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JV452 (Stigma and Tendentious)

Author: The useful vocabulary show!
Sun, Oct 5, 2008

STIGMA = (noun) sign of social unacceptability: the shame or disgrace attached to something regarded as socially unacceptable. A strong lack of respect for someone or a bad opinion of them because they have done something society does not approve of.

Example:
- People should not be stigmatized on the basis of race.
- There's a stigma associated with low-income food programs.
- The disease AIDS no longer seems to have the stigma attached to it that it had a decade ago.

Synonyms: shame, disgrace, dishonor, reproach, scar, smudge, blemish

Antonyms: glory, honor

Example:
- Phil's account of the events was tendentious, not to mention inaccurate.
- Luckily Phil's tendentious statements no longer anger his friends and family.
- The tendentious talk show host used his show to promote his political ideology.

Synonyms: biased, partial, inclined, argumentative

Antonyms: impartial, unbiased

Synonyms: separate, crack, divide, split, break, sever

Antonyms: assemble, join, unify

SUBJUGATE = (verb) to conquer or take control by force. to bring somebody, especially a people or nation, under the control of another, e.g. by military conquest. To treat yourself, your wishes or your beliefs as being less important than other people or their wishes or beliefs.

Example:
- The United States is set up in a way that ensures the government could never subjugate its people.
- The rebel leader's plan was to subjugate the people of the country in order to establish a new form of government.
- Frank was determined not to allow his boss to subjugate him with his threats
- Journalists must subjugate personal political convictions to their professional commitment to fairness and balance.

Synonyms: surpass, be superior, exceed, rise above, go beyond, outshine

Antonyms: be inferior, fail, lose

Synonyms: (n.) torrent, downpour, flood, cataclysm, spate, inundation, (v.) douse, drench, soak, engulf, inundate, oversupply

Antonyms: sprinkling, undersupply

- The report was issued amid a welter of conflicting evidence.
- I did not want David to welter in sorrow over his break-up, so I took him out to dinner.
- It's amazing that anyone survived the welter of chaos and violence during the riot. 
- I couldn't even hear myself think in the welter of the noisy market place

Synonyms: (n.) commotion, confusion, turmoil, jumble, excitement, fuss, (v.) roll, wallow, soak, bask

Antonyms: (n.) calm, order

Synonyms: equal, equivalent, identical, parallel, synonymous

Antonyms: opposite, unlike

Synonyms: (n.) collar, harness, crosspiece, bondage, chain, enslavement, link, connection, oppression, (v.) harness, attach, connect, join, bond, tie

Antonyms: (v.) disconnect, divide, separate, free, release

VAPID = 1. dull: lacking interest or liveliness. 2. insipid: lacking strength, taste, or flavor

Example:
- A tuneful but vapid musical comedy
- Joanne watched a vapid tv programme
- The debate turned into a vapid conversation.

Examples:
- Lisa's incessant questions were cute at first, but soon became very annoying.
- Frank's bossâ incessant demands are putting so much pressure on him that he's beginning to see physical signs of the strain.
- The city endured weeks of incessant bombing.

Synonyms: constant, unending, ceaseless, continuous, uninterrupted, perpetual

Antonyms: temporary, periodic

PALTRY = 1. not worthy of consideration; 2. so small as to be contemptible

Examples:
- Joanne's paltry salary is barely enough to cover my rent.
- Marc was tired of Lisa's paltry excuses.
- The restaurant served a paltry meal, leaving everyone hungry and irritable.

Synonyms: tiny, insignificant, meager, scant, negligible, worthless, pathetic

Antonyms: large, grand, significant, substantial

Examples:
- Reading War and Peace would be an arduous task, because it would require a persistent effort over a long period of time.
- Frank was given the arduous task of managing the global product launch in 20 countries.
- In those days, a trip to the West was an arduous journey.

Synonyms: difficult, hard, strenuous, laborious, formidable, tiring, exhausting,

Antonyms: effortless, easy

Synonyms: luxurious, lavish, magnificent, deluxe, extravagant, grand, impressive, expensive

Antonyms: cheap, inferior, poor, low-key, humble, simple

Synonyms: all-knowing, all-seeing

Antonyms: short-sighted

Examples:
- Marc did not accept Lisa's apology because it didn't show even a pittance of sincerity.
- After the attorney's fees, Phil only received a pittance of the original settlement.
- Fresh out of college, many young people work for a pittance just to gain some experience.

Synonyms: rationing, allowance, bit, trifle, smidgen, inadequacy

Antonyms: abundance, plenty

Synonyms: manageable, compliant, complaisant, controllable, docile, workable,

Antonyms: intractable, nonconforming, inflexible, stubborn

Synonyms: fertile, productive, prolific, creative, fruitful

Antonyms: unproductive, unimaginative, barren, impotent, infertile, sterile, feckless

Examples:
- The avid gardener was proud of his lush and fecund garden.
- It was a fecund meeting that produced several new ideas for how to improve our product.
- Meditation creates a fecund atmosphere that enables me to think of completely original ideas. 

VITRIOLIC = (adjective) 1. filled with or expressing extreme bitterness and hatred toward somebody or something
2. like metallic sulfate: resembling a glassy metallic sulfate. 

