11th Grade
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acrobat
acrobatics
Def: a word formed from the first acropolis
letter or first few letters of each Acropolis
acrophobia
word in a phrase or title.
Ex: acronym
The FBI is an acronym for the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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act
agent
agile
Def: practical or logical.
ambiguous
navigate
His pragmatic decision to close
the play saved everyone time and coagulate
prodigal
money.
transact
actor
active
Ex: pragmatic
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Ex: anachronism
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Def: a person or thing that is
placed in a time where it does
not fit.
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Is is an anachronism when in a
movie about Egypt, the Pharaoh
is seen wearing a wristwatch.
analysis
anatomy
anagram
analog
analogy
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Ex: antecedent
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Def: something that happened
before
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The car chase was an antecedent
to the fiery crash at the end of
the movie.
ancestor
cessation
intercede
precede
recession
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Ex: credulous
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Def: someone who is too eager
to believe things, often without
thinking them through.
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Would he find one person so
credulous as to believe him?
accreditation
credentials
credo
discredit
credit
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Ex: cumulative
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Def: something that increases or
gets bigger with more additions.
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Her cumulative poor food
choices resulted in an unhealthy
weight gain in a short period of
time.
accumulate
acumen
circumvent
cumulous
document
combat
commemorate
community
content
confection
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didactic
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Ex: Paradox
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Def: something that seems
contradictory or unbelievable,
but may or may not be true
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The paradox about war is that it
often brings peace.
orthodox
doxology
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Ex: deductive
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Def: related to using principles
of logic to figure something out.
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The answer lies in a crucial
distinction between
deductive and inductive
reasoning.
aqueduct
conduct
deduct
induct
produce
surplus
viaduct
reduce
conductor
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Ex: euphemism
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Def: a polite, vague word or
phrase that is used in place of
word or phrase that might be
considered offensive, harsh,
unpleasant or inappropriate to
say.
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“Pushing up daisies” is a
euphemism for “died.”
eulogy
euphony
euphoria
evangelist
eugenics
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Ex: affluent
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Def: someone who is wealthy
with money, property or
possessions.
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The Smiths led an affluent life;
they owned a mansion,
expensive cars, and membership
in an exclusive country club.
effluent (outflow
of water)
fluctuate
fluency
influence
influx
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Ex: fractious
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Def: someone who is bad
tempered, or someone or
something that is difficult to
control.
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The fractious group of angry
protestors congregated on the
steps of the senate building to
begin a march downtown.
fracture
fragment
fragile
refract
infraction
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congenital
endogenous
eugenics
Def: the beginning
generate
The genesis of the project began genitals
genre
with a conversation over dinner
indigenous
about the best way to fix
miscegenation
infrastructure problems in the
parthenogenesis
city.
progenitor
progeny
Ex: genesis
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Ex: egregious
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Def: extraordinary, but in a
negative way.
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My little sister is an egregious
liar.
gregarious
congregate
congregation
segregate
aggregate
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Ex: holistic
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Def: relating to the idea that
things should be studied as a
whole and not just as a sum of
their parts.
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Holistic health care focuses on
the health of the entire body and
mind and not just parts of the
body.
whole
hologram
catholic
(universal)
holy
holiday
holocaust
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Ex: hyperbole
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Def: a description that is
exaggerated for emphasis
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When someone says he is as
hungry as a horse, he is using
hyperbole to communicate his
needs.
hyperactive
hypercritical
hyperextension
hyperglycemia
hyperventilate
hypertrophy
(excessive
growth of body
part)
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hypodermic
hypothermia
Def: a person who always thinks hypocritical
something is wrong with him or hypothesis
who is abnormally worried about hypoallergenic
his health
Ex: hypochondriac
Someone who visits the doctor
for every ache and pain and is
convinced each time that he has
major illness.
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labor
laboratory
elaborate
Def: describes something that
requires a lot of work and that is collaborate
labor of love
often tedious or difficult
labor union
Labour Party
Researching and writing a term
Labor Day
paper is sometimes a laborious
task.
Ex: laborious
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Ex: lucid
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Def: easily understood or clear
thinking
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The main points are lucid,
straightforward, and well worth
listening to.
elucidate
illuminate
illustrious
lackluster
lumen
Lucifer
luminescence
luminous
luster
pellucid (clear)
translucent
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command
commendation
Def: a command to do something mandatory
recommendation
Most teachers mandate that
homework be turned in on time.
