what is the antonym of startle, appease or lull?

another one:
what is the antonym of personable, unrefined or unattractive?

Hey, Neoquixote:

Here are how I, and most other English people, would term them:


Personable -- disagreeable.
Unrefined -- refined; debonair; elegant.
Unattractive -- attractive; handsome (for a man;) pretty (for a woman.)

Appease and lull have pretty much the same meaning. So their antonym would be 'antagonize,' 'provoke' or 'exasperate.'

As for 'startle,' there is no basic antonym that is used regularly in England. When it is basically the opposite, you'd say 'he/she/you did not surprise me.' When it is with another verb, like 'he startled me when he came,' one would say 'his coming was unsurprising.'

thank you for your explanation, dro'm, from which i learn a lot. but what i am puzzled is which one from the given words is the more adequate antonym respectively. you know this is from my GRE General test. i have to select one from given words.
thankee.

I would definitely think "lull" is a more direct antonym of "startle" than is appease, at least in the U.S. (where the GRE is written).

A common English expression is to "lull somebody to sleep," as opposed to startling them awake.

Of the two possibilities for the antonym to "personable," I would choose "unrefined." I don't think it's the best possible answer, but of the choices given it is closest to being the opposite in meaning to "personable."

You're right, Patio. I didn't say that 'appease' was an antonym for startle, though; I said that 'appease' and 'lull' were quite the same, and that, here, their more common opposites are 'antagonize,' 'provoke' and 'exasperate.' Over here, it is not often appropriate to say 'he lulled me' in place of the verb, 'startled;' but it depends on the nature of the test-- do either of you know whether you have to give a simple opposite, as in the question's being:

What is the antonym of:

a) startle.

Or will it be like:

Change the underlined word to its antonym in this sentence:

a) The man whom we met was very personable.

No worries at all. The GRE is an agravating test (on which I happened to do quite well, as I am adept at aggravating tests). We Yankees don't much use "appease" unless it's on CNN.

How does it aggravate? Does everyone have to pass it?

It's requirement to apply to most grauate programs. To me, it aggravates because the general exam doesn't test anything very advanced (when I took it, 6% of takers received the maximum possible score on the maths section) and is weighted fairly heavily by many admissions departments. It's a crap test, and greatly favors people who excel on mutliple-choice examinations. (Granted, I benefited greatly from it, but it's still a crap test.)

There are also subject examinations that are a great deal more useful, but most programs still require the general exam.

Wow, that really is crap, Patio. What can be the benefit of knowing how to answer a few general Maths multiple-choice questions if one is going to learn... German? Surely they should concentrate on strength in the subject that one is to take at University; or, if that subject is something not offered at High schools, in general ability to independently think.

thanks enough, dro'm and patio, by the way, here is another one that is obscure to me:
pertinacity is antonymous to:
liability or vacillation?

Any time, Neoquixote; you know that we're glad to help you.

Pertinacity is obscure to nearly everyone. It's a mostly legal term meaning 'perseverence;' so, the antonym would be 'vacillation.'

Good luck for your test. (When is it?)

you are so kind dro'm, i 'll take the test at Oct 23, and the analitical writing test of it predate this at Aug 30.
well, i wrote down those items seem to be difficult to me in my note bood, sporadically.
well, here are another two:
1 deprivation is antonymous to :
surfeit or fecundity?
2 and, evoke to:
fail to elicit
or attemp to calm?
thank you
3 and, judiciousness to
deceptiveness
aloofness
unorthodox
uncertainty or
indiscretion
as to the last one, i do not think anyone is very fit, but anyway, i would prefer uncertainty or indiscretion, but dont assure.

surfeiting,

i am too thankful to express it enough.
i am not sure how and to what extent "stipulation" is antonymous to tacit requirement

It's a pleasure to help people like you .

As for this question: tacit requirement is a requirement that doesn't need to be said; it's implicit. Stipulation is a prerequisite laid down; it's explicit. In the sense of 'tacit requirement,' 'stipulation' is a fine antonym. Usually, clauses with 'required' become 'unrequired' or 'unnecessary' in the antonym; this isn't the case this time.

Dro'm, i 've browsed your profile, and read your description. i would not say that you are great because that adjective is not fit for a woman(maybe perfect is better). i don't know if your peers in your society follow similar style of life to yours, but i really admire what you have achieved in the past. i am a man of 27 years old, my life is so pale comparing with yours. it is a different society in China, not stemming from politics, but form tradition and culture, in which i have to exert much more before i can do what really interests me. now, i am in the last rushing to approach such freedom---the integrating of my ideal and my action, and you have provided me considerable help, thank you, dro'm, sincerely.

i 've not read much in literature fro a long time. because i have little spare time, and i didn't attach much importance to it. i preferred to depend on philosophy and rationality to assure myself of the value of my life and establish my ideas about the world; at first, i marched smoothly or even rapidly, but as becoming older, i encountered many difficulties. I think you can imagine when you use precise reasoning line from one or one set of premise, once you find that there are serious problems in the original premise, how could you continue your way. one time, i was too much of an idealist, lacking incisive sentience on the circumstance, lacking emotional maturity. now i can clearly aware such shortages in my character, but i still persist in my definite dream---to improve this world by my possible effort.
well, i don't know if you can get any idea about me since my words are so desultory. i'd like to discuss about life and the world wity you if you like. i noticed what you written"...International politics (ever since I was eleven;) ...." in our society, a girl would seldom have interests in such serious issues, they would like to focus more on fashion and stylish ideas. i do not like them in this point. i know little about western feminism, but i suppose i am an equalitarianist, i like a socity in which each man and women has their owen dreams, ideas, and politic propositions. i agree with what an american statesman said, a indolent people is the biggest enemy of democracy.
maybe due to a clement social climate, what you have done is very enviable for me, and i 'd like to learn more from your brain. thanks enough. good luck dro'm.

inchoate oppose to
explicit or enduring
veneration:
defiance or derision
specious:
valid or unfeigned

Why, thank you, Neoquixote; although, I would never describe myself as 'perfect!' (Incidentally, your language is never desultory, and I have really enjoyed exchanging with you.) I have, however, led an unusual life, which has marked me different from the rest of the people in the society that I shunned. Unbelievably, English society is still geared around getting (usually renting) an OK house and finding a husband. As I found both burdens on my liberty and spirit, and expressed this, I have found myself being outcasted from the way of things. But, I find such a state far better than having my self compromised.

Whom do you like (or, whom did you like) reading, generally and as regards to philosophy? I like reading older books, as I find that, if something is good enough, it will be here in fifty years' time.

I am like you, too; I am an idealist, and I want to help the world in whatever way I can. I find no satisfaction in merely helping myself, like our society tells one to do. I think that 'eternal life' is not something that one earns by being good; I think that one earns eternal life by doing well enough to others so as to live down in memory, to transcend. It is this transcension that is my aim. Other people's general aim is to find happiness by reducing themselves -- feminism has not stopped that -- but I would rather sadness in freedom than such compromised 'freedom.' I think that there are two sorts of freedom; 'common freedom,' feeling that one is free, and 'release,' freedom to go beyond societal constraints. People think that they have freedom because they can choose to act, or not act, but they can hardly ever attain 'release.'

I was an unusual girl, as everyone else was interested in fashion and boys, whereas I was studying Marx and being annoyed by Thatcher. I was Vice-President of a Feminist organization by the age of fifteen, but hardly anyone shared my enthusiasm for equal rights. Most don't care about equality, as long as they are happy. This is one of the many reasons that I hated the society that I was in, and why I longed to travel freely and stay in the mountains.

It is great to talk with you and hear your ideas.