Grade 11 College Vocabulary, Week 12

Definition: Not capable of being computed or enumerated.

From the reading: "I tell thee it will bring tribute incalculable from commerce, and immunity from kings." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

incomputable, inestimable, immeasurable

Antonyms:

calculable

Root:Pref. in- not + calculable: compare French incalculable. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: An imitation of a style with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.

From the reading: "The bough of a broken pine tree lashed heavily in the blast against the windowpane behind them, as if in parody of a burglar, but they did not turn round." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

burlesque, lampoon, satire

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek paroidia, burlesque song.

Definition: Not exactly known, established, or defined.

From the reading: "Both science and experience show that the period of their rising is, and necessarily must be, indeterminate." (Poe, selected tales and poems)

Synonyms:

uncertain, undefined, vague

Antonyms:

definite

Root:Latin indeterminatus. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Capable of being explicated or accounted for.

From the reading: "Thereupon, with a readiness perfectly explicable, all the factions except the Romans joined hope in Ben-Hur, and openly indulged their feeling." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

explainable, interpretable

Antonyms:

inexplicable

Root:Latin explicabilis: compare French explicable. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Unproductive of success.

From the reading: "“Well!” said that good-natured emissary, after a full half-hour of bootless attempts to bring him round to the question." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

fruitless, futile, vain

Antonyms:

productive

Root:From Boot profit. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Curved down like an eagle's beak.

From the reading: "The forehead of the Roman was high and narrow, his nose sharp and aquiline, while his lips were thin and straight, and his eyes cold and close under the brows." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

hooked, curved, eaglelike

Antonyms:

straight

Root:Latin aquilinus, from aquila eagle: compare French aquilin. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Not produced by natural forces.

From the reading: "Whatever humanity I might conjure up against it was all factitious, and concerned my philosophy more than my feelings." (Walden, selected)

Synonyms:

artificial, unreal

Antonyms:

natural

Root:Latin factitius, from facere to make. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The state of being weak in health or body (especially from old age).

From the reading: "As I was in a state of extreme debility, I resolved to sail directly towards the town, as a place where I could most easily procure nourishment." (Frankenstein)

Synonyms:

infirmity, frailty, feebleness

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin debilitas, from debilis weak, prob. from de- + habilis able: compare French débilité. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The state of being swollen or stretched outward.

From the reading: "A slight headache, accompanied with a sensation of fulness or distention about the wrists, the ankles, and the throat, was nearly all of which I had now to complain." (Poe, selected tales and poems)

Synonyms:

dilatation, distension

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin distentio: compare French distension. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A quantity that is more than what is appropriate.

From the reading: "Ellison would divest himself of at least one-half of his fortune, as of utterly superfluous opulence—enriching whole troops of his relatives by division of his superabundance." (Poe, selected tales and poems)

Synonyms:

surplus, excess, glut

Antonyms:

scarcity

Root:Latin superabundantia: compare Old French superabondance. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Capable of being broken.

From the reading: "Why should I tell you how all the rivers are frozen and solid, And from out of the lake frangible water is dug?" (Christmas Bells)

Synonyms:

breakable

Antonyms:

unbreakable

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

Definition: An event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events.

From the reading: "To fill up Liberia with an ignorant, inexperienced, half-barbarized race, just escaped from the chains of slavery, would be only to prolong, for ages, the period of struggle and conflict which attends the inception of new enterprises." (Uncle Tom's Cabin)

Synonyms:

origin, origination

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin inceptio, from incipere to begin; pref. in- in + capere to take. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Sulfur; the fire of divine punishment.

From the reading: "Pull, then, do pull; never mind the brimstone—devils are good fellows enough." (Moby-Dick)

Synonyms:

sulfur, hellfire

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English brynstan, burning stone.

Definition: Having or showing determined courage in the face of difficulties.

From the reading: "FRECKLES, a plucky waif who guards the Limberlost timber leases and dreams of Angels." (Freckles)

Synonyms:

brave, spirited, courageous

Antonyms:

cowardly, timid

Root:from pluck, courage.

Definition: Agreement on a secret plot; secret agreement.

From the reading: "And when she cast her eyes on the Afflicted, They were struck down; and this in such a manner There could be no collusion in the business." (Christmas Bells)

Synonyms:

connivance

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin collusio: compare French collusion. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Having power to atone for or offered by way of expiation or propitiation.

From the reading: "The Roman made an expiatory offering, and prayed, Whatever god or goddess thou art to whom this grove is sacred, be propitious to me, my family, and children, &c." (Walden, selected)

Synonyms:

expiative, propitiatory

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin expiatorius: compare French expiatoire. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A narrow opening or fissure, especially in rock or a wall.

From the reading: "Then—O happiness!—through a crevice flashed a red ray of torches." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

crack, fissure, cleft

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French crevace, from crever, to burst.

Definition: The spreading of something more widely; the use of too many words.

From the reading: "But, unhappily, in proportion to the increase of size in the lens, and consequently of space-penetrating power, is the diminution of light from the object, by diffusion of its rays." (Poe, selected tales and poems)

Synonyms:

dissemination, spread, dispersal

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin diffusio: compare French diffusion. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Relating to priests or the priesthood.

From the reading: "And so came the Abbot, in his sacerdotal panoply, bearing the vial, with his people following after." (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

priestly, hieratic, hieratical

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin sacerdotalis, from sacerdos, -otis, a priest, fromsacer holy, sacred: compare French sacerdotal. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A devious or cunning stratagem used to manipulate or persuade someone.

From the reading: "Also this other wile she contrived in her heart." (The Odyssey)

Synonyms:

trick, ruse, artifice

Antonyms:

candor

Root:perhaps Old Norse vel, craft.