accelerate

(v.) to speed up, cause to move faster; to bring about more quickly.

s:  step up, quicken, hasten

a:  slow down, retard, decelerate

bystander

(n.) one who looks on or observes, a person present but not taking part

s:  observer, spectator, onlooker

a:  active participant

canvass

(v.)  to go through an area in order to procure votes, sales, or opinions; to go over in detail; to discuss

s:  poll, survey, solicit

casual

(adj.) happening by chance or on an irregular basis; showing little concern; informal

s:  accidental, haphazard, offhand

a:  formal, serious, premeditated, intentional

downtrodden

(adj.) treated unfairly and cruelly, oppressed

s:  mistreated, ground underfoot

a:  uplifted, liberated

entice

(v.) to attract, tempt

s:  lure, beguile

a:  nauseate, sicken, revolt, repel

erode

(v. to wear away gradually, eat away

s:  corrode, abrade

a:  nurture, promote, encourage

flounder

(v.) to thrash about in a clumsy or ineffective way

s:  wallow, struggle

graphic

(adj.) lifelike, vivid; relating to the pictorial arts

s:  lively, colorful, descriptive

a:  dull, boring, unrealistic, colorless

gruesome

(adj.) horrible, revolting, ghastly

s:  gory, hideous, grisly

a:  pleasant, delightful, appealing

melancholy

(adj.) sad, gloomy, unhappy; (n) sadness glominess

s:  (adj.) depressed dejected; (n) dejection, depression

a:  (adj.) merry, happy cheerful (n.) joy elation

ordeal

(n.) a difficult or painful experience, a trial

s:  test, hardship

a:  pleasure, cinch

parch

(v.) to make dry and thirsty, to shrivel with heat

s:  dry up, dehydrate, desiccate

a:  soak, drench, saturate, waterlog

persist

(v.) to continue steadily in a course of action, refuse to stop or be changed; to last, remain

s:  persevere, keep at it, enure

a:  give up, discontinue

puny

(adj.) of less than normal strength or size; of no importance

s:  undersized, pint-sized, small, weak

a:  robust, brawny, mammoth, gigantic

quibble

(v.) to evade or belittle a point by twisting words or raising minor objections; (n.) a petty objection

s:  (v.) nitpick, split hairs, cavil; (n.) squabble

ratify

(v.) to approve, give formal approval to, confirm

s:  endorse, sanction, uphold

a:  cancel, repeal, annul, veto

regal

(adj.)  royal, kinglike; fit for a king

s:  majestic, stately, princely, august

a:  lowly, humble, abject, servile

stifle

(v.) to smother, prevent from breathing to hold back or choke-off

s:  strangle, suppress, snuff

a:  nurture, promote, encourage

vital

(adj.) having life, living; necessary to life, essential, key, crucial

s:  indispensable, fundamental

a:  nonessential, unnecessary