12CP Vocabulary
Mrs. Kelsey
8/29/07
Apathy (n) - lack of interest; lack of feeling
Conjecture (v/n) - to guess; to deduce or
infer on slight evidence / a guess
Daunt (v) - to make fearful; to intimidate
Loquacious (adj) - talking a lot or too much
Neologism (n) - a new word or phrase; a
new usage of a word
9/4/07
Archetype (n) - an original model or pattern
Cryptic (adj) - mysterious; mystifying
Exemplify (v) - to illustrate by example; to serve
as a good example
Incessant (adj) – unceasing
Magnanimous (adj) - forgiving; unresentful; noble
in spirit; generous
Patriarch (n) - the male head of a family or tribe
Stymie (v) - to thwart; to get in the way of; to
hinder
9/5/07
Abridge (v) – to shorten; to condense
Culpable (adj) – deserving blame; guilty
Deduce (v) – to conclude from the evidence;
to infer
Depravity (n) - extreme wickedness or
corruption
Impervious (adj) – not allowing anything to
pass through; impenetrable
9/10/07
extricate (v) - to free from difficulty
fervor (n) - great warmth or earnestness; ardor;
zeal
perennial (adj) - continual; happening again and
again or year after year
tout (v) - to praise highly; to brag publicly about
vindictive (adj) - seeking revenge
zealous (adj) - enthusiastically devoted to
something; fervent
9/11/07
address (v) - to speak to; to direct one's
attention to
dialectical (adj) - relating to discussions;
relating to the rules and methods of
reasoning; approaching truth in the middle
of opposing extremes
insidious (adj) - treacherous; sneaky
9/24/07
depravity (n) - extreme wickedness or
corruption
elusive (adj) - hard to pin down; evasive
figurative (adj) - based on figures of
speech; expressing something in terms
usually used for something else;
metaphorical
infamous (adj) - shamefully wicked; having
an extremely bad reputation; disgraceful
9/27/07
copious (adj) – abundant; plentiful
ephemeral (adj) – lasting a very short time
idyllic (adj) – charming in a rustic way;
peaceful
incandescent (adj) – brilliant; giving off heat
or light
mellifluous (adj) – sweetly flowing, as
music or a voice
redolent (adj) - fragrant
10/2/07
egregious (adj) – extremely bad; flagrant
exacerbate (v) – to make worse
fastidious (adj) – meticulous; demanding;
finicky
lampoon (v) – to satirize; to mock; to parody
obsequious (adj) – fawning; subservient;
sucking up to
platitude (n) – a dull or trite remark; a cliché
10/3/07
propensity (n) – a natural inclination or
tendency; a predilection
rigorous (adj) – strict; harsh; severe
temerity (n) – boldness; recklessness; audacity
ubiquitous (adj) – being everywhere at once
visionary (n) - a dreamer; someone with
impractical goals or ideas about the future
wistful (adj) – yearning; sadly longing
10/4/07
officious (adj) – annoyingly eager to help or
advise
prodigy (n) – an extremely talented child;
an extraordinary accomplishment or
occurrence
proficient (adj) - thoroughly competent;
skillful; good (at something) thoroughly
competent; skillful; good (at something)
APPOSITIVE PHRASES
A mini-lesson
From Sentence Composing for High School
by Don Killgallon
Copy the following information in the
vocabulary section of your composition
notebook.
APPOSITIVE PHRASES
Appositives are noun
phrases that identify
adjacent nouns or
pronouns.
They can occur as
sentence openers:
A balding, smooth-faced man, he
could have been anywhere between
forty and sixty.
- Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
They can occur as
subject-verb splits:
A man, a weary old pensioner with a
bald dirty head and a stained
brown corduroy waistcoat,
appeared at the door of a small gate
lodge.
- Brian Moore, The Lonely Passion of
Judith Hearne
They can occur as
sentence closers:
He had the appearance of a man who
had done a great thing, something
greater than any ordinary man
would do.
- John Henrick Clarke, “The Boy Who
Painted Christ Black”
Among the company was a lawyer, a
young man of about twenty-five.
- Anton Chekov, “The Bet”
Order and combine these sentence parts so
that they imitate the sentence above:
1. She was near the statue.
2. She was an obvious tourist.
3. She was an oriental lady.
4. She had a Kodak camera.
For the next group of vocabulary
words, your homework sentences
must contain an appositive phrase.
Review the mini-lesson for help, and try to
vary the placement of the appositive phrase
– as a sentence opener, a subject-verb split,
or as a sentence closer.
