Grade 6 College Vocabulary, Week 4

Definition: humble in rank, condition or spirit; not proud.

From the reading: "Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud."

KJV: The model passage is Proverbs 16:19. Solomon says it is better to be poor among the lowly than rich among the proud.

Synonyms:

humble, modest, meek

Antonyms:

haughty, exalted, lofty

Root:English low + -ly: low in place, and so low in one's own opinion of himself.

Definition: To throw into confusion or mix up; to puzzle or baffle; to defeat or put to shame.

From the reading: "But the Lord confounded their language, and they left off building."

KJV: "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech" (Genesis 11:7).

Synonyms:

confuse, baffle, bewilder

Antonyms:

clarify, explain, enlighten

Root:Latin confundere, "to pour together, mix up" (con- "together" + fundere "to pour"). Babel is the great confounding.

Definition: too bold; taking for granted what one has no right to take.

Context: Little Aias, a Greek hero, was presumptuous. He boasted that even the god of the sea could not harm him, and a falling rock killed him.

KJV: "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me" (Psalm 19:13).

Synonyms:

arrogant, overbold, brash

Antonyms:

humble, modest, diffident

Root:Latin praesumere, "to take beforehand" (prae- "before" + sumere "to take"): helping yourself before you are invited.

Definition: rude, proud disrespect toward others.

From the reading: "Quit my father's house, or, as I tell you now, the day may come when a doom will fall upon you there for your insolence in it."

Synonyms:

impudence, rudeness, arrogance

Antonyms:

respect, courtesy, deference

Root:Latin insolens, "unaccustomed, excessive" (in- "not" + solere "to be accustomed"): behavior that breaks every good custom.

Definition: to eat up greedily; (also) to destroy or use up completely.

From the reading: "...kill and devour our beasts and waste the wine that was laid up against my father's return."

KJV: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

Synonyms:

gobble, consume, gorge

Antonyms:

nibble, fast, abstain

Root:Latin devorare (de- "down" + vorare "to swallow"). Voracious comes from the same root.

Definition: to hold a loud, wild party; (also) to take great delight in something.

From the reading: "...unwelcome men keep revel within it, and the smoke of their feast rises up..."

KJV: Saint Paul lists "drunkenness, revellings, and such like" among the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:21).

Synonyms:

carouse, make merry, celebrate

Antonyms:

mourn, fast, grieve

Root:Old French reveler, "to make merry, to riot," from Latin rebellare, "to rebel."

Definition: to make poor; to drain of wealth or strength.

From the reading: "They devour the substance of this house and my son is being impoverished."

Synonyms:

beggar, bankrupt, deplete

Antonyms:

enrich, endow, prosper

Root:Old French empovrir, from povre, "poor" (Latin pauper).

Definition: well known for something bad.

From the reading: "O notorious swineherd, why didst thou bring this fellow here?" (Antinous insulting the faithful Eumæus)

Context: The swineherd was really famous for loyalty. The wooers became notorious for their greed.

Synonyms:

infamous, disreputable, scandalous

Antonyms:

honored, esteemed, unknown

Root:Latin notorius, "well known," from notus, "known." The word was neutral at first and later took on a bad sense.

Definition: impossible to calm or satisfy; refusing to forgive.

From the reading: "...put into your breast a spirit implacable and proud above all men's spirits?"

Context: Achilles' pride made his anger implacable, and many Greeks died because of it.

Synonyms:

relentless, unforgiving, unappeasable

Antonyms:

forgiving, merciful, placable

Root:Latin in- "not" + placare "to calm, appease." Placid comes from the same root.

Definition: to scold sharply; to find fault with someone.

From the reading: "...if anyone upbraided me he would come and speak gentle words to me." (Helen, remembering Hector's kindness)

KJV: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James 1:5).

Synonyms:

scold, rebuke, reprimand

Antonyms:

praise, commend, compliment

Root:Old English upbregdan, "to bring up against" (up + bregdan "to pull, twist").

Definition: (verb) to express disapproval or disappointment; (noun) blame, or shame and disgrace.

From the reading: "...he spoke to him reproachfully." (Glaukos, to Hector, for forgetting his allies)

KJV: "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34).

