Grade 11 College Vocabulary, Week 32

Definition: To formally accuse of or charge with a serious crime.

From the reading: "Let us note some of the particulars in the new indictment--the Twelve Lies." (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

charge, accuse, arraign

Antonyms:

acquit, exonerate

Root:Anglo-French enditer, to accuse, from Latin indicere, to proclaim.

Definition: Unfortunate; inappropriate.

Context (original sentence): His infelicitous joke at the funeral drew icy stares.

Synonyms:

unfortunate, inapt, inappropriate

Antonyms:

felicitous, apt

Root:Latin in-, not + felix, happy.

Definition: An ungrateful person.

From the reading: "For all ingrate, all mad and impious Will they become against thee; but soon after They, and not thou, shall have the forehead scarlet." (The Divine Comedy)

Synonyms:

ungrateful person

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin ingratus, ungrateful.

Definition: An allusive or oblique remark, typically suggestive or disparaging.

From the reading: "I saw that under the mask of these half humorous innuendoes, this old seaman, as an insulated Quakerish Nantucketer, was full of his insular prejudices, and rather distrustful of all aliens, unless they hailed from Cape Cod or the Vineyard." (Moby-Dick)

Synonyms:

insinuation, implication, hint

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin innuendo, "by nodding at," from innuere, to nod to.

Definition: Lacking physical sensation; lacking sympathy or feeling.

From the reading: "O Thou insensate care of mortal men, How inconclusive are the syllogisms That make thee beat thy wings in downward flight!" (The Divine Comedy)

Synonyms:

unconscious, numb; unfeeling

Antonyms:

sensitive, conscious

Root:Late Latin insensatus, irrational.

Definition: A person who takes part in a dialogue or conversation.

From the reading: "The eyes of the Jew shot a quick, keen glance at the gold in his interlocutor’s hand." (The Scarlet Pimpernel)

Synonyms:

conversationalist, questioner, speaker

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin interloqui, to speak between.

Definition: A person who becomes involved in a place or situation where he is not wanted.

From the reading: "Bred up from boyhood in the Custom-House, it was his proper field of activity; and the many intricacies of business, so harassing to the interloper, presented themselves before him with the regularity of a perfectly comprehended system." (The Scarlet Letter)

Synonyms:

intruder, trespasser, meddler

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:inter- + Dutch loper, a runner.

Definition: To insert something (words, passages) into a text, often falsely.

From the reading: "Interpolated in the middle is the Legend of St." (The Wakefield Second Shepherds' Play)

Synonyms:

insert, interject, introduce

Antonyms:

delete

Root:Latin interpolare, to refurbish or alter.

Definition: A period when normal government is suspended, especially between reigns.

From the reading: "Therefore, I saw that here was a sort of interregnum in Providence; for its even-handed equity never could have so gross an injustice." (Moby-Dick)

Synonyms:

interval, hiatus, interlude

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin inter, between + regnum, reign.

Definition: To speak or write about something with great hostility.

From the reading: "To inveigh against those who make a boast of it." (Pensées)

Synonyms:

rail, fulminate, denounce

Antonyms:

praise

Root:Latin invehi, to attack with words.

Definition: To persuade someone to do something by deception or flattery.

Context (original sentence): The swindler inveigled the old man into signing over his farm.

Synonyms:

entice, cajole, wheedle

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Anglo-French enveogler, to blind.

Definition: To irritate; to annoy.

From the reading: "Because I come perchance a little late, To stay and speak with me let it not irk thee; Thou seest it irks not me, and I am burning." (The Divine Comedy)

Synonyms:

annoy, vex, nettle

Antonyms:

please, delight

Root:Middle English irken, to weary.

Definition: A practical joke.

From the reading: "With that came Sir Dinadan, and when he saw Sir Tristram wroth he list not to jape." (Le Morte d'Arthur)

Synonyms:

prank, trick, joke

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Middle English japen, to trick.

Definition: To be in accord; to agree (also, to make an insulting remark).

Context (original sentence): His story of the evening does not jibe with the testimony of the other guests.

Synonyms:

agree, accord, tally

Antonyms:

conflict, clash

Root:variant of gibe (jeer); the sense "agree" is American.

Definition: To push, elbow, or bump against someone roughly, typically in a crowd.

From the reading: "Even in Broadway and Chestnut streets, Mediterranean mariners will sometimes jostle the affrighted ladies." (Moby-Dick)

Synonyms:

push, shove, elbow

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Middle English justle, from joust.

Definition: An extravagant trip taken by an official at public expense.

Context (original sentence): The councilmen's "inspection tour" of the seaside resorts was a junket paid for by the taxpayers.

Synonyms:

jaunt, excursion, outing

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French jonquette, a rush basket (for cream cheese), hence a feast.

Definition: A meddling or prying person who interferes in the affairs of others.

From the reading: "Further, we affirmed that justice was doing one’s own business, and not being a busybody; we said so again and again, and many others have said the same to us." (The Republic)

Synonyms:

meddler, snoop, interloper

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English bisig, occupied, + body, person

Definition: One's friends, acquaintances, and relations (chiefly in "kith and kin").

From the reading: "Men don't think it half so hard if Islam burns their kin and kith, Since a curate lives in Cardiff Saved by Smith." (Poems of Chesterton)

Synonyms:

friends, acquaintances

Antonyms:

strangers

Root:Old English cyth, knowledge, native land.

Definition: The sound of a bell, especially when rung solemnly for a death or funeral; an omen of the end.

From the reading: "Only the thought of Lorna's death, like a heavy knell, was tolling in the belfry of my brain." (Lorna Doone)

Synonyms:

toll, peal, death knell

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English cnyll, the sound of a bell.

Definition: Praise and honor received for an achievement.

Context (original sentence): The young engineer earned kudos for designing the bridge under budget.

Synonyms:

praise, acclaim, honor

Antonyms:

criticism, censure

Root:Greek kydos, glory.