And now, back to new words…
10/10/07
abhor (v) – to hate very, very much; to
detest
affectation (n) - unnatural or artificial
behavior, usually intended to impress
countenance (n/v) - face; facial expression /
to condone or tolerate
disdain (n) – arrogant scorn; contempt
edify (v) - to enlighten; to instruct, especially
in moral or religious matters
10/10/07
egocentric (adj) - selfish; believing that one
is the center of everything
frugal (adj) – economical; penny-pinching
idiosyncrasy (n) - a peculiarity; an
eccentricity
ironic (adj) - meaning the opposite of what
you seem to say; using words to mean
something other that what they seem to
mean
Appositive Review
Copy these sentences into the Vocabulary
section of your composition notebook.
Highlight the appositive phrase in each.
1. I abhor okra, that slimy vegetable used in
gumbo.
2. An elegant woman, she was given to
rather idiosyncratic behavior.
3. She sneered at the man, her former
husband, with undisguised disdain.
10/15/07 – with appositives!
itinerant (adj) – moving from place to place
juxtapose (v) – to place side by side
levity (n) – lightness; frivolity; unseriousness
mendacious (adj) – lying, dishonest
propriety (n) – properness; good manners
secular (adj) – having nothing to do with
religion or spiritual concerns
10/16/07
(Yes, still with appositives)
vocation (n) – an occupation, a job
vestige (n) – an a remaining bit of
something; a last trace
turpitude (n) – shameful wickedness;
depravity
sloth (n) – laziness; sluggishness
serendipity - accidental good fortune;
discovering good things without looking for
them
10/17
(Need you ask?)
ruminate (v) - to contemplate; to ponder; to
mull over
revere (v) – to respect highly; to honor
respite (n) – a period of rest or relief
penitent (adj) – sorry; repentant; contrite
onerous (adj) – burdensome; oppressive
End of section – test on Friday
Adjectives
Remember, an adjective is any descriptive
word that can fit into this blank:
Sam is a(n) ____________ student.
Some possibilities are:
• happy
• sad
• angry
• disruptive
Write out several more.
Opening Adjective
An opening adjective occurs at the opening
of a sentence (obviously). It may be a
single word or the first word in an adjective
phrase – a phrase that begins with an
adjective and then continues the
description:
• Happy to graduate
• Angry at not getting the job
• Disruptive because he was bored
Write out several more.
Sentences can contain single or
multiple opening adjectives.
Single opening adjective:
• Powerless, we witnessed the sacking of
our launch.
Pierre Boule, Planet of the Apes
Multiple opening adjectives:
• Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought
themselves to the point of extinction by
warring amongst themselves during the
last century.
Armstrong Perry, Call It Courage
Opening adjective phrases:
• Numb of all feeling, empty as a shell, still
he clung to life, and the hours droned by.
- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet
of Fire
Match the opening adjectives with the sentences
and write out each sentence. (Highlight the adjectives.)
1. ^, I wanted to run away
and be gone from this
strange place.
2. ^, I felt behind me, my
hand pleading for that
rifle.
3. ^, he rocked his own
body back and forth,
breathing deeply to
release the
remembered pain.
A. Frantic, never
turning my head –
because the water
buffalo had
started his charge
B. Able to move now
C. Lonesome
For homework tonight,
be sure to write
sentences that include
opening adjectives or
opening adjective
phrases!
10/24/07 – new section
impugn (v) – to attack, especially to attack
the truth or integrity of something
munificent (adj) – very generous; lavish
superficial (adj) – on the surface only;
shallow; not thorough
venal (adj) – capable of being bribed; willing
to do anything for money; corrupt
vociferous (adj) – loud; noisy
10/25/07
assiduous (adj) – hardworking; busy; quite
diligent
choleric (adj) – hot-tempered; quick to
anger
docile (adj) – easily taught; obedient; easy
to handle
equitable (adj) – fair
futile (adj) – useless; hopeless
Delayed Adjectives
An adjective that is not an opening adjective!
• Delayed adjectives can occur in the middle
or at the end of a sentence.
• Commas punctuate a delayed adjective –
one if it occurs at the end of a sentence,
two if earlier in the sentence.
• It can be a single adjective or an adjective
phrase.
Single Delayed Adjectives
People under the helicopter
ducked down, afraid, as if we
were being visited by a plague
or a god.
- Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams
Multiple Delayed Adjectives
Each snowflake was different,
Sister Zoe said, like a person,
irreplaceable and beautiful.
- Julia Alvarez, “Snow”
Delayed Adjective Phrase
A dog came bounding among us
with a loud volley of barks, and
leapt round us, wild with glee
at finding so many human
beings together.
- George Orwell, “A Hanging”
Imitate this model:
“The baby’s eyes were the shape
of watermelon seeds, very black
and cut very precisely into her
small, solemn face.”
- Anne Tyler, Digging to America
10/29/07
mitigate (v) – to moderate the effect of
something
panacea (n) – something that cures
everything
patronize (v) – to treat as an inferior; to
condescend to
perfidy (n) – treachery
querulous (adj) – complaining; grumbling;
whining