Vocabulary Building: Key Words and Their Meanings
This lesson explores essential vocabulary words including "flourish," "haughty," and "opulence." Each term is defined along with synonyms, antonyms, and example sentences to illustrate their usage. For instance, "flourish" means to thrive or grow well, and is contrasted with "wither." As you expand your vocabulary, you will discover the nuances of words like "malice" and "perfunctory," enhancing your communication skills. Engage with concepts of wealth, laziness, and human emotions through carefully selected language that enriches your understanding.
Vocabulary Building: Key Words and Their Meanings
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Presentation Transcript
SAT Lesson 5 Words 13-25
Flourish • To thrive, to grow well • Synonym – embellish, ornate • Antonym – wither • Derivatives – flourishing • The company flourished after a new board of directors took control and showed a 5% increase in sales within the first four months.
Haughty • Arrogant, excessively proud and vain • Synonym – disdainful, supercilious, insolent • Antonym – humble • Derivatives – haughtiness, haughtily • Being quarterback of the football team does not give him to right to be haughty and stuck-up.
Impervious • Incapable of being entered, not capable of being damaged • Synonym – resistant • Antonym – penetrable • Derivatives – imperviously, imperviousness • Because his watch is impervious to water, he can swim while wearing it.
inane • Lacking significance, meaning, or point; silly • Synonym – banal, jejune, vapid • Antonym – pertinent, significant, intelligent • Derivatives – inanely, inanity • Your comments are inane and insignificant preventing the discussion of the main point.
Indolence • laziness • Synonym – slothfulness • Antonym – industriousness • Derivatives – indolent • The hot and humid weather in the tropics encourages indolence and rest.
Infallible • Incapable of error • Synonym – reliable, sound • Antonym – erroneous, fallacious • Derivatives – infallibility • Since everyone makes mistakes, no human is infallible: even Mrs. Medlock.
Inscrutable • Difficult to understand • Synonym – enigmatic, mysterious • Antonym – clear, understandable • Derivatives – inscrutably • He had us all confused with his inscrutable smile and cryptic message.
Languid • Slow, sluggish, listless, weak • Synonym – lethargic, torpid • Antonym – animated • Derivatives – languidly, languish • The old man’s walk was languid; each pace requiring great effort.
Malice • Desire to harm others • Synonym – malevolence, spite • Antonym – kind, concern, benevolent • Derivatives – maliciousness, malicious • His death was caused by malice and was not accidental.
Oblique • Slanting, indirect, evasive, devious, misleading • Synonym – askew • Antonym – direct, honest • Derivatives – obliquely • Because of the suspect’s oblique answers, our interrogation of him led us in the wrong direction.
Opulence • Wealth, affluence, abundance • Synonym – lavish, wealth • Antonym – meagerness, scarcity • Derivatives – opulent • Because of the climbing prices of oil, the shareholders of oil companies can continue to live their opulent lifestyle.
Penitent • Showing or feeling regret for wrongdoing • Synonym – contrite, remorseful, repentant • Antonym – not sorry, unrepentant • Derivatives – penitence • He became penitent when he realized that his prank resulted in serious injury.
Perfunctory • Acting routinely with little interest or care • Synonym – obligatory, mechanical • Antonym – diligent, concerned • Derivatives – perfunctorily • Due to his perfunctory manner of inspecting the cheese factory, he did not notice the serious problem of rat infestation.
