Unit 109

decrepitude / discrepant

decrepitude n. 衰老 (the state of being old and in bad condition or poor health) / dɪˈkrɛpɪtjuːd/

• The building's decrepitude, its peeling paint and rusty doors and windows, belied its historical importance.

discrepant adj. 差异的 (being at variance) / dɪˈskrɛpənt/

• Georgie alerted her boss as soon as she noticed discrepant figures in the company accounts.

snarl / sneer

snarl v. 缠结，混乱 (to cause to become knotted and intertwined) / snɑːl/

• To play Yama-uba, the supernatural witch-like character, Noh actors must snarl and mat their hair.

v. 咆哮着说，不耐烦地说 (to speak in an angry or bad-tempered way)

• The bad tempered man snarled rudely at the waiter.

sneer v. 嘲笑 (to smile or laugh with facial expression that shows scorn or contempt) / snɪə/

• Hue's lips curled into a sneer of disdain as she saw the fake handbag advertised in the shop window.

spell / swell

spell n. （一段）时间 (a short, indefinite period of time) / spɛl/

• Dwithi went to visit her family in India for a short spell before entering university in Japan.

swell v. 膨胀，肿起 (to expand (as in size, volume, or numbers) gradually beyond a normal or original limit) / swɛl/

• The balloon swelled in size when the boy blew air into it.

specious / species

specious adj. 似是而非的 (falsely appearing to be right) /ˈspiːʃəs/

• The defendant's specious statement was proven false by several witnesses.

species n. 物种 (a particular group of things or people that belong together or have some shared quality) /ˈspiːʃiːz/

• The world is full of different looking people but we are all the same species; Homo sapiens.