Grade 10 College Vocabulary, Week 8

Definition: Incapable of being surmounted or excelled; impossible to surmount.

From the reading: "Power, government, war, law, punishment, and a thousand other things, had no terms wherein that language could express them, which made the difficulty almost insuperable, to give my master any conception of what I meant." (Gulliver's Travels, Parts I-II)

Synonyms:

insurmountable, unconquerable, unsurmountable

Antonyms:

conquerable, surmountable

Root:Latin insuperabilis: compare Old French insuperable. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A fierce or destructive attack.

From the reading: "He may be stern; he may be exacting; he may be ambitious yet; but his is the sternness of the warrior Greatheart, who guards his pilgrim convoy from the onslaught of Apollyon." (Jane Eyre)

Synonyms:

attack, onset, onrush

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English on on + slaught, slaht, slaughter. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Security or protection against loss or damage; compensation paid for loss.

From the reading: "Her beauty, her pink cheeks and golden curls, seemed to give delight to all who looked at her, and to purchase indemnity for every fault." (Jane Eyre)

Synonyms:

insurance, damages, amends

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin indemnitas, from indemnis uninjured: compare French indemnité. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The casting out of evil spirits.

From the reading: "It was in his mind to repeat over the exorcism proper to such attacks; but the two burst out a-laughing at his scared face, and turning on to their heads once more, clapped their heels in derision." (The White Company)

Synonyms:

deliverance, casting out

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin exorcismus, Greek ; compare French exorcisme. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A decrease in price or value; decrease in value of an asset due to obsolescence or use.

From the reading: "In a sulky triumph, Drummle showed his morose depreciation of the rest of us, in a more and more offensive degree, until he became downright intolerable." (Great Expectations)

Synonyms:

devaluation, decline, decrease

Antonyms:

appreciation

Root:Cf. French dépréciation. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The capability of conscious choice and decision and intention; the act of making a choice.

From the reading: "The answer is no, because command is absent, the reasoning faculty is absent, volition is absent—as in the case of the tongs." (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

will, willing

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:French, from Latin volo I will, velle to will, be willing. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Beginning again.

From the reading: "The resumption of the male dress was sufficient for all practical purposes, but perhaps Joan could be led to add something to that fatal crime." (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

recommencement

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:compare French résumption, Latin resumptio restoration, recovery, from resumere. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Wealth as evidenced by sumptuous living.

From the reading: "Boots which extended halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence which was suggested by his whole appearance." (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, selected)

Synonyms:

luxury, luxuriousness, sumptuousness

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin opulentia: compare French opulence. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A sermon on a moral or religious topic.

From the reading: "Bessie supplied the hiatus by a homily of an hour’s length, in which she proved beyond a doubt that I was the most wicked and abandoned child ever reared under a roof." (Jane Eyre)

Synonyms:

preachment

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Late Latin homilia, Greek homélie. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language.

From the reading: "Would ye deceive me so, and hold parlance thus secretly with this fellow?" (Men of Iron)

Synonyms:

idiom

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French, from French parler to speak. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced; mental or emotional calm.

From the reading: "I tottered, and on regaining my equilibrium retired back a step or two from his chair." (Jane Eyre)

Synonyms:

balance, equipoise, counterbalance

Antonyms:

disequilibrium

Root:Latin aequilibrium, from aequilibris in equilibrium, level; aequus equal + libra balance. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Selfishness; the habit of valuing everything in reference to one's own interest.

From the reading: "We can send black puddings and pettitoes without giving them a flavour of our own egoism; but language is a stream that is almost sure to smack of a mingled soil." (Silas Marner)

Synonyms:

egocentrism, self-interest, self-concern

Antonyms:

altruism

Root:French égoïsme, from Latin -ego I. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A difficult problem.

From the reading: "It was almost as if he were asking him a conundrum." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

riddle, enigma, brain-teaser

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Origin unknown. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Lacking in vitality, force, or conviction; dull.

Context (original sentence): The team gave a lackluster performance in the final match.

Synonyms:

dull, uninspired, flat

Antonyms:

brilliant, vibrant

Root:lack + luster.

Definition: To respond to a gesture or action by making a corresponding one.

From the reading: "He quite understood and reciprocated my good intentions, as I had reason to know thereafter." (Great Expectations)

Synonyms:

return, repay, requite

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin reciprocare, to move back and forth.

Definition: To cheat someone out of money or property.

From the reading: "Compeyson’s business was the swindling, handwriting forging, stolen bank-note passing, and such-like." (Great Expectations)

Synonyms:

cheat, defraud, con

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The state of being degenerate in mental or moral qualities.

From the reading: "And indeed he was kind to everybody, and all our people spoke well of him; and so much the more because we knew that the house was in decadence." (Lorna Doone)

Synonyms:

degeneracy, degeneration, decadency

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Medieval Latin decadentia, from de-, down + cadere, to fall: a falling away.

Definition: A member of a people who move from place to place rather than settling; a wanderer.

From the reading: "In the vast steppe, bathed in sunshine, he could just see, like black specks, the nomads’ tents." (Crime and Punishment)

Synonyms:

wanderer, rover, itinerant

Antonyms:

settler

Root:Greek nomas, roaming in search of pasture.

Definition: Appropriate to.

From the reading: "These, however, were nowhere to be seen, but in their place he found a Saracen dress of rich materials, with sabre and poniard, and all befitting an emir of distinction." (The Talisman)

Synonyms:

appropriate

Antonyms:

inappropriate

Root:be-, thoroughly + fit, suitable (Middle English fitten, to arrange): suitable to the occasion.

Definition: A natural consequence of development.

From the reading: "Indeed the city of Rome itself was but an offshoot from the old Latin kingdom; and there was not much difference between the two nations even in courage and perseverance." (A Book of Golden Deeds)

Synonyms:

outgrowth, branch, offset

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Off + shoot. (Webster, 1913)