Welcome to “Decent Exposure” : High School, Volume IV
“Decent Exposure” will help you teach words explicitly and thoroughly, so that students
will remember and use them. The words have been chosen on the basis
of their frequency in serious literature, the kind of books that students read in school.
Also, these words have synonyms, antonyms, associations, components,
and forms that extend beyond just the single word that might appear on a vocabulary
list.
By showing how these words are used in several contexts, students derive a 360°
perspective as well as model sentences from great literature.
Welcome to “Decent Exposure” Volume I
Countenance
Profound
Manifest
Serene
Sublime
Prodigious
Clamor
Condescend
Languor
Allude
Feeble
Alight
Apprehension
Sabotage
Liberal
Acute
Emphatic
Reproach
Contempt
Ceremonious
Morose
Vapid
Bereft
Genial
Nettles
countenance: facial expression
Synonym: visage
Slang: mug, kisser
Sometimes used as a verb:
to approve of
to sanction
to endorse
“Our school does not
countenance bullying.”
A look of boding uneasiness took possession of every
The countenanceTheofAdventures
a stout old
lady
beamed
of
Tom
Sawyer
countenance.
Mark Twain
into the
room.
Itdown
was easy
to see
joy andbycourage
in the fellow’s
The Great Gatsby
countenance.
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Robinson Crusoe
snappy,
their Defoe
by Daniel
The officers were impatient and
countenances clouded with the tales of misfortune.
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every 127
pages of text.
The Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane
profound: deep; deeply meaningful
Synonym: unfathomable
Antonyms: shallow; inane, superficial; facile; simple;
obvious; glib
There
wascouldn’t
a profound
silence,
prolonged and
My
mother
have
more
profoundly
The stillness was so profound that he heard a little
unbroken.
disagreed
with that.
animal
twittering
somewhere
nearby
under the
snow.
The profound calm
which
only
apparently
precedes
The Adventures
One Writer’s
of Beginnings
Tom Sawyerby
and prophesies of the
Ethan Frome Edith Wharton
by Eudora Welty
storm
is perhaps more awful
Mark Twain
than the storm itself.
Forms:
N: profundity
V: OO
Adj: profound
Adv: profoundly
Moby Dick --Herman Melville
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every 155
pages of text.
Forms:
N: the manifestation
Adj: manifest
V: manifest, manifests,
manifested, manifesting
Adv: OO
Manifest: to show; to reveal
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
126 pages of text.
manifested
strongmade
interest
manifest
The physician
The reason
for its unpopularity
wasa soon
The Mayor of Casterbridge
in the young clergyman.
The
Scarlet
Letter interest
TheThe
squirrels
manifestation
manifest no
it Thomas
took
concern
was
of
whether
great
the woods
to
Hardy
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
them.
will bear chestnuts this year or not.
Song of Solomon
Synonyms: (adj) obvious; overt;
demonstrable
(v): demonstrate; reveal
Antonyms: (adj) covert; hidden;
subtle; obscure
by Henry David Thoreau
Historical Walden
References:
by Toni
Morrison
Manifest Destiny:
The
belief that God
intended for the United States to extend
its territory from coast to coast (Western
Expansion)
Communist Manifesto: The statement of
the beliefs and goals of communism,
written by Karl Marx and Fred Engels
serene: calm; peaceful
Synonym: tranquil
Antonyms: turbulent; chaotic;
tumultuous; agitated
Forms:
N: serenity
Adj: serene
V: 00
Adv: serenely
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
449 pages of text.
The serene
sky and verdant fields filled me with ecstasy.
William Wordsworth
The moon seemed to gloat serenely over the spectacle.
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
My sereneity is rippled but not ruffled.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
The serene ocean rolled toward me in a thousand
hues of blue.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
sublime: elevated; high-minded; spiritual
Synonyms: heavenly; celestial
Antonyms: mundane; vulgar;
earth-bound
Forms:
N: OO
Adj: sublime
V: 00
Adv: sublimely
The best cooking comes from the simplest
Ibut
cannot
believe
that and
I ama the
same
freshest
ingredients
sense
of creature
When
the choir
sing
in St.
Patrick’s
Seeing
theI heard
Grand
atonce
sunrise
was
truly
whose
thoughts
filled
with
ISuch
dreamed
of
combining
themCanyon
justwere
right.
dishes
area sublime
Cathedral, I was overcome with a sense of
vision
that
delivered
peace
my time
of grief.
and
transcendent
visionstoofme
theinbeauty
and
beauty
and spirituality.
majesty of goodness.
