Abstemious

ab STEM ee us

[abstemiously, abstemiousness, abstention, abstentious]

Sparing (Usually in eating or drinking); temperate

Antonym: gluttonous

A person who is abstemious in his alcohol intake might not be welcome by that wild fraternity

Admonish

ad Mah nish

[admonisher, admonishingly, admonishment, admonition, admonished]

To caution, to advice, or to counsel against something

Synonym: warn, rebuke, censure, notify, jog, apprise, reprove, scold

Antonym: to condone; to praise

The teacher admonished him about excessively loud noise

Amity

AM uh tee

[amities]

Friendship

Antonym: hostility

That small town is well known for its amity; the town has very friendly people.

Bastion

BASS chun

[bastioned]

A fortification, a stronghold

The enemy could not get past the bastion of the fort and therefore lost the battle

Callous

KAL us

[callously, callousness]

Hardened; insensitive, indifferent, unsympathetic

Synonyms: hard, inured, insensible, obtuse

Antonyms: soft, sensitive

He became callous after many years in the war.

Clemency

KLEM un see

[clemencies, clement, clemently]

Leniency

Antonym: Harshness

Governors are usually allowed to grant clemency to deserving prisoners.

Debunk

deh BUNGK

[debunker, debunkers, debunked, debunking]

To expose the falseness or hypocrisy of something

Antonym: to cover up; to conceal

The charlatan was quickly debunked by the perceptive doctor.

Diffuse

deh FYOOZ

[diffusedness, diffusedly, diffusely,  diffuser, diffusibility, diffusion, diffusible]

To spread in all directions

Antonym: to bring together

The rioting crowd was diffused by tear gas and water hoses.

Dupe

DOOP, DYOOP

[duped, duping, dupery]

To trick, to fool, to deceive, or to cheat; to bilk

He was duped into investing his life savings into a bankrupt company.

Exorcise

EK sor size

[exorcisation, exorcise, exorcism, exorcismal, exorcisory, exorcist, exorcistate, exorcistical]

To expel an evil spirit, to get rid of something troublesome

I am going to try to exorcise all negative thoughts from my mind.

Finesse

feh NESS

[finessed, finessing]

Delicate skill

Antonym: clumsiness

A successful diplomat must have finesse when dealing with representatives of other coutnries.

Humility

hyoo MIL eh tee

[humilities, humble, humbly]

The quality or state of being humble in spirit

Antonym: pride; arrogance; Daniel Bertrand

The humility of the man was astounding: he gave no sign of having excessive pride or arrogance.

Imperious

im PEER ee us

[imperiously, imperiousness]

Extremely overbearing

Synonyms: domineering, imperative, masterful, preemptory

Antonym: meek

The imperious behavior of the dictator led to his overthrow.

Larceny

LAR suh nee

[larcener, larcenist, larcenous, larcenously, larcenies]

The act of stealing another's property

Synonyms: theft

After being convicted of larceny, the man offered to return the stolen items for a shorter prison term.

Mirth

MURTH

[mirthful, mirthfully, mirthfulness, mirthless, mirthlessly, mirthlessness]

Gladness and merriment usually accompanied by laughter

Synonyms: glee, hilarity, jollity

Antonym" sadness

The party was a source of mirth and gaiety.

Mollify

MOL eh fie

[mollification, mollifyingly, mollifier, mollifiable]

To soothe or to appease, to assuage

Synonyms: conciliate, pacify, placate, propitiate

Antonym: to aggravate

The woman promised to buy candy in order to mollify her screaming child

Neologism

nee OL uh jiz um

[neology, neological, neologian, neologist, neologistic, neologize]

A newly coined word or phrase; new use of a word (often disapproved of)

The student received a low grade because of the neologism in his paper.

Orthodox

OR thuh doks

[orthodoxness, orthodoxical, orthodoxically, orthodoxism, orthodoxly, orthodoxy]

Conforming to established standards, conventional

Anyonym: unconventional

The church is founded upon a set of orthodox views.

Plight

PLITE

[plights, plighted, plighting]

Difficult or adverse situation

Anyonym: fortunate situation

My plight is that I do not have enough money to pay my bills.

Repertoire

REP ur twar

[repertorial, repertorium, repertory]

A list of works of music ro readings that are ready for performance

The orchestra had added some selections of Mozart to its repertoire.

Rupture

RUP chur

[ruptured, rupturing]

To break apart, to burst

Antonym: to repair; to mend

The rupture of the appendix is a life-threatening situation

Solicitous

suh LIS eh tus

[solicitously, solicitousness, solicitude]

Worried, concerned

Antonym: unconcerned

He was very solicitous about the health of his ill grandmother.

Stolid

STOL id

[stolidly, stolidity]

Showing little emotion

Synonyms: apathetic, phlegmatic, stoic

Antonym: emotional

He always had a stolid appearance at the poker table.

Tempestuous

tem PES choo us

[tempestuously, tempestuousness, tempest]

Turbulent, stormy

Antonym: calm

The mayoral canidates had a tempestuous debate in which they exchanged many personal accusations.

Untenable

un TEN uh bul

[untenability, untenableness]

Not able to defend

Antonym: defensible

Taking a bribe is an untenable act for a politician.