•
Word: adamant
•
Part of speech: adjective
•
Pronunciation: ad-uh-muhnt
•
Origins:
Latin “adamant” – hard metal, diamond (Greek “a-” (not, without) +
“daman” (to tame or conquer))
•
Related Forms: adamantly (adverb)
•
Sentence: The teacher was adamant in his decision that the test would be
on Monday, despite his students’ week-long complaints about all of their
plans for homecoming weekend.
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Predicted Definition:
•
Definition:
1 -- Completely unmoving in attitude or opinion in spite of disagreement from
others;
2 – Too hard to cut, break, or pierce
•
Word: perceptive
•
Part of speech: adjective
•
Pronunciation: per-sep-tiv
•
Origins: Latin: “percept,” meaning something seen
•
Related Forms: Perceptively (adverb); perceptiveness (noun); im/perceptible
(adjective)
•
Sentence: The perceptive sniper noticed the tiny movement of the leaves in
a tree two miles away, but he could tell by how far the branch was bent that
it wasn’t his target in the tree.
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Predicted Definition:
•
Definition:
1 – having or showing strong insight, understanding, or intuition
2 – having the power or faculty of perceiving.
3 – of, pertaining to, or showing perception.
•
Word: prerogative
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Part of speech: noun
•
Pronunciation: puh-rog-uh-tiv
•
Origins: Latin: “Pre” (before; in advance of) + “roga(re)” (to ask)
•
Related Forms: none
•
Sentence: While the president doesn’t have the ability to formally declare
war against another country, it is his or her prerogative to order bombing
attacks without congressional approval
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Predicted Definition:
•
Definition:
1 – an exclusive right, privilege, etc., allowed to someone because of their
rank, office, or title
2 – a right, privilege, etc., limited to a specific person or to persons of a
particular category
•
Word: annotation
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Part of speech: noun
•
Pronunciation: an-uh-tey-shuhn
•
Origins: Latin: “notare” (to note, to mark)
•
Related Forms: annotate (verb); notation (noun); notate (verb)
•
Sentence: Thanks to the annotations Umkulthoum wrote in the margins of
her copy of The Prince, she remembered all of the explanations her
professor had given the class about what the text meant.
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Predicted Definition:
•
Definition: a note or comment added to explain part of a text or literary
work
•
Word: heinous
•
Part of speech: adjective
•
Pronunciation: hey-nuhs (The “h” sound is important!)
•
Origins: Germanic; from “haïr,” meaning “to hate”
•
Related Forms: heinously (adverb); heinousness (noun)
•
Sentence: Jacobi’s crime was so heinous, even the serial killers in the federal
penitentiary hated him for his raping and cannibalizing of three kindergarten
classes.
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Predicted Definition:
•
Definition:
hateful; evil; awful; atrocious; odious; abominable; totally
reprehensible;
•
Word: intrinsic
•
Part of speech: adjective
•
Pronunciation: in-trin-sik, -zik
•
Origins: Latin: “int(e)” (“inside or within”) + “sequi” (“to follow”)
•
Related Forms: intrinsically (adverb)
•
Sentence: Not only did the gold ring with 7 half-carat diamonds have
intrinsic value because of the gems and precious metal, it also was
meaningful to Umkulthoum because it had belonged to her greatgrandmother.
•
Predicted Definition:
•
Definition:
1 – belonging to something by its very nature; inherent
2 – naturally part of something
•
Word: Transgress
•
Part of speech: Verb
•
Pronunciation: trans-gres, tranz-
•
Origins: Latin: trans (“across”) + gress (“to go”)
•
Related Forms: transgression (noun); transgressive (adjective); transgressively
(adverb); transgressor (noun)
•
Sentence: Now that you know you are not allowed to wear hats, if you
choose to transgress the rule, your consequence will be to have your hat
taken away.
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Predicted Definition:
•
Definition:
1. to violate a law, command, moral code, etc.; offend; sin.
2. to pass over or go beyond (a limit, boundary, etc.): to transgress bounds of
prudence.
3. to go beyond the limits imposed by (a law, command, etc.); violate; infringe:
to transgress the will of God.
•
Word: Mitigate
•
Part of speech: Verb
•
Pronunciation: mit-i-geyt
•
Origins: Latin: “Mit” (mild, soft, gentle) + “agere” (to do, to make, to cause
•
Related Forms: mitigation (noun); mitigator (noun); mitigable (adjective)
•
Sentence: She couldn’t eliminate the sound of the girl’s screams, but
Umkulthoum was able to mitigate them by putting in her ear buds and turning up
the music.
