Grade 6 College Vocabulary, Week 29

Definition: (noun) clothing, make-up, or a manner that hides who someone really is; (verb) to change one's looks, or to hide a feeling, so that it is not recognized.

From the reading: "An ass, having put on the Lion’s skin, roamed about in the forest" (the lion's skin is the ass's disguise). In Orczy's novel the Scarlet Pimpernel's problem is "his great height, which in France made disguise doubly difficult."

Lesson term: "Something that hides what a thing really is."

KJV: "And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle" (1 Kings 22:30). His disguise did not save him, because no disguise can hide a man from God.

Synonyms:

mask, costume, camouflage; (verb) hide, cloak

Antonyms:

(verb) reveal, unmask, expose

Root:Old French desguisier, from des- (away, un-) + guise (manner, appearance): to put one's usual appearance away.

Definition: to hide something, or to keep it secret.

From the reading: "...probably he will be disguised; but he cannot very well conceal his height, except by stooping." (Chauvelin is telling his men how to spot the Pimpernel.)

KJV: "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter" (Proverbs 25:2).

Synonyms:

hide, cloak, veil

Antonyms:

reveal, disclose, expose

Root:Latin concelare, from con- (completely) + celare (to hide).

Definition: the state of having one's name unknown or kept secret.

From the reading: "...that anonymity which crowned him, as if with a halo of romantic glory."

KJV link: Christ teaches us to give in secret: "let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth" (Matthew 6:3). Good deeds do not need our name on them.

Synonyms:

namelessness, obscurity, secrecy

Antonyms:

fame, renown, recognition

Root:Greek anonymos, from an- (without) + onoma (name).

Definition: showing the highest skill; complete and perfect.

From the reading: "The mask of the inane fop had been a good one, and the part consummately well played." (The reading uses the adverb form.)

Synonyms:

accomplished, masterly, supreme

Antonyms:

clumsy, amateurish, inept

Root:Latin consummare, "to sum up, finish," from con- (together) + summa (sum, highest point).

Definition: silly and empty of sense or meaning.

From the reading: "Loved that inane fop! whose thoughts seemed unable to soar beyond the tying of a cravat or the new cut of a coat." (These are Marguerite's thoughts before she learns who her husband really is.)

KJV link: "Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise" (Proverbs 17:28). Aesop's ass might have passed for a lion if he had kept quiet. Sir Percy did the opposite: he was wise but chose to sound inane.

Synonyms:

senseless, silly, vacuous

Antonyms:

sensible, meaningful, profound

Root:Latin inanis, "empty."

Definition: too concerned with fine clothes, fashion, and showy manners.

From the reading: "...the foppish ways, the affected movements, the perpetual inane laugh..."

Synonyms:

dandified, vain, overdressed

Antonyms:

plain, unpretentious, rugged

Root:Middle English foppe, "a fool." A fop was first a fool, and later a man who was foolish about clothes.

Definition: behavior that is put on to impress others; an unnatural or showy manner.

From the reading: "...with the graceful affectation peculiar to the times, he raised it aloft" (the young Vicomte raises his glass to propose a toast).

Synonyms:

pretension, airs, posturing

Antonyms:

naturalness, sincerity, simplicity

Root:Latin affectatio, "a striving after," from affectare, "to aim at." Compare "affected movements" in word 6.

Definition: so good or correct that no fault can be found.

From the reading: "Chauvelin, in his irreproachable black costume, was taking a quiet survey of the brilliant throng."

KJV: "A bishop then must be blameless" (1 Timothy 3:2). Clothes can be irreproachable while the heart is not, so Scripture asks for a blameless life.

Synonyms:

faultless, blameless, impeccable

Antonyms:

faulty, blameworthy, reprehensible

Root:ir- (not) + reproach (to blame, from Old French reprochier) + -able: not able to be blamed.

Definition: smoothly polite, polished, and at ease in society.

From the reading: "Chauvelin, who was trying to conceal his impatience beneath his usual urbane manner, took a quick look at his watch."

Synonyms:

suave, courtly, sophisticated

Antonyms:

boorish, crude, uncouth

Root:Latin urbanus, "of the city," from urbs (city). City manners were thought to be more polished.

Definition: seeming to be everywhere at once.

From the reading: "...that ubiquitous and daring Englishman could not hope to escape."

KJV link: Only God is truly everywhere: "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Proverbs 15:3). The Pimpernel only seemed to be everywhere.

Synonyms:

omnipresent, pervasive, universal

Antonyms:

rare, scarce, absent

Root:Latin ubique, "everywhere."