Ex: mandate
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Ex: missive
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Def: a long letter, especially one
written in a formal or official
capacity
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The woes I recounted to you in
my last missive have been
soothed by a letter from the Lady
Marion.
emissary
intermission
intermittent
remiss
remit
emit
mittimus
(warrant)
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Ex: misanthrope
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Def: Someone who dislikes and
distrusts people
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Grumpy, old Mr. Spencer was a
misanthrope who didn’t like
anybody and avoided human
contact whenever possible.
misogyny
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Ex: monastic
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Def: characteristic of monks or
nuns or their way of life: ascetic,
austere
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They came from several
countries and have taken lifelong
monastic vows to keep them
focused on their faith.
monarch
monk
monastery
monogram
monologue
monopoly
monotone
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Ex: monolith
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Def: a large upright stone
column or monument, or a large
building without character, or a
large, imposing corporation
mountain
mountainous
mount
mound
insurmountable
amount
promontory
paramount
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immortal
morbid
Def: someone or something that morgue
is near death or that is lacking in mortgage
mortician
life and vitality.
mortification
Recently, our economy has been mortuary
post mortem
moribund, with high
rigor mortis
unemployment and little job
creation.
Ex: moribund
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Ex: novitiate
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Def: the period or state of being
a novice (new at something);
quarters assigned to religious
novices.
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He finished school in Dublin and
then entered the novitiate of the
Holy Fathers, also in Dublin.
novel
novice
novelty
nouveau riche
nova
supernova
neonatal
innovate
neophyte
renovate
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Ex: obsequious
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Def: showing too much
willingness to serve someone or
something
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Obsequious service is expected
at a nice restaurant, because the
diner is paying for it.
object
obnoxious
obfuscate
obstinate
obstreperous
obdurate
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Ex: ordinal
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Def: expressing order or
succession, specif. of a number
in a series; an order of animals
or plants
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All ordinal numbers carry a
suffix: -nd, -rd, -st, or –th. (first =
1st)
order
orderly
ordinary
ordinance
extraordinary
subordinate
inordinate
insubordination
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Ex: orthodox
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Def: someone or something that
strictly adheres to religious
beliefs or the conventional,
normal way of doing things;
normal accepted standards.
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Traditionalists, as the name
implies, tend to stick to
orthodox religions.
orthography
orthodontist
orthopedist
orthotics
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Ex: paradox
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Def: something that seems
contradictory or unbelievable,
but may or may not be true.
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It is a paradox that we must
sometimes go to war in order to
have peace.
parable
parachute
parenthesis
paragraph
parallel
parasol
paramedic
paralegal
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pathetic
pathology
Def: the ability to understand the apathy
antipathy
thoughts, feelings, or emotions
sympathy
of someone else
telepathy
When my best friend told me she
was getting married, I became as
excited as she was, and we shed
tears of joy together.
Ex: empathy
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peace
appease
Def: one who opposes the use of pacific
pay
force under any circumstances;
payment
refusal to participate in war or
taxpayer
reasons of conscience.
Ex: pacifist
During the 60s, Jane Fonda was a
pacifist who did not think we
should be in the Vietnam War.
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Ex: pedophile
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An adult with an abnormal
sexual desire for children
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Pedophiles released from prison
are not allowed to live close to
schools.
pediatrics
pedagogy
pedant
pediatrician
pensive
suspend
suspense
 Def: feeling or showing remorse
suspenders
for something
suspension
expensive
 Ashley was penitent after she
broke her mother’s favorite vase. expend
append
appendage
pending
pendulum
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Ex: penitent
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perpetual
perforated
Def: a person or thing that exists peremptory
or is active for a whole year or a permeate
long time; everlasting; perpetual persevere
perceive
percolate
Some plants are perennials and
permeate
bloom again every spring.
perpendicular
persist
perspective
pervasive
impervious
Ex: perennial
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Ex: peripatetic
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Def: not staying in one place
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Her peripatetic lifestyle did not
allow her to make good friends
easily.
perimeter
periscope
perigee
period
peripheral
periodic
periodontal
peristalsis
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Ex: phobia
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Def: an irrational, extreme fear
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A phobia or extreme fear of
spiders is called arachnephobia
agoraphobia
claustrophobia
hydrophobia
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plural
plus
Def: a condition of perplexity in plurality
which one is unable to go, speak, E Pluribus Unum
surplus
or act further
Ex: nonplussed
The statement that he was a chi
hua hua in human form left her
nonplussed.
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Ex: expository
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Def: something intended to
explain or describe.
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She explained how she
conducted the experiment in an
expository essay.
pose
post
postage
position
deposit
repose
depose
impose
component
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Ex: punctilious
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Def: describes someone that is
careful with all the details of
behavior.
