Grade 10 College Vocabulary, Week 16

Definition: Having or showing too great a readiness to reveal things that should remain secret.

From the reading: "It was another sly attempt to trap Joan into indiscreet admissions and dangerous pretensions." (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

careless, imprudent, tactless

Antonyms:

discreet, tactful

Root:in- + discreet, Latin discretus, separated.

Definition: To begin or introduce a system or policy; to admit someone formally to office.

From the reading: "Stryver inaugurated the Long Vacation with a formal proposal to take Miss Manette to Vauxhall Gardens; that failing, to Ranelagh; that unaccountably failing too, it behoved him to present himself in Soho, and there declare his noble mind." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

introduce

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin inaugurare, to install after taking omens, from in-, in + augur, a soothsayer: to begin with ceremony.

Definition: Having the sticky properties of an adhesive.

From the reading: "The day was very hot, and heaps of flies, who were extending their inquisitive and adventurous perquisitions into all the glutinous little glasses near madame, fell dead at the bottom." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

gluey, gummy, mucilaginous

Antonyms:

nonadhesive

Root:Latin glutinosus, from gluten glue: compare French glutineux. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To move faster than and overtake; to exceed.

From the reading: "All the time, our overfraught hearts are beating at a rate that would far outstrip the fastest gallop of the fastest horses ever foaled." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

surpass, outmatch, outgo

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:out, beyond + strip, to move quickly (Middle English strypen, origin uncertain): to run past and leave behind.

Definition: Characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious; simple and natural; without cunning or deceit.

From the reading: "Cruncher came to a stop on the pavement before he answered, “How should I know?” “I thought you knowed everything, father,” said the artless boy." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

ingenuous, candid, open

Antonyms:

disingenuous, artful, skilled

Root:art (Latin ars, skill) + -less, without: without craft or cunning.

Definition: Vigorous and animated.

From the reading: "No vivacious Bacchanalian flame leaped out of the pressed grape of Monsieur Defarge: but, a smouldering fire that burnt in the dark, lay hidden in the dregs of it." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

vibrant, spirited

Antonyms:

spiritless

Root:Latin vívax, -acis, from vivere to live. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Not suited to one's character or station; improper.

From the reading: "Nothing unbecoming tinged the pride; it was a natural and worthy one; but he observed it as a curiosity." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

unseemly, improper, unfitting

Antonyms:

proper, becoming

Root:Pref. un- not + becoming. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Embody the essential characteristics of or be a typical example of; express indirectly by an image, form, or model; be a symbol.

From the reading: "“Here they come, fast, fierce, and furious!” It was the rush and roar of rain that he typified, and it stopped him, for no voice could be heard in it." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

epitomize, epitomise, symbolize

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Type + -fy. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Marked by a ready flow of speech.

From the reading: "Eh?” “There is no better,” the voluble Vengeance protested in her shrill notes, “in France.” “Peace, little Vengeance,” said Madame Defarge, laying her hand with a slight frown on her lieutenant’s lips, “hear me speak." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

chatty, gabby, garrulous

Antonyms:

taciturn

Root:Latin volubilis, rolling or fluent, from volvere, to roll: speech that rolls easily.

Definition: Full of twists and turns; excessively complicated.

From the reading: "A small, dim, crooked shop, kept in a tortuous, up-hill thoroughfare, by a small, dim, crooked man." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

winding, twisting, convoluted

Antonyms:

straight, simple

Root:Old English tortuos, Latintortuosus, fromtortus a twisting, winding, from torquere, tortum, to twist: compare French tortueux. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To live or spend time in a dull, inactive way.

From the reading: "On inanimate nature, as on the men and women who cultivated it, a prevalent tendency towards an appearance of vegetating unwillingly--a dejected disposition to give up, and wither away." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

idle, stagnate, languish

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin vegetatus, past participle of vegetare to enliven. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Impossible to repress or control.

From the reading: "But, her courage was of that emotional nature that it brought the irrepressible tears into her eyes." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

uncontrollable, uncontrolled

Antonyms:

controlled

Root:in-, not + Latin reprimere, to press back (re-, back + premere, to press) + -ible: unable to be pressed back.

Definition: Call before a court to answer an indictment; accuse of a wrong or an inadequacy.

From the reading: "“Charles Evrémonde, called Darnay,” was at length arraigned." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

(none exact)

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:From Old French aramier, from Late Latin adhramire. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information.

From the reading: "Cruncher, “even if it wos so, which I don’t say it is--” “Don’t prevaricate,” said Mr." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

equivocate, tergiversate, palter

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin praevaricari, to walk crookedly, from prae-, before + varicare, to straddle (varus, bent): to swerve from the truth.

Definition: Impossible to understand.

From the reading: "For a few moments there was a pause, and a hurry, and a murmur, and the unintelligible sound of his voice; and then Mr." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

incomprehensible, garbled, indecipherable

Antonyms:

intelligible

Root:un-, not + Latin intellegere, to understand (inter-, between + legere, to choose) + -ible: not able to be understood.

Definition: To make someone so frightened they are unable to move; to change organic matter into stone.

From the reading: "It was like a fine mask, suddenly startled, made angry, and petrified." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

lapidify, rigidify, ossify

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin petra rock, Greek -fy: compare French pétrifier. Cf. Parrot, Petrel, Pier. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Hostile or indifferent to religion.

From the reading: "If you’re a religious woman, give me a irreligious one!" (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

ungodly, unbelieving, impious

Antonyms:

religious, devout

Root:Latin irreligiosus: compare French irréligieux. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A reply, especially a sharp or witty one.

From the reading: "“I neither want any thanks, nor merit any,” was the careless rejoinder." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

retort, return, riposte

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:From French rejoindre, inf., to join again. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Acceptance of the truth or existence of something; an expression of thanks.

From the reading: "Could you tell her so for me, with my fervent acknowledgments?” “Yes, I could." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

recognition, acknowledgement, citation

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Middle English aknowlechen, from on- + knowlechen, to admit knowledge of: the act of admitting or owning something.

Definition: The act of carrying from one place to another; a means of transport.

From the reading: "Finally, he had proposed, after anxious consideration, that Miss Pross and Jerry, who were at liberty to leave the city, should leave it at three o’clock in the lightest-wheeled conveyance known to that period." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

imparting, impartation, transport

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French conveier, to escort, from Latin com-, with + via, way: the act or means of carrying along the way.