Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 14

Definition: old and torn into rags; in poor, ragged condition.

From the reading: "...wore a huge old tattered sea-cloak with a hood that made him appear positively deformed."

Synonyms:

ragged, frayed, threadbare

Antonyms:

pristine, whole, new

Root:Middle English tatter, from Old Norse töturr, "rag."

Definition: serving as a sign of something; pointing to or suggesting a fact.

From the reading: "'Tis well known, a big nose is indicative ... Of a soul affable, and kind, and courteous,"

KJV link: Cyrano is joking, but outward signs can mislead: "for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

Synonyms:

suggestive, symptomatic, revealing

Antonyms:

unrelated, misleading

Root:Latin indicare, "to point out" (in- + dicare, "to proclaim"). Related words: index, indicate.

Definition: to reach a conclusion from evidence and reasoning rather than from a direct statement.

Context: Jim never asks the stranger anything, but from the tapping stick and the green shade he infers that the man is blind. A limited narrator infers. He does not read minds.

KJV link: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24).

Synonyms:

deduce, conclude, gather

Antonyms:

guess blindly, assume without evidence

Root:Latin inferre, "to bring in" (in- + ferre, "to carry"): to carry a conclusion in from the evidence. (Test tip: a speaker implies, and a listener infers.)

Definition: certain to happen; impossible to avoid or prevent.

From the reading: "At last the moment comes, inevitable,--"

Synonyms:

unavoidable, certain, inescapable

Antonyms:

avoidable, preventable, uncertain

Root:Latin inevitabilis, from in- (not) + evitare (to avoid), from e- (out) + vitare (to shun).

Definition: friendly, pleasant and easy to talk to.

From the reading: "Of a soul affable, and kind, and courteous,"

Synonyms:

amiable, genial, approachable

Antonyms:

surly, cold, unfriendly

Root:Latin affabilis, "easy to speak to," from ad- (to) + fari (to speak).

Definition: eager to fight or argue; fierce and aggressive in manner.

From the reading: In his famous list of nose insults, Cyrano gives one the label "Truculent: 'When you smoke your pipe. . .suppose ... That the tobacco-smoke spouts from your nose--"

KJV link: "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger" (Proverbs 15:1).

Synonyms:

belligerent, combative, pugnacious

Antonyms:

gentle, peaceable, conciliatory

Root:Latin truculentus, from trux, "fierce, savage."

Definition: said or done with force and certainty; leaving no doubt.

From the reading: "Emphatic: 'No wind, O majestic nose, ... Can give THEE cold!--save when the mistral blows!'"

Synonyms:

forceful, insistent, decisive

Antonyms:

tentative, hesitant, mild

Root:Greek emphasis, "a showing, significance," from en- (in) + phainein (to show).

Definition: funny in an odd, dry or whimsical way.

From the reading: In Act V the nuns at the convent say of Cyrano, "He is so droll!--It's cheerful when he comes!--"

KJV link: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones" (Proverbs 17:22).

Synonyms:

amusing, witty, comical

Antonyms:

solemn, dull, grave

Root:French drôle, "a funny fellow," perhaps from Middle Dutch drolle, "little fellow, imp."

Definition: To shrink back in fear or embarrassment; to behave with fawning, servile humility toward someone powerful.

From the reading: Cyrano will not seek a patron and wait "In cringing hope to see, at last, a smile ... Not disapproving, on a patron's lips?"

KJV link: "A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet" (Proverbs 29:5).

Synonyms:

cower, flinch; (second sense) grovel, fawn

Antonyms:

stand tall, face boldly

Root:Old English cringan, "to bend, yield, fall in battle."

Definition: the use of force or threats to make someone act against his will.

From the reading: "The forehead, free from mainstay or coercion,"

Synonyms:

compulsion, duress, intimidation

Antonyms:

persuasion, free choice, consent

Root:Latin coercere, "to restrain," from co- (together) + arcere (to shut up, enclose).

Definition: Unfriendly or hostile; harmful to something ("inimical to health").

From the reading: "Ah, friend of mine, believe me, I march better ... 'Neath the cross-fire of glances inimical!"

