8th grade English
Mrs. Barth
Master Vocabulary List
American Born Chinese
PREREQUISITE (page 10) (n.)
Definition: Something that is required or necessary as a prior condition; something that is required beforehand.
Synonyms: requirement, qualification
Antonyms: non-essential
SOVEREIGN (page 14) (n. or adj.)
Definitions:
1. A supreme, permanent authority.
2. Self-governing, independent.
Syn:
1. emperor/empress, monarch
Ant:
1. servant
Related: sovereignty
2. autonomous
2. dependent, occupied
FERVENT (page 56) (adj.)
Definition: Having or showing great emotion or zeal.
Syn: enthusiastic, wholehearted
Ant: indifferent
Related: fervently
EMISSARY (page 67) (n.)
Definition: A representative sent on a mission or errand.
Syn: delegate, ambassador, envoy
Ant: --MUSTER (page 71) (v.)
Definition: To gather together, call forth, or summon up.
Syn: assemble, collect, convene
Ant: disperse, disband, scatter
ANTIQUITY (page 133) (n.)
Definition: Ancient times; people or objects belonging to or dating from ancient times.
Syn: antique, relic,
Ant: present, modernity
Related: antique
REPENTANCE (page 134) (n.)
Definition: Remorse for wrongdoing or sin.
Syn: regret, guilt
Ant: remorselessness, apathy
Related: repent, reptentant
IMPUDENCE (page 144) (n.)
Definition: Offensively bold behavior; audacity.
Syn: impertinence, rudeness, nerve
Related: impudent, impudently
Ant: courtesy, decorum
UNMITIGATED (page 206) (adj.)
Definition: Without qualification or exception; absolute.
Syn: complete, undiluted, unequivocal
Ant: imperfect, conditional
PINNACLE (page 218) (n.)
Definition: The highest point, the culmination.
Syn: eminence, summit, top
Ant: base, bottom
Edgar Allan Poe: “The Tell-Tale Heart”
VEX (v.)
…for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye (75).
Definitions:
1. To irritate, annoy, or provoke; to make someone feel annoyed or frustrated.
Synonyms: infuriate, exasperate
Antonyms: delight, please
2. To torment, trouble, distress, or worry.
Synonyms: plague, haunt
Antonyms: soothe, comfort
Related: vexer, vexing, vexingly, vexation, vexatious
SAGACITY (n.)
Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers – of my sagacity (75).
Definition: Having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgment; ability to make good choices due to judgment;
wisdom.
Synonyms: wisdom, insight, discernment, rationality
Antonyms: ignorance, foolishness, stupidity, naïveté
Related: sagacious, sagaciously, sage, sagely
ACUTENESS (n.)
And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses? (76)
Definitions:
1. Possession of a quality to a severe or intense degree; a highly developed or keen sense or faculty.
Synonyms: keenness, sharpness, sensitivity
Antonyms: dullness, weakness
2. A perceptive understanding or insight; a quick and penetrating intelligence.
Synonyms: acumen, perceptiveness, shrewdness
Antonyms: dullness, bluntness
Related: acute, acutely
AUDACITY (n.)
…while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the
corpse of the victim (77).
Definitions:
1. A willingness to take bold risks with arrogant disregard for personal safety.
Synonym: temerity, boldness, recklessness, overconfidence
Antonym: discretion, prudence, caution, timidity
2. Rude or disrespectful behavior.
Synonym: impudence, insolence, impertinence, gall
Antonym: gentility, modesty, courtesy
Related: audacious, audaciously
REPOSE (v.)
…while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the
corpse of the victim (77).
Definitions:
1. To lie down in rest; to lay something to rest in or on.
Synonym: rest
Antonym: agitate, exert, energize
2. To be lying, situated, or kept in a particular place.
Synonym: deposit, place
Antonym: disturb
Related: reposed, reposeful, reposefully, reposition
DERISION (n.)
Any thing was more tolerable than this derision! (78).
Definition: Contemptuous ridicule or mockery; insult or disrespect.
