OCCLUDE (verb): 1 stop, close up, or obstruct.
2 Chemistry (of a solid) absorb and retain (a gas or impurity).
3 (of a tooth) come into contact with another in the opposite jaw.
to block or stop up a passage; 2. to prevent the flow of something through a passage

Examples:
- My orthodontist said I would need to wear braces for two years in order to occlude my teeth.
- My grand dad suffered a heart attack because of an occluded artery that was diminishing blood flow.
- We had a leak in our roof, and I hoped the roofer would be able to occlude it.

Synonyms: block, cover, obstruct, clog, plug

Antonyms: open, unplug

TORPID (adjective): 1. inactive, slow, and sleepy; 2. dormant

Synonyms: inactive, dormant, drowsy, lethargic, listless, numb, slow, sluggish

Antonyms: active, awake, lively, alert

Examples:
- The mountain air made her feel torpid and light-headed.
- Bears become torpid in order to hibernate all winter.
- That volcano has been torpid for many centuries, but scientists think that it may erupt again in the future.
- If you have a sudden loss of cabin pressure at 20 000 feet, passengers will become torpid and then lose consciousness.

 

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INTANGIBLE (adjective): 1. not existing in a physical form–incapable to being touched or seen; 2. difficult to define or describe clearly, but nonetheless perceived

Examples:
- John received the football scholarship not only for his performance, but also because he possesses the intangible qualities that make a champion.
- Lisa had an intangible feeling that something was wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
- Common sense and creativity are some of the intangibles we’re looking for in the people we hire.
- Marc has that intangible quality which you might call charisma.

Synonyms: imperceptible, indefinite, abstract, immaterial, incorporeal, indeterminate

Antonyms: tangible, substantial, physical, material

SLATE (noun, verb): (n.) 1. blue-gray rock that can be split into layers; 2. a record of the past; 3. a list of political candidates; (adj.) blue-gray in color; (v.) 1. to schedule something; 2. to enter onto a list

Phrases:
- a clean slate:
if you are given a clean slate, you can start something again, and all of the problems caused by you or other people in the past will be forgotten
- wipe the slate clean:
to make it possible to start something again, without any of the mistakes or problems of the past

Examples:
- John and Lisa  put aside their differences and decided to start a clean slate.
- Steven Spielburg’s new series is slated to start this fall.
- They will replace the roof tiles with ones made of slate.
- Presidential elections are always slated for the second Tuesday in November.

Synonyms: (n.) rock, stone, tally, schedule, (v.) list, record, slot

 

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IMPERIOUS (adjective) : proud, arrogant, and acting with an air of authority and superiority.

Examples:
- The new professor was an imperious woman who considered herself to be quite important.
- The imperious dictator made laws that all citizens had to obey
- The diplomat asked his subordinates to leave with an imperious wave of his hand
- With his imperious manner, Marc can never be an effective manager.

Synonyms: arrogant, condescending, proud, self-righteous, vain, conceited, haughty

Antonyms: humble

SALUTATION (noun): 1. a gesture or phrase that is used to greet, welcome, or recognize somebody; 2. the expression of greetings, welcome, or recognition; 3. the greeting that begins a letter or email.

Examples:
-  I yelled goodbye and waved, but she did not return my salutation.
- A traditional American salutation is, “How are you.”
- He liked to end his emails with the salutation, “Cheers!”
- the speaker introduced the eveningʼs honored guest with a lavish
- The president began the discussion with a pleasant salutation to the distinguished assembly

Synonyms: greeting, salute, cheers, honor, citation, tribute, accolade

 

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SQUALID (adjective): 1 extremely dirty and unpleasant, dirty, run-down, or unsanitary, especially because of poverty;  2 showing a contemptible lack of moral standards:

Examples:
- The TV host made a squalid attempt to save himself from public embarrassment.
- Volunteers in South Africa worked to improve the squalid conditions of the slums.
- The non-profit agency raised money for children who are living in squalor.
-  The politician made a squalid attempt to buy votes.

