Accost (v)To approach and speak to firs; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way

Syn: buttonhole, approach, confrontAnt: evade, avoid, shun

**approach at ‘any cost’

Animadversion (n)

A comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval

Syn: rebuke, reproofAnt: praise, compliment

** ‘any mad version’ of a speech would be a critical remark

Avid (adj)Desirous of something to the point of greed; intensely eager

Syn: keen, enthusiastic, grasping

Ant: reluctant, indifferent, unenthusiastic

Brackish (adj)Having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink

Syn: briny, salineAnt: fresh, clear, sweet

Celerity (n)Swiftness, rapidity or motion or action

Syn: promptness, alacrity, speedAnt: slowness, sluggishness ***accelerate

Devious (adj)Straying or wandering from a straight or direct course; done or acting a a shifty or underhanded way

Syn: roundabout, indirect, tricky, sly, artfulAnt: direct, straightforward, open

***devilish

Gambit (n)

In chess, an opening move that involves risk or sacrifice of a minor piece in order to gain a later advantage; any opening move of this type

Syn: ploy, stratagem, ruse, maneuver

** ‘gamble a bit’ to win!

Halcyon (n)(adj)A legendary bird identified with the kingfisher; (adj)or or relating to the halcyon; calm, peaceful; happy, golden; prosperous, affluent

Syn: (adj)tranquil, serene, placid, palmyAnt: (adj)turbulent, chaotic, tumultuous

Histrionic (adj)Pertaining to actors and their techniques; theatrical, artificial; melodramatic

Syn: affected, stagyAnt: low-keyed, muted, subdued

***historical plays/movies with histrionic actors

Incendiary (adj) Deliberately setting or causing fires; tending to stir up strife or rebellion (n) arsonist; one who causes strife

Syn: (adj)inflammatory (n) firebrandAnt: (adj)soothing, quieting (n) peacemaker

**one who is ‘incensed’ is fired up!

Maelstrom (n)A whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction

Syn: vortex, chaos, turbulence, tumult

** mal (bad) strom (storm) – bad storm

Myopic (adj)

Nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation; lacking foresight

Syn: shortsightednessAnt: farsightedness

** opic – optic (eyes)

Overt (adj)Open, not hidden, expressed or revealed ina way that is easily recognized

Syn: clear, obvious, manifest, patentAnt: secret, clandestine, covert, concealed

**opposite of ‘covert’ or hidden

Pejorative (adj)

Tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, belittling

Ant: complimentary, ameliorative

Propriety (n)The state of being proper, appropriateness; (pl) standards of what is proper or socially acceptable

Syn: fitness, correctness, decorumAnt: unseemliness, inappropriateness

** appropriate

Sacrilege (n)

Improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred

Syn: desecration, profanation, defilement

Summarily (adv)Without delay or formality; briefly, concisely

Syn:promptly, peremptorily

** a summary is brief/concise

Suppliant (adj)(n)Asking humbly and earnestly; (n) one who makes a request humbly and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor

** please “supply me what I want”

Talisman (n) An object that serves as a charm or is believed to confer magical powers, an amulet, fetish

Undulate (v)

To move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance or form

Syn: ripple, fluctuate, rise and fall

** modulate