Whenever something is "inspiring," it leads others to want to do or feel something. For example, an inspiring song may make people feel like they can overcome any difficulty. An inspiring speech can make someone think that he or she is able to achieve any goal. Sometimes, something can inspire negative feelings as well—as when something "inspires fear." In all of these cases, the inspiration stimulates a feeling or ideal. Thus, something that is called "inspiring" can also be called "stimulating."

When ever someone or something is "despicable," it is something that you should despise. That is, it is something that you should hate very strongly. Now, the word "despicable" itself means this—deserving of great hatred. It might well be true that "criminal" things deserve great hatred; however, "criminal" is not synonymous with the basic meaning of "despicable." Therefore, the best option is "abhorrent." Something that is "abhorrent" is hated greatly. It causes a kind of "horror"—not in fright but, instead, in hatred. It is related to the verb "abhor," meaning to hate or find disgusting.

Whenever something or someone is "attractive," that thing (or person) draws your attention. An "attraction" is a kind of "pulling" that draws something closer. Sometimes, we use the word "attractive" to mean that something is tempting. For instance, consider the sentence, "That option was particularly attractive, and it was hard for Peter not to choose it." This means that the option was tempting for Peter.

Whenever something is "intricate," that thing is complicated. This can refer to an intricate gadget—something that has many complicated parts that are all related together in complicated ways. It can also refer to something like an intricate argument—that is, one that has many details that require a lot of thinking to understand.

The meaning of the word "distinguished" is related to the verb "to distinguish." Whenever we distinguish two things from each other, we express what is different about them. Each thing is unique and, hence, distinct. Whenever we describe a person as "distinguished," we are saying that he or she is different from other people. You can think of it like meaning that he or she "stands apart" from those others. Sometimes, senators will refer to each other by titles like, "The distinguished senator from Iowa," or "The distinguished woman from Kentucky." A prominent person is someone who is important and separated from the rest of "regular" people. Hence, "prominent" is a good synonym for "distinguished."

When we talk about "self esteem," we are referring to the sense of self-worth that a person has about himself or herself. To "esteem" something is to hold that thing in high regard. Thus, an "esteemed" thing is something that is admired by others (and perhaps, if it is a person, by himself or herself as well).

When something is "defective," it does not function as it should. Therefore, a computer keyboard that doesn't have all of its keys could be called "defective," and we could also call a car with a broken engine "defective." Something that is "faulty" is something with problems like this. The word "faulty" does not have to do with personal faults but with general problems or "faults," as when something does not function properly.

A blemish is a kind of ugly mark on something, as when someone has a pimple on his or her skin.  Indeed, we will sometimes call such pimples "blemishes." Whenever something is said to be "unblemished" it is like someone who has no imperfection on his or her skin. He or she is perfect—at least as regards the skin. In general, "unblemished" can mean "perfect" or "without any imperfection." The word "immaculate" means just this. The root "-maculate," means "blemished." The "im-" prefix is the not prefix. Hence, "immaculate" means not blemished.