Grade 6 College Vocabulary, Week 23

Definition: to prove that a statement or charge is false.

From the reading: "even though you refute every one of my imputations"

Synonyms:

disprove, rebut, discredit

Antonyms:

prove, confirm, support

Root:Latin refutare, "to drive back, repel": a refutation pushes the false charge back.

Definition: to lay blame or guilt on someone; to credit a deed or quality to a person.

From the reading: "...you refute every one of my imputations." The Wolf's imputations are the crimes he lays on the Lamb.

KJV: "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Romans 4:8).

Synonyms:

attribute, ascribe, charge

Antonyms:

clear, acquit, absolve

Root:Latin imputare, "to reckon to one's account," from in- (in) + putare (to reckon).

Definition: off the right path; wandering into error or danger.

From the reading: "...meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold..."

KJV: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).

Synonyms:

lost, off course, amiss

Antonyms:

on course, safe, home

Root:Old French estraier, "to wander," from Latin extra (outside) + vagari (to roam). Related to stray.

Definition: full of sorrow; sad and sorrowful in sound or look.

From the reading: "...bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice..."

Synonyms:

sorrowful, doleful, plaintive

Antonyms:

joyful, cheerful, merry

Root:Old English murnan, "to grieve," + -ful (full of).

Definition: aimed at a person's character or traits instead of at his argument; the fallacy of attacking the man.

Context: "You can't be right about the math; you can't even tie your shoes!" is an ad hominem attack, because shoelaces have nothing to do with sums.

Synonyms:

personal, abusive (as an attack)

Antonyms:

relevant, on point, fair-minded

Root:Latin ad (to) + hominem (the man): "to the man."

Definition: to speak evil of someone, often falsely; to slander.

Context: The Wolf maligned the Lamb, charging him with insults he was too young to have given.

Synonyms:

slander, defame, vilify

Antonyms:

praise, defend, commend

Root:Latin malignus, "wicked," from male (badly) + genus (born): ill-natured.

Definition: to attack or call into question someone's honesty, motives or claim.

Context: Instead of answering his rival's argument, the stump speaker impugned the man's honesty.

Synonyms:

challenge, question, dispute

Antonyms:

affirm, vouch for, defend

Root:Latin impugnare, "to fight against," from in- (against) + pugnare (to fight). Related to pugnacious.

Definition: to charge someone with a fault or crime.

KJV: "Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ" (1 Peter 3:16).

Context: The Wolf accused the Lamb three times, and each time the Lamb answered with a fact.

Synonyms:

charge, blame, indict

Antonyms:

acquit, clear, exonerate

Root:Latin accusare, "to call to account," from ad- (to) + causa (a lawsuit, cause).

Definition: a statement taken as true and used as the starting point of an argument.

Context: The Wolf's first premise, that the Lamb insulted him last year, failed, because the Lamb had not been born yet.

Synonyms:

assumption, basis, ground

Antonyms:

conclusion, inference

Root:Latin praemissa, "sent before," from prae- (before) + mittere (to send): the premise is sent ahead of the conclusion.

Definition: wrong; based on a mistake.

Context: "Two of my friends hate math, so all kids hate math" draws an erroneous conclusion from too few cases.

Synonyms:

mistaken, incorrect, false

Antonyms:

correct, accurate, sound

Root:Latin erroneus, "wandering," from errare, "to stray." An error is reasoning gone astray.

Definition: not connected with the matter being discussed.

Context: Whether Mr. Lee wears ugly ties is irrelevant to whether his bridge plan is sound.

Synonyms:

unrelated, beside the point, immaterial

Antonyms:

relevant, pertinent, germane

Root:Latin in- (not) + relevare (to lift up, bear on): not bearing on the question.

Definition: very weak or thin; having little support.

Context: The Wolf's case against the Lamb was tenuous from the start: every charge broke when it was tested.

Synonyms:

flimsy, weak, shaky

Antonyms:

strong, solid, substantial

Root:Latin tenuis, "thin, slender."

Definition: long, hard work; to work hard and steadily.

KJV: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin" (Matthew 6:28).

Context: In Little Britches, the Moody family's first years on their Colorado ranch were years of toil in the fields, with water always scarce.

Synonyms:

labor, drudgery, exertion

Antonyms:

rest, leisure, idleness

Root:Old French toillier, "to stir up, struggle," perhaps from Latin tudiculare, "to crush."

Definition: needing or using great effort and energy.

Context: Young Ralph found ranch chores strenuous, but he learned to keep at them as his father did.

Synonyms:

demanding, taxing, laborious

Antonyms:

easy, effortless, light

Root:Latin strenuus, "brisk, vigorous, active."

Definition: the means by which a person earns a living and supports a family.

Context: With the crops at the mercy of drought and storm, Father also took carpentry work so the family's livelihood would not hang on one harvest.

Synonyms:

living, income, support

Antonyms:

unemployment, want

Root:Old English liflad, "course of life," from lif (life) + lad (way, course). The spelling changed to look like -hood.

Definition: an earnest attempt; to try hard to do something.

KJV: "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3).

Context: Ralph endeavored to do a man's work long before he was a man.

Synonyms:

effort, attempt, strive

Antonyms:

neglect, idleness; (verb) give up

Root:Middle English en- (put into) + dever (duty), from French devoir: to put oneself into one's duty.

Definition: firmly fixed in a view or decision; refusing to be moved.

Context: Ralph's father was adamant that a man's word must be kept, even when keeping it cost him.

Synonyms:

unyielding, firm, resolute

Antonyms:

wavering, flexible, irresolute

Root:Greek adamas, "unconquerable," from a- (not) + daman (to tame). It was once the name of a legendary hard stone.

Definition: a feeling of embarrassment and annoyance at having failed or looked foolish.

Context: Ralph felt chagrin each time he was thrown from a horse in front of the cowboys, but he climbed back on.

Synonyms:

embarrassment, mortification, vexation

Antonyms:

pride, satisfaction, delight

Root:French chagrin, "sorrow, vexation." Its earlier history is uncertain.

Definition: a sharp, formal scolding; to scold someone for a fault.

Context: When Ralph fell short of the truth, his father's reprimand was firm but fair, and it was meant to make a man of him.

Synonyms:

rebuke, reproof, scolding

Antonyms:

praise, commendation

Root:French réprimande, from Latin reprimenda, "things to be held back," from reprimere (to press back, check).

Definition: a pang of conscience; a feeling of guilt that keeps one from doing wrong or follows it.

Context: The Wolf ate the Lamb without the least compunction; Ralph, by contrast, learned from his father to feel compunction over even a small dishonesty.

Synonyms:

remorse, qualm, scruple

Antonyms:

shamelessness, indifference

Root:Latin compunctio, from com- (thoroughly) + pungere (to prick): a pricking of the conscience.