| A | B |
|---|
| accelerate | to speed up, cause to move faster; to bring about more quickly |
| accelerate | Syn: step up, quicken, hasten |
| accelerate | Ant: slow down, retard, decelerate |
| bystander | one who looks on or observes, a person present, but not taking part |
| bystander | Syn: observer, spectator, onlooker |
| bystander | Ant: active participant |
| canvass | to go through an area in order to procure votes, sales, or opinions; to go over in detail; to discuss |
| canvass | Syn: poll, survey, solicit |
| casual | happening by chance or on an irregular basis; showing a little concern; informal |
| casual | Syn: accidental, haphazard, offhand |
| casual | Ant: formal, serious, premeditated, intentional |
| downtrodden | treated unfairly and cruelly, oppressed |
| downtrodden | Syn: mistreated, ground underfoot |
| downtrodden | Ant: uplifted, liberated |
| entice | to attract, tempt |
| entice | Syn: lure, beguile |
| entice | Ant: nauseate, sicken, revolt, repel |
| erode | to wear away gradually, eat away |
| erode | Syn: corrode, abrade |
| erode | Ant: nurture, promote, encourage |
| flounder | to thrash about in a clumsy or ineffective way |
| flounder | Syn: wallow, struggle |
| graphic | lifelike, vivid; relating to the pictorial arts |
| graphic | Syn: lively, colorful, descriptive |
| graphic | Ant: dull, boring, unrealistic, colorless |
| gruesome | horrible, revolting, ghastly |
| gruesome | Syn: gory, hideous, grisly |
| gruesome | Ant: pleasant, delightful, appealing |
| melancholy | sad, gloomy, unhappy; sadness, gloominess |
| melancholy | Syn: depressed, dejected; dejection, depression |
| melancholy | Ant: merry, happy, cheerful; joy, elation |
| ordeal | a difficult or painful experience, a trial |
| ordeal | Syn: test, hardship |
| ordeal | Ant: pleasure, cinch |
| parch | to make dry and thirsty; to shrivel with heat |
| parch | Syn: dry up, dehydrate, desiccate |
| parch | Ant: soak, drench, saturate, waterlog |
| persist | to continue steadily in a course of action, refuse to stop or be changed; to last, remain |
| persist | Syn: persevere, keep at it, endure |
| persist | Ant: give up, discontinue |
| puny | of less than normal strength or size; weak, sickly; of no importance |
| puny | Syn: undersized, pint-sized, small, weak |
| puny | Ant: robust, brawny, mammoth, gigantic |
| quibble | to evade or belittle a point by twisting words or raising minor objections; a petty objection |
| quibble | Syn: nitpick, split hairs, cavil; squabble |
| ratify | to approve, give formal approval to, confirm |
| ratify | Syn: endorse, sanction, uphold |
| ratify | Ant: cancel, repeal, annul, veto |
| regal | royal, kinglike; fit for a king |
| regal | Syn: majestic, stately, princely, august |
| regal | Ant: lowly, humble, abject, servile |
| stifle | to smother, prevent from breathing; to hold back or choke off |
| stifle | Syn: strangle, suppress, snuff |
| stifle | Ant: nurture, promote, encourage |
| vital | having life, living; necessary to life, essential; key, crucial |
| vital | Syn: indispensable, fundamental |
| vital | Ant: nonessential, unnecessary |
