Grade 10 College Vocabulary, Week 9

Definition: An effusively enthusiastic expression of feeling; a free, emotional piece of music.

From the reading: "The rhapsody welled up within me, like blood from an inward wound, and gushed out." (Great Expectations)

Synonyms:

ecstasy, rapture, effusion

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:French rhapsodie, Latin rhapsodia, Greek Ode. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Under a moral obligation to someone.

From the reading: "What is mine is not mine; I am not my own; for breath of body I must be beholden to a Roman." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

obligated

Antonyms:

unobligated

Root:Old past participle of behold, used in the primitive sense of the simple verb hold. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Stiff and self-conscious or unnatural.

From the reading: "The shepherd's are from the life, and contrast well with the stilted and rather tiresome prophets." (The Wakefield Second Shepherds' Play)

Synonyms:

artificial, contrived, wooden

Antonyms:

natural, unaffected

Root:English stilt, a tall pole for walking (Middle English stilte, akin to Low German stelte): raised up stiffly, as on stilts.

Definition: To take apart a machine or structure; to bring to an end in an orderly way.

From the reading: "For the next fortnight Archie and his retainers, aided by the whole of the villagers, laboured to dismantle the castle." (In Freedom's Cause)

Synonyms:

disassemble, take apart, demolish

Antonyms:

assemble, build

Root:Old French desmanteler, from des-, off + mantel, a cloak: to strip of its covering, then to take apart.

Definition: To talk in a loud, aggressive, or boastful way with little effect; of wind, to blow in gusts.

From the reading: "But when I gave him every particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a life-preserver from the wall." (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, selected)

Synonyms:

boast, rant, swagger

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Allied to blast. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Shaped into alternating parallel grooves and ridges.

From the reading: "He still sat looking at the ground, with a painful and corrugated brow, as if in shame." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

furrowed, rugged

Antonyms:

unfurrowed

Root:Latin corrugare, to wrinkle, from com-, together + ruga, a wrinkle: wrinkled into ridges.

Definition: Having superior power and influence; most frequent or common.

From the reading: "The charm of adventure sweetens that sensation, the glow of pride warms it; but then the throb of fear disturbs it; and fear with me became predominant when half-an-hour elapsed and still I was alone." (Jane Eyre)

Synonyms:

prevailing, prevalent, dominant

Antonyms:

infrequent, subordinate

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

Definition: So extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period.

From the reading: "We do not know whether it is necessary to defend our choice of a somewhat antiquated prose." (The Odyssey)

Synonyms:

antediluvian, archaic, old

Antonyms:

new

Root:Latin antiquare, to make old, from antiquus, ancient: made old or out of date.

Definition: Acting in a scheming and selfish way.

From the reading: "Marguerite, impulsive, thoughtless, not calculating the purport of her words, still smarting under the terrible insult her brother had suffered at the Marquis’ hands, happened to hear—amongst her own coterie—that the St." (The Scarlet Pimpernel)

Synonyms:

calculative, conniving, scheming

Antonyms:

soft

Root:Latin calculare, to reckon, from calculus, a small pebble used for counting: reckoning one's own advantage.

Definition: To add fuel to a fire; to encourage or incite a feeling.

Context (original sentence): The stoker stoked the furnace through the night.

Synonyms:

fuel, feed; fan, stir up

Antonyms:

dampen, quench

Root:back-formation from stoker, Dutch stoken, to feed a fire.

Definition: An object such as a bullet, arrow, or stone thrown or fired forward.

From the reading: "To-night, alone, with no projectile's aid!. . ." (Cyrano de Bergerac)

Synonyms:

missile, bullet, shell

Antonyms:

undynamic

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

Definition: Impossible to solve; incapable of being dissolved.

From the reading: "After washing, the insoluble lime soap is decomposed with hot dilute sulphuric acid." (The Chemical History of a Candle)

Synonyms:

unsolvable, baffling; indissoluble

Antonyms:

soluble, solvable

Root:Latin insolubilis indissoluble, that can not be loosed: compare French insoluble. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To transfer power or duty to a lower level; to pass to someone by inheritance.

From the reading: "But she, whose brain was burning with remembrance of injuries and with hopes of vengeance, was readily induced to devolve upon Rebecca the care of her patient." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

delegate, transfer, pass

Antonyms:

recuperate

Root:Latin devolvere, devolutum, to roll down; de + volvere to roll down; de + volvere to roll. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Having or showing no mercy.

From the reading: "O Thor, the Thunderer, Mighty and merciless, Spare us from smiting!" (The First Christmas Tree)

Synonyms:

pitiless, ruthless, cruel

Antonyms:

merciful

Root:mercy (Old French merci, from Latin merces, reward, later pity) + -less, without: without pity.

Definition: To make or become longer.

From the reading: "Lorry perceived the reflection on the wall to elongate, and Mr." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

lengthen, extend, stretch

Antonyms:

shorten

Root:Late Latin elongatus, past participle of elongare to remove, to prolong; e + Latin longus long. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Having unnatural mannerisms.

From the reading: "I didn’t mean to be ill-mannered, but I didn’t know the half of this that you’ve been telling." (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

affected, unnatural

Antonyms:

unaffected

Root:English manner (Old French maniere, Latin manus, hand, way of handling) + -ed: showing an artificial manner.

Definition: Having a lively, cheerful, and self-confident manner.

From the reading: "Although he seemed so light of mind, and gay in dress and manner, I could not doubt his honesty; and saw, beneath his jaunty air, true mettle and ripe bravery." (Lorna Doone)

Synonyms:

lively, perky, breezy

Antonyms:

somber, dejected

Root:Formerly spelt janty, from French gentil. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Highly attractive and able to arouse hope or desire.

From the reading: "God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance." (Frankenstein)

Synonyms:

beguiling, enticing, tempting

Antonyms:

unseductive

Root:English allure, from Old French aleurer, to attract, from a-, to + leurre, a bait or lure: drawing in like a lure.

Definition: Having or showing a feeling of patronizing superiority.

From the reading: "Svidrigaïlov’s lips were twisted in a condescending smile; but he was in no smiling mood." (Crime and Punishment)

Synonyms:

patronizing, haughty, supercilious

Antonyms:

humble, respectful

Root:Latin condescendere, to stoop.

Definition: Showing malicious ill will and a desire to hurt; motivated by spite.

From the reading: "We say all sorts of spiteful things, without a bit of meaning." (Lorna Doone)

Synonyms:

despiteful, vindictive, malicious

Antonyms:

kind, benevolent

Root:spite (short for despite, from Latin despectus, contempt, de-, down + specere, to look) + -ful: full of contempt.