Example:
- Marc is a writer who has often been criticized by the press but never before with  such vitriol.
- The Mayor launched a vitriolic attack on the Police Dept. Officer, accusing him of shielding maffia friends.

As a NOUN
- His review was more than just unfavorableâit was loaded with vitriol

Synonyms: acrimonious, rancorous, bitter, caustic, mordant, acerbic.

Antonyms: proper, wholesome

DIVULGE = verb To make known (private or sensitive information).  To reveal something, especially something private or secret.

Examples:
- Marc divulged Lisa's little secret.
- Lisa thought she could divulge information with complete trust.
- Marc shouldn't divulge other people's secrets.

Synonyms: disclose, reveal, tell, expose

Antonyms: hide, mask

Examples:
- The October snow was a presage to a very hard winter. 
- A sluggish stock market usually presages an economic recession
- Other than some shortness of breath, he didn't have any of the signs that usually presage a heart attack.

Synonyms: (v.) foreshadow, foretell, predict, portend,
(n.) indication, prediction, forecast, omen,

TRUDGE = (n.) a long, strenuous walk; (v.) to walk in a heavy-footed, slow manner

Examples:
- Because of the heavy snow Marc has to trudge through the snow to get to his car. 
- Even though the task was hard, Frank decided to trudge forward rather than give up. 
- The beautiful view from the Mount Everest was well worth the trudge to get there.

Synonyms: walk, lumber, march, plod, tramp,

Antonyms: glide, float

Synonyms: unyielding, adamant, obstinate, hard-nosed, relentless, stubborn, unstoppable

Antonyms: yielding, submissive, docile

Synonyms: cheerful, happy, merry, gleeful, jolly, carefree, animated, jovial, spirited

Antonyms: miserable, sad, depressed

Examples:
- Jeremy performed a jocund dance at the festival.
- Frank's jocund personality always cheered people up.
- The jocund atmosphere and good moods all around the room made for a great wedding.

Synonyms: sarcastic, biting, clear, critical, forceful, incisive, powerful,

Antonyms: indirect, flattering

EXAMPLE:
- During the hot and languid African summer I spent numerous hours sitting leisurely by the pool.
- It was clear by his languid demeanor that Frank was no longer interested in his girlfriend.
- Marc had been languid for several months, and his waistline showed it.

Synonyms: sluggish, listless, lethargic, lazy, lackadaisical, inactive,

Antonyms: active, spirited, energetic, lively

- Seawater filled the Titanic so rapidly that Leonardo began to frantically jettison unnecessary items.  

Synonyms: abandon, cast off, discard, expel, unload, eliminate
Antonyms: keep, retain

Examples:
- The insolent child always talked back to his mother.

- The lawyer's insolent behavior got him thrown out of the courtroom.

Synonyms: impolite, rude, disrespectful, brazen, insulting, arrogant.
Antonyms: respectful, considerate, polite

Antonyms: extinguish, kill

Antonyms: ask, deliberate

Antonyms: virtueless, immoral, unethical, dishonest

Synonyms: harsh, grating, shrill, noisy, loud, vulgar, bold

Antonyms: respectful, quiet, reserved

Examples:

Antonyms: enunciation

Examples:
- The vociferous coach yelled at the players throughout the entire game.

Synonyms: loud, boisterous, clamorous, noisy, shrill, vocal

Antonyms: quiet, silent

Synonyms: habitual, confirmed, chronic, abiding, protracted, customary

Antonyms: intermittent, temporary, occasional

FATUOUS = showing a lack of intelligence or thought combined with complacency.

Examples: 
- My hopes of manning a space shuttle are fatuous, I am scared of heights.
- I couldn't believe Mugabe's fatuous statement to the press.
- Phil is not very smart and is known for making fatuous comments before thinking them through.

Synonyms: asinine, imbecile, ludicrous, moronic, vacuous, delusive, stupid, foolish, unreal

Antonyms: brilliant, intelligent, smart, wise, knowing

Examples:
- Frank's lawyer made comments, which were marked by a vicious harangue against the defendant. 
- Joanne's parents will sometimes come up to her room and harangue her for playing her music too loud.
- Marc delivered a long harangue to his students.

Synonyms: diatribe, rant, tirade, attack, criticism, invective, lecture, peroration

Antonyms: encomium

Examples:
- Lisa's got a lot of pluck to stand up for herself like that.
- My grandfather is 85 but he has a lot of pluck.
- Phil never shown a lot of pluck and routinely lets people walk all over him.

Synonyms: courage, spirit, heart, mettle, moxie, determination, fortitude, bravery

Antonyms: cowardice, indifference

Synonyms: narrow-minded, provincial, confined, conservative,

Antonyms: broad-minded, open, welcoming

Synonyms: pause, reprieve, rest, recess, interruption, lull, letup, cessation, deliverance, hiatus, suspension

Antonyms: continuation

Synonyms: temporary, short-term, short-lived, momentary, fleeting, transient

Antonyms: lengthy, long-lived, permanent

Synonyms: tier, layer, divide, classify

Examples:
- Marc stratified the research document into several smaller reports.
- The professor stratified our research group by age and level of education.
- Alcoholism is an epidemic that has touched every stratum of our society.