abstain (v) To hold oneself back: forbear, hold off, keep, refrain, withhold adulterate (v) To make impure

or inferior by deceptively adding foreign substances: debase, doctor, load, sophisticate apathy (n) Lack of emotion or interest: disinterest, impassivity, incuriosity, incuriousness, indifference, insensibility, insensibleness, lassitude, lethargy, listlessness, phlegm, stolidity, stolidness, unconcern, uninterest, unresponsiveness audacious (adj) Having or showing courage: bold, brave, courageous, dauntless, doughty, fearless, fortitudinous, gallant, game, hardy, heroic, intrepid, mettlesome, plucky, stout, stouthearted, unafraid, undaunted, valiant, valorous capricious (adj) Following no predictable pattern: changeable, erratic, fantastic, fantastical, fickle, freakish, inconsistent, inconstant, mercurial, temperamental, ticklish, uncertain, unpredictable, unstable, unsteady, variable, volatile, whimsical corroborate (v) To present evidence in support of: back (up), buttress, substantiate desiccate (v) To make or become free of moisture: dehydrate, dry (out), exsiccate, parch engender (v) To cause to come into existence: beget, breed, create, father, hatch, make, originate, parent, procreate, produce, sire, spawn ephemeral (adj) Lasting or existing only for a short time: evanescent, fleet, fleeting, fugacious, fugitive, momentary, passing, short-lived, temporal, temporary, transient, transitory gullible (adj) Easily imposed on or tricked: credulous, dupable, easy, exploitable, naive, susceptible homogenous (adj) All of the same or similar kind or nature laconic (adj) Marked by or consisting of few words that are carefully chosen: brief, compendious, concise, lean, short, succinct, summary, terse laudable (adj) Deserving honor, respect, or admiration: admirable, commendable, creditable, deserving, estimable, exemplary, honorable, meritorious, praiseworthy, reputable, respectable, worthy loquacious (adj) Given to conversation: chatty, conversational, garrulous, talkative, talky, voluble mitigate (v) To make less severe or more bearable: allay, alleviate, assuage, comfort, ease, lessen, lighten, palliate, relieve pedant (n) One who pays undue attention to book learning and formal rules pragmatic (adj) Having or indicating an awareness of things as they really are: down-toearth, hard, hardheaded, matter-of-fact, objective, practical, pragmatical, prosaic, realistic, sober, tough-minded, unromantic propriety (n) The quality of being proper; appropriateness vacillate (v) To move back and forth or from side to side, as if about to fall: oscillate, sway, teeter, totter, waver, weave, wobble volatile (adj) Following no predictable pattern: capricious, changeable, erratic, fantastic, fantastical, fickle, freakish, inconsistent, inconstant, mercurial, temperamental, ticklish, uncertain, unpredictable, unstable, unsteady, variable, whimsical