Difficult Words:
Antecedent, Antipathy, Antithesis, Apartheid, Apathy and Aphorism
This is a list of Difficult Words: Antecedent, Antipathy, Antithesis, Apartheid, Apathy and Aphorism
Antecedent (AN ti SEED unt) n: Someone or something that went before, something that provides a model for something that came after it
• Your parents and grandparents could be said to be your antecedents. They came before you.
• The horse-drawn wagon is an antecedent of the modern automobile.
• Antecedent can also be used as an adjective. The oil lamp was antecedent to the light bulb.
• In grammar, the antecedent of a pronoun is the person, place, or thing to which it refers. In the previous sentence, the antecedent of it is antecedent. In the sentence, "Bill and Harry were walking together, and then he hit him, it is impossible to determine what the antecedents of the pronouns (he and him) are.
• Antecedent is related to a word that is similar in meaning. Precedent
Antipathy (an TIP uh thee) n: from dislike; a dislike
• I feel antipathy toward bananas wrapped in ham. I do not want them for dinner. I also feel a certain amount of antipathy toward the cook who keeps trying to force me to eat the. My feelings on these matters are quite antipathetic.
• I could also say that ham-wrapped bananas and the cooks who serve them are among my antipathies.
• My antipathies are the things I don't like.
Antithesis (an TITH I sis) n: the direct opposite
• Erin is the antithesis of Erika: Erin is bright and beautiful. Erika is dull and plain.
Apartheid (US PAHRT hate, us PAHRT hite) n: the abhorrent policy of racial segregation and oppression in the Republic of South Africa
• The word apartheid is related to the word apart, under apartheid in South Africa; blacks are kept apart from whites and denied all rights.
• The word apartheid is sometimes applied to less radical forms of racial injustice and to other kinds of separation. Critics have sometimes accused American public schools of practicing educational apartheid, by providing substandard schooling for nonwhites.
Apathy (AP us thee) n: lack of interest, lack of feeling
• The members of the student council accused the senior class of apathy because none of the seniors had bothered to sign up for the big annual Bake Sale.
• Jill didn't care one bit about current events. She was entirely apathetic.
Aphorism (AF uh RIZ um) n: a brief, often witty saying, a proverb
• Benjamin Franklin was fond of aphorisms. He was frequently aphoristic.
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