Grade 11 College Vocabulary, Week 6

Definition: Able to use the right and left hands equally well.

Context (original sentence): The ambidextrous swordsman could fight with either hand.

Synonyms:

two-handed, versatile

Antonyms:

one-handed

Root:Latin ambi-, both + dexter, right-handed.

Definition: Act of demanding or levying by force or authority.

From the reading: "But the stern customs of his people had made too severe an exaction of the feeble old man." (The Last of the Mohicans)

Synonyms:

demand, levy, extortion

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin exactio: compare French exaction. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: An ode or lament sung by a single voice; a poem lamenting a death.

From the reading: "The lips of Chingachgook had so far parted, as to announce that it was the monody of the father." (The Last of the Mohicans)

Synonyms:

elegy, lament, dirge

Antonyms:

polyphony, polyphonic music

Root:Latin monodia, Greek monodie. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A formal procession of people on horseback or in carriages.

From the reading: "A general movement among the domestics, and a low sound of gentle voices, announced the approach of those whose presence alone was wanted to enable the cavalcade to move." (The Last of the Mohicans)

Synonyms:

procession, parade, train

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Italian cavalcata, from cavalcare, to ride.

Definition: To take part in an activity in a casual or superficial way; to move hands or feet playfully in water.

From the reading: "Early in the morning I worked barefooted, dabbling like a plastic artist in the dewy and crumbling sand, but later in the day the sun blistered my feet." (Walden, selected)

Synonyms:

paddle, smatter

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Freq. of dab: compare OD. dabbelen. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Slightly salty, as is the mixture of river water and seawater.

From the reading: "Clear old prime Nantucket water; which, when three years afloat, the Nantucketer, in the Pacific, prefers to drink before the brackish fluid, but yesterday rafted off in casks, from the Peruvian or Indian streams." (Moby-Dick)

Synonyms:

salty, briny, saline

Antonyms:

fresh

Root:. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Capable of being corrupted.

From the reading: ""Nor I be made the figure of a seal To privileges venal and mendacious, Whereat I often redden and flash with fire!"-- That is not poetry." (Christmas Bells)

Synonyms:

corruptible, bribable, dishonest

Antonyms:

incorrupt

Root:Latin vena a vein. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Soft and hanging loosely; lacking force or effectiveness.

From the reading: "This difference is sufficient to cause the body to sink, as a general rule; but is insufficient in the cases of individuals with small bones and an abnormal quantity of flaccid or fatty matter." (Poe, selected tales and poems)

Synonyms:

limp, flabby, feeble

Antonyms:

firm, vigorous

Root:Latin flaccidus, from flaccus flabby: compare Old French flaccide. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Highly excited.

From the reading: "For, to speak the truth, until of late years, that the heads of all the people have been set agog with politics, no better business than my own could an honest citizen of Rotterdam either desire or deserve." (Poe, selected tales and poems)

Synonyms:

excited

Antonyms:

unexcited

Root:Cf. French gogue fun, perhaps of Celtic origin. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Swollen and distended; of language, pompous and overblown.

From the reading: "Just before sinking within the turgid sea, its central fires suddenly went out, as if hurriedly extinguished by some unaccountable power." (Poe, selected tales and poems)

Synonyms:

swollen; bombastic, pompous

Antonyms:

plain, simple

Root:Latin turgidus, from turgere to swell. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To block a road or passage; to prevent or hinder.

From the reading: "For several years a persistent effort was made to obstruct his work, particularly his work among the Indians, and even to secure his removal." (Early American Voices: Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God)

Synonyms:

blockade, block, hinder

Antonyms:

free

Root:Latin obstruere, to build against, from ob-, against + struere, to pile: to block by building up.

Definition: Add to the very end; fix to; attach.

From the reading: "It has already been noticed that directly over the platform on which Hester Prynne stood was a kind of balcony, or open gallery, appended to the meeting-house." (The Scarlet Letter)

Synonyms:

supplement, affix, tack

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin appendere, to hang upon, from ad-, to + pendere, to hang: to hang on or add.

Definition: Of or belonging to or active during the day; having a daily cycle or occurring every day.

From the reading: "By day the coursers of the sun Drink of these waters as they run Their swift diurnal round on high; By night the constellations glow Far down the hollow deeps below, And glimmer in another sky." (Christmas Bells)

Synonyms:

daytime, daily

Antonyms:

nocturnal

Root:Latin diurnalis, from dies day. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To enter or gain access to secretly and gradually.

From the reading: "The lower subdivided part, called the junk, is one immense honeycomb of oil, formed by the crossing and recrossing, into ten thousand infiltrated cells, of tough elastic white fibres throughout its whole extent." (Moby-Dick)

Synonyms:

penetrate

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Pref. in- + filtrate: compare F, s'infiltrer. Cf. Infilter. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: In an advanced state of decomposition and having a foul odor; of or relating to or attended by putrefaction.

From the reading: "Why is it that a bucket of water soon becomes putrid, but frozen remains sweet forever?" (Walden, selected)

Synonyms:

rotten, decaying, fetid

Antonyms:

fresh

Root:Latin putridus, from putrere to be rotten, fromputer, or putris, rotten, from putere to stink, to be rotten: compare French putride. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Unite into one; make firm or secure; strengthen.

From the reading: "Wines consolidate stand, preserving the form of the vessels; No more draughts of wine,--pieces presented they drink." (Christmas Bells)

Synonyms:

unify, unite

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin consolidatus, p.pr. of consolidare to make firm; con- + solidare to make firm; solidus solid. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To dispense or allot justice, punishment, or a harsh treatment.

Context (original sentence): The judge meted out a fair sentence.

Synonyms:

dispense, allot, administer

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English metan, to measure.

Definition: Deviating from the general or common order or type.

From the reading: "Physiognomically regarded, the Sperm Whale is an anomalous creature." (Moby-Dick)

Synonyms:

abnormal, irregular, atypical

Antonyms:

normal

Root:Latin anomalus, Greek Same, and compare Abnormal. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Shockingly brutal or cruel; exceptionally bad or displeasing.

From the reading: "This is an ordinary, although an atrocious instance of crime." (Poe, selected tales and poems)

Synonyms:

horrifying, monstrous, dreadful

Antonyms:

admirable

Root:Latin atrox, atrocis, cruel, fierce: compare French atroce. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Acceptable to the taste or mind.

From the reading: "I tasted them out of compliment to Nature, though they were scarcely palatable." (Walden, selected)

Synonyms:

tasty, appetizing, acceptable

Antonyms:

unpalatable

Root:From Palate. (Webster, 1913)