•
Predicted Definition:
•
Definition:
to do)
1. to lessen in force or intensity, as wrath, grief, harshness, or pain;
moderate.
2. to make less severe: to mitigate a punishment.
3. to make (a person, one's state of mind, disposition, etc.) milder or more
gentle; mollify; appease.
4. to become milder; lessen in severity.
•
Word: Provocative
•
Part of speech: Adjective
•
Pronunciation: pruh-vok-uh-tiv
•
Origins: Latin: “pro” (in favor of) + “vocare” (to call out)
•
Related Forms: provocatively (adverb); provocativeness (noun); provocation
(noun); provoke (verb)
•
Predicted Definition:
•
Sentence: Hoping to get her rival suspended for starting a fight,
Umkulthoum used provocative language to say that Cindy-Lou’s mother was
a harlot.
•
Definition:
Tending or serving to provoke; inciting, stimulating, irritating, or vexing.
• Word: Irrevocable
• Part of speech: Adjective
• Pronunciation: ih-rev-uh-kuh-buh l
• Origins:
Latin: ir (not) + re (again) + vocare (to call) + able (capable of)
• Related Forms: irrevocably (adverb); irrevocability (noun);
irrevocableness (noun); to revoke (verb)
• Sentence: No matter how much he may have wanted to take it back,
John Proctor’s affair with Abigail Williams was irrevocable.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
not to be revoked or recalled; unable to be repealed or annulled;
unalterable: an irrevocable decree.
• Word: stringent
• Part of speech: adjective
• Pronunciation: strin-juh nt
• Origins:
Latin: from “stringere” (to draw tight)
• Related Forms: stringently (adverb)
• Sentence: When she moved back home after having lived in an
apartment of her own during her freshman year of college,
Umkulthoum found the restrictions of a 9 pm curfew and having to
call her parents every time she drove somewhere to be too stringent,
so she moved out again immediately.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
rigorously binding or exacting; strict; severe
• Word: conducive
• Part of speech: adjective
• Pronunciation: kuh n-doo-siv
• Origins:
Latin: con (together; with) + ducere (to lead)
• Related Forms: conduct (verb) (not necessarily “conduct” (noun))
• Sentence: Neither my older brother’s stereo thumping at full blast
nor my parents arguing loudly in the next room were conducive to my
efforts to study for the SAT.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
tending to produce; conducing; contributive; helpful; favorable (usually
followed by “to”)
•
Word: slovenly
•
Part of speech: adjective or adverb
•
Pronunciation: sluhv-uh n-lee
•
Origins:
--Dutch: “slof” (careless)
•
Related Forms: slovenliness (noun)
•
Sentence: When the manager of the company saw the young
woman’s torn jeans, chewed fingernails, and hair that looked like a
rat’s nest, he told her she was too slovenly to work for his company
and that she should come back when she knew how to keep clean.
•
Predicted Definition:
•
Definition:
untidy or unclean in appearance or habits. (adjective)
in an untidy, careless, or slipshod manner. (adverb)
• Word: disconsolate
• Part of speech: adjective
• Pronunciation: dis-kon-suh-lit
• Origins:
--Latin: “dis” (not) + “con” (with) + “solari” (to soothe or comfort)
• Related Forms: disconsolately (adverb); console (verb)
• Sentence: No matter what her friends and family did to cheer her
up, Umkulthoum was disconsolate as she saw the “E” on the paper,
which also meant she would fail the class and be unable to graduate
with her friends.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
without consolation or solace; hopelessly unhappy; inconsolable;
cheerless; gloomy; heartbroken; dejected; sad, melancholy, sorrowful,
miserable
• Word: infraction
• Part of speech: noun
• Pronunciation: in-frak-shuh n
• Origins:
• -- “in” (to, toward) + “frag”/”frang” (to break/bend/weaken) + “-ion”
(suffix making an adj or a verb into a noun)
• Related Forms:
• Sentence: When Umkulthoum was charged with a traffic infraction,
she fought the ticket, claiming it wasn’t illegal to drive with her feet.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--a breach; a violation; an infringement; an offence
• Word: tortuous
• Part of speech: adjective
• Pronunciation: tawr-choo-uh s
• Origins:
--Latin: “Tortu” (a twisting)
• Related Forms: tortuously (adverb)
• Sentence: When Umkulthoum tried to find where the drug cartels
had hidden their money in over a dozen different banks using 100
fake companies, she found that the trail of the money was too
tortuous to follow.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
1 full of twists, turns, or bends; twisting, winding, or crooked: a
tortuous path.
