Grade 6 College Vocabulary, Week 27

Definition: lack of the skill and knowledge that come from having done something before.

From the reading: "...the work proceeded slowly, from our inexperience; and the provisions we had brought were nearly exhausted."

Context (the model): Young Twain was a cub pilot, and his inexperience let Bixby's trick shake him. Bixby meant the scare to teach: "I want you to learn something by that experience."

Synonyms:

greenness, rawness, unfamiliarity

Antonyms:

experience, expertise, seasoning

Root:Latin in- (not) + experientia, "a trial," from experiri, "to try, test."

Definition: easy to teach, train or lead; willing to be guided.

From the reading: "...the calf promised to be docile and useful..."

KJV link: Christ invites His disciples to be teachable: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29).

Synonyms:

teachable, tractable, obedient

Antonyms:

unruly, stubborn, defiant

Root:Latin docilis, "teachable," from docere, "to teach" (also the root of doctor and doctrine).

Definition: giving useful knowledge or teaching a lesson.

From the reading: "Ernest read to us from some amusing or instructive work every evening..."

Synonyms:

informative, enlightening, edifying

Antonyms:

useless, uninformative, misleading

Root:Latin instruere, "to build up, arrange, teach" (in- "in" + struere "to pile up, build"). To instruct is to build a mind.

Definition: words of blame or correction spoken to someone who has done wrong.

From the reading: "I gave them a severe reproof for their disobedience, and sent them home..." (Ernest and Jack had followed their father without leave.)

KJV: "Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish" (Proverbs 12:1).

Synonyms:

rebuke, scolding, censure

Antonyms:

praise, commendation, approval

Root:Old French reprover, from Latin reprobare, "to disapprove" (re- "back, against" + probare "to test, approve").

Definition: a shameful lack of courage in the face of danger or difficulty.

From the reading: "And another thing: when you get into a dangerous place, don't turn coward." (Bixby, in the model). And in Wyss: "...we rallied him out of his cowardice..." (little Francis, crying at the sight of the beast).

KJV: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).

Synonyms:

faintheartedness, timidity, spinelessness

Antonyms:

courage, bravery, valor

Root:Old French couard, from coue, "tail" (like an animal running off with its tail tucked) + -ice.

Definition: easily frightened; lacking boldness or confidence.

From the reading: "...I should have put the gazelle to flight, as it is a timid and wild animal."

Synonyms:

fearful, shy, skittish

Antonyms:

bold, daring, confident

Root:Latin timidus, "fearful," from timere, "to fear."

Definition: not wise or careful about the future; acting without good judgment.

From the reading: "...they had killed about fifty, but had consumed so much powder and shot, that I checked a prodigality so imprudent in our situation."

KJV link: "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished" (Proverbs 27:12). The imprudent man is the "simple" one.

Synonyms:

unwise, rash, careless

Antonyms:

prudent, wise, sensible

Root:Latin im- (not) + prudens, a shortened form of providens, "foreseeing."

Definition: failing to take proper care with one's duties; careless.

From the reading: "Excuses were now too late; the negligent and disobedient were sent to labour in the dark mines..." (from Father Robinson's parable of the Great King)

Synonyms:

careless, neglectful, remiss

Antonyms:

careful, diligent, conscientious

Root:Latin neglegere, "to disregard" (nec- "not" + legere "to pick up, choose"): one who does not pick up his task.

Definition: a gentle but serious warning or correction.

From the reading: "I gave my boys a short admonition for their sloth."

KJV: "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4).

Synonyms:

warning, caution, reprimand

Antonyms:

praise, encouragement, commendation

Root:Latin admonere, "to remind, warn" (ad- "to" + monere "to warn").

Definition: approval or praise, especially from someone in authority.

From the reading: "I assured them of my forgiveness, and my cordial approbation of their manly and useful enterprise..."

KJV link: The highest approbation a servant can hear: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21).

Synonyms:

approval, commendation, endorsement

Antonyms:

disapproval, censure, condemnation

Root:Latin approbare, "to approve" (ad- "to" + probare "to test, find good").

Definition: kind and quick to allow others what they want; sometimes too lenient.

From the reading: "His indulgent mother took them from him, and we proceeded to the tent." (Ernest had complained that the bowls were too heavy.)

Synonyms:

lenient, permissive, easygoing

Antonyms:

strict, stern, severe

Root:Latin indulgere, "to be kind, give way to."

Definition: friendly, playful teasing talk.

From the reading: "...even now, regardless of their banter, he was lost in some new idea." (Ernest ignores his brothers' teasing.)

Synonyms:

teasing, joking, repartee

Antonyms:

seriousness, solemnity

Root:Origin unknown; a slang word in London in the late 1600s that Jonathan Swift complained about. It stuck anyway.

Definition: to invent or plan something cleverly, often with few resources; to manage to do something.

From the reading: "I will try during the night to contrive some expedient to secure our safety."

Synonyms:

devise, invent, engineer

Antonyms:

bungle, botch

Root:Old French controver, "to find, invent," from Late Latin contropare, "to compare."

Definition: careful thought and planning for the future.

From the reading: "...the boys had had the forethought to leave the animals with provisions for ten days."

KJV link: The ant "Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest" (Proverbs 6:8).

Synonyms:

foresight, planning, prudence

Antonyms:

carelessness, improvidence, thoughtlessness

Root:Old English fore- (before) + thought: thinking before the need comes.

Definition: to fill with strength and energy.

From the reading: "We were so invigorated by this cordial, that we set briskly to work..."

Synonyms:

refresh, energize, revive

Antonyms:

exhaust, weary, enervate

Root:Latin in- (into) + vigor, "liveliness," from vigere, "to be lively."

Definition: wanting or eating great amounts of food; (also) very eager for something, as in "a voracious reader."

From the reading: "...I saw we had not food sufficient to satisfy this voracious animal..."

Synonyms:

ravenous, greedy, insatiable

Antonyms:

satisfied, sated, indifferent

Root:Latin vorax, from vorare, "to swallow up, devour."

Definition: strong and healthy; sturdy and able to stand up to hard use.

From the reading: "I was most especially grateful to God for the robust health we all enjoyed..."

Synonyms:

sturdy, vigorous, hardy

Antonyms:

frail, feeble, weak

Root:Latin robustus, "strong as oak," from robur, "oak; strength."

Definition: more than enough; large and roomy.

From the reading: "I then laid out the extent of the grotto at pleasure, for we had ample space."

Synonyms:

plentiful, abundant, spacious

Antonyms:

scanty, insufficient, meager

Root:Latin amplus, "large, spacious."

Definition: to be unsteady; to go back and forth in one's mind and fail to hold firm.

From the reading: "You shouldn't have allowed me or anybody else to shake your confidence in that knowledge." (Bixby: do not waver about what you truly know.)

KJV: "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed" (James 1:6).

Synonyms:

falter, hesitate, vacillate

Antonyms:

stand firm, persist, hold fast

Root:Middle English waveren, "to flicker, wander," related to Old Norse vafra, "to move unsteadily."

Definition: Careful thought about something; in a memoir, the part where the writer tells what the moment meant.

From the reading: "The part of a memoir in which the writer tells what the moment meant." (lesson term). And in Wyss: "I have finished my parable, my dear children; reflect on it, and profit by it."

KJV link: "Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established" (Proverbs 4:26).

Synonyms:

thought, consideration, contemplation

Antonyms:

thoughtlessness, heedlessness

Root:Latin reflectere, "to bend back" (re- "back" + flectere "to bend"): the mind bends back to look at what happened.