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Verbal Advantage Level 2.doc
VERBAL ADVANTAGE
Level II
By Charles Harrington Elster
Verbal Advantage
Level Two
With Pronunciations, Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Information Listed in Order of
Presentation, by Level and Number. The abbreviation N.B . stands for the Latin nota bene
and means "note well, take good note of.
1. ADVOCATE (AD-vuh-kayt)
To support, plead for, be in favor of, defend by argument; especially, to speak or write in
favor or in defense of a person or cause.
Synonyms : champion, endorse, espouse.
Corresponding noun : advocate, a supporter or defender of a cause, a champion, or a
person who speaks for another.
Related words (from the Latin vocare, to call, summon): vocation; avocation;
vocational; vocal; convoke, to call together; convocation, the act of calling together, or a
group that has been summoned; evoke, to call out, call forth; and evocative, calling forth a
response, especially an emotional one.
2. DELEGATE (DEL-uh-gayt)
To entrust with authority or power, deliver to another's care or management, hand over to
an agent or representative.
3. UNPRECEDENTED (uhn-PRES-uh-den-tid)
Unheard-of, novel, new, having no precedent or parallel, having no prior example or
justification.
4. POIGNANT (POYN- yi nt)
Piercing, sharp, penetrating; specifically, piercing or penetrating to the senses, to the
emotions, or to the intellect.
Synonyms : biting, cutting, keen, acute.
Related words (from the Latin pungere, to pierce or prick): puncture; pungent, piercing
to the smell or taste; expunge, to punch out, erase, delete.
5. NEBULOUS (NEB-yuu-l u s)
Unclear, vague, obscure, hazy, indefinite, indistinct.
Related word : nebula, a cloudy mass of dust or gas visible between stars in space
(plural, nebulae).
Verbal Advantage
Level Two
6. CLANDESTINE (klan-DES-tin)
Kept secret, done in secrecy, especially for an evil, immoral, or illegal purpose.
Synonyms : private, concealed, covert, underhand, sly, stealthy, furtive, surreptitious.
Pronunciation tip : Avoid the recent variants klanDES-tyn, klan-DES-teen, KLAN-des-
tyn, and KLAN-des-teen. The traditional and preferred pronunciation is klan-DES-tin.
7. TIRADE (TY-rayd or ty-RAYD)
A long-drawn-out speech, especially a vehement and abusive one.
Additional useful words : protracted, drawn out to great length (see Level 3, Word 25);
vituperative, full of harsh, abusive language; censorious, tending to censor, to blame or
condemn.
8. RECUR (ri-KUR or nee-KUR)
To happen again, occur again, especially at intervals or after some lapse of time.
N.B. This discussion explains the distinction between the verbs recur and reoccur.
9. TACIT (TAS-it)
Unspoken, silent, implied or understood without words, done or made in silence, not
expressed or declared openly.
Related word : taciturn (Level 3, Word 2).
10. ALLEGATION (AL-uh- GAY -shin)
An assertion or declaration, especially one made without proof. In law, an allegation is
an assertion. of what one intends to prove.
11. GULLIBLE (GUHL-uh-buul)
Easily deceived, fooled, or cheated.
Synonym : credulous.
Related words : gull and dupe, which both mean to fool, cheat, deceive, take advantage
of.
Verbal Advantage
Level Two
12. BENIGN (buh-NYN, rhymes with a sign )
(1) Kindly, good-natured, gracious, mild, having or showing a gentle disposition.
(2) Favorable, positive, propitious.
(3) Of the weather or climate, healthful, beneficial, wholesome, salubrious.
(4) In medicine: mild, not deadly, or severe.
13. PERIPHERAL (puh-RIF-uh-r u l)
External, outer, lying at or forming the outside or boundary of something; hence, not
essential, irrelevant.
14. REBUFF (r i -BUF or ree-BUF)
To refuse bluntly, reject sharply, turn down abruptly, snub, spurn.
Corresponding noun : rebuff, an abrupt refusal or rejection.
15. ANIMOSITY (AN- i - MAH -s i -tee)
Ill will, hostility, antagonism, strong dislike or hatred.
Synonyms : malice, aversion, malevolence, antipathy, rancor, enmity.
16. TENUOUS (TEN-yoo- u s)
Thin, slender, slight, flimsy, weak, not dense or substantial, lacking a strong basis, having
little substance or strength.
17. COMPLACENT (k u m-PLAY-s i nt)
Self-satisfied, smug, overly pleased with oneself.
Usage tip : Take care to distinguish between complacent and complaisant, which is
pronounced kum-PLAY-zint and means inclined to please, gracious, obliging, courteous,
affable, and urbane (Level l, Word 45).
18. ACME (AK-mee)
The peak, highest point, especially the point of culmination, the highest possible point in
the development or progress of something.
Synonyms : summit, zenith.
Corresponding adjective : acmatic.
Verbal Advantage
Level Two
19. DEFUNCT (d i -FUNGKT or dee-FUNGKT)
Dead, extinct, obsolete; no longer in existence, effect, operation, or use.
20. ABET (uh-BET)
To encourage, support, help, aid, promote, assist in achieving a purpose (either good or
evil).
Usage tip : Abet is often used to mean assist in wrongdoing, as in the legal cliché "to aid
and abet," but abet may also be used favorably to mean assist in achieving a good
purpose.
* * * * *
N.B. At this point in Level 2 there is a discussion of ending sentences with prepositions. Also
noted is the useful word debunk, to expose as false, deceitful, or exaggerated.
* * * * *
21. HAGGARD (HAG-urd)
Worn out, tired, drawn; wild-eyed and wasted, as from exhaustion, illness, or grief.
Synonyms: gaunt, emaciated.
22. WAIVE (like wave)
To relinquish voluntarily, give up, forgo; also, to postpone, defer, or dispense with.
23. CARNAL (KAHR-n u l)
Bodily, pertaining to the flesh as opposed to the spirit.
Synonyms : sensual, corporeal.
Usage tip: Carnal is used of basic physical appetities.
24. SANCTION (SANGK-shin, be sure to pronounce the C)
To approve, allow, permit, authorize, certify, ratify.

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