Synonym: ridicule, scorn
Antonym: flattery, praise
Related: derisive, deride
Edgar Allan Poe: “The Cask of Amontillado”
IMPUNITY (n.)
I must not only punish, but punish with impunity (116).
Definition: Exemption from punishment; freedom from responsibility.
Synonyms: amnesty, immunity, exoneration, exemption
Antonyms: incarceration, liability, accountability
Related: -IMMOLATION (n.)
…and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation (116).
Definition: The act of killing or offering as a sacrifice, especially by burning.
Synonyms: sacrifice, annihilation
Antonyms: --Related: immolate, immolator
ABSCOND (v.)
There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in honor of the time (117).
Definition: To leave hurriedly and secretly, typically to avoid detection of or arrest for an unlawful act.
Synonyms: take off, bolt, escape, flee
Antonyms: remain
Related: absconder
GESTICULATION (n.)
He laughed and threw the bottle upward with a gesticulation I did not understand (119).
Also in “The Tell-Tale Heart”: I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations, but the noise steadily
increased (77).
Definition: Gestures, especially dramatic ones, often used instead of speaking or to emphasize one’s words.
Synonyms: gesture
Antonyms: --Related: gesticulate, gesticulative, gesticulator, gesticulatory
Edgar Allan Poe “The Fall of the House of Usher” Vocabulary
IMPORTUNATE (adj.)
…a letter from him—which, in its wildly importunate nature, had admitted of no other than a personal reply (15).
Definition: Persistent, especially to the point of being an annoyance or an intrusion.
Synonyms: persistent, beseeching, imploring
Antonyms: irresolute
Related: importune, importunately, importunity
PARADOX (n.)
Such, I have long known, is the paradoxical law of all sentiments having terror as a basis (16).
Definition: A statement that, despite sound reasoning, leads to a senseless or logically unacceptable conclusion, or a statement
that seems absurd but when explained proves to be well-founded or true. A self-contradictory statement; a situation, person, or
thing that combines contradictory features or qualities. Related to the literary term “oxymoron.”
Synonyms: contradiction, conundrum, oxymoron
Antonyms: --Related: paradoxical, paradoxical, paradoxically
WAN (adj.)
It was with difficulty that I could bring myself to admit the identity of the wan being before me with the companion of my early
boyhood (17).
Definition: Pale and giving the impression of illness, exhaustion, or frailty. Can also mean dark and gloomy.
Synonyms: pallid, anemic, waxen, sickly, drained, dim, feeble Antonyms: flushed, bright
Related: wanness, wanly
TREPIDATION (n.)
He accosted me with trepidation and passed on (17).
Definition: A feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen.
Synonyms: fear, apprehension, dread, anxiety
Antonyms: composure, calm, tranquility, assurance
Related: trepidancy, trepidatious
…and I soon found this to arise from a series of feeble and futile struggles to overcome an habitual trepidancy—an excessive
nervous agitation (18).
ABHORRENCE (n.)
I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect—in terror (18).
Definition: A feeling of repulsion; disgusted loathing.
Synonyms: hatred, detestation, revulsion
Antonyms: love, adoration
Related: abhor, abhorrent
INSIPID (adj.)
He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was alone endurable… (18).
Definition: Lacking flavor; lacking vigor or interest.
Synonyms: bland, tasteless; unimaginative, dull
Antonyms: tasty; interesting, imaginative
Related: insipidity, insipidly, insipidness
PERTINACITY (n.)
…as on account of the pertinacity with which he maintained it (22).
Definition: A firm hold on an opinion or a course of action to the point of stubbornness.
Synonyms: stubbornness, insistence, relentlessness
Antonyms: uncertainty, hesitation
Related: pertinacious, pertinaciously, pertinaciousness
SENTIENCE (n.)
The conditions of the sentience had been here, he imagined, fulfilled in the method of collocation of these stones…(22).
Definition: Ability to perceive or feel; consciousness; animation.
Synonyms: consciousness, awareness, responsiveness
Antonyms: --Related: sentient, sentiently
PROLIXITY (n.)
