Vocabulary Unit I
Vocabulary Lesson 1: Get to the Point!
82 MCGRAW-HILL’S SAT
❑ concise(adj) brief and to the point (con-altogether+ciscut)
Ricky, try to be a bit more concisein this paper; the assignment was for a three-page paper; yours was 106.
Synonyms:succinct, terse Antonyms:prolix, discursive, protracted, circumlocutory, verbose❑ laconic(adj) disposed to using few words (from Latin term for Spartans, who spoke little)
I’ve known Lucy for ten years, but she’s so laconicthat I hardly know anything about her past.
Synonyms:taciturn, reticent Antonyms:garrulous, loquacious❑ succinct(adj) spoken or written in a clear and precise manner
Because commercial time during the Super Bowl runs over $3 million per minute, it’s good to be succinct.
Synonyms:terse, concise Antonyms:prolix, discursive, protracted, circumlocutory, verbose❑ brusque(adj) rudely abrupt
My girlfriend tends to be brusquewhen she’s mad; she just tells me to “talk to the hand.”
Synonyms:curt, abrupt, petulant❑ abridge(v) to shorten a written text
The dictionary was 1,400 pages long before it was abridgedby the publishers to 850 pages.
Synonym:abbreviate Antonyms:augment, amplify, protract❑ brevity(n) quality of succinct expression (brev-brief+-ityquality of)
Speeches at the Academy Awards are not known for their brevity;they often go on long past their allotted time.
Synonyms:conciseness, pithiness, succinctness, laconism❑ conspire(v) to plan together secretly to commit an illegal act (con-together+-spirebreathe)
Synonyms:collude, collaborate
❑ concur(v) to agree (con-together+-currun)
Synonyms:accord, harmonize, cohere
❑ concord(n) a state of harmony (con-together+-cordheart)
Synonyms:unanimity, consensus
❑ congenital(adj) existing at birth (con-together+genborn)
Synonyms:innate, inborn
❑ schism(n) a division into political or religious factions (ciscut)
Synonyms:faction, rift, divergence
❑ incisive(adj) having or indicating keen insight (in-in+ciscut)
Synonyms:acute, keen, astute, canny, perspicacious, judicious, shrewd
Today’s roots: co-, con- together, with brev brief
cis cut cur run, course