HOT WORDS VOCABULARY 9th GRADELESSON 3

1. Antagonism (n.)  hostility; active opposition. Teenagers sometimes show antagonism

toward parental suggestions that they clean up their rooms.

2. Antithesis (n.)  the direct opposite. Surprisingly, Donna is the antitheses of her

twin, Debby.

3. Apocryphal (adj.) of doubtful authenticity; counterfeit  

Despite our suspicions that the incident was apocryphal, we eagerly embraced it as the truth.

 4. Arduous (adj.)  hard to do; strenuous. 

Climbing Mt. Everest is an arduous undertaking.

5. Articulate (adj.)  able to put one’s thoughts into words easily and clearly. Mr. Montero did not expect the kindergartner to

be so articulate when she described her vacation.

6. Assuage (v.)  to calm or soothe; to satisfy. 

Many athletes drink Gatorade to assuage their thirst.

7. Atrophy (v.)  to waste away. 

Tracy expected her leg to atrophy after it had been in a cast for two months.

8. Augment (v.)  to increase or enlarge; to become greater in size or value. You can augment your income by working

overtime.

9. Austere (adj.) stern in manner or appearance; strict in morals. Their household, governed by an austere

father, was a humorless and unhappy place.

10. Authoritarian (n.) a person who supports the principal of subjection of authority instead of individual freedom. 

The permissive Mrs. Welk was the antithesis of the authoritarian Mr. Wilson.