…for, in truth, there is little in its uncouth and unimaginative prolixity which could have had interest for the lofty and spiritual ideality
of my friend (26).
Definition: Wordiness that makes something tediously lengthy; having, using, or containing too many words.
Synonyms: verbosity, wordiness
Antonyms: brevity, conciseness, succinctness
Related: prolix, prolixly
DIVULGE (v.)
There were times, indeed, when I thought his unceasingly agitated mind was labouring with some oppressive secret, to divulge
which he struggled for the necessary courage (24).
Definition: To make known, especially private or sensitive information.
Synonyms: disclose, reveal
Antonyms: withhold, conceal
Related: divulgence
Lit Circles on Slavery
ASSIMILATE (v.)
“…Amari tried to assimilate into the culture of plantation life“ (Draper 107).
Definition: To take in information, ideas, or culture and understand fully; to absorb or integrate into a wider society or culture.
Synonym: acquire, integrate, acculturate, subsume
Antonym: reject, misunderstand, unlearn
Related: assimilation, assimilator, assimilative, assimilatory
INCOHERENT (adj.)
“Polly watched, fascinated, as the girl squirmed and screeched and babbled incoherently“ (Draper 78).
Definition: Expressed in an incomprehensible or confusing way; unable to speak intelligibly.
Synonym: unintelligible, incomprehensible
Antonym: coherent, intelligible, articulate
Related: incoherence, incoherently
PLAINTIVE (adj.)
“To Amari, his voice sounded a little plaintive, almost as if he needed her to say she liked him” (Draper 111).
Definition: Sounding sad and mournful; pathetic.
Synonyms: mournful, wistful, doleful, melancholy, forlorn
Antonyms: content, cheerful, happy
Related: plaintively, plaintiveness
SURMISE (v.)
“Amari surmised that women from many different tribes and countries were imprisoned here…“ (Draper 24).
Definition: To suppose that something is true without having evidence to confirm it.
Synonym: suspect, speculate, assume
Antonym: calculate, know
BEHOLDEN (adj.)
“’You feel beholden to Lockton?’” (Anderson 39).
Definition: Owing thanks or having a duty to someone in return for help or a service.
Synonym: indebted, obligated
Antonym: ungrateful
Related: --BESEECH (v.)
“Most heartedly we beseech thee“ (Anderson 117).
Definition: To ask someone urgently and fervently to do something; to implore.
Synonym: implore, entreat, plead
Antonym: offer
Related: beseechingly
TARRY (v.)
“’Go then,’ she said. ‘But don’t tarry. I’ve much business today’“ (Anderson 4).
Definition: To stay longer than intended; to delay leaving.
Synonym: linger, loiter
Antonym: hurry, leave
Related: tarrier
DILAPIDATED (adj.)
“It was a small plot of land surrounded by a dilapidated picket fence” (Mosley 39).
Definition: In a state of disrepair or ruin as a result of age or neglect.
Synonym: ramshackle, rickety, neglected, run-down
Antonym: new, rebuilt, neat, tidy
Related: dilapidation
INDIGNANT (adj.)
“I was still indignant that somebody would interrupt a funeral…” (Mosley 41).
Definition: Feeling or showing anger or annoyance at what is perceived as unfair treatment.
Synonym: affronted, offended, disgruntled
Antonym: pleased, content
Related: indignantly
SIDELONG (adj. AND adv.)
“I’d seen the sidelong looks already” (Schwartz 65).
Definition: Directed to or from one side, usually in an attempt to be covert or to keep something secret.
