TOEFL Vocabulary Page 3

50. ASCETIC: Rigorously self-denying - pursued the ascetic life of a monk.

Synonyms: austere, abstinent

Antonyms: wanton, self-indulgent

51. ASKANCE: With distrust - looked askance at the forged signature.

52. ASSEVERATE: To declare positively; to confirm - asseverated his views with conviction.

Synonyms:assert, avouch, aver, avow, allege

Antonyms:gainsay, controvert, recant, rescind, abjure, disavow

53. ASSIDUOUS: Industrious - an assiduous worker, toiling long hours.

Synonyms:sedulous, attentive, diligent, indefatigable

Antonyms:indolent, slothful

54. ASYLUM: A place offering shelter and retreat -found asylum from persecution.

Synonyms:sanctuary, refuge

55. ATHEIST: One who denies that God exists - The atheist declared, "There is no God."

Synonyms:infidel, agnostic, skeptic

56. ATTRIBUTE (verb): Assign -attributed his success to bard work.

Synonym: ascribe

(noun): An inherent quality -Generosity was his outstanding attribute.

57. AUGMENT: To increase or enlarge - an army augmented by numerous enlistments.

Synonyms: enhance, amplify - Antonyms: abate, curtail

58. AUSPICIOUS: Indicating a happy outcome - The prospect for this project appears auspicious.

Synonyms:propitious, fortunate

Antonyms:ominous, foreboding

59. AUTHENTIC: Genuine -proved to be an authentic document.

Synonyms:veritable, bona fide

Antonyms;apocryphal, counterfeit, spurious, bogus

60. AUTOCRATIC: Despotic - feared by the masses as an autocratic ruler.

Synonym:tyrannical

Antonym:benevolent

61. AVARICE: Excessive greed - a fortune accumulated by avarice and miserliness.

Synonyms:covetousness, cupidity, avidity

Antonym:magnanimity

62. AWRY: Unsymmetrical; not straight - the picture, hanging awry on the wall.

Synonym:askew

63. BANAL: Lacking in freshness, originality, or vigor-bored by his banal remarks.

Synonyms:commonplace, hackneyed, prosaic, trite, stereotyped, vapid

Antonyms:racy, original, vivid

64. BANEFUL (noun: BANE: poison; source of harm): Destructive, poisonous - a baneful effect, causing serious injury.

Synonyms: deleterious, pernicious, virulent, noxious, toxic

Antonym:beneficent

65. BANTER: Good-natured teasing or ridicule-The two wits I exchanged banter, to the amusement of the audience.

Synonyms:raillery, chaff

66. BATON: A stick or staff - The conductor wielded his baton gracefully.

67. BELIE: To give a false idea of - His gracious manner belled his. evil purpose.

Synonym:misrepresent

68. BELLICOSE; Inclined to quarrel; warlike - His bellicose attitude often got John into fights.

Synonyms: pugnacious, contentious, disputatious

Antonyms: pacific, conciliatory

69. BELLIGERENT: Engaged in war - two belligerent nations warring fiercely.

70. BENEVOLENT: Kindly; charitable - like a benevolent monarch, bestowing many favors.

Synonyms: benign, benignant, gracious, magnanimous

Antonyms: malevolent, malignant

71. BEREAVE: To deprive or leave desolate by loss - a widow just bereaved of her husband.

72. BESMIRCH: To soil or dirty - besmirched his opponent's good name with vile epithets.

Synonyms: stilly, defile, smirch, bespatter

73. BIASED: Prejudiced - misled by a biased point of view.

Synonyms:bigoted, arbitrary, partial, partisan

Antonyms:disinterested, equitable

74. BIBLIOPHILE: A lover of books - The bibliophile fingered the old book fondly.

Antonym: bibliophobe