Grade 11 College Vocabulary, Week 16

Definition: Lively and enthusiastic; bubbling over with high spirits (literally, giving off bubbles).

Context (original sentence): Her effervescent welcome made even the shyest guest feel at home.

Synonyms:

vivacious, bubbly, exuberant

Antonyms:

subdued, lethargic

Root:Latin effervescences, present participle of effervescere: compare French effervescent. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Hostility or ill will, often deep-seated.

Context (original sentence): Years after the lawsuit, the two brothers still spoke of each other with open animus.

Synonyms:

hostility, enmity, antipathy

Antonyms:

goodwill, friendliness

Root:Latin, mind. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A person of profound or extensive learning.

Context (original sentence): The old savant could recite whole books of Virgil and explain every allusion.

Synonyms:

scholar, sage, intellectual

Antonyms:

ignoramus, dunce

Root:French, from savoir to know, Latin sapere. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The entire compass or range of musical tones; a swelling burst of harmony.

From the reading: "The bursting shell, the gateway wrenched asunder, The rattling musketry, the clashing blade; And ever and anon, in tones of thunder, The diapason of the cannonade." (Poems of Longfellow)

Synonyms:

range, compass, swell

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek dia pason, through all the notes.

Definition: A name or term that is wrong or misleading.

Context (original sentence): Calling the tiny creek a "river" was a misnomer that amused every visitor.

Synonyms:

misdesignation, misname

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French pref. mes- amiss, wrong (Latin minus less) + French nommer to name, Latin nominare, from nomen name. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Expressing contempt or disapproval; belittling.

Context (original sentence): In some circles "bookish" is used as a pejorative term, but she wore it proudly.

Synonyms:

derogatory, disparaging, uncomplimentary

Antonyms:

complimentary, laudatory

Root:French péjoratif, from Latin pejor, used as compar. of malus evil. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The point on which a lever turns; hence, a thing that plays a central part in an activity.

Context (original sentence): The surprise testimony of the gardener became the fulcrum of the entire trial.

Synonyms:

pivot, hinge, linchpin

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin, bedpost, from fulcire to prop. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: An outcast; a person rejected by society.

Context (original sentence): After he cheated in the championship, he became a pariah at his own club.

Synonyms:

outcast, exile, leper

Antonyms:

idol, favorite

Root:From Tamil paraiyan, pl. paraiyar, one of the low caste, from parai a large drum, because they beat the drums at certain festivals. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Allowing liquids or gases to pass through.

Context (original sentence): Sandy soil is so permeable that rain drains away within minutes.

Synonyms:

porous, penetrable, pervious

Antonyms:

impermeable, impervious

Root:Latin permeabilis: compare French perméable. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Instruction or guardianship, especially by a tutor.

Context (original sentence): Under the tutelage of an old shipwright, the boy learned to steam and bend oak.

Synonyms:

instruction, guidance, guardianship

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin tutela protection, from tutus safe, from tueri to watch, defend. Cf. Tuition. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The philosophical view that life has no meaning and that moral values are baseless.

Context (original sentence): The novel's hero rejects the nihilism of his student friends and returns to the faith of his childhood.

Synonyms:

negativism, skepticism

Antonyms:

faith, belief

Root:Latin nihil nothing: compare French nihilisme. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Uncertainty of meaning; the quality of being open to more than one interpretation.

From the reading: "D’Avisson (Davidson?) although there is a terrible ambiguity in the statement." (The Works of Edgar Allan Poe)

Synonyms:

vagueness, equivocation, obscurity

Antonyms:

clarity, precision

Root:Latin ambiguitas, from ambiguus: compare French ambiguité. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Sharp and forthright in speech or wit; harsh.

Context (original sentence): The professor's acerbic comments in the margins stung, but they were nearly always right.

Synonyms:

caustic, biting, acid

Antonyms:

mild, kindly

Root:Latin acerbus, harsh, sour, bitter (from acer, sharp).

Definition: To make impure by adding inferior or foreign substances.

Context (original sentence): The dishonest miller adulterated his flour with chalk.

Synonyms:

contaminate, debase, dilute

Antonyms:

purify, refine

Root:Latin adulterare, to corrupt or falsify (ad- + alter, other).

Definition: A mixture or blend of different elements.

From the reading: "“They are coiners on a large scale, and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the place of silver.”" (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)

Synonyms:

blend, mixture, fusion

Antonyms:

(none exact)

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

Definition: Not likely to provoke dissent or offense; inoffensive, often blandly so (originally, pain-relieving).

Context (original sentence): The speaker's anodyne remarks pleased everyone and persuaded no one.

Synonyms:

bland, innocuous, inoffensive

Antonyms:

provocative, controversial

Root:Latin anodynus, Greek anodin. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To reduce the force, effect, or value of; to weaken or make thin.

From the reading: "Besides, if rarity were of this dimness The cause thou askest, either through and through This planet thus attenuate were of matter," (The Divine Comedy)

Synonyms:

weaken, diminish, reduce

Antonyms:

intensify, strengthen

Root:Latin attenuatus, past participle of attenuare; ad + tenuare to make thin, tenuis thin. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To begin to grow or increase rapidly; to flourish.

Context (original sentence): After the railroad came, the little market town burgeoned into a city.

Synonyms:

flourish, boom, thrive

Antonyms:

wither, shrink

Root:Old French burjon, a bud or shoot.

Definition: A minor dispute or disagreement; an unexpected and unfortunate occurrence.

Context (original sentence): A brief contretemps over seating delayed the start of the banquet.

Synonyms:

quarrel, mishap, setback

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:French contretemps, out of time.

Definition: To combine two or more ideas or texts into one, often mistakenly.

Context (original sentence): Careless readers often conflate the author with the narrator of his story.

Synonyms:

combine, merge, confuse

Antonyms:

separate, distinguish

Root:Latin conflare, to blow together or fuse (con-, together + flare, to blow).