Grade 6 College Vocabulary, Week 35

Definition: done with great care and close attention to every detail.

From the reading: "My word count is inside the limit (I counted twice)."

Context: A painstaking writer counts the words twice, checks every name and reads every rule before sending the entry.

Synonyms:

meticulous, thorough, careful

Antonyms:

careless, slipshod, hasty

Root:English pains (careful effort) + taking: someone who takes pains over the work.

Definition: done quickly and without attention to detail; hasty and shallow.

From the reading: "I read it aloud one last time, slowly."

Context: The checklist asks for the opposite of a cursory reading. A quick glance misses the missing word that a slow reading aloud would catch.

Synonyms:

hasty, superficial, perfunctory

Antonyms:

thorough, painstaking, careful

Root:Late Latin cursorius, of a runner, from currere, to run: reading on the run.

Definition: to correct or improve something by making changes; to change one's ways for the better.

From the reading: "A parent may ask questions and point to a problem; the student fixes it."

KJV: "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings" (Jeremiah 7:3).

Synonyms:

correct, revise, improve

Antonyms:

worsen, corrupt, leave uncorrected

Root:Old French amender, from Latin emendare, to free from fault (ex-, out + menda, a fault).

Definition: arriving or doing something at the appointed time; not late.

From the reading: "the entry is delivered before the deadline."

Context: A punctual student delivers the entry to the Post before the deadline instead of on the last afternoon.

Synonyms:

prompt, timely, on time

Antonyms:

late, tardy, overdue

Root:Medieval Latin punctualis, from Latin punctum, a point: keeping to the exact point in time.

Definition: taking someone else's words or ideas and passing them off as one's own.

From the reading: "It is my own work. A parent may ask questions, but did not write or rewrite sentences."

Context: Copying sentences from a website into a contest essay is plagiarism. It breaks the rules and the Eighth Commandment.

Synonyms:

copying, literary theft, piracy

Antonyms:

originality, authorship

Root:Latin plagiarius, a kidnapper. The Roman poet Martial used it for someone who stole his verses.

Definition: (verb) to say that something was written, said or caused by a certain person or source; (noun) a quality belonging to someone.

From the reading: "Every fact is true and every quotation is exact; I can name the source of each."

Context: An honest writer attributes every quotation to the person who first said it. Faithfulness is an attribute of a good dog and of a good friend.

Synonyms:

(verb) credit, assign, ascribe; (noun) trait, quality, characteristic

Antonyms:

(verb) misattribute, withhold credit

Root:Latin attribuere, to assign to (ad-, to + tribuere, to give or allot).

Definition: to state clearly that something is required as part of an agreement or set of rules.

From the reading: "I have the official rule sheet, and I read every line aloud with a parent."

Context: The official form stipulates the word limit, the theme and the deadline. A careful student reads every line of it.

Synonyms:

specify, require, set down

Antonyms:

leave open, waive, omit

Root:Latin stipulari, to bargain or demand a formal promise.

Definition: a standard or test by which something is judged.

From the reading: "My essay answers the theme or topic exactly, in the words of the rules."

Context: Answering the theme is the first criterion. An essay that misses it may not be judged at all.

Synonyms:

standard, measure, benchmark

Antonyms:

(none exact) guess, whim

Root:Greek kriterion, a means of judging, from krites, a judge. Remember: one criterion, two criteria.

Definition: to compete eagerly with others for something.

Context: Billy's two hounds vie with the best coon dogs from many places for the gold cup.

Synonyms:

compete, contend, strive

Antonyms:

yield, concede, surrender

Root:Shortened from Middle English envien, from Old French envier, to challenge or raise the stakes in a game.

Definition: the power to keep going through hardship, pain or long effort without giving up.

Context: On the night of the blizzard, the hounds keep circling the coon tree with ice in their coats. It is a long test of endurance for dogs and men.

KJV link: "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Psalm 30:5).

Synonyms:

perseverance, stamina, fortitude

Antonyms:

weakness, frailty, surrender

Root:Old French endurer, from Latin indurare, to harden (durus, hard).

Definition: not drawing back from danger or pain; steady and fearless.

Context: When the mountain lion attacks, Old Dan and Little Ann stand between the beast and the boy they love, unflinching to the end.

Synonyms:

steady, unwavering, fearless

Antonyms:

timid, cowering, faltering

Root:un- (not) + flinch, from Old French flenchir, to turn aside.

Definition: (noun) enthusiastic public praise; (verb) to praise loudly and publicly.

Context: The hunters gather to acclaim the little red hounds when the gold cup is awarded. Billy knows the dogs earned it.

Synonyms:

praise, applause, honor

Antonyms:

criticism, scorn, disapproval

Root:Latin acclamare, to shout at or to (ad-, to + clamare, to shout).

Definition: deep sorrow, especially at the death of someone loved.

Context: Billy's grief after the lion fight is heavy and real. His family does not mock it or hurry it.

KJV: "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3).

Synonyms:

sorrow, mourning, heartache

Antonyms:

joy, gladness, delight

Root:Old French grief, from grever, to burden, from Latin gravis, heavy: sorrow as a heavy weight.

Definition: so sad that no one can comfort; unable to be consoled.

Context: After Old Dan dies, Little Ann seems inconsolable. Billy grieves too, but in the end he is comforted.

KJV link: Christians grieve, but not without comfort. Paul writes "that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

Synonyms:

heartbroken, desolate, despairing

Antonyms:

comforted, consoled, cheered

Root:Latin in- (not) + consolari, to comfort.

Definition: a sudden, sharp feeling of pain or of strong emotion.

Context: Even years later, a pang of sorrow returns to Billy when he remembers his two hounds.

KJV link: Our Lord felt the pang of a friend's death. At the grave of Lazarus, "Jesus wept" (John 11:35).

Synonyms:

twinge, stab, ache

Antonyms:

relief, ease, comfort

Root:Origin uncertain; perhaps from an older English word for a sharp point, related to prong.

Definition: a poem or song of mourning, usually for someone who has died.

Context: The last chapters of the book read almost like an elegy for two faithful dogs and for a boyhood in the Ozark hills.

Synonyms:

lament, dirge, requiem

Antonyms:

celebration, hymn of joy

Root:Greek elegos, a song of mourning sung to the flute.

Definition: an old story handed down from the past, popularly believed but not proven as history.

Context: Billy remembers an old Indian legend: only an angel can plant a red fern, and the place where one grows is holy.

Synonyms:

tale, myth, folk story

Antonyms:

fact, history, record

Root:Medieval Latin legenda, things to be read, from legere, to read. The first legends were lives of the saints read aloud.

Definition: set apart as holy; worthy of deep reverence.

Context: Whatever one makes of the legend, the graves under the red fern become a sacred place to Billy, a place of remembrance and thanks.

Synonyms:

holy, hallowed, consecrated

Antonyms:

profane, common, unholy

Root:Latin sacrare, to set apart as holy, from sacer, holy.

Definition: lasting a long time; firm and unchanging.

Context: Billy's love for his dogs is abiding. He carries it with him long after his family moves away from the hills.

KJV link: "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity" (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Synonyms:

enduring, lasting, steadfast

Antonyms:

fleeting, passing, temporary

Root:Old English abidan, to wait, remain (a-, on + bidan, to stay).

Definition: a natural, inborn way of acting that a creature does not have to learn; also, a natural knack.

Context: Little Ann's instinct and quick nose help her untangle a coon's tricks. The Creator made every hound with a gift for the hunt.

Synonyms:

intuition, inborn sense, nature

Antonyms:

learning, training, reasoning

Root:Latin instinctus, an impulse, from instinguere, to urge on.