(n) Peaceful relations; friendship.
Student groups that had once opposed each other were able to work together with amity to design the new after-school program.
(n) (Usually used with on.) A critical or hostile comment.
Drew was disconsolate after reading the critics? animadversions on her latest novel.
(adj) Being in direct and outspoken opposition.
The poet employed antithetical symbols such as those of birth and death.
antithesis (n) The direct contrast of one thing with another; the exact opposite.
Kyla?s munificence is the antithesis of her brother?s stinginess.
(adj) Inclined to quarrel; combative; warlike.
The principal upbraided the students for their bellicose behavior.
(adj) Of or relating to country life; rustic; pastoral.
Li-chen was reluctant to leave the bucolic environs of his grandparents? farm.
(adj) Utterly lacking courage; willing to give up or capitulate.
Too craven to oppose the dictator, the country?s elite tried desperately to appease him.
(v) To raise in rank, wealth, or honor; to praise highly; glorify.
The Roman senate exalted the emperor Caligula by declaring him a god.
exalted (adj)
Rock stars enjoy an exalted position with many of their fans.
(v) To attack as false; to call into question.
By accusing him of financial improprieties, the committee impugned the treasurer?s honesty.
(adj) Inclined to look inward and examine one?s thoughts and feelings.
Nadine?s introspective nature was in sharp contrast to her sister?s gregarious personality.
introspection (n)
After days of careful introspection, Abia chose which college she would attend.
(n) Work or activity for which one is particularly suited.
After earning a law degree, Chitra realized that her real métier was writing novels.
(adj) 1. Marked by extreme poverty.
The family had once been wealthy but now lived a penurious life.
2. Stingy; lacking generosity.
Despite his hoard of gold, the duke was penurious, sharing his money with no one.
penury (n)
Mrs. Nakamura always appeared in her finest clothes, as if to conceal her penury.
(n) An instance or condition of extreme hardship; a lack of comfort.
The lost hikers suffered many privations in the weeks before their rescue.
(n) A nickname.
Although her name was Claudia, the First Lady was known by the sobriquet ?Lady Bird? Johnson.
(adj) Equivalent to; the same as.
?Refusing to support the bill is tantamount to voting against it!? bellowed the senator.
(n, pl) Conditions of painful or difficult change, struggle, or turmoil.
Economists offered a plenitude of explanations as to why the country was in the throes of recession.