Frankenstein by
Frequency:
Mary Wollenscraft
Shelley Forms of this
Etymology: Sub: Under
word appear once in every
Lime: Line
320 pages of text.
under the line that divides heaven and earth
Related word: subliminal (under the line of conscious awareness)
prodigious: plentiful; productive; bountiful;
lavishly fruitful
Synonyms: abundant
Related Word:
prodigy
Antonyms: meager; puny;
scarce
Each lad had an income now that was simply
I like them
the prodigious ly.
uproar of battle…
…a prodigious-prodigious blood-dripping
a dollar for every
mass
weekday.
The
Pride
RedDick
and
Badge
Prejudice
of
The
Moby
Adventures
of Courage
Tom Sawyer
-Stephen
-Jane
Crane
-Herman
-MarkAusten
Twain
Melville
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
474 pages of text.
clamor: to create noise because of eagerness
or excitement
Synonym: uproar
Antonyms: tranquility; serenity
Forms:
N: clamor
Adj: clamorous
V: 00
Adv: clamorously
From instant
…an
the
The
The
His
first,
animals
feelings
burst
sailors
I was
of clamor ed
ed
ous
ed totobe
learn.
allowed to
be let out.
for pardon onfor
thean
decks
of
the
dock.
answer
Hamlet
his mind could not give.
Animal
One Farm
Writer’s Beginnings
-William
Moby
DickShakespeare
-George
-Eudora
OrwellWelty
-Herman
Melville
Native Son
-Richard Wright
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
pages of text.
condescend: to express a feeling of superiority
when interacting with others
Etymology:
Synonym: deign
Antonyms: revere; respect
con: with
descend: down
Men should speak to women in the language of truth
and soberness,
and away with the lullaby strains of
Jem condescended
AThese
He
sortwould
oftwo
condescending
answer
great commanders
condescendingly.
concern
did not
and condescend
compassion…
condescending
endearments.
to take me to
school on
thePan
first day.
Peter
- J.M. Barrie
to fight in person.
Moby Dick -Herman Melville
“Vindication
of the Rights
Women
To
KillAdventures
A Mockingbird—
The
of Tom of
Sawyer—
-Eudora Welty
Harper
Lee
Mark Twain
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
pages of text.
languor: a state of laziness or inactivity
Synonyms: lassitude; torpor
Antonyms: energy; intensity;
industriousness
Forms:
N: languor
Adj: languorous
V: 00
Adv: languorsly
the languor of sleep
She opened her eyes in a state of dreamy, delicious
a languid weariness
languor.
…dreamy, languorous eyes…
languid
grace Cabin—
Uncle Tom’s
Harrietinto
Beecher
Stowe
Eustatia
Vye
drooped
again
a
languor.
The Picture
of Dorian
Gray—
the languor
of afternoon
music
Oscar Wilde
Portrait of the The
ArtistReturn
as a Young
of the Man—
Native—
James Joyce Joseph Conrad
Frequency: Forms of this
1,762word appear once in every
pages of text.
allude: to refer to something
indirectly, expecting the
audience to understand
the true intended meaning
Synonyms: refer; imply; hint at
Antonyms: stipulate; indicate
Forms:
N: allusion
Adj: 00
V: allude, alludes
alluded, alluding
Adv: 00
They
No
attacked
new
vast majority
one
consisted
was
with
made
toallusions
thehow
subject
allusions.
over
toallusion
last another
night
only
byofprivate
asking
Phineas
He The
alluded
which I brooded.
was.
to prior communications that Major Major had
never even heard of. A Jane
Separate
Peace—
A
Passage
Eyre—
to India—
John
Charlotte Bronte
E.M.Knowles
Forester
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
181 pages of text.
Catch-22—
Joseph Heller
feeble: weak, usually referring to the aged
body, but often applied to speech or
ideas
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
187 pages of text.
Three or four times I thought I would feebly
Up
He
hada only
until
that era,
just reached
where you
middle
livedage,
was and
at least
there
where
was no
start
conversation.
sign of
your
parents
feebleness
lived, and
in you
his muscles.
expected to live there
with
children
youAdventures
became
enfeebled.
