Malleable Exert Scandalous

- Malleable
adj. capable of being molded or changed
Children's minds are malleable but only for so long.

- Exert
v. to put into use (usu. as effort)
Don't exert all of your energy at once.

- Scandalous
adj. morally offensive, often causing damage to one's reputation
The scandalous politician decided it was best to resign from office.

Static Counterproductive Reinforce

- Static
adj. motionless adj. changeless
The ball is static. Her life has been static for the past three years.

- Counterproductive
adj. hindering the achievement of a goal
Bill's idea to take a shortcut was ultimately counterproductive: it took us twice as long to get to the train station.

- Reinforce
v. to strengthen or add support to
We can use these pipes to reinforce the structure.

Exacerbate Pragmatic Adversarial

- Exacerbate
v. to make worse or increase the severity of
The doctor told me not to run as it can exacerbate my knee injury.

- Pragmatic
adj. practical, useful
It's not necessarily more pragmatic to study engineering than it is to study philosophy.

- Adversarial
adj. relating to hostile opposition
An adversarial attitude will make you many enemies in life.

Culmination Surly Convey

- Culmination
n. the final act or climax
The culmination of the performance was unforgettable.

- Surly
adj. unfriendly; inclined to anger
The bartender was a surly fellow who wasn't afraid to start a fight.

- Convey
v. to pass on or transfer (information)
I have trouble conveying my thoughts in French.

Contemplate Insatiable Bolster

- Contemplate
v. to think deeply about
She contemplated telling her teacher about the cheating student.

- Insatiable
adj. can't be satisfied
A vampire's thirst for blood is said to be insatiable.

- Bolster
v. to support, strengthen, or fortify
If we work together, we should be able to lift and then bolster the couch.

Novel Complacent Retention

- Novel
adj. new, innovative
We are looking for novel ways to approach the project.

- Complacent
adj. satisfied, with no desire to change or improve
Though he had never won any awards or even been published, he was complacentwith his life as a poet.

- Retention
n. the act of keeping something
Water retention can make you weigh more on certain days.

Entail Candor Candid

- Entail
v. to involve or include
A doctoral program entails long nights and a heavy workload.

- Candor
n. the trait of being honest and frank
I admire her candor, especially when nobody else bothers to speak up.

- Candid
adj. direct, blunt
Josh is candid about his desire to become an actor.

Cultivate Invoke Brawl

- Cultivate
v. to foster the growth of
Teachers don't just pass on new information to students—they cultivate their academic potential.

- Invoke
v. to call on; to appeal to (e.g., a higher power)
The shaman attempted to invoke a demon.

- Brawl
n. an intense, loud fight v. to fight loudly and disruptively
A brawl broke out at school today after one student accused another of cheating. The two students brawled for an hour.

Brevity Pragmatic Nuance

- Brevity
n. the quality of being brief or terse
The brevity of their time together made it all the more romantic.

- Pragmatic
adj. practical, useful
It's not necessarily more pragmatic to study engineering than it is to study philosophy.

- Nuance
n. a subtle difference in meaning
Body-language experts even understand the nuances of facial expressions.

Ambivalence Teeming Clout

- Ambivalence
n. the state of being uncertain or stuck between two or more options
His ambivalence prevented him from immediately signing the contract.

- Teeming
adj. abundantly filled (usu. with living organisms)
Doorknobs are not as clean as they look and are often teeming with germs.

- Clout
n. special advantage or power
Children of rich and famous people often believe they have a lot of clout.