Vocabulary
English 9 ● Semester 1
This semester you will be responsible for understanding these vocabulary words. Understand is the
key word here, since you will be expected to do more than just memorize the words for a test. The
following gives a brief idea of what you will be doing with these words
Definitions
You will follow in-class activities to determine the definitions of the given vocabulary words.
Sentences
Once you have accurate and understandable definitions, you will write a sentence for each vocabulary
word. Each sentence must show that you understand the word. Sorry, no “The teacher wrote the word
implore on the board.” To help you write quality sentences, refer to the Sentence Frame sheet that
gives ideas for writing meaningful sentences.
Write
In a variety of essays to follow, you will be required to incorporate a specified number of vocabulary
words. The words you choose must make sense where you use them. You must also underline them
in your essays
Class Activities
Because our class represents an array of learning styles, we will use different methods to reinforce
your understanding of the vocabulary words. This will also give you repeated exposure to these
words, which can only help you master these words.
Quizzes & Tests
Over the course of the semester, you will be given quizzes on these words. The quizzes could be any
combination of multiple choice, matching, fill-in-the-blank, or writing sentences. The 23 vocabulary
words will also be on your semester exam.
Vocabulary List
accost (v)
condone (v)
elude (v)
implore (v)
preclude (v)
repose (v)
subside (v)
adulation (n)
gamut (n)
impunity (n)
privation (n)
quarry (n)
scruple (n)
vexation (n)
affable (adj)
aghast (adj)
askew (adj)
deplorable (adj)
disarming (adj)
tangible (adj)
zealous (adj)
solicitously (adv)
guile (n)
appalled (adj)
tumultuous (adj)
cower (v)
impudence (n)
affable (adj)
Vocabulary Practice
Directions: Do your best to define each of the following words without checking in your textbook or
a dictionary. Each of these words appears in a short story you will be reading. The sentence from the
short story is given, which may help you determine the word’s meaning.
accost (v) He accosted me with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much.
Cask of Amontillado 209
Your definition:
Your sentence:
condone (v) “Surely your experiences in the war . . . did not make me condone cold-blooded
murdered,” finished Rainsford, stiffly. The Most Dangerous Game 49
Your definition:
Your sentence:
elude (v) If my quarry eludes me for three for three whole days, he wins the game. The Most
Dangerous Game 50
Your definition:
Your sentence:
implore (v) Once more let me implore you to return. Cask of Amontillado 212
Alternate forms: imploringly (adv)
Your definition:
Your sentence:
preclude (v) But the very definitiveness with which it was resolved, precluded the idea of risk. Cask
of Amontillado 209
Your definition:
Your sentence:
repose (v) “I drink,” he said, “to the buried that repose around us.” Cask of Amontillado 211
Alternate forms: repose (n)
Your definition:
Your sentence:
subside (v) When at last the clanking subsided, I resumed the trowel, and finished without
interruption the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh tier. Cask of Amontillado 214
Your definition:
Your sentence:
adulation (n) She danced madly, wildly, drunk with pleasure, giving no thought to anything in the
triumph of her beauty, the pride of her success, in a kind of happy cloud composed of all the
adulation, of all the admiring glances, of all the awakened longings, of a sense of complete victory
that is so sweet to a woman’s heart. The Necklace 30
Alternate forms: adulate (v)
Your definition:
Your sentence:
gamut (n) He signed notes, made ruinous deals, did business with loan sharks, ran the whole gamut
of moneylenders. The Necklace 32
Your definition:
Your sentence:
impunity (n) I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. Cask of Amontillado 209
Your definition:
Your sentence:
privation (n) Terrified by the outlook for the future, by the blackness of despair about to close
around him, by the prospect of all the privations of the body and tortures of the spirit, he went to
claim the new necklace with the thirty-six thousand francs which he placed on the counter of the
shopkeeper. The Necklace 33
Your definition:
Your sentence:
quarry (n) I suppose the first three shots I heard was when the hunter flushed his quarry and
wounded it. The Most Dangerous Game 43
Your definition:
Your sentence:
scruple (n) “But I think I can show you that your scruples are quite ill-founded.” The Most
Dangerous Game 49
Alternate forms: scrupulous (adj)
Your definition:
Your sentence:
vexation (n) And she would weep for days on end from vexation, regret, despair, and anguish. The
Necklace 28
Alternate forms: vex (v), vexed (adj)
Your definition:
Your sentence:
affable (adj) He was finding the general a most thoughtful and affable host. The Most Dangerous
Game 45
Alternate forms: affability (n), affably (adv)
Your definition:
Your sentence:
aghast (adj) They looked at each other aghast. The Necklace 32
Your definition:
Your sentence:
askew (adj) Her hair untended, her skirts askew, her hands red, her voice shrill, she even slopped
water on her floors and scrubbed them herself. The Necklace 33
Alternate forms: askew (adv)
Your definition:
Your sentence:
deplorable (adj) There’s quicksand there. One foolish fellow tried it. The deplorable part of it was
that Lazarus followed him. The Most Dangerous Game 52
Alternate forms: deplore (v), deplorably (adv)
Your definition:
Your sentence:
disarming (adj) “Don’t be alarmed,” said Rainsford, with a smile which he hoped was disarming.
The Most Dangerous Game 43
Alternate forms: disarm (v), disarmingly (adv)
Your definition:
Your sentence:
tangible (adj) Sometimes I think evil is a tangible thing--with wavelengths, just as sound and light
have. The Most Dangerous Game 41
Your definition:
Your sentence:
zealous (adj) Even so zealous a hunter as General Zaroff could not trace him there, he told himself.
The Most Dangerous Game 53
Alternate forms: zealously (adv), zealot (n)
Your definition:
Your sentence:
solicitously (adv) “Ah, indeed?” the general inquired solicitously. The Most Dangerous Game 51
Alternate forms: solicit (v), solicitous (adj)
Your definition:
Your sentence:
Sentence Frames
The following sentence frames are provided to help you write your own sentences for the vocabulary words. If
you notice, the part of speech is listed for each vocabulary word. The part of speech will determine which kind
of sentence you will write. The following are merely safe suggestions. You do not need to follow them
exactly, but be careful. Your sentence must be correct in grammar and meaning.
Nouns
The/His/Her/Bob’s ___________ was/were ____________ because ____________.
noun
The/His/Her/Bob’s ___________
___________ because ___________.
noun
action
It/He/She/Bob ___________ the/his/her/Bob’s ____________ because ____________.
action
noun
*Example for “detention”: Sally served
action
the detention because she threw her pen across the room.
noun
Verbs
It/He/She/Bob ___________
_____________ because ____________.
verb
person or thing
It/He/She/Bob ___________ because ___________.
verb
*Example for “congratulate”: He congratulated the hockey players because they played a good game.
verb
person or thing
Adjectives
It/He/She/Bob was ___________ because ____________.
adjective
The _____________ ______________ _______________ because _____________.
adjective
person or thing
*Example for “jealous”: Bob was
action
jealous
because I had won the contest.
adjective
Adverbs
It/He/She/Bob ____________ _____________ because ______________.
action
adverb
*Example for “carelessly”: My sister drove carelessly because she was so tired.
action
adverb