SCANTY = (adjective) 1. smaller than what is desired; 2. barely enough

Examples:
- Namibia expects another drought this year because of scanty rainfall.
- Lisa quit her job because of her of scanty wage. 
- That club downtown is well know for its' scantily-clad dancers. 

Synonyms: deficient, insufficient, meager, skimpy, sparse, stingy

Antonyms: excessive, sufficient, ample

NEFARIOUS = (adjective) very wicked or evil

Examples:
- The CEO offered his employees nefarious schemes.
 - That single nefarious act made Frank's dad infamous as a crook.
- The Godfather was convicted for committing murder and many other nefarious acts.

Synonyms: evil, wicked, bad, villainous, heinous, treacherous, base, depraved

Antonyms: good, kind, moral

VICARIOUS = (adjective) experienced as a result of watching, listening to or reading about the activities of other people, rather than by doing the activities yourself

Examples:
- I felt vicarious pain when Lisa told me about how she had accidentally cut herself. 
- I felt vicarious excitement to hear that Frank was going for a surf
- Most football fans experience the vicarious thrill of victory every time their team wins.

Synonyms: indirect, pretended, secondary, delegated, substituted, surrogate, sympathetic

Antonyms: first-hand, direct

PERFIDY = 1. a betrayal of trust and faith; 2. an act of treachery

Examples:
- Marc is remembered for his perfidy more than for anything else.
- Marc's perfidious actions shocked his students
- Frank is a loyal and patriotic man who would never commit perfidy.

Synonyms: deception, dishonesty, disloyalty, betrayal, treachery, trickery

Antonyms: loyalty, faithfulness, honesty

 

TIRADE = a long, angry speech, usually denouncing something

Examples:
- Marc's tirades can sometimes make me sick to my stomach.
- Marc's tirade seemed excessive, given that the situation was not all that serious.
- Marc launched into a tirade about the importance of studying with SAT Flashcards.

Synonyms: rant, harangue, diatribe, fulmination

WHET = 1. to simulate an interest in something or intensify a feeling; 2. to sharpen something, like a knife

Examples:

- Lisa decided to whet my appetite by having starters before dinner.
- Marc will have to whet the knife before using it.
- The small bite of that brownie, whet my appetite for dessert.

Synonyms: arouse, excite, entice, stimulate, spur, awaken, sharpen, hone, grind

Antonyms: bore, dull, blunt

FRIVOLOUS = (adjective) 1. not serious in content, attitude, or behavior;  not having any serious purpose or value 2. lacking in intellectual substance and not worth serious consideration; 3. silly and trivial

Examples:

The judge dismissed the case as frivolous.

My dad said to watch my spending and avoid frivolous purchases.

The frivolity with which Marc approached the situation showed that he wasn't very serious.

Synonyms: silly, trivial, paltry, petty, senseless

Antonyms: important, relevant, pertinent

FIASCO = (noun) a thing that is a complete failure, esp. in a ludicrous or humiliating way

Synonyms: failure, disaster, embarrassment, blunder, breakdown, debacle, flop

Antonyms: success, accomplishment

Examples:
The rain turned the celebration into a fiasco.

 A drunk debater turned the debate into a fiasco.  

I got sick and my wife got robbed; I would say the holiday was a fiasco.

SATURNINE = (adjective) gloomy, bitter, and overly serious

Examples:

- The college students were in a saturnine mood after they got caught drinking alcohol.
- Marc was in a seriously bad mood which was made clear by his saturnine behavior.
- Marc to be happy and easy-going, but he has turned saturnine over the years.

Synonyms: irritable, crabby, surly, sullen, grouchy, harsh, gruff

Antonyms: happy, pleasant, sweet

INGENIOUS = (adjective) 1. clever and imaginative; 2 skillful and adept

Examples:

- Faced with a credit crisis, the President up with an ingenious proposal.
- The book was ingenious, with a clever, intricate plot and a surprise ending I never saw coming.
- Carl Sagan is an ingenious artist and scientist.