Synonyms: filthy, broken-down, crummy, seedy, shabby, wretched, degraded, nasty, sordid, immoral, undignified

Antonyms: clean, sanitary, sterile

 

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RELISH
Definition (noun, verb):  (Verb)
1.    to enjoy or take great pleasure in an experience
2.    to enjoy the taste of a particular food or drink
3.    to give a pleasing taste to food, e.g. by adding spice or relish
Noun:
1.    enjoyment: a liking or appreciation of food or of an experience
2.    a spiced side dish or accompaniment to food, e.g. pickled or fresh vegetables with chili
3.    a pleasing sensation of strong taste or flavor
4.    interest or excitement, especially when it makes something more enjoyable

Examples:
- Marc was appointed to a position for which I had little relish.
- Frank doesn’t relish telling Lisa that her car has been stolen.
- But when her car was found she was feeling better. Lisa ate her dinner with relish and even asked for seconds.
- I have no relish for getting up early in the morning
- The incident added relish to an otherwise dull weekend.

Synonyms: enjoyment, gusto, delight, pleasure, glee, enjoy, delight in, love, adore

Antonyms: dislike.

VORACIOUS (adjective): Consuming or eager to consume great amounts of food; ravenous.
Having or marked by an insatiable appetite for an activity or pursuit;
especially eager: unusually eager or enthusiastic about an activity
very hungry: desiring or consuming food in great quantities

Examples:
- Phil is a voracious eater who dives into his food.
- Lisa a voracious reader that pours through several books a month.
- Don’t we all love to see children with a voracious appetite for knowledge.

Synonyms: hungry, ravenous, insatiable, rapacious, greedy, eager, avid

Antonyms: satiated

 

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PROCRASTINATE (verb): to delay doing something that should be done, To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness. To postpone or delay needlessly.

Examples:
- Marc warned his students not to procrastinate on the assignment because it could not be done in one day.
- Lisa procrastinated all afternoon until it was too late to start painting the walls that day.
- Lisa didn’t finish the project because of procrastination; she simply waited too long to get started.

Synonyms: delay, postpone, stall, dawdle, put off, prolong

Antonyms: hurry, rush, speed

UNWITTING (adjective): 1. not aware; 2. not intentional, Not knowing; unaware: an unwitting subject in an experiment. Not intended; unintentional: an unwitting admission of guilt.

Examples:
- There’s no need to apologize; I realize it was an unwitting mistake and I don’t blame you at all.
- Lisa unwittingly helped her boss shred some files, which she had no idea contained sensitive information pertinent to the case against their firm.
- The two women claimed they were the unwitting victims of a drugs dealer who planted a large quantity of heroin in their luggage.

Synonyms: unaware, inadvertent, unknowing, unintentional, unplanned

Antonyms: knowing, aware

 

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PALLIATE (verb) : 1. to try to make something seem less serious or severe, especially by offering excuses; 2. to make something less intense or severe; 3. to relieve the painful, physical symptoms of a disorder or disease.

Examples:
- Lisa works out everyday in order to palliate stress.
- The medical article addressed the many ways to palliate the symptoms of the disease until a cure could be found.
- Joanne tried to palliate the pain she had caused her parents by sending an apology card.
- My mother tried to palliate the bleeding with a band-aid, until we could get to the hospital to have the cut stitched up.

Synonyms: extenuate, mitigate, excuse, abate, alleviate, diminish, ease, assuage

Antonyms: aggravate, worsen, exacerbate

TURGID (adjective): 1. pompous and overcomplicated: pompous, boring, and overcomplicated. 2. overflowing: swollen and overflowing

Examples:
- I could not sit through another minute of the actor’s long, turgid, and unnecessarily complicated acceptance speech.
- The doctor said grandpa’s turgid veins were caused by his diabetes.
- After his success in the stock market, Mike’s already turgid ego became even more inflated.
- There is a woman at my book club who loves to expatiate about her understanding of the book in a turgid manner.

