Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 4

Definition: Standing straight up; honest and morally good. Tests usually check the second sense.

From the reading: "The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth."

Synonyms:

honest, righteous, honorable

Antonyms:

corrupt, dishonest, crooked

Root:Old English upriht, "erect," from up + riht ("straight, right"). Something upright stands straight and does not lean toward evil.

Definition: To gather grain left behind by the reapers; to collect information or ideas a little at a time.

KJV: "Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace" (Ruth 2:2).

Context: Jefferson gleaned his best passages from Greek, Latin and English authors, as Ruth gleaned in the field of Boaz.

Synonyms:

gather, collect, harvest

Antonyms:

scatter, squander, discard

Root:Old French glener, from Late Latin glennare, "to gather." The word is probably Celtic in origin.

Definition: large in amount; plentiful.

Context: Milton took copious notes from historians, church fathers and poets, and much of his later learning came out of that notebook.

Synonyms:

abundant, plentiful, ample

Antonyms:

scanty, sparse, meager

Root:Latin copiosus, from copia, "abundance." This is the same copia Erasmus wrote his famous schoolbook about: a full store of words ready for use.

Definition: showing great care, steady attention and hard work.

KJV link: The Preacher was assiduous: "he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs" (Ecclesiastes 12:9).

Synonyms:

diligent, industrious, painstaking

Antonyms:

careless, negligent, lax

Root:Latin assiduus, "constant," from assidere, "to sit beside" (ad- "at" + sedere "to sit"). An assiduous student stays in his seat until the work is done.

Definition: deep, wide learning gained from study and reading.

From the reading: "...a man of talent, and of great antiquarian erudition..." (from Scott's introductory letter to Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

learning, scholarship, knowledge

Antonyms:

ignorance, illiteracy

Root:Latin eruditio, from erudire, "to instruct," literally "to bring out of roughness" (e- "out of" + rudis "rough, untaught," as in rude).

Definition: fluent, forceful and persuasive speech or writing.

From the reading: "That passes your eloquence, Fitzurse,"

Context: De Bracy tells the smooth-tongued Fitzurse that no clever speech will talk him into the plot.

Synonyms:

fluency, expressiveness, persuasiveness

Antonyms:

inarticulateness, hesitancy

Root:Latin eloquentia, from eloqui, "to speak out" (e- "out" + loqui "to speak").

Definition: dull and unoriginal because it has been used too often.

From the reading: "...or trite reflections upon morals."

Context: Scott complains that the old chroniclers left out the lively details of daily life to make room for worn-out sayings. A good commonplace book keeps the fresh and true, not the trite.

Synonyms:

hackneyed, stale, clichéd

Antonyms:

original, fresh, novel

Root:Latin tritus, "worn," the past participle of terere, "to rub." A trite phrase has been rubbed smooth by use.

Definition: to accept or agree quietly, without protest.

From the reading: "...he is much disposed to acquiesce in the truth of what is asserted."

Synonyms:

consent, comply, assent

Antonyms:

resist, object, protest

Root:Latin acquiescere, "to rest, be quiet" (ad- + quiescere, from quies "rest"). To acquiesce is to let an argument rest.

Definition: proud and domineering; expecting to be obeyed at once.

From the reading: "It was to this person, such as we have described him, that the Prince addressed his imperious command to make place for Isaac and Rebecca."

Synonyms:

domineering, overbearing, high-handed

Antonyms:

humble, meek, deferential

Root:Latin imperiosus, "commanding," from imperium, "command, rule" (as in empire).

Definition: too eager to please or obey; fawning.

From the reading: "...said John, with a peal of laughter, in which his ... followers obsequiously joined."

Synonyms:

fawning, servile, sycophantic

Antonyms:

independent, assertive, dignified

Root:Latin obsequiosus, from obsequi, "to comply with" (ob- "toward" + sequi "to follow"). An obsequious man follows wherever the powerful lead.

Definition: to mock or laugh at with contempt.

From the reading: "...but secretly envied by those who affected to deride them."

KJV: "And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God" (Luke 23:35).

