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obsolete
- DEFINITION: no longer in use; outmoded in design or style
- SENTENCE: The typewriter, mimeograph machine, and walkman are now obsolete.
- SYNONYMS: outdated, archaic, ancient
- ANTONYMS: modern, trendy, contemporary
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auspicious
- DEFINITION: very favorable
- SENTENCE: The Mogul princes of India were required to wait for marriage until the emperor's astrologers felt that all of the planetary signs were auspicious.
- SYNONYMS: promising, fortunate, felicitious
- ANTONYMS: unlucky, omnious, unfortunate
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morose
- DEFINITION: very depressed, despondent; mournful
- SENTENCE: When Shah Jahan's wife died during childbirth, the morose emperor canceled all appointments and refused to eat or drink for eight days.
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impasse
- DEFINITION: a deadlock; stalemate; failure to reach an agreement
- SENTENCE: The Constitutional Convention was almost totally derailed by an impasse between the large states and the small states.
- SYNONYMS: jam, standoff, standstill
- ANTONYMS: agreement, breakthrough, development
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anachronism
- DEFINITION: the false assignment of an event, person, scene, or language to a time when the event, person, scene, or word did not exist
- SENTENCE: She protested the use of a cellphone in a movie set in the 1800s, arguing that it was an unmistakable anachronism.
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belie
- DEFINITION: to give a false impression; to contradict
- SENTENCE: Her actions belied her words when she denounced cheaters but stole the answers on the SATs from the person sitting next to her.
- SYNONYMS: deny, disagree, oppose
- ANTONYMS: attest, prove, confirm
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mitigate, mollify, assuage, alleviate
- DEFINITION: to relieve; to lessen; to ease
- SENTENCE: Americans use pills to mitigate the symptoms of everything from migraine headaches to indigestion.
- SYNONYMS: calm, soothe, placate
- ANTONYMS: exacerbate, upset, aggravate
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covet
- DEFINITION: to really, really want something - longingly
- SENTENCE: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife." Tenth Commandment
- SYNONYMS: want, wish for, pine
- ANTONYMS: disregard, neglect, disdain
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antithesis
- DEFINITION: direct opposite; the complete reverse; antipode
- SENTENCE: He was his twin's antithesis; they never agreed on anything, and strangely enough, they had completely different personalities.
- SYNONYMS: antonym, reverse, contrast
- ANTONYMS: same, synonym, similar
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prototype
- DEFINITION: the first version of something - the model to be used in upcoming mass production
- SENTENCE: The Model T served as a prototype for the world's first affordable, mass-produced automobile.
- SYNONYMS: archetype, standard, predecessor
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aloof
- DEFINITION: detached; distant physically or emotionally; reserved; standing near but apart
- SENTENCE: Though he often remained aloof, Jay Gatsby often threw lavish parties to court the love of his life.
- SYNONYMS: shy, cool, alone
- ANTONYMS: sociable, friendly, outgoing
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trite, hackneyed, banal, platitudinous
- DEFINITION: unoriginal; commonplace; overused; cliched
- SENTENCE: Max never invents hackneyed or trite games - his games are so original as to be almost confusing.
- SYNONYMS: cliche, banal, common
- ANTONYMS: original, new, fresh
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antecedent
- DEFINITION: a preceding event; a forerunner
- SENTENCE: The parliamentary system in Britain was the antecedent to American democracy.
- SYNONYMS: precursor, forerunner, ancestor
- ANTONYMS: descendent, successor, spin-off
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plausible
- DEFINITION: believable; credible
- SENTENCE: Although it sounds impossible now, it was once plausible that a camel would cross the highway in the Nevada desert.
- SYNONYMS: possible, likely, probable
- ANTONYMS: unbelievable, unlikely, implausible
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implausible
- DEFINITION: unbelievable; incredible
- SENTENCE: The disbelieving look on his mom's face told him she found his story highly implausible.
- SYNONYMS: unbelievable, unlikely, hard to imagine
- ANTONYMS: possible, likely, probable
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prudent
- DEFINITION: careful; cautious; sensible
- SENTENCE: Prudent people look before they leap.
- SYNONYMS: circumspect, meticulous, vigilant
- ANTONYMS: careless, imprudent, unwise
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aesthetic
- DEFINITION: relating to what is beautiful; an appreciation of what is beautiful or attractive
- SENTENCE: Colgate's campus, with its rolling green hills and beautiful lake, is aesthetically pleasing.
- SYNONYMS: artistic, creative, cultured
- ANTONYMS: ugly, unattractive, displeasing
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aesthetic
- DEFINITION: relating to what is beautiful; an appreciation of what is beautiful or attractive
- SENTENCE: Colgate's campus, with its rolling green hills and beautiful lake, is aesthetically pleasing.
- SYNONYMS: artistic, creative, cultured
- ANTONYMS: ugly, unattractive, displeasing
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paradox
- DEFINITION: a seemingly contradictory statement that nonetheless expresses a truth
- SENTENCE: Catch-22 was the paradox at the heart of Heller's book; in order to get sent home from war, you had to be crazy, but if you asked to be sent home, you were not crazy. No one could get sent home.
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enigmatic and inscrutable
- DEFINITION: mysterious; puzzling; unfathomable; baffling
- SENTENCE: The Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile has puzzled art lovers for centuries.
- SYNONYMS: cryptic, perplexing, ambiguous
- ANTONYMS: clear, known, obvious
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acquiesce
- DEFINITION: to comply, agree, give in
- SENTENCE: He had no choice to acquiesce to his mother's demands after she had nagged him for days.
- SYNONYMS: accept, consent, accede
- ANTONYMS: fight, reject, protest
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naive
- DEFINITION: unaffected simplicity; lacking worldly expertise; overly credulous; unsophisticated
- SENTENCE: Barney Stinson invents impossible stories about himself so that naive girls will date him.
- SYNONYMS: simple, innocent, gullible
- ANTONYMS: experienced, sophisticated, wise
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autonomous
- DEFINITION: independent; not controlled by others
- SENTENCE: It was her wish to have an autonomous life; she wanted to live on her own even if it meant paying her own rent.
- SYNONYMS: self-determining, self-ruling, sovereign
- ANTONYMS: dependent, imprisoned
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futile
- DEFINITION: completely useless; doomed to failure
- SENTENCE: In Saving Private Ryan, the soldiers' efforts to save the fallen Dr. Wade were futile.
- SYNONYMS: useless, pointless, hopeless
- ANTONYMS: fruitful, hopeful, productive
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indigenous and endemic
- DEFINITION: native to an area
- SENTENCE: Potatoes, tomatoes, and sunflowers are indigenous to the New World
- SYNONYMS: innate, natural, primitive
- ANTONYMS: foreign, imported, alien
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ubiquitous and prevalent
- DEFINITION: characterized by being everywhere; omnipresent; widespread; pervasive
- SENTENCE: Cellphones, iPods, and Starbucks are all ubiquitous.
- SYNONYMS: everywhere, universal, omnipresent
- ANTONYMS: nowhere, uncommon, sporadic
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