Synonyms:

rebuke, blame, censure; (noun) disgrace, shame

Antonyms:

praise, approve; (noun) honor, credit

Root:Old French reprochier, from Latin re- + prope, "near": to bring a fault up close to someone's face.

Definition: to rejoice greatly, often with pride over a beaten enemy.

From the reading: "Then did Hector exult..." (over the fallen Patroklos)

Context: Hector exulted too soon. Within days he fell to Achilles in the same armor.

Synonyms:

rejoice, glory, triumph

Antonyms:

lament, mourn, grieve

Root:Latin exsultare, "to leap up" (ex- "out" + saltare "to leap").

Definition: a person who humbly begs for help or mercy.

From the reading: "I am thy suppliant, O River; pity me and help me in my need."

KJV: "From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering" (Zephaniah 3:10).

Synonyms:

petitioner, beggar, supplicant

Antonyms:

benefactor, patron, giver

Root:Latin supplicare, "to kneel, beg" (sub- "under" + plicare "to fold, bend"): one who bends low.

Definition: unlucky; unfortunate.

From the reading: "Even by the gods is the man pitied who comes to them as a wanderer and a hapless man."

Synonyms:

unlucky, ill-fated, wretched

Antonyms:

fortunate, lucky, blessed

Root:Middle English hap, "luck, chance" (Old Norse happ) + -less. Happen and happy share the root.

Definition: a person who wanders from place to place with no home or steady work.

From the reading: "Have we not enough vagabonds?" (Antinous, sneering at Odysseus in beggar's rags)

KJV: "...a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth" (Genesis 4:12).

Synonyms:

wanderer, drifter, tramp

Antonyms:

resident, householder, settler

Root:Latin vagabundus, from vagari, "to wander." Vague and vagrant share the root.

Definition: to hold oneself back from doing something; (also) to be patient with others.

From the reading: "...I could not forbear to shout my taunts into the cave of Polyphemus."

Context: Odysseus could not hold back his boast, and so the Cyclops learned his name and called down the sea-god's anger on him. Even the wisest of the Greeks stumbled through pride.

KJV: "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye" (Colossians 3:13).

Synonyms:

refrain, abstain, hold back

Antonyms:

indulge, persist, give in

Root:Old English forberan, "to endure, hold back" (for- "away" + beran "to bear").

Definition: to punish or scold severely in order to correct.

From the reading: "...have power to chastise the insolence that gathers around his house."

Context: A good father chastises his son because he loves him. Compare Proverbs 3:12, "For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth."

Synonyms:

punish, discipline, castigate

Antonyms:

reward, praise, pardon

Root:Latin castigare, "to correct, purify," from castus, "pure."

Definition: punishment given in return for a wrong.

From the reading: "...vengeance would soon be wrought upon the proud and hard-hearted men who wasted the goods of the house..."

KJV: "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19). Homer's heroes take revenge into their own hands. Scripture teaches that vengeance belongs to God.

Synonyms:

revenge, retribution, reprisal

Antonyms:

forgiveness, mercy, pardon

Root:Old French venjance, from Latin vindicare, "to claim, avenge."

Definition: Betraying trust; disloyal; full of hidden dangers.

From the reading: "...to be killed in his own hall by a most treacherous foeman."

KJV: "...the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously" (Isaiah 24:16).

Synonyms:

traitorous, faithless, deceitful; (sense 2) hazardous, perilous

Antonyms:

loyal, faithful, trustworthy; (sense 2) safe

Root:Old French trecheros, from trichier, "to cheat." Trick is a cousin.

Definition: fame and honor; being widely known and praised.

From the reading: "...he should win for himself imperishable renown but would soon lose his life..."

KJV: "...the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown" (Genesis 6:4).

Context: The men of Babel said, "let us make us a name." A name sought in pride ends in confusion. True honor comes from God.

Synonyms:

fame, acclaim, distinction

Antonyms:

obscurity, disgrace, infamy

Root:Old French renomer, "to make famous" (re- "again" + nomer "to name," Latin nominare): a name repeated far and wide.