Honors English 9 Vocabulary Lists
Semester 1
Classic Words
List 1
countenance
serene
singular
abate
undulate
venerate
incredulous
lurid
sagacity
tremulous
confound
Literary Terms
List 1
conflict
climax
rising action
falling action
resolution
genre
setting
List 2
abyss
wistful
palpable
perplex
somber
expostulate
vivacious
pervade
procure
magnanimous
maxim
List 3
List 2
List 3
alliteration
connotation
denotation
hyperbole
figurative language
literal
List 4
dilate
abash
conjecture
appellation
profound
sublime
clamor
allude
acute
antipathy
exquisite
List 2
cede
cele
cent
cert
circ or circum
civ
cog
cont
cor, cord, cour, card
corp
List 3
cosm
crac, crat
cred
dem
dent, odon
derm
dic, dict
ego
ethn
equ
List 4
allusion
archetype
assonance
consonance
colloquialism
List 5
traverse
languid
vulgar
odious
stolid
prostrate
vex
portent
importune
subtle
vestige
alt
ann or enn
anthrop
aqua
arch or archi
arbitr or arbiter
aud
bell
biblio, or bibl
bio
analogy
antagonist
protagonist
metaphor
simile
sallow
resolute
fain
affect
wan
reproach
conjure
alacrity
verdure
zenith
latter
Greek/Latin Roots
List 1
List 4
fid
fin
form
frig
gam
gen
geo
grad
graph, gram
grat
List 5
atmosphere
diction
flashback
foreshadowing
imagery
mood
theme
List 5
hab
hom
hosp
hydro
hypno
init
jur, jus, jud
juven
labor, lab
laud
List 6
despond
pensive
abject
oppress
ignominy
articulate
genial
billow
indolent
morose
rebuke
List 6
flashback
inference
irony
onomatopoeia
oxymoron
List 7
retort
animated
adjacent
inexorable
fortnight
profane
swarthy
manifest
prodigious
visage
livid
List 7
parallelism
personification
point of view
refrain
repetition
rhyme
List 8
grotesque
vivid
melancholy
repose
superfluous
placid
pallor
condescend
remonstrate
amiable
din
thesis
tone
voice
List 7
memor
meter, metr
migr
mim
morph
mort
necess
neur, nerv
noc. nox
nomen, nomin
List 8
List 8
null, nil
nym, onym, onom
opt
ord, ordin
ortho
ped, pes
phil
phon
photo
port
List 9
List 9
pot
prim, prin
priv
psych
pyr
reg, rig, rect, reign
sacr, secr
sci
scope
scrib, script
sarcasm
satire
stereotype
soliloquy
suspense
syntax
List 9
peremptory
audible
tangible
doleful
apprehension
austere
oblique
eccentric
furtive
mien
imperious
impute
List 6
leg, lig
liber, liver
lingu, langu
lith
log
locu, loqu
luc, lum
man
mar
med, medi
9th Grade Honors English Vocabulary Guidelines:
You will be working each week from the 3 lists provided.
List 1 – “Classic Words”
This list is a compilation of “Classic Words”. These words were compiled by Michael C. Thompson in a tenyear study of over 30,000 examples from over 130 different works. These are the top 100 words in his Class
Words database. They appear repeatedly in the classics of English and American Literature. Students who
know these words will be more comfortable in their reading of such literature.
Weekly Assignment Guidelines for List 1:
1. Write and define the word in terms that YOU understand.
2. Write a sentence for each word IN CONTEXT.
3. Give a synonym and an antonym for each word.
Your work should look EXACTLY like the one that follows:
1. Acquiesce - to give in to the desires of someone else
2. The president said we will never acquiesce to the demands of terrorists.
3. surrender; rebel
List 2: Literary Terms
This list encompasses most of the literary terms you should know by the time you leave high school. In fact,
you are probably already familiar with several of them.
Weekly Assignment Guidelines for List 2:
1. Write each word and give its definition.
2. Give a good example of what each word means. The example should illustrate that you know what the
word means.
Example:
1. plot – the sequence of events in a story
2. The plot of the story The Three Little Pigs involves a wolf trying to capture and eat three little pigs. He
manages to eat the first and second pig due to the faulty building techniques they use to construct their
homes, but the wolf is foiled in his attempt to eat the third little pig. This little pig has constructed a
house of strong bricks and when the wolf tries to use the chimney to reach the pig, he lands in the fire
and dies. (Notice your example may be quite lengthy.)
List 3: Greek and Latin Roots and Prefixes
This list is composed of commonly used Greek and Latin root words and prefixes. Knowing them will enable
you to more accurately decode unfamiliar words and it can even help improve your spelling.
Weekly Assignment Guidelines for List 3:
1. Write root or prefix and define it.
2. Find three words that use the root or prefix correctly. *BEWARE – Make sure the definition is, in fact,
related to the meaning of your root or prefix.
Example:
1. hydro – water
2. hydrologist, hydroelectric, hydroplane