KJV link: An honest enemy may serve us better than a false friend: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful" (Proverbs 27:6).

Synonyms:

hostile, antagonistic, adverse

Antonyms:

friendly, favorable, beneficial

Root:Latin inimicus, "enemy," from in- (not) + amicus (friend).

Definition: to weaken; to drain someone of strength, energy or will.

From the reading: "--The enervating friendship which enfolds you"

Synonyms:

weaken, sap, exhaust

Antonyms:

invigorate, strengthen, energize

Root:Latin enervare, "to cut out the sinews," from e- (out) + nervus (sinew). (Test trap: enervate does not mean "energize." It means the opposite.)

Definition: using lofty, pompous or high-flown language, often to impress.

From the reading: When de Guiche asks what the merry cadets are tipsy with, the stage direction reads "THE CADET (grandiloquently):" and the cadet answers, "--With the smell of powder!"

Synonyms:

pompous, bombastic, high-flown

Antonyms:

plain-spoken, simple, unpretentious

Root:Latin grandiloquus, from grandis (great) + loqui (to speak).

Definition: having no useful result; useless or pointless.

From the reading: Beneath the balcony, Cyrano says that when true love comes, clever speech fails: "When feeling love exists in us, ennobling, ... Each well-weighed word is futile and soul-saddening!"

KJV link: The Preacher calls the empty labors of this life futile: "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

Synonyms:

useless, vain, fruitless

Antonyms:

effective, fruitful, worthwhile

Root:Latin futilis, "leaky, easily poured out," and so "worthless."

Definition: anxious care or concern for someone's welfare.

From the reading: De Guiche leaves the cadets one cannon, and a cadet answers with mock thanks: "Kind solicitude!"

Synonyms:

concern, care, attentiveness

Antonyms:

indifference, neglect, unconcern

Root:Latin sollicitudo, from sollicitus, "anxious, troubled." (Notice the irony: the cadets do not believe de Guiche cares for them at all.)

Definition: hiding one's true feelings or intentions behind a false appearance; pretense.

Context: For fifteen years Roxane loves the soul she finds in letters signed by Christian. Cyrano hides his authorship out of loyalty, and even a well-meant dissimulation brings sorrow when the truth comes out at last.

KJV: "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good" (Romans 12:9).

Synonyms:

pretense, concealment, dissembling

Antonyms:

candor, openness, frankness

Root:Latin dissimulare, "to disguise, hide," from dis- + simulare (to pretend), from similis (like).

Definition: producing much fruit, many offspring or many works; abundantly productive.

From the reading: Ragueneau says Cyrano is prouder than all the "Artabans of whom Gascony ... has ever been and will ever be the prolific Alma Mater!"

Synonyms:

productive, fruitful, fertile

Antonyms:

barren, unproductive, sterile

Root:Latin proles (offspring) + facere (to make).

Definition: (noun) a daring or heroic act; (verb) to use something fully, or to take selfish advantage of someone.

From the reading: After Cyrano's fight against a hundred men at the Porte de Nesle, de Guiche brings word from a marshal "Who would express his admiration, Sir, ... For your new exploit noised so loud abroad."

Synonyms:

(noun) feat, deed, achievement; (verb) use, take advantage of

Antonyms:

(noun) failure; (verb) protect, respect

Root:Old French esploit, "achievement," from Latin explicitum, "unfolded, carried out."

Definition: sounding sad and mournful.

From the reading: At the siege of Arras, Cyrano tells the fifer to play for the hungry cadets "Old country airs with plaintive rhythm recurring,"

Synonyms:

mournful, melancholy, doleful

Antonyms:

cheerful, joyful, merry

Root:Old French plaintif, from plainte, "lament," from Latin plangere, "to beat the breast in grief."

Definition: a reader's eager or anxious waiting to learn what will happen; (also) any state of uncertain waiting.

From the reading: "Because we know only what Jim knows, we feel what Jim feels, and we lean forward to learn more. That leaning forward is suspense."

Synonyms:

anticipation, uncertainty, tension

Antonyms:

certainty, resolution

Root:Latin suspendere, "to hang up" (sub- "under" + pendere "to hang"): the reader is left hanging.