Grade 9 College Vocabulary, Week 24

Definition: Relating to horseback riding; on horseback.

From the reading: "The “bronze horse” was a giant equestrian statue honoring Ludovico’s father, Francesco Sforza." (the lesson)

Synonyms:

horseback, mounted

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin equester, from eques horseman, from equus horse: compare French équestre. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A large, densely packed crowd.

From the reading: "With peals of shouts the Tyrians praise the song: Those peals are echo’d by the Trojan throng." (The Aeneid)

Synonyms:

crowd, multitude, horde

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English gethrang.

Definition: Smelling or tasting unpleasant, as of stale fat; spiteful.

From the reading: "The nut was somewhat rancid; but we enjoyed it, and then continued our journey." (The Swiss Family Robinson)

Synonyms:

rank, sour, putrid

Antonyms:

fresh

Root:Latin rancidus, stinking.

Definition: Extending or lying across; in a crosswise direction; at right angles to the long axis.

From the reading: "At one end of this ghastly apartment was a large fire-grate, over the top of which were stretched some transverse iron bars, half devoured with rust." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

crosswise, transversal

Antonyms:

lengthwise

Root:Latin transversus, past participle of transvertere to turn on direct across; trans across + vertere to turn: compare French transverse. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To turn pale from shock, fear, or cold.

From the reading: "That made the very bones of my body turn cold, and I saw cheeks about me blanch--for it meant fire and the stake!" (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

pale, whiten, blench

Antonyms:

flush

Root:Old English blanchen, blaunchen, French blanchir, from blanc white. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Lacking restraint in spending money or using resources; excessive.

From the reading: "His shoes were of red leather, daintily pointed at the toes, but not yet prolonged to the extravagant lengths which the succeeding reign was to bring into fashion." (The White Company)

Synonyms:

excessive, exuberant, overweening

Antonyms:

restrained, thrifty

Root:French extravagant, from Latin extra on the outside + vagance, , present participle of vagari to wander, from vagus wandering, vague. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To refuse to acknowledge or keep any connection with.

From the reading: "Ryder stood glaring with a drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it." (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, selected)

Synonyms:

repudiate, renounce, reject

Antonyms:

acknowledge, claim

Root:dis-, undo + own (Old English agen, one's own): to refuse to own.

Definition: Smelling extremely unpleasant.

From the reading: "The eyelids, the lips, the nostrils, the flesh of the cheeks, were either gone or reduced to fetid rawness." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

foul-smelling, stinking, rank

Antonyms:

fragrant

Root:Latin fetidus, foetidus, from fetere, foetere, to have an ill smell, to stink: compare French fétide. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Lacking flavor; lacking vigor or interest.

From the reading: "I ventured to taste them, and found them inferior to ours,—insipid and soft,—but, I thought, quite harmless." (The Swiss Family Robinson)

Synonyms:

bland, flavorless; dull

Antonyms:

tasty, interesting

Root:Latin insipidus; pref. in- not + sapidus savory, from sapere to taste: compare French insipide. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To bring into a disordered or confusing state.

From the reading: "She does not muddle her head until it imagines a necessary mental connection between a horn and a falling tower." (Orthodoxy)

Synonyms:

confuse, jumble, scramble

Antonyms:

clarify, order

Root:perhaps Dutch moddelen, to make muddy.

Definition: Not real or true; invented.

From the reading: "It may be said, in general, that most of the incidents introduced in the following tale are fictitious, and that reality, where it exists, is only retained in the characters of the piece." (The Talisman)

Synonyms:

fabricated, fancied, fictional

Antonyms:

real, genuine

Root:Latin fictitius. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A long, narrow opening or crack in rock or earth.

From the reading: "Across the promontory ran a sort of fissure, some ten yards wide and as many deep." (In Freedom's Cause)

Synonyms:

crack

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin fissura, from findere, fissum, to cleave, split; akin to English bite: compare French fissure. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Not sufficiently strict, severe, or careful.

From the reading: "Then the boy, Wroth with himself, poor wretch, incontinent Fell on his sword and drove it through his side Home, but yet breathing clasped in his lax arms The maid, her pallid cheek incarnadined With his expiring gasps." (The Oedipus Trilogy)

Synonyms:

slack, careless, negligent

Antonyms:

strict, rigorous

Root:Latin laxus, loose.

Definition: Having an unpleasantly bitter or pungent taste or smell; bitter in manner.

From the reading: "One day, however, a deaf and seemingly senseless lad from a distant village brought him a belated telegram; and Glengyle, in his acrid pleasantry, gave him a new farthing." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

pungent, bitter, harsh

Antonyms:

pleasant, mild

Root:Latin acer sharp; prob. assimilated in form to acid. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The chief impact of a blow, attack, or burden.

From the reading: "From thence it is the storm of God’s quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt." (Moby-Dick)

Synonyms:

force, impact, burden

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Middle English, perhaps from Old Norse.

Definition: To coerce someone into doing something.

From the reading: "And yet more surprising it seemed to me that he should have brought his granddaughter also, instead of the troop of dragoons, without which he had vowed he would never come here again." (Lorna Doone)

Synonyms:

coerce, compel, force

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:French dragon dragon, dragoon, from Latin draco dragon, also, a cohort's standard (with a dragon on it). The name was given from the sense standard. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Not clearly defined or easy to perceive or understand.

From the reading: "From beyond the square rose an indistinct sound, but familiar--court, crisp phrases of command; next I saw the plain of heads dividing, and the steady swing of a marching host was glimpsed between." (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

faint, blurred, vague

Antonyms:

distinct, clear

Root:Latin indistinctus: compare French indistinct. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Secreting venom; full of malice.

From the reading: "I struck him down with no more compunction than if he had been some foul and venomous beast." (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, selected)

Synonyms:

poisonous, toxic; spiteful

Antonyms:

harmless, kindly

Root:Old English venemous, venimous, French venimeux, Latin venenosus, from venenum poison. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Having exact and discernible limits or form.

From the reading: "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:" (Acts 2:23)

Synonyms:

fixed, definite, settled

Antonyms:

indeterminate

Root:Latin determinatus, past participle of determinare. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Delicious; delightful.

From the reading: "They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed." (Isaiah 44:9)

Synonyms:

delicious, delightful, luscious

Antonyms:

unappetizing

Root:Old French delitable, Old French delitable, French délectable, from Latin delectabilis, from delectare to delight. (Webster, 1913)