality, regularity, standard
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