Synonym: indirect, sideways, surreptitious, furtive
Antonym: overt, blatant, direct
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Vocabulary
CUNNING (1.1.37)
adj. having or showing skill in achieving one’s ends by deceit or evasion (syn. sly, scheming, deceptive / ant. honest, forthright)
n. skill in achieving one’s ends by deceit (syn. guile, deception, duplicity / ant. honesty, sincerity)
related: cunningly, cunningness
ABJURE (1.1.67-68)
v. to solemnly renounce or give up; to shun (syn. renounce, disavow, forsake / ant. accept, embrace)
related: abjuration
AUSTERITY (1.1.92)
n. extreme plainness and simplicity of style or appearance (syn. starkness / ant. ornateness)
n. sternness or severity of manner or attitude (syn. seriousness, strictness / ant. gentleness)
related: austere
IDOLATRY (1.1.111)
n. worship, extreme admiration, love, or reference for something (syn. adoration, glorification / ant. contempt, scorn)
related: idol
EDICT (1.1.152-153)
n. an official order, proclamation, decree, or command issued by an authority (syn. mandate, law, ruling / ant. --- )
related: edictal
TRANSPOSE (1.1.238-239)
v. to change or rearrange; to cause two or more things to change places with each other (syn. interchange, transfer, transmute /
ant. -- )
related: transposable, transposal, transposer
PERJURE (1.1.247)
v. to cause someone to violate an oath or a vow; to willfully make a false statement under oath
related: perjurer, perjury
GALLANT (1.2.22)
adj. brave, heroic (syn. courageous, valiant / ant. cowardly, dastardly)
adj. giving special attention and respect to women; chivalrous (syn. courteous, gentlemanly / ant. discourteous)
related: gallantly
CONDOLE (1.2.25)
v. to express sympathy with someone who is sad or sorrowful; to grieve with
related: condolences
WANTON (2.1.65)
adj. (if used to describe a cruel or violent action) deliberate and unprovoked (syn. malicious / ant. justifiable)
adj. (if used to describe a person) immodest or promiscuous (syn. indecent / ant. chaste)
adj. (if used in a poetic or literary sense, can also mean…) playful and lively or growing profusely and luxuriant
related: wantonly, wantonness
QUAINT (2.1.102)
adj. attractively unusual or old-fashioned (syn. charming, eccentric, whimsical / ant. ordinary)
related: quaintly, quaintness
PROGENY (2.1.118)
n. a descendant or the descendants of a person, animal, or plant; offspring
DISDAINFUL (2.2.268-269)
adj. showing contempt or lack of respect; haughty (syn. scornful, disrespectful, condescending / ant. respectful)
related: disdainfully, disdainfulness, disdain
LANGUISH (2.2.33-5)
v. to fail gradually in health or vitality from grief, regret, or longing; to waste away due to longing or desire (syn. yearn, pine, suffer /
ant. thrive)
v. to lose or lack vitality; to grow weak or feeble (syn. deteriorate / syn. flourish)
related: languishingly, languishment
SURFEIT (2.2.144)
n. an excessive amount of something (syn. excess, abundance / ant. lack)
v. (to be surfeited with) to cause someone to want no more of something as a result of having consumed it or done it excessively
HERESY (2.2.146)
n. belief or opinion profoundly contrary to or at odds with what is generally accepted
CHIDE (3.2.47-48)
v. to nag or scold; to rebuke or express disapproval of (syn. chastise, admonish / ant. praise)
related: chider, chidingly
PROLOGUE (3.1.17)
n. a separate introductory section of a literary or musical work (syn. introduction, preface / ant. epilogue)
n. or the actor who delivers the prologue in a play
n. an event or action that leads to another event or situation
ENTREAT (3.2.254)
v. to ask someone earnestly or anxiously to do something, especially to try to get what you want by flattering someone, trying to
please them, or trying to win their favor (“get in good” with them) (syn. implore, beg, beseech / ant. --- )
related: entreatingly, entreatment
COMPEL (3.2.254)
v. to force someone to do something, especially by exercise of authority; to bring about something by the use of force, pressure, or
exertion of great effort (syn. press, push / ant. --- )
related: compelling
DISCORD (4.1.122)
n. disagreement between two people (syn. strife, conflict / ant. accord, concord, harmony)
CONCORD (4.1.149)
n. agreement or harmony between people or groups (syn. unity / ant. dissonance, discord)
RECOUNT (4.1.209)
v. to tell in detail; to give an account of an event or experience; to describe events in the order in which they happened (syn.
