Review this list of words and context sentences to find the word that matches the definition below.
A brief or an unexpected meeting
absolve (ăb-zŏlv) -verb
- Our dog, Rufus, was absolved of stealing Mom's glasses when they were found safe in her purse.
- Accused of taking bribes, the mayor said, “In the end, I’ll clear my name and be absolved of any wrongdoing.”
adamant (ădə-mənt) -adjective
- Ron is adamant about not changing plans. He insists we should still camp out even though the weather report now says it will be cold and rainy.
- Adamant in his support of gun control, Senator Keen won’t give in to pressure from powerful opponents.
amiable (āmē-ə-bəl) -adjective
- My amiable dog greets both strangers and old friends with a happy yip and energetic tail-wagging.
- At first, our history teacher doesn’t seem very friendly, but once you get to know her, she shows her amiable side.
amoral (ā-mŏrəl) -adjective
- Jerry is almost totally amoral. He cares only about making money and having fun and couldn’t care less about right or wrong.
- A former president of Uganda, Idi Amin, was truly amoral. He jailed, tortured, and killed innocent opponents without the slightest feeling of guilt.
animosity (ăn′ə-mŏsə-tē) -noun
- The animosity between fans of the soccer teams was so strong that fights broke out all over the stadium.
- The bad feelings between the two families go back so many generations that nobody remembers what originally caused the animosity.
antagonist (ăn-tăgə-nĭst) -
noun
- At the divorce hearing, the husband and wife were such bitter antagonists that it was hard to believe they had once loved each other.
- In the ring, the two boxers were antagonists, but in their private lives, they were good friends.
eccentric (ĭk-sĕntrĭk) -adjective
- Bruce is quite eccentric. For example, he lives in a circular house and rides to work on a motorcycle, in a three-piece suit.
- Florence Nightingale, the famous nursing reformer, had the eccentric habit of carrying a pet owl around in one of her pockets.
encounter (ĕn-kountər) -noun
- My encounter with Malik in a Los Angeles supermarket surprised me, since I thought he still lived in Chicago.
- I dislike returning to my small hometown, where I am likely to have encounters with people who knew me as a troubled kid.
epitome (ĭ-pĭtə-mē) -noun
- To many, the epitome of cuteness is a furry, round-eyed puppy.
- The great ballplayer and civil rights leader Jackie Robinson was the epitome of both physical and moral strength.
malign (mə-līn) -verb
- That vicious Hollywood reporter often maligns movie stars, forever damaging their public images.
- Stacy refuses to malign her ex-husband, even though he was the one who insisted on the divorce.