• 2 not direct or straightforward, as in procedure or speech; intricate;
circuitous: tortuous negotiations lasting for months.
•
Word: archetype
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Part of speech: noun
•
Pronunciation: ahr-ki-tahyp
•
Origins:
--Greek: “archi” (first, original, prior) + “tupos” (image)
•
Related Forms: archetypal, archetypical (adjectives); archetypally,
archetypically (adverbs)
•
Sentence: The tale of Cinderella is the first known “rags-to-riches” story,
which makes it the archetype on which all other “rags-to-riches” stories have
been based.
Snow White’s evil step-mother was the archetype of the villainess, and every
Disney villainess after her has simply been an imitation.
•
•
Predicted Definition:
•
Definition:
--the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are
copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype
• Word: disseminate
• Part of speech: Verb
• Pronunciation: dih-sem-uh-neyt
• Origins:
--Latin: “dis” (away; apart; asunder) + “seminare” (to sow (to plant))
• Related Forms: dissemination (noun)
• Sentence: The Center for Disease Control tried to disseminate
information about the Zombie Apocalypse by every means they
could, including Twitter, Instagram, text message, news broadcast,
and radio announcements, so that they could get the word out to
everyone.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--to scatter or spread widely, as though sowing seed; promulgate
extensively; broadcast; disperse: to disseminate information about
preventive medicine.
• Word: elicit
• Part of speech: verb
• Pronunciation: ih-lis-it
• Origins:
--Latin: “lici” (to lure or draw out)
• Related Forms: elicitation (noun)
• Sentence: Umkulthoum was tired of being ignored, so to elicit a
response from her parents, she set her sister’s bed on fire, tied the
dog to the cat, and called in to the police saying she had been
kidnapped.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--to draw out, bring out, or bring forth; evoke
• Word: grisly
• Part of speech: adjective
• Pronunciation: griz-lee
• Origins:
--Old High German: “grisenlih”
• Related Forms: grisliness
• Sentence: Umkulthoum loved the Saw movies because of their grisly
scenes of torture, blood, and dismembered corpses.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--causing a shudder or feeling of horror or dread; horrible; gruesome;
ghastly: a grisly murder.
•
Word: contingent
•
Part of speech: adjective; noun
•
Pronunciation: kuh n-tin-juh nt
•
Origins:
--Latin: “con” (with) + “tangere” (to touch)
•
Related Forms: contingency (noun)
•
Sentence:
--1. Trevor knew his survival was contingent upon his being able to hold his
breath long enough to convince Umkulthoum he had drowned.
--2. The Dearborn teachers union sent a small contingent of members to
Lansing to argue on behalf of the all the union members who couldn’t make
the meetings.
•
Predicted Definition:
•
Definition:
--1. adj. dependent for existence, occurrence, character, etc., on something
not yet certain; conditional (often followed by on or upon ): Our plans are
contingent on the weather.
--2. n. any one of the representative groups composing an assemblage: the
New York contingent at a national convention.
• Word: reverberate
• Part of speech: verb
• Pronunciation: ri-vur-buh-reyt
• Origins:
--Latin: “re” (again; back) + “verberare” (to beat or strike (from
“verber” (to lash)))
• Related Forms: reverberation (noun)
• Sentence: Umkulthoum didn’t know what she enjoyed more, hearing
her victim scream, or hearing those screams reverberate off the walls
over and over and over.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--to reecho or resound: Her singing reverberated through the house.
• Word: salient
• Part of speech: adjective
• Pronunciation: sey-lee-uh nt
• Origins:
--Latin: “Salire” (to jump or to spring)
• Related Forms: saliently (adverb)
• Sentence: Among the more salient parts of Umkulthoum’s speech to
her victim describing exactly how Umkulthoum intended to torture
her were that she intended to sever all of the girl’s appendages and
that the girl would be alive and conscious the entire time.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--prominent, conspicuous, sticking out, projecting, jumping, leaping:
The most salient feature of the car was its $7000 price tag.
• Word: impassive
• Part of speech: adjective
• Pronunciation: im-pas-iv
• Origins:
--Latin: “im” (not) + “passive” (submissive, based on “to submit”)
--NOTE: THE PARTS MEAN THE OPPOSITE OF THE WORD!
