Grade 11 College Vocabulary, Week 27

Definition: Describing or prophesying the complete destruction of the world; momentous or catastrophic.

Context (original sentence): The newspapers painted an apocalyptic picture of the coming storm, but it passed with little damage.

Synonyms:

catastrophic, cataclysmic, doom-laden

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek apokalypsis, an uncovering or revelation.

Definition: The abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief or principle.

From the reading: "Methinks I want but apostasy to consummate my infamy.”" (The Talisman)

Synonyms:

defection, renunciation, desertion

Antonyms:

faithfulness, loyalty

Root:Greek apostasia, a standing away (apo-, away + stasis, standing).

Definition: A concise saying or maxim; an aphorism.

From the reading: "In reading the above sentence a curious apothegm of an old weather-beaten Dutch navigator comes full upon my recollection." (The Works of Edgar Allan Poe)

Synonyms:

maxim, aphorism, adage

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek apophthegma, a terse saying (apophthengesthai, to speak out).

Definition: Living in trees; relating to trees.

Context (original sentence): Sloths are arboreal creatures that seldom come down to the ground.

Synonyms:

tree-dwelling, sylvan

Antonyms:

terrestrial

Root:Latin arbor, tree.

Definition: Extremely stupid or foolish.

Context (original sentence): It was asinine to go sailing with a storm warning flying over the harbor.

Synonyms:

foolish, idiotic, senseless

Antonyms:

sensible, wise

Root:Latin asinus, ass.

Definition: Relating to or characteristic of distant ancestors; reverting to something ancient or primal.

Context (original sentence): The thunder woke in him an atavistic fear of the dark.

Synonyms:

primal, ancestral, primitive

Antonyms:

modern

Root:Latin atavus, a remote ancestor.

Definition: To strip of covering; to make bare.

From the reading: "But tell me, for God’s sake, what thus denudes you?" (The Divine Comedy)

Synonyms:

strip, bare, divest

Antonyms:

cover, clothe

Root:Latin denudare, to lay bare.

Definition: An occasion of wild and drunken revelry.

From the reading: "Where Ismenus rolls his waters, Where the Dragon’s teeth were sown, Where the Bacchanals thy daughters Round thee roam, There thy home; Thebes, O Bacchus, is thine own." (The Oedipus Trilogy)

Synonyms:

orgy, carousal, revel

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin Bacchus, Roman god of wine.

Definition: Failing to possess or display prudence; unwise.

Context (original sentence): It would be impolitic to criticize the bishop at his own dinner table.

Synonyms:

unwise, imprudent, injudicious

Antonyms:

prudent, politic

Root:in- + politic, from Greek politikos, civic.

Definition: Highly ornate and extravagant in style, as in 17th-century European art and music.

Context (original sentence): The chapel's baroque altar was crowded with gilded angels and twisting columns.

Synonyms:

ornate, elaborate, florid

Antonyms:

plain, austere

Root:French baroque, from Portuguese barroco, an irregular pearl.

Definition: A projecting part of a fortification; figuratively, an institution that strongly defends particular principles.

From the reading: "He walked to an angle of the bastion, and beheld the scout advancing, under the custody of a French officer, to the body of the fort." (The Last of the Mohicans)

Synonyms:

stronghold, citadel, bulwark

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Italian bastione, from bastire, to build.

Definition: To coax with flattery; to cajole.

From the reading: "Him Dido now with blandishment detains; But I suspect the town where Juno reigns." (The Aeneid)

Synonyms:

cajole, coax, flatter

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin blandiri, to flatter (blandus, smooth).

Definition: An exaggerated display of self-importance in speech or manner.

From the reading: "With a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and strode off upon his way." (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)

Synonyms:

self-importance, conceit, grandiosity

Antonyms:

humility, modesty

Root:Latin pompa, a procession or display, + -osity (state of)

Definition: Work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of value.

Context (original sentence): The bridge to an empty island was a costly boondoggle.

Synonyms:

waste, extravagance

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:1930s American coinage of uncertain origin.

Definition: To tolerate or allow (usually in the negative).

Context (original sentence): The old captain would brook no argument on his own deck.

Synonyms:

tolerate, endure, abide

Antonyms:

forbid

Root:Old English brucan, to use or enjoy.

Definition: Hypocritical and sanctimonious talk; also, the special jargon of a group.

Context (original sentence): He spoke of honesty with such cant that no one believed a word.

Synonyms:

hypocrisy, sanctimony, humbug

Antonyms:

sincerity

Root:Latin cantare, to sing (the whining tone of beggars).

Definition: The husks separated from grain; figuratively, worthless things.

From the reading: ""The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away."" (Psalms 1:4)

Synonyms:

husks, refuse, trash

Antonyms:

grain, wheat

Root:Old English ceaf, husks.

Definition: Courteous and gallant, especially toward women; marked by the ideals of knighthood.

From the reading: "Contrast Sansloy's rude treatment of Una with the chivalrous respect and courtesy always shown by a true knight to woman." (The Faerie Queene, Book I)

Synonyms:

gallant, courteous, gentlemanly

Antonyms:

rude, boorish

Root:Old French chevalerous, from chevalier, a knight (cheval, horse).

Definition: To climb or move awkwardly, using both hands and feet.

From the reading: "We clambered up to the front seat and jolted off past the little pond and along the road that climbed to the big cornfield." (My Antonia)

Synonyms:

scramble, scrabble, climb

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Middle English clambren, related to climb.

Definition: A fissure or split, especially in rock or the ground.

From the reading: ""O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance."" (Song of Solomon 2:14)

Synonyms:

crevice, fissure, crack

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English cleofan, to split.