Synonyms: brilliant, talented, bright, gifted, clever, imaginative, skilled,

NEBULOUS = (adjective) not clear, distinct, or definite

Examples:
Marc's goals for the future were nebulous.
The CEO said that the current plan is nebulous and doesn’t specifically address our weaknesses.
The doctor delivered only a nebulous document that failed to provide any definitive recommendations.

Synonyms: indistinct, vague, unclear, ambiguous, unfixed, confused

Antonyms: distinct, defined, specific

PATENT = (adjective) easily perceived, very obvious.
 
The earth is not orbiting around the moon; that's a patent lie!
Spitting in the police officer's face was a patent disregard for the law.
It could not be more patently obvious that he is in love with her.

Synonyms: obvious, clear, evident, apparent

Antonyms: obscure, ambiguous, unclear, incomprehensible

 

WRY = (adjective) 1. combining amusement and irony for dry humor--sardonic; 2. temporarily contorted or bent to one side.

Examples:
- Marc's wry smile led me to believe Lisa was being sarcastic.
- Some people were offended by his wry humor.
- Mr. Colbert wry commentary on the state of world affairs made him very popular.

Synonyms: sarcastic, sardonic, cynical, crooked, ironic, mocking

Antonyms: serious, solemn, sober, straight

VERDANT = (adjective) 1. covered with green vegetation; 2. green in color

Examples:
- My favorite part of our trip to South Africa was observing the beautiful wildlife of its verdant Kruger Wildpark.
- Her verdant wine lands of Stellenbosch were nearly destroyed by last year's drought.
- The cows and sheep grazed in the verdant countryside.

Synonyms: green, blooming, fresh, grassy, flourishing, lush, leafy

Antonyms: barren, brown

MALLEABLE = easily influenced, trained, or controlled.
Example:
- Dad wanted me to be a malleable boy who would take his advice.
- Lead is a substance that is malleable is easily bent and shaped.
- The Netherlands saw its colonies as a source of raw material and a malleable workforce.

Synonyms: suggestible, susceptible, impressionable, pliable

THREADBARE = (of material) looking worn and thin from much use.
A threadbare excuse, argument or idea lacks strength and no longer impresses people because it is old or has been used too much: Example:
- Lisa's clothes were faded and threadbare.
- The movie was a tissue of threadbare clichés.

Synonyms:
worn, well-worn, old, thin, worn out, holey, moth-eaten,

MISCHIEVOUS = tending to or exhibiting reckless playfulness. (of a person, animal, or their behavior) causing or showing a fondness for causing trouble in a playful way .
(Of an action or thing) causing or intended to cause harm or trouble.

Synonyms: naughty, misbehaving, troublesome, playful, teasing, wicked

Antonym: well-behaved.

- My little sister had been so mischievous that Mom had to pay the babysitter extra.
- Later my sister got punished for her mischievous tricks on the neighbors.
- The opposition spreads mischievous gossip that ruined the president's good reputation.

DEPLETE = (verb) To use up the supply of; exhaust the abundance of. To diminish in number or quantity.

Synonyms: exhaust, use up, consume, expend, drain,

Antonym: augment.

- Our food supplies are depleting fast.
- In todays busy world it's difficult to avoid getting depleted and depressed.
- The miners depleted the vein of gold after months of working.

LUGUBRIOUS = (adjective) very sad and depressed--mournful. looking or sounding sad and dismal.

Synonyms: sad, gloomy, mournful, melancholy, dismal, morose, dreary, funereal, somber

Antonyms: happy, lighthearted, joyous

- Marc was in a lugubrious state for weeks, after being dismissed from the university.
- I tried to lighten Marc's lugubrious mood with some cheery music.
- But his lugubrious heart felt like it would never feel joy again after his dismissal.

DAUNT = (verb) to frighten or intimidate

Synonyms: frighten, dismay, frustrate, discourage, subdue

Antonyms: hearten, arouse, encourage

- Lisa was not at all daunted by the size of the project.
- Eddy Murphy was undaunted by the lack of laughter and continued his stand-up routine with a smile on his face.
- The raging inferno didn't daunt the firefighters for a moment