narrate, tell, relate, convey / ant. --- )
PARAGON (4.2.13)
n. a person or thing regarded as a perfect example of something; a person or thing viewed as a model of excellence (syn. epitome,
ideal, quintessence / ant. --- )
PARAMOUR (4.2.13)
n. a lover, especially the illicit partner of a married person
To Kill A Mockingbird
ASSAUGE (3)
v. to make an unpleasant feeling less intense (syn. relieve, ease, alleviate / ant. aggravate)
v. to satisfy an appetite or desire (syn. gratify, appease / ant. intensify)
related: assuagement
TACITURN (4)
adj. reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little (syn. quiet, reticent / ant. talkative)
related: taciturnity, taciturnly
IMPRUDENT (5)
adj. not showing care for the consequences of an action; rash (syn. misguided, reckless / ant. sensible)
related: imprudence, imprudently
VAPID (9)
adj. offering nothing that is stimulating or challenging (syn. insipid, uninspired, boring / ant. lively, colorful)
related: vapidity, vapidly
SOJOURN (24)
n. a temporary stay (syn. visit, vacation)
v. to stay somewhere temporarily
related: sojourner
DISPENSATION (26)
n. exemption from a rule or usual requirement (syn. immunity, exception)
n. the act of distributing or supplying something (syn. allocation, allotment)
related: dispensational, dispense
ERRATIC (27)
adj. not even or regular in pattern; unpredictable (syn. inconsistent / ant. consistent)
related: erratically
DISAPPROBATION (35)
n. strong disapproval, typically on moral grounds (syn. objection, condemnation, denunciation)
ARBITRATE (41)
v. to reach an authoritative judgment or settlement (syn. adjudicate, mediate, conciliate)
related: arbitration, arbiter
TACIT (47)
adj. understood or implied without being stated (syn. implicit, understood, implied / ant. explicit)
related: tacitly
ABBERATION (72)
n. a departure from what is normal, usual, or expected (syn. anomaly, deviation, irregularity)
related: aberrational
CARICATURE (76)
n. a picture, description, or imitation of a person or thing in which certain characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic
effect; a drawing or written piece that exaggerates its subject’s distinguishing features (syn. cartoon, lampoon)
related: caricaturist
APOPLECTIC (115)
adj. overcome with anger; extremely indignant
related: apoplectically
UMBRAGE (117)
n. offense or annoyance (syn. take offense, take exception, be insulted)
related: umbrageous
RECTITUDE (118)
n. morally correct behavior or thinking (syn. righteousness, virtue, integrity)
RECONNAISSANCE (120)
n. military spy operation to observe or locate an enemy or to figure out strategic or important features (syn. survey, investigation,
inspection)
TIRADE (122)
v. a long, angry speech of criticism or accusation (syn. diatribe, rant, denunciation, condemnation)
UNCOUTH (174)
adj. lacking good manners, refinement, or grace (syn. uncivilized, uncultured / ant. refined, sophisticated)
related: uncouthly, uncouthness
ELUCIDATE (182)
v. to make something clear; to explain (syn. explain, illuminate, shed light on / ant. confuse)
related: elucidation, elucidative, elucidator, elucidatory
AFFLUENT (182)
adj. having a great deal of money or wealth (syn. wealthy, prosperous, rich / ant. poor, impoverished)
related: affluence, affluently
QUELL (197)
v. to put an end to something, typically by the use of force (syn. crush, curb, quash)
v. to subdue or silence someone (syn. suppress)
v. to suppress something, typically an unpleasant feeling (syn. pacify, assuage)
related: queller
HAUGHTY (199)
adj. arrogantly superior and disdainful (syn. conceited, snobbish / ant. humble)
related: haughtily, haughtiness
SIBILANT (265)
adj. making or characterized by a hissing sound
related: sibilance
BREVITY (266)
n. concise and exact use of words in writing or speech (syn. conciseness, succinctness / ant. verbosity, prolixity)
PURLOIN (289)
v. to steal
related: purloined, purloiner