Mr.your
Wopsle
criedwhen
out,The
“No!”
with
the feeble
Great
Expectations
of Tommalice
Sawyer
Mark
Charles
Twain
Dickens
of a tired man.
Homeless
Forms:
Synonyms: decrepit; debilitated
Anna
Quindlen
N: feebleness
Great
Expectations
Antonyms: robust; strong;
healthy
Adj: feeble
Charles
Dickens
V: enfeeble;
enfeebles
enfeebled; enfeebling
Adv: feebly
alight: to land upon; to touch down;
to get down from a height; to arrive
Synonyms: descend upon;
perch
Antonyms: ascend from;
embark
Forms:
N: 00
Adj: 00
V: alight, alights
alit, alighting
Adv: 00
Swooping
We
Igot
hadaI resolved
chair
down,
alighted
out,
they
toready
from
alighted
alight
for
Joe’s
Mrs.
asback
at
soon
Joe’s
hison
as
feet.
the
we
alighting,
brink
touched
of
the ditch the
when
town,
we and
came
I took
up, and
and stirred up the fire…
had not moved
myself since.
out of his hearing.
Great
Expectations
Expectations
GreatGreat
Expectations
Charles
Dickens
Charles
GreatDickens
Expectations
Charles
Dickens
Charles Dickens
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
493 pages of text.
apprehension: fear and nervousness about a
specific event in the future
Synonyms: uneasiness; trepidation; anxiety
Antonyms: eagerness; assurance;
confidence
Forms:
N: apprehension
Adj: apprehensive
V: 00
Adv: apprehensively
As Mr.
Kraler
speaks,
they
all listen with look; they
She
gave
the
other
two
an
apprehensive
All these things I saw without knowing that I saw them,
all
deep
breaths
and
then
the gnarled
As
I took
walked
to in
the
I felt
that
aat
dread,l
much
apprehension.
because
I on
was
anhotel,
agony
of dived
apprehension.
stump
between
them..
exceeding
a mere
apprehension
Diary of Anne Frank
Expectations
Frances Great
Goodrich
and Albert
or disagreeable recognition, made
me
tremble.
Charles
Dickens
Great
Expectations
Hackett (play version)
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
Frequency: Forms of this
Charles Dickens
word appear once in every
157 pages of text.
sabotage: to destroy a plan in a scheming manner
Forms:
N: sabotage; sabateur
Synonym: undermine
Adj: 00
V: sabotage, sabotages
Antonyms: support; assist
sabotaged, sabotaging
“If you
One
good
wishpiece
to leave
of news
with is
your
thatstudents,
the Labor
shall not
Adv:we
00Exchange
A
dayset
never
passed
when
and
saboteurs
stop
was
you,
onbut
fire
if in
any
anof
act
you
ofspies
attempt
to sabotage
sabotage
oursubsequent
All
under
resistance
his direction
or
crimes
take
were
arms
against
unmasked
against
the Party,
by
us the
within
all this
Thought
Police.
treacheries,
castle,
then
Horace,
acts of we
sabotage,
will duel.”deviations, heresies
sprang directly out ofDiary
his
teachings.
of
a
Young
Girl—
Anne
Harry
Potter
and
the Deathly
1984
– George
Orwell
Frank
Hollows —J.K. Rowling
1984 – George Orwell
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
3,488 pages of text.
liberal: free, generous, easygoing
Synonym: lenient; flexible; yielding
Antonyms: rigid; unyielding
Also, I was told what my allowance would be– it
was a very liberal one…
Now, you understand, Mr. Pip, that
Forms:
N: liberty; liberality
Adj: liberal
V: liberate,
liberates
the
name
of
liberated, liberating
Adv: liberally
your
liberal benefactor is to be kept a secret.
Great Expectations
And he was so very free of the wine that he
-- Charles Dickens
called for the other bottle and handed it out with the
Great Expectations
same liberality ,when the first
was gone.
-- Charles
Dickens
Related word:
library
Frequency: Forms Great
of this
word appear once in every
111 pages of text.
Expectations
-- Charles Dickens
acute: sharp; intense; knife-like;
Synonym: angular
Antonyms: obtuse; rounded;
mild
Forms:
N: acuity; acuteness
Adj: acute
V: 00
Adv: acutely
Her head ached acutely.