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Her punctilious attention to
detail always guaranteed a
successful party.
compunction
punctual
pungent
expunge
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Ex: derision
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Def: contempt or ridicule
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The derision of the boy’s
classmates made him cry.
ridiculous
ridicule
risible
deride
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Ex: sanctuary
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Def: a place of refuge or rest, a
place where you can feel at
peace, or the holiest part of a
temple or a church.
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The sanctuary is quiet now, but
soon it will be filled with devoted
worshipers.
sacred
sacrosanct
sanction
consecrate
desecrate
sane
sanity
insane
 Def: someone or something the
color of blood or a reddish color. sanitarium
sanitary
sanitation
 Her sanguine temperament was
disclosed by the deep color of
her cheeks.
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Ex: sanguine
science
scientific
conscience
 Def: acting in a way that is very
prescience
thorough and careful.
conscious
 In order for his experiment to be omniscient
successful, he was conscientious
about measuring the right
amount of liquid into the test
tube.
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Ex: conscientious
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Ex: assimilate
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Def: to become like others, or
help another person to adapt to
a new environment.
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It is often difficult for people
from other countries to
assimilate into a new one.
facsimile
similitude
simulate
simulative
inspect
spectator
spectacle
 Def: being perceptive with clear
spectacles
vision and good judgment.
perspective
 He was a perspicacious CEO who speculate
spectrum
realized early on that his
company needed to move in a
new direction.
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Ex: perspicacious
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ecstasy
circumstance
consistency
Def: describes someone who is
obstacle
steady, sedate and distinguished
resistance
stamina
The staid, old professor was set
stanchion
in his ways and would not switch
static
to the new grading scale.
stationary
stature
status
substitute
thermostat
Ex: staid
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Ex: misconstrue
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Def: to interpret something in
the wrong way or to understand
someone's actions or intentions
differently than intended.
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She misconstrued something her
boyfriend said and broke up with
him.
construct
construction
construe
structure
temporal
temporary
 Def: existing at the same time or temporize
extemporaneous
of the present time period.
contemporaries
tempo
 Henry David Thoreau was a
tense
contemporary of Ralph Waldo
Emerson because they lived in
the same time period.
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Ex: contemporary
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Taylor Swift is a contemporary of
Justin Beiber.
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Ex: theocracy
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Def: a government or country
that is ruled by someone who
has religious authority or divine
right.
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The Vatican is an example of a
theocracy.
theology
monotheism
polytheism
atheist
Pantheon
enthusiasm
Dorothy
Theodore
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distort
extortion
retort
Def: a person, such as a circus
tornado
acrobat, who can contort his or
her body into unnatural positions torque
Ex: contortionist
To be a performer with Cirque du
Soleil you must be a
contortionist.
abstract
attractive
 Def: to extend something or drag distraction
extraction
something out.
tractable
attract
 The protracted negotiations did
distract
nothing to help labor or
extract
management solve their
intractable
problems.
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Ex: protract
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Ex: transcendent
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Def: surpassing; excelling;
extraordinary; beyond the limits
of possible experience
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There's none of the potent
imagery and evocative locations
that made the television show
transcendent.
transport
transaction
transcript
transfer
transform
transplant
transparent
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unit
union
Def: something that is done only E pluirbus unum
united
by one person, that affects only
universe
one person, or that is decided
university
only by one person.
universal
unicorn
The principal made a unilateral
decision without the input of any unison
of the teachers.
Ex: unilateral
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Ex: valedictorian
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Def: the person in the class with
the highest grade point average.
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The valedictorian is the student
who will give the farewell
address at graduation.
ad valorem
convalescence
equivalent
evaluate
evaluation
invalid
valedictory
validate
aver
veracious
veracity
 Def: appearing, or having the
appearance of, being real or true. verdict
verification
advertise
 The verisimilitude of the setting
and dialogue made me feel like I subversive
was in Ireland listening to my
relatives.
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Ex: verisimilitude
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virile
virago (man-like
woman)
Def: describes something very
triumvirate
dangerous or harmful. It also
describes being especially bitter, virtue
virtual
ardent and hostile.
virtuoso
The virulent bacteria was proving
difficult to control or erradicate.
Ex: virulent
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vivid
revive
survive
Def: lively or animated.
vivacity
convivial
The vivacious young people
viand
danced the night away at the new
victual
club.
victim
Ex: vivacious
voice
vowel
vocal
 Def: constantly or noisily crying
vocation
out or making a statement.
advocate
evoke
 The woman was a vociferous
advocate of reducing the number unequivocal
of vaccinations given to newborn vocabulary
babies.
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Ex: vociferous
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Ex: volition
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Def: the act of using your will to
make a conscious decision
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He did the right thing by turning
himself into the authorities by
his own volition.
volunteer
involuntary