Vocab Master Day – 55

1.Besiege

Meaning: surround (a place) with armed forces in order to

capture it or force its surrender.

Synonym: beleaguer, blockade, surround

Sentence: “the king marched north to besiege Berwick”

2.Bete noire

Meaning: a person or thing that one particularly dislikes.

Synonym: anathema, abomination, bogey, bugaboo;

Sentence: “great-uncle Edward was my father’s bête noire”

3.Biennial

Meaning: taking place every other year.

Sentence: “the first of a series of biennial exhibitions”

4. Recede

Meaning: Pull back or move away or backward

Synonym: subside, ebb, taper

Antonym: forge, ascend, prolong

Sentence: The unhappy memories of her childhood receded as

she grew older

5.Proclivity

Meaning: a tendency to choose or do something regularly; an

inclination or predisposition towards a particular thing.

Synonym: liking, inclination, tendency, leaning, disposition,

propensity,

Sentence: “a proclivity for hard work”

6. Diabolic

Meaning: showing the cunning or ingenuity or wickedness typical

of a devil.

Synonyms: devilish, diabolical,

Sentence: An idle mind is a Diabolic’s workshop.

7. Rancour

Meaning: a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will.

Synonyms: bitterness, gall, rancor, resentment, reprisal.

Sentence: Although my friend betrayed me, I have no rancor

towards him.

8.Trite

Meaning: not interesting or effective because of being used too

often : not fresh or original

Synonym: stereotype, cobwebby, timeworn

Sentence: “ That argument has become trite.”

9.Charlatan

Meaning: a person falsely claiming to have a special knowledge

or skill.

Synonym: quack, mountebank, sham, fraud, fake

Sentence: “a self-confessed con artist and charlatan”

10.Chameleon

Meaning: a small slow-moving Old World lizard with a prehensile

tail, long extensible tongue, protruding eyes that rotate

independently, and a highly developed ability to change

colour., a person who changes their opinions

or behaviour according to the situation.

Synonym: opportunist, temporizer, timeserver,

Sentence:”voters have misgivings about his performance as a

political chameleon”