Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 16

Definition: Not complete; only in part; favoring one side unfairly; biased. (Tests often check both senses.).

From the reading: "A point of view may be partial, but in this exercise it must never be false."

Synonyms:

incomplete, limited; (second sense) biased, one-sided

Antonyms:

complete, whole; (second sense) impartial, fair

Root:Latin pars, partis, "a part." A partial view sees only a part.

Definition: special importance or attention given to one thing above others.

From the reading: "Selection, emphasis and feeling change; the facts of the event stay the same."

Synonyms:

stress, weight, prominence

Antonyms:

understatement, neglect, de-emphasis

Root:Greek emphasis, "appearance, significance," from en- (in) + phainein (to show): what is made to show most clearly.

Definition: the quality of staying the same, steady or in agreement from start to finish.

From the reading: "Keeping one point of view, one tense and one set of pronouns from start to finish within a single telling."

Synonyms:

steadiness, uniformity, constancy

Antonyms:

inconsistency, irregularity, contradiction

Root:Latin consistere, "to stand firm," from con- (together) + sistere (to stand).

Definition: a particular way of seeing or judging something; a point of view.

Context: In Rembrandt's Return of the Prodigal Son, the father, the kneeling son and the tall man at the right each see the homecoming from a different perspective.

Synonyms:

viewpoint, outlook, standpoint

Antonyms:

(none exact) blindness, ignorance of other views

Root:Latin perspicere, "to look through," from per- (through) + specere (to look).

Definition: Wild and unrestrained, especially in wasteful pleasure; noisy and disorderly.

KJV: The younger son "wasted his substance with riotous living" (Luke 15:13).

Synonyms:

wild, unruly, dissolute

Antonyms:

sober, orderly, restrained

Root:Old French riote, "a quarrel, a noisy dispute; idle revelry."

Definition: very angry; enraged.

Context: When the servant told him the reason for the music and dancing, the elder son was so incensed that he stood outside his own father's house.

KJV: "And he was angry, and would not go in" (Luke 15:28).

Synonyms:

furious, enraged, indignant

Antonyms:

pleased, calm, appeased

Root:Latin incendere, "to set on fire" (past participle incensus). An incensed man is "set on fire" with anger; church incense is also something burned.

Definition: offense or annoyance, often at a supposed slight.

Context: The elder son took umbrage at the feast, because he thought his years of faithful work had been overlooked.

Synonyms:

offense, resentment, pique

Antonyms:

goodwill, pleasure, approval

Root:Latin umbra, "shade, shadow." To take umbrage is to feel "overshadowed" by someone else.

Definition: to win over from anger; to make peace with by gentle and friendly acts.

Context: The father did not wait for his angry son to come in; he went out to conciliate him with gentle words.

KJV link: "...therefore came his father out, and intreated him" (Luke 15:28).

Synonyms:

pacify, placate, reconcile

Antonyms:

antagonize, provoke, alienate

Root:Latin conciliare, "to bring together, unite," from concilium, "a meeting, council."

Definition: willing to take risks; daring and bold.

From the reading: "...a great and daring traveller, a venturesome pilgrim, a high-priest of romance."

Synonyms:

daring, adventurous, intrepid

Antonyms:

timid, cautious, fearful

Root:venture (short for adventure, from Latin advenire, "to arrive, happen") + -some, "inclined to."

Definition: To struggle or fight against; to argue that something is true (a common test sense: "The author contends that...").

From the reading: "...the evil deeds of the false priests with whom he had contended."

KJV: "...earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3).

Synonyms:

struggle, strive; (second sense) argue, maintain, assert

Antonyms:

yield, surrender; (second sense) deny, concede

Root:Latin contendere, "to stretch out, strive," from con- (with) + tendere (to stretch).

Definition: to get in the way of; to slow down or hold back.

From the reading: "...with his long black robe girt high about his waist, so that it might not hinder his stride."

KJV: "And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way" (Genesis 24:56).

Synonyms:

impede, obstruct, hamper

Antonyms:

help, aid, further

Root:Old English hindrian, "to keep back," from hinder, "behind."

Definition: Stormy; full of strong, stormy feeling.

From the reading: "...a still haven on the edge of a tempestuous sea."

KJV: "...for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous" (Jonah 1:11).

Synonyms:

stormy, turbulent, violent

Antonyms:

calm, tranquil, serene

Root:Latin tempestas, "a storm; a season," from tempus, "time."

Definition: Dark and gloomy; serious and sad in mood.

From the reading: "The weird woodland, sombre and illimitable, covered hill and vale, tableland and mountain-peak."

Synonyms:

dark, gloomy, grave

Antonyms:

bright, cheerful, lighthearted

Root:French sombre, probably from Latin sub umbra, "under the shade."

Definition: too many to be counted.

From the reading: "...the multitude of pines and firs, innumerable and monotonous, with straight, stark trunks..."

Synonyms:

countless, numberless, myriad

Antonyms:

few, scarce, countable

Root:Latin in- (not) + numerare (to count), from numerus, "number."

Definition: Heavy and hard to bear, weighing down the spirit; harsh and unjust in using power.

From the reading: "The night grew broader and less oppressive."

Synonyms:

burdensome, heavy, stifling; (second sense) tyrannical, harsh

Antonyms:

light, refreshing; (second sense) just, gentle

Root:Latin opprimere, "to press down," from ob- (against) + premere (to press).

Definition: to move back or away; to grow fainter or more distant.

From the reading: "A drove of wolves howled faintly in the distance, but they were receding, and the sound soon died away."

Synonyms:

retreat, withdraw, ebb

Antonyms:

advance, approach, draw near

Root:Latin recedere, "to go back," from re- (back) + cedere (to go).

Definition: like a ghost; pale, shadowy and eerie.

From the reading: "The only figure untouched by the glow was the old priest, Hunrad, with his long, spectral robe, flowing hair and beard, and dead-pale face..."

Synonyms:

ghostly, phantom, eerie

Antonyms:

solid, substantial, lifelike

Root:Latin spectrum, "an appearance, apparition," from specere, "to look."

Definition: to hold out or offer something for another to accept; an offer.

From the reading: "Priceless, we proffer." (The heathen people's chant to Thor, offering all their goods. Winfried will show them a God who does not need to be bought.)

Synonyms:

offer, tender, present

Antonyms:

withhold, refuse, retract

Root:Anglo-French proffrir, from pro- (forth) + offrir (to offer).

Definition: To confuse completely; to puzzle; to block or check a movement.

From the reading: "...the baffled waters broken and confused, pausing in their flow..." (Van Dyke compares the stunned crowd to a stream stopped by a fallen rock.)

Synonyms:

perplex, bewilder, confound; (second sense) thwart, check

Antonyms:

enlighten, clarify; (second sense) assist, free

Root:Origin uncertain; possibly from a Scottish word meaning "to disgrace" or "to hoodwink."

Definition: Very high; noble and elevated in thought or style; proud, haughty.

From the reading: "They were quieted as men who have listened to a lofty strain of music."

KJV: "For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty" (Isaiah 2:12). Here lofty means proud: the third sense.

Synonyms:

high, towering; (second sense) noble, exalted; (third sense) haughty, arrogant

Antonyms:

low; (second sense) base, common; (third sense) humble, lowly

Root:Old Norse lopt, "air, sky, upper room" + -y: reaching into the air.