Synonyms:

mock, ridicule, scoff

Antonyms:

praise, honor, commend

Root:Latin deridere, "to laugh down" (de- "down" + ridere "to laugh," as in ridiculous).

Definition: very generous in giving.

From the reading: "...it may be they will think our poor house worthy of some munificent guerdon..."

Context: The jolly hermit of Copmanhurst hopes the great men he has helped will reward his little chapel with a generous gift. (A guerdon is a reward.)

Synonyms:

generous, bountiful, liberal

Antonyms:

stingy, miserly, parsimonious

Root:Latin munificus, from munus, "gift," + facere, "to make." A munificent person makes gifts.

Definition: deliberately faithless; treacherous.

From the reading: "King Richard was absent a prisoner, and in the power of the perfidious and cruel Duke of Austria."

Synonyms:

treacherous, disloyal, traitorous

Antonyms:

faithful, loyal, trustworthy

Root:Latin perfidiosus, from perfidia, "faithlessness" (per- "away from" + fides "faith"). The perfidious man turns away from his faith.

Definition: long-established and unlikely to change; habitual.

From the reading: "...a part of the population which was justly considered as nourishing the most inveterate antipathy to their victor."

Context: The Saxons had nursed their grudge against the Norman conquerors for more than a hundred years.

Synonyms:

deep-rooted, entrenched, habitual

Antonyms:

new, occasional, shallow

Root:Latin inveteratus, "grown old," from in- + vetus, "old" (as in veteran).

Definition: impossible to understand or interpret; mysterious.

From the reading: "...where, as thou well sayest, guilt shrouds itself in inscrutable mystery..."

KJV link: God's ways are inscrutable to man: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33).

Synonyms:

mysterious, unfathomable, enigmatic

Antonyms:

clear, obvious, transparent

Root:Late Latin inscrutabilis, from in- "not" + scrutari "to search, examine" (as in scrutiny).

Definition: a readiness to believe things too easily, without proof.

From the reading: "...which the credulity of the assembly, or of the greater part, greedily swallowed, however incredible."

Context: At Rebecca's trial at Templestowe, the crowd believed wild tales against her because it wanted to believe them.

Synonyms:

gullibility, naïveté, credulousness

Antonyms:

skepticism, doubt, discernment

Root:Latin credulitas, from credere, "to believe." The same root gives incredible, which ends Scott's sentence.

Definition: practicing strict self-denial, especially for religious reasons; avoiding comfort and pleasure.

From the reading: "The features expressed nothing of monastic austerity, or of ascetic privations..."

KJV link: Paul trains himself like an athlete: "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection" (1 Corinthians 9:27).

Synonyms:

abstinent, self-denying, austere

Antonyms:

self-indulgent, hedonistic, luxurious

Root:Greek asketikos, from askein, "to exercise, train." The word first described an athlete's discipline.

Definition: strictness and plainness; a severe, simple way of living without luxury.

From the reading: "The features expressed nothing of monastic austerity..."

Context: The round-cheeked hermit of Copmanhurst looks more like a man who enjoys a feast than one who lives by fasting.

KJV: "For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow" (Luke 19:21).

Synonyms:

severity, plainness, strictness

Antonyms:

luxury, indulgence, extravagance

Root:Greek austeros, "harsh, dry" (of a sour taste), through Latin austerus.

Definition: keen practical wisdom and sound judgment.

From the reading: "...the knight resolved to trust to the sagacity of his horse..."

Synonyms:

wisdom, shrewdness, discernment

Antonyms:

foolishness, folly, obtuseness

Root:Latin sagacitas, from sagax, "keen-scented" (said of hunting hounds). Scott also calls Cedric's dogs sagacious.

Definition: acting quickly and forcefully without careful thought.

From the reading: "Rough and impetuous as a wild boar, where only earthly force was to be apprehended..."

Context: Gurth the swineherd will charge any foe of flesh and blood, but he hesitates before a mysterious figure in the dark.

Synonyms:

rash, hasty, headlong

Antonyms:

cautious, deliberate, prudent

Root:Latin impetuosus, from impetus, "an attack, a rush" (in- "upon" + petere "to seek, rush at").