VOCAB MASTER DAY – 20

1.Effrontery

Meaning: shameless boldness

Synonym: cockiness, cheekiness, pertness

Sentence: “the little squirt had the effrontery to deny eating any cookies, even with the crumbs still on his lips”

2.Malarkey

Meaning: foolish words or ideas

Synonym: applesauce, balderdash

Sentence: He thinks everything politicians say is just a bunch of malarkey

3.Bombast

Meaning: speech or writing that is meant to sound important or

impressive but is not sincere or meaningful

Synonym: exaggeration

Sentence: you need less bombast and more substance in this speech on human rights

4.Opulent

Meaning: ostentatiously costly and luxurious.

Synonym: luxurious, sumptuous, palatial

Antonym: penniless, poor, impoverished, penurious

Sentence: “the opulent comfort of a limousine”

5.Preposterous

Meaning: contrary to reason or common sense; utterly absurd or ridiculous.

Synonym: absurd, ridiculous, foolish, stupid, ludicrous

Antonym: reasonable, sensible

Sentence: “a preposterous suggestion”

6.Prerogative

Meaning: a right or privilege exclusive to a particular individual or class.

Synonym: entitlement, right, privilege, advantage

Sentence: “in some countries, higher education is predominantly the prerogative of the rich”

7.Posthumous

Meaning: occurring, awarded, or appearing after the death of the

originator., (of a child) born after the death of its father.

Synonym: postmortem

Antonym: antemortem

Sentence: “he was awarded a posthumous Military Cross”

8.Potable

Meaning: safe to drink; drinkable.

Synonym: drinkable

Antonym: contaminated, dirty, foul, polluted;

Sentence: “there is no supply of potable water available”

9.Potpourri

Meaning: a mixture of dried petals and spices placed in a bowl to perfume a room. A mixture or medley of things.

Synonym: mixture, assortment, collection, selection

Sentence: “he played a potpourri of tunes from Gilbert and Sullivan”

10. Pernicious

Meaning: having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.

Synonym: harmful, damaging, destructive, injurious

Antonym: beneficial, benign, favourable

Sentence: “the pernicious influences of the mass media”