…a
…feeling
Pride
The
crisis
longing
and
ofPrejudice
acutely
to
acutest
leave becomes
sorry…
pain… acute.
-- Jane Austen
Song of Solomon
Native
The Scarlet
Son Letter
-- Toni Morrison
---- Richard
Nathaniel
Wright
Hawthorne
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
339 pages of text.
emphatic: strongly stated; emphasized
Forms:
At first Synonym:
I was very
afraid of going
to places where
vehement
N: emphasis
H. and Antonyms:
I had been
happy—our
favourite
pub,
our
Adj:
emphatic
mild; unsure;
emphasize,
emphatizes,
favoritetentative
wood. But I decided toV:do
it at once—like
emphasized, emphasizing
sending a pilot up again as soon
possible after
Adv:as
emphatically
he’s had a crash. Unexpectedly it makes no
…he
The made
other Her
lady,
an absence
emphatic
who hadisnot
swing
spoken
at the
yet,
ditch
said
with
his
emphatic
difference.
no
more
in
I heard her say to Joe, in a most emphatic voice,
those places than anywhere else. It’s not local
gravely
manacled
and
hands.
emphatically
, “True,
very and
true.”
“The
boy
has
been
a
good
boy
here,
at all. I suppose if one were forbidden all salt,that
oneis
his reward.”
wouldn’t
notice it more in any one food than
Great
Expectations
—Charles
another. Eating in general
would
be different,
every
Dickens
Great
Expectations
day, at every meal. It is like that.
The act of—Charles
living
Dickens
is different in all through.
Her absence is like the
sky, spread over everything. A Grief Observed
Frequency: Forms of this
--C S. Lewis
word appear once in every
485 pages of text.
reproach: (v) scold, reprimand
(n) disapproval
Forms:
N: reproach
Antonyms: laud; praise; support Adj: reproachful
reproach,
I wanted
make
Joe less ignorant
andreproaches,
common
endorse;
compliment
But
he eyedtome
severely—as
if I V:had
done
reproached, reproaching
that he to
might
be worthier
of mywith
society
and less
Adv:
reproachfully
anything
him!—and
departed
the words
Synonym: (n) berate
open to Estella’s
reproach.
delivered:
“Boy! Let your
reproachfully
“No,
Joseph,”
said
my
sister,
stillthem
in a which
reproachful
behavior
here
be
a
credit
unto
She made it a powerful merit in herself and also
manner,
while
Joe
apologetically
drew back the
brought
you
up
by
hand.”
a reproach to Joe that she Great
wore this
apron
Expectations
back of his hand from his nose.
so much.
--Charles Dickens
Great
Expectations
Great
Expectations
Great--Charles
Expectations
Dickens
--Charles Dickens
--Charles Dickens
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
188 pages of text.
Ceremonial: related to
a formal ceremony
Synonym: ritualistic, solemn
Antonyms: casual, everyday
Forms:
N: ceremony
Adj: ceremonial,ceremonious
V: 00
Adv: ceremonially, ceremoniously
These extensive arrangements occasioned us to be
cut off
“My
dear
unceremoniously
Sybill,” said Dumbledore
in respect
in aof
slightly
breakfast.
This
not
a very
ceremonious
wayofofthrowing
rendering
As
we was
neared
home,
Joe
vaguely
acknowledging
exasperated
voice,
“there
is Great
no question
Expectations
homage
to aaspatron
saint.
you
the
occasion
unceremoniously
an impressive
from anywhere,
and --Charles
ceremonious
but Harry
does
Dickens
Great
have
an appointment…”
one and
went on ahead to open
theExpectations
front door.
--Charles Dickens
Great
Expectations
Frequency: Forms of this
Harry
Potter
and
the
Half-Blood Prince
word appear once in every
--Charles
115 pages of text.
--J. K.Dickens
Rowling
Contempt: open expression of
hatred and scorn; open violation
of authority
Forms:
Synonym: disdain
N: disdain
Adj: disdainful
Antonyms: admiration, regard
V: disdain, disdains,
esteem
disdained, disdaining
Adv: disdainfully
She
To punish
laughed
mecontemptuously
for my contempt,pushed
for authority,
me out,fate
and
made
authority
myself.
lockedme
thean
gate
upon me.
There wasHer
an expression
contempt of
for me
contempt
was so strong,
on his face,
it was
--Albert Einstein
and
he bit the
side
of a great
infectious,
and
I caught
it. forefinger as he
Great Expectations
watched a sea of faces.
