English 10 Vocabulary 2012
Mr. Kulish, Mr. Cody, Mrs. Leite, Mrs. Novean
Our goal as your English 10 teachers is to expand your vocabulary with words you can use every
day in talking with parents and friends, as well as incorporate into your essays. In learning these
words you will also learn the skill of looking up words, understanding the multiple meanings
they have, realize how these words have roots connecting them to many other words, and how to
properly use them in sentences.
Every week we will give you five new words to work with. Here’s what to do for each:
1. Copy the word (use a new sheet of paper for each assignment).
2. Define the word, including the part of speech (verb, noun, adjective, adverb). If the
dictionary has multiple definitions, write down all of them.
3. Find two synonyms of the word. If your dictionary does not provide synonyms, use a
thesaurus (or thesaurus.com). It is important to know more than one way of saying the
same thing so that your work is not repetitive. Some synonyms may be more than one
word.
4. Find two words that share the same root as the vocabulary word. English is a blend of
words from so many countries. Words come from the Greek, Latin, French, Spanish
and Old English. We want you to know where each word came from. This may be a
little bit tougher to find than the definition. A good dictionary will have the roots in
italics before the definition. If you use dictionary.com, it will appear after all the
definitions with the heading “Origin.” Now you just need to find two other words
that share the same root.
NOTE: adding –ly to an adjective to make it an adverb, or pluralizing a verb is not
finding a root. See the example below.
5. Create an original sentence of ten words or more using the word you defined. It does
not matter which definition you use, only that you apply the word correctly.
Example: rail (n.) a bar of metal or steel
(v.) to complain loudly
syn.: train track
protestation
root words: railway
raillery
sentence: When Stephanie received a failing grade on her semester project, she railed against the teacher,
which earned her a trip to the OR for yelling in class.
NOTES: --The sentence: “Stephanie railed against her teacher because of her failing grade.” does not
demonstrate your understand the word. Be sure to include enough information to prove your understanding.
--Words are derived from roots, and those roots exist in a variety of languages. Take for instance, the word
“rite.” The root is: ritus. Two words that use the same root of “ritus” are ritual (which means a set form of
rites) and arithmetic (the science or art of computing using positive real numbers).
Others appear as different forms of the word from the root. Making a word plural or conjugating a verb is
NOT a root.
With the above information in mind, please complete your work on the following five words
(in blue or black ink) as soon as you can. The work will be collected on Friday and you will be
quizzed on it. Every Monday we will add five more words and the quizzes will be cumulative, so
you always need to reviews the previous weeks’ words.
1. diversion 2. invigorate 3. malevolent
4. panacea
5.retain
English 10
Word list Number 2
1. aberration
2. cryptic
3. indigent
4. patronize
5. rampant
English 10
Word list Number 3
1. belligerent
2. covert
3. dispassionate
4. rancor
5. truculent
English 10
Word list Number 4
1. abrasive
2. arrogant
3. humane
4. myriad
3. formidable
4. naïve
5. subjugate
English 10
Word list Number 5
1. benefactor
2. clique
5. recluse
English 10
Word list Number 6
1. benign
2. deluge
3. frugal
4. nocturnal
5. petulant
English 10
Word list Number 7
1. bequeath
2. ethereal
3. furtive
4. insolent
5. undulate
3. impede
4. placid
5. surmise
English 10
Word list Number 8
1. acrid
2. cogitation
English 10
Word list Number 9
1. deplorable
2. exalted
3. lethargy
4. senile
5. vehement
English 10
Word list Number 10
1. aspiration 2. blithe
3. impetuous
4. ominous
5. versatile
English 10
Word list Number 11
1. affable 2. gibe
3. lithe
4. pretext
5. temperate
English 10
Word list Number 12
1. affiliate 2. derision
3. imprecation
4. ostentatious
5. sluggard
English 10
Word list Number 13
1. amiable
2. goad
3. inundate
4. resolute
5. vigilance
English 10
Word list Number 14
1. apathetic
2. callous
3. invective
4. profuse
5. voracious
English 10
Word list Number 15
1. diversion
2. invigorate 3. malevolent
4. panacea 5. retain