Grade 12 College Vocabulary, Week 7

Definition: To feel or show fear or apprehension.

From the reading: "Nor did kinsman's bequest quail at the battle: This the dragon discovered on their coming together." (Beowulf)

Synonyms:

cower, flinch, shrink

Antonyms:

stand firm

Root:Middle English quailen, to fail or wither.

Definition: A witty remark.

From the reading: "Then Tristram, waiting for the quip to come, “Good now, what music have I broken, fool?”" (Idylls of the King)

Synonyms:

witticism, jest, sally

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:perhaps from Latin quippe, indeed (used sarcastically).

Definition: A peculiar behavioral habit; a strange chance occurrence.

From the reading: "I may chance have some odd quirks and remnants of wit broken on me, because I have railed so long against marriage; but doth not the appetite alter?" (Much Ado About Nothing)

Synonyms:

idiosyncrasy, oddity, fluke

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:of unknown origin, 16th century.

Definition: A disorderly crowd; a mob.

From the reading: "O rabble ill-begotten above all, Who’re in the place to speak of which is hard, ’Twere better ye had here been sheep or goats!" (The Divine Comedy)

Synonyms:

mob, horde, crowd

Antonyms:

elite

Root:Middle English rabel, a pack of animals.

Definition: Having or proceeding from an extreme or fanatical support of something; (literally) affected with rabies.

From the reading: "Unappalled by the massacre made upon them during the night, the sharks now freshly and more keenly allured by the before pent blood which began to flow from the carcass—the rabid creatures swarmed round it like bees in a beehive." (Moby-Dick)

Synonyms:

fanatical, zealous, extreme

Antonyms:

moderate, indifferent

Root:Latin rabidus, raving (rabere, to rave).

Definition: Good-humored teasing.

From the reading: "Excitement instantly seized the whole party: a running fire of raillery and jests was proceeding when Sam returned." (Jane Eyre)

Synonyms:

banter, teasing, badinage

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:French raillerie, from railler, to tease.

Definition: Having a dashing, jaunty, or slightly disreputable quality.

From the reading: "Under this rakishly-tilted hat was a pale, frightened little face with lips parted and eyes staring in terror." (Crime and Punishment)

Synonyms:

jaunty, dashing, raffish

Antonyms:

staid, sober

Root:from rake, a dissolute man (short for rakehell).

Definition: To form branches or offshoots; to spread or branch out.

Context (original sentence): The roots of the old elm ramified under the whole churchyard.

Synonyms:

branch, divide, spread

Antonyms:

converge

Root:Latin ramus, a branch + -fy.

Definition: An establishment or resumption of harmonious relations.

Context (original sentence): After years of silence the two families reached a rapprochement at their grandmother's funeral.

Synonyms:

reconciliation, détente, reunion

Antonyms:

estrangement, rift

Root:French rapprocher, to bring together.

Definition: To completely destroy a building, town, or other site.

From the reading: "And then he said: ‘Be not thy heart afraid; Henceforth I thee absolve; and thou instruct me How to raze Palestrina to the ground." (The Divine Comedy)

Synonyms:

demolish, flatten, level

Antonyms:

build, erect

Root:Old French raser, to shave, scrape.

Definition: A puzzle in which words are represented by combinations of pictures and individual letters.

Context (original sentence): The child's valentine was a rebus: an eye, a heart, and a ewe.

Synonyms:

picture puzzle

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin rebus, "by things."

Definition: A prescribed course of medical treatment, diet, or exercise.

From the reading: "Do you not observe that these athletes sleep away their lives, and are liable to most dangerous illnesses if they depart, in ever so slight a degree, from their customary regimen?" (The Republic)

Synonyms:

routine, program, course

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin regimen, rule, guidance (regere, to rule).

Definition: To make something abstract more concrete or real.

Context (original sentence): The sculptor reified the idea of justice as a blindfolded woman holding scales.

Synonyms:

concretize, embody, materialize

Antonyms:

abstract

Root:Latin res, thing + -fy, to make.

Definition: To tear something into two or more pieces; to cause great emotional pain.

From the reading: ""And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God."" (Joel 2:13)

Synonyms:

tear, rip, split

Antonyms:

mend

Root:Old English rendan, to tear.

Definition: A fixed grimace or grin.

Context (original sentence): His smile froze into a rictus when he saw the bill.

Synonyms:

grimace, grin, leer

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin rictus, open mouth (ringi, to gape).

Definition: A quick clever reply to an insult or criticism; (in fencing) a counterthrust.

Context (original sentence): Her riposte to the heckler drew laughter from the whole hall.

Synonyms:

retort, rejoinder, comeback

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Italian risposta, a reply.

Definition: Such as to provoke laughter; ludicrous.

Context (original sentence): The thief's risible excuse—that the silver spoons had followed him home—convinced no one.

Synonyms:

laughable, ludicrous, absurd

Antonyms:

serious

Root:Late Latin risibilis, from ridere, to laugh.

Definition: To make a liquid muddy by disturbing sediment; to agitate or disturb.

Context (original sentence): The flood roiled the clear stream into brown soup.

Synonyms:

muddy, stir up; agitate

Antonyms:

calm, settle

Root:perhaps Old French ruiler, to mix mortar.

Definition: Exuberantly lively and amusing.

From the reading: "No song could have given the intense sweetness and rollicking quality of Freckles' voice better scope." (Freckles)

Synonyms:

boisterous, lively, jolly

Antonyms:

dull, somber

Root:perhaps a blend of romp and frolic.

Definition: To bitterly regret something one has done or allowed to happen.

From the reading: "Whence he to me: “Of his own greatest failing He knows the harm; and therefore wonder not If he reprove us, that we less may rue it." (The Divine Comedy)

Synonyms:

regret, repent, lament

Antonyms:

rejoice

Root:Old English hreowan, to grieve.