Synonyms: bombastic, pompous, overblown, inflated, tumid, high-flown, puffed up, affected, pretentious.

Antonyms: reserved, humble, quiet

 

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INSOUCIANT (adjective): a relaxed and happy,   without worry or guilt: without worry, anxiety, or guilt–unconcerned.

Examples:
- Frank’s insouciant attitude toward money and the importance of saving will surely land him in financial trouble.
- The insouciant housekeeper didn’t notice that the dog had gotten out.
- Sometimes, Lisa admired Frank’s youthful insouciance, but other times she thought he was too cavalier.
- The insouciant way in which John managed his employees caused people to slack off and disregard their responsibilities.

Synonyms: breezy, carefree, ignorant, easygoing, blithe, nonchalant, careless

Antonyms: concerned, burdened, troubled, worried, anxious

SYNTHESIS (noun):  the combination of ideas to form a theory or system :
1. result of combination: a new unified whole resulting from the combination of different ideas, influences, or objects
2. combining of various components into whole: the process of combining different ideas, influences, or objects into a new whole
3. chemistry formation of chemical compounds: the formation of compounds through one or more chemical reactions involving simpler substances

Examples:
- The synthesis of all the information we have gathered should provide us with a definitive theory.
- The synthesis of our various ideas created a truly unique marketing strategy for our client.
- Please synthesize the data in a concise report.
- The artist’s paintings are an interesting synthesis of abstraction and impressionism.

Synonyms: creation, combination, formation, mixture, compound, composition, union

Antonyms: separation, destruction

 

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PARIAH = someone who has been outcast from society and is avoided by people, a person who is not accepted by a social group, especially because he or she is not liked, respected or trusted

Synonyms: outcast, vagrant, abomination, derelict, renegade, undesirable, castoff, reject

Antonyms: insider

Examples:
- The president became a pariah after he asked for another tax increase, and people couldn’t wait to oust him from office.
- Phil mumbled: “Smokers are treated as pariahs these days.”
- Lisa’s constant lying caused her to become a pariah among her peers.

PREFACE = (noun, verb) (n.) an introduction at the beginning of a book; (v.) to begin with a preface or introduction before presenting your main point

Synonyms: (n.) introduction, foreword, prologue, (v.) introduce, begin, open

Antonyms: (n.) epilogue, postscript, addendum, closing, conclusion, (v.) close, conclude

Examples:
- Joanne loves Mark Twain’s books because they are immediately engaging, right from the preface.
- Phil didn’t preface the bad news with, “I don’t know how to tell you this but.”
- Please let me preface my response to your question by noting that I am not an expert in this area.

 

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SANGUINE = (adjective) having a cheerfully optimistic temperament or outlook–hopeful

Synonyms: upbeat, optimistic, positive, hopeful, expectant, enthusiastic, cheerful

Antonyms: hopeless, pessimistic

Examples:
- The hotel trained its human resources staff to choose employees with sanguine personalities
- Some people expect the economy to continue to improve, but others are less sanguine.
- Stock traders remained sanguine despite reduced profit margins.
- John’s sanguine outlook on life, even during difficult times, kept him young and carefree.
- Sandy’s sanguine attitude won her many friends and admirers.

PRUDENT = (adjective) 1. having good sense and judgment; 2. being careful and sensible

Synonyms: careful, cautious, discreet, wise, sagacious, judicious, sensible, practical, discerning, guarded, mindful, tactful, thrifty, economical, watchful, circumspect

Antonyms: imprudent, foolish

Examples:
- Phil was quite prudent in his spending habits and always had plenty of savings in the bank.
- Marc’s decision was prudent and timely.
- It’s always prudent to read a contract properly before signing it.
- Lisa was always prudent when giving criticism, so as not to offend anyone.
- Joanne’s financial prudence was rewarded with growing investments.

 

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