--Charles Dickens
Great
GreatExpectations
Expectations
Frequency: Forms of this
--Charles
--CharlesDickens
Dickens
word appear once in every
155 pages of text.
Morose: gloomy; sad
Synonym: melancholy, sullen
Antonyms: cheerful, sanguine
Forms:
N: moroseness
Adj: morose
V: 00
Adv: morosely
Only
Theold
clay
Benjamin
of Whitewas
Fang
just
had
same
molded
as ever,
until he
He
fellthebeen
morosely
silent.
Those
had
never
seenand
the
Count
so
except
became
foraround
what
beinghe
ahim
little
was,
greyer
morose
around
the
lonely,
muzzle,
unloving
Of Mice and Men
morose and irritable.
--John
Steinbeck
and,
andsince
ferocious,
Boxer’s
thedeath,
enemy
more
of allmorose
his kind.
and
War and Peace
taciturn than ever.
--Leo Tolstoy
Animal
WhiteFarm
Fang
--George
--Jack London
Orwell
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
2,157 pages of text.
Vapid: Empty-headed; mindless; meaningless
mentally blank; without thoughts
Synonym: inane, superficial
Antonyms: profound,
sophisticated, intriguing
Forms:
N: vapidity, vapidness
Adj: vapid
V: 00
Adv: vapidly
Yourman
The
eyes
She
looked
Aare
was
large
asa vapid ly doll
little
as
across
the
with
thing,
glass
gold
the
vacantly
street,
eyes
curls
afox.
violet
dress sat on the glass top
of curvy,
frowning
your stuffed
aand
little.
pretty,
perhaps
fourteen.
of a cabinet.
The itMoon
Ulysses
Atlas
Call
Shrugged
Sleep
is a Harsh Mistress
--Robert
--James
--Ayn
--Henry
Rand
Roth
Joyce
Heinlein
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
6,238 pages of text.
Bereft: grief-stricken; in mourning
Synonym: grieving
Antonyms: celebratory, joyful
Forms:
N: bereavement
Adj: bereft, bereaved
V: 00
Adv: 00
I“Good
judgedLord,”
him to
said
be he,
a bachelor
“Camilla,from
what
the
can
frayed
it signify
If he were doomed to be bereft of her, so it must be.
condition
as
Madam,
long as
you
ofthe
his
have
poor
linen,bereft
bereaved
and he me
appeared
little
of allthings
words.
to have
are
The Mayor of Casterbridge
sustained
in
Only
black?”
my blood
a good
speaks
manyto bereavements
you in my
veins.;forHardy
he wore
--Thomas
GreatMerchant
The
Expectations
of Venice
at leas four mourning rings…
--Charles
--Wm
Shakespeare
Dickens
Great Expectations
--Charles Dickens
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
2,122 pages of text.
Genial: friendly, sociable; favorable to
Synonym: gregarious; amiable
Antonyms: aloof; sullen
Forms:
N: congeniality
Adj: genial, congenial
V: 00
Adv: genially, congenially
They
doubtless
with the
So
softwould
was her
step, it be
failedcongenial
to make even
a sound,
“Harry,
that’softhree
of my
little suppers you’ve missed
generality
female
minds.
but for the magical thrill imparted by her genial
now!”
said Slughorn,
poking
him
in the chest.
The course
terminated,
and Mr.
Pumblechook
genially
Pride
and
Prejudice
touch.
--Jane
Thethe
Adventures
genial Austen
of
Tom Sawyer
had begun to beam under
influence
of
gin-and-water.
Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
499 pages of text.
--Mark Twain
Harry Potter and the
Prince
GreatHalf-Blood
Expectations
--J. K.Dickens
Rowling
--Charles
Forms:
N: nettles
Adj: nettlesome
V: 00
Adv: 00
Nettles: thickets of weeds, usually
with thorns
Nettles grew all around it, their tips reaching
1.As I saw
go, picking
waytiny
among
the with
nettles,
the him
windows,
whichhis
were
and thick
grime.
and among
the brambles that bound the green
Great Expectations
--Charles Dickens
At such time I found out for certain that this
bleak place overgrown with nettles Frequency: Forms of this
word appear once in every
was the churchyard.
1,725 pages of text.
Great Expectations
--Charles Dickens