Vocabulary List #1
English 1
English 1 Honors
PHOT/PHOS
“light”
PHOTOTROPIC
 Adjective
 Tending to grow or move
towards light
 Because they are
phototropic, daisies
always grow towards the
sun.
 Sentence completion:
 I like to say jokingly that
my cat is phototropic
because she always…
PHOSPHORESCENT
 Adjective
 Giving off light without
heat
 Harvey stuck
phosphorescent stars on
his ceiling so that it would
resemble the nighttime sky.
 Sentence completion:
 One of the phosphorescent
gemstones can be
identified by…
PHOTOGENIC
 Adjective
 Attractive in pictures or
photographs
 Lucy was so photogenic
that total strangers often
asked to take her picture.
 Sentence completion:
 Because he was not
considered very photogenic,
Sven…
LUC
“light”
LUCID
 Adjective
 Easy to understand; clear
 Sophie’s explanation of
quantum physics was so
lucid that I understood
everything.
 Sentence completion:
 Tom thinks the reason
Gerald’s explanations are
so lucid is…
ELUCIDATE
 Verb
 To make clear by
explaining
 The attorney asked the
witness to further
elucidate the information
he had.
 Sentence completion:
 Nina tried to elucidate the
meaning of the poem by…
TRANSLUCENT
 Adjective
 Allowing light to pass
through
 Through a translucent
blue cloth draped over the
window, we could see the
sun.
 Sentence completion:
 The headdress was woven
of a beautiful translucent silk
that…
SPEC/SPECT
“to look at”
CIRCUMSPECT
 Adjective
 Careful; mindful of rules
and consequences
 The marchers in the
protest tried to be
circumspect and not
break any laws.
 Sentence completion:
 Carl was usually circumspect
when choosing stocks and
bonds because…
PROSPECT
 Noun
 That which is expected
 The prospect of a trip to
the dentist with my bratty
kid brother was hardly
thrilling.
 Sentence completion:
 Buck savored the prospect of
the nature walk because…
SPECTER
 Noun
 A ghost or phantom
 Hattie seemed to see a
specter in every corner of
the dark house.
 Sentence completion:
 When Roger saw the specter
lurking in the corner, he
reacted by…
VID/VIS
“to see, to look”
INVIDIOUS
 Adjective
 Hateful or spiteful
 One candidate made an
invidious speech against
his opponent.
 Sentence completion:
 I found Charlie a rather
invidious character because
he was always…
PROVIDENTIAL
 Adjective
 Happening by good fortune
 Through a providential
series of events, Nigel
found himself manager of
the company.
 Sentence completion:
 Unless something
extraordinarily providential
happens before the swim
meet, we…
IMPROVISE
 Verb
 To create without any
forethought or preparation
 When Carl lost the cards
with his speech on them,
he was forced to
improvise.
 Sentence completion:
 The actor had to improvise
his lines because he…