• Related Forms: impassively (adverb); impassiveness (noun)
• Sentence: Cindy Lou would have been less terrified as she was being
stalked if Umkulthoum’s face had been angry or joyous or scared, but
instead, Umkulthoum looked impassive, and that was the scariest
look of all.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--without emotion; apathetic; unmoved; calm; serene; emotionless;
indifferent; tranquil; composed
• Word: callow
• Part of speech: adjective
• Pronunciation: kal-oh
• Origins:
--German: Kaal (bald – think of a young bird whose feathers
have not grown in)
• Related Forms: callowness
• Sentence: The callow students continually made farting
noises, dropped their pencils, and faked sneezing while the
teacher tried to teach.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--immature or inexperienced: a callow youth.
• Word: berate
• Part of speech: verb
• Pronunciation: bih-reyt
• Origins:
--Middle English: “be-” (thoroughly) and Old French: “reter” (to
accuse or blame)
• Related Forms:
• Sentence: If mom finds out that you haven’t done 17 homework
assignments in a row, she will berate you for hours, and who wants to
listen to that?
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--to scold; rebuke: Her mom berated her in Walmart.
• Word: hypothetical
• Part of speech: adjective
• Pronunciation: hahy-puh-thet-i-kuh l
• Origins:
--Greek: “hypo” (under) + “thesis” (a setting down; something set
down)
• Related Forms: hypothetically (adverb); hypothesis (noun)
• Sentence: One reason Umkulthoum was such a successful criminal
was that she was always prepared for every hypothetical situation
she may encounter, just in case that hypothetical situation ever
became real.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition: assumed or thought to exist; conditional; existing only as
an idea or concept; supposed
• Word: succinct
• Part of speech: adjective
• Pronunciation: suh k-singkt
• Origins:
Latin: succinctus (“to gather”)
• Related Forms: succinctly (adverb); succinctness (noun)
• Sentence: Rather than dragging out the news,
Umkulthoum was succinct: “I’m leaving you.”
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--expressed in few words; concise; terse.
• Word: extricate
• Part of speech: verb
• Pronunciation: ek-stri-keyt
• Origins:
--Latin: “ex” (“out of”) and “tricae” (“perplexities, hinderances”)
• Related Forms:
• Sentence: As Umkulthoum looked at the snarled mess of
knotted up fishing lines, she sighed thinking of the hours it
was going to take to extricate her line from all of the other
lines.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--to free or release from entanglement; disengage
• Word: absolve
• Part of speech: verb
• Pronunciation: ab-zolv
• Origins:
--Latin: “ab” (away from) + “solvere” (to loosen)
• Related Forms: Absolution (noun)
• Sentence: Umkulthoum first went to talk to the priest at confession
so that God would absolve her, and then she went to a lawyer and
hoped that the jury would absolve her as well.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--to release from blame, sin, punishment, obligation, or responsibility;
to pronounce not guilty; acquit; pardon
• Word: inadvertent
• Part of speech: adjective
• Pronunciation: in-uh d-vur-tnt
• Origins:
--Latin: “in” (not) + “ad” (to/towards) + “vert” (to turn to)
• Related Forms: inadvertently (adverb)
• Sentence: Although she would have liked to have taken credit for
killing him, Trevor’s death when Umkulthoum backed over him with
her truck as he lay under it to cut her brake lines was truly
inadvertent.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--unintentional; characterized by lack of attention; inattentive;
thoughtless, careless, negligent.
• Word: astute
• Part of speech: adjective
• Pronunciation: uh-stoot
• Origins:
--Latin: “Astutus” (clever, sly, cunning)
• Related Forms: astutely (adverb); astuteness (noun)
• Sentence: The astute detective knew Umkulthoum was the best
suspect based on smelling her perfume on the body and then again
when he interviewed Umkulthoum.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--having insight or acumen; perceptive; shrewd; clever; cunning;
smart; quick (mentally)
• Word: vicarious
• Part of speech: adjective
• Pronunciation: vahy-kair-ee-uh s
• Origins:
--Latin: “Vicarius” (interchange; alternation)
• Related Forms: vicariously (adverb)
• Sentence: Although she didn’t kill anyone herself, Umkulthoum’s
sister felt a vicarious thrill watching her sister disembowel victim
after victim.
• Predicted Definition:
• Definition:
--performed, exercised, received, or suffered in place of another;
felt or enjoyed through imagined participation in the experience of
others