Definition: to escape or avoid someone or something, especially by cleverness; to dodge a question or a duty.

From the reading: "...the daring plotter, who for so many months had baffled an army of spies, would still manage to evade Chauvelin and remain immune to the end."

KJV link: A man may evade his enemies, but no one can evade God: "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" (Psalm 139:7).

Synonyms:

elude, dodge, escape

Antonyms:

confront, face, meet

Root:Latin evadere, from e- (out) + vadere (to go).

Definition: to defeat someone by being more clever.

From the reading: "...together they could outwit the astute diplomatist" (Marguerite hopes that she and Sir Percy can beat Chauvelin's plan).

KJV link: "be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16). The Christian may outwit evil without becoming evil.

Synonyms:

outsmart, outfox, outmaneuver

Antonyms:

fall for, be fooled by

Root:out- (beyond) + wit (Old English witt, "mind"): to go beyond another's mind.

Definition: (verb) to trick someone into believing something false; (noun) a person who is easily fooled.

From the reading: "...I was duped! Aye! I, whom that same popular rumour had endowed with the sharpest wits in France!" (Even clever Marguerite admits that she was tricked.)

KJV: "The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going" (Proverbs 14:15).

Synonyms:

deceive, hoodwink, con

Antonyms:

enlighten, undeceive, warn

Root:French dupe, an old name for the hoopoe, a bird people thought was stupid and easy to catch.

Definition: eager to pay back a wrong by causing harm.

From the reading: "...save the hostage from his vengeful hands" (the hostage is Marguerite's brother, Armand, and the vengeful hands are Chauvelin's).

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).

Synonyms:

vindictive, spiteful, unforgiving

Antonyms:

forgiving, merciful, forbearing

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

Definition: without pity or regret; never letting up.

From the reading: "...he would fall into the hands of a remorseless enemy, who had no pity for a brave heart"

Synonyms:

merciless, pitiless, relentless

Antonyms:

merciful, compassionate, remorseful

Root:remorse, from Latin re- (again) + mordere (to bite), so remorse is conscience "biting again"; + -less (without). A remorseless person feels no such bite.

Definition: a state of not knowing what to do; a hard situation with no easy way out.

From the reading: "If we cannot cross over to France to-night, Chauvelin is in the same quandary." (A storm is keeping every ship in Dover.)

Synonyms:

dilemma, predicament, plight

Antonyms:

certainty, solution, resolution

Root:Origin uncertain; it may come from Latin quando, "when?", the question of someone who does not know what to do next.

Definition: a careless or foolish mistake; (verb) to make one, or to move clumsily.

From the reading: "Citoyen Grospierre had paid for his blunder on the guillotine" (the sergeant let through a cart that was hiding a noble family). In the fable, the ass's blunder was to open his mouth: "I might possibly have been frightened myself, if I had not heard your bray."

Lesson link: When you revise, find your "bray," the blunder that gives a weak argument away.

Synonyms:

error, gaffe, misstep

Antonyms:

success, achievement

Root:Middle English blunderen, "to stumble about blindly," probably from a Scandinavian word.

Definition: so unreasonable or foolish that it is absurd.

From the reading: "To her it seemed preposterous that these young men and their great leader, all of them rich, probably well-born, and young, should for no other motive than sport, run the terrible risks, which she knew they were constantly doing."

Lesson link: In a refutation, a preposterous claim falls under the "impossible" head.

Synonyms:

absurd, ridiculous, outlandish

Antonyms:

sensible, reasonable, plausible

Root:Latin praeposterus, "reversed," from prae (before) + posterus (after): something as backward as putting the cart before the horse.

Definition: of little worth or importance.

From the reading: "...she saw signs and mysteries in the most trivial coincidences."

Lesson link: When you strengthen your weakest head, replace trivial details with real evidence.

Synonyms:

petty, minor, insignificant

Antonyms:

significant, important, weighty

Root:Latin trivialis, "of the crossroads," from tri- (three) + via (road). It meant common talk heard where three roads meet.

Definition: to work out the meaning of something that is hard to read or understand, such as a code or bad handwriting.

From the reading: "Both stooped to try and decipher this last tiny scrap of paper"

KJV: "Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof" (Daniel 5:8). Only Daniel, given wisdom by God, could decipher the writing on the wall.

Synonyms:

decode, interpret, make out

Antonyms:

encode, encipher, garble

Root:de- (undo) + cipher (a secret code), from Arabic sifr, "zero."