| accelerate | step up,quicken,hasten / slow down, retard, decelerate |
| bystander | observer, spectator, onlooker / active participant |
| canvass | poll, survey, solicit / ---- |
| casual | accidental, haphazard, offhand / formal, serious, premeditated, intentional |
| downtrodden | mistreated, ground underfoot / uplifted, liberated |
| entice | lure, beguile / nauseate, sicken, revolt, repel |
| erode | corrode, abrade / nurture, promote, encourage |
| flounder | wallow, struggle / ---- |
| graphic | lively, colorful, descriptive / dull, boring, unrealistic, colorless |
| gruesome | gory, hideous, grisly / pleasant, delightful, appealing |
| melancholy | (adj.) depressed, dejected; (n) depression, dejection / (adj.) merry, happy, cheerful; (n.) joy, elation |
| ordeal | test, hardship / pleasure, cinch |
| parch | dry up, dehydrate, desiccate / soak, drench, saturate, waterlog |
| persist | persevere, keep at it, endure / give up, dicontinue |
| puny | undersized, pint-size, small, weak / robust, brawny, mammoth, gigantic |
| quibble | (v.) nitpick, split hairs, cavil ; (n.) squabble / ---- |
| ratify | endorse, sanction, uphold / cancel, repeal, annul, veto |
| regal | majestic, princely, stately, august / lowly, humble, abject, servile |
| stifle | strangle, suppress, snuff / nurture, promote, encourage |
| vital | insispensable, fundamentable / nonessential, unnecessary |