Search Vocabulary – Schreiner
Book C, Unit # 7
Word List
1. acme – (n) the highest point
2. attribute – (n) a quality or characteristic belonging to or associated with someone or something; (v) to assign to, credit, with; to regard as caused by or resulting from
3. belittle – (v) to make something appear smaller than it is; to refer to in a way that suggests lack of importance or value
4. convey – (v) to transport; to transmit; to communicate, make known; to transfer ownership or title to
5. doctrine – (n) a belief, principle, or teaching; a system of such beliefs or principles; a formulation of such beliefs or principles
6. excise – (v) to remove by cutting; (n) an indirect tax on the manufacture, sale, or distribution of a commodity or service
7. exotic – (adj) foreign; charmingly unfamiliar or strikingly unusual
8. haggard – (adj) thin, plae, and careworn as a result of worry or suffering; wild-looking
9. jaunty – (adj) lively, easy, and carefree (in manner); smart or trim (in appearance)
10. juncture – (n) a joining together; the point at which two things are joined; any important point in time
11. menial – (adj) lowly, humble, lacking importance or dignity; (n) a servant who does the humble and unpleasant tasks
12. parry – (v) to ward off, evade, avoid; (n) a defensive movement in fencing and other sports
13. predatory – (adj) preying on, plundering, or piratical
14. ravage – (v) to destroy, lay waste, ruin; (n) ruinous damage, destruction
15. stance – (n) a way of holding the body; an attitude or position on an issue
16. tawdry – (adj) showy and flashy but lacking in good taste
17. turncoat – (n) a person who switches to an opposing side or party
18. unassuming – (adj) not putting on airs, modest
19. wallow – (v) to roll about in a lazy, clumsy, or helpless way; to overindulge in; to have in abundance; (n) a wet, muddy, or dusty area used by animals as a sort of bath; a state of moral or physical collapse
20. waver – (v) to move to and fro, become unsteady; to show lack of firmness or decision
Vocabulary Assignment Book C, Unit # 7
Filling in the Blanks
Choose the word from this unit that best completes each sentence.
1. Even though you start at a(n) ___________________ job, you may gain valuable experience and move upward rapidly.
2. The Nobel Prize winner was so _________________ that we took him to be just another struggling writer attending the conference.
3. He sat there staring at the menu, ____________________ between the steak sandwich and the chef’s salad.
4. Though many __________________ creatures prefer to hunt at night, lions and leopards are active during the daytime.
5. During her trip through Kenya, my cousin took pictures of hippos as they _____________ in a mudhole.
6. When he switched parties, people called him a(n) _________________, but he said that he had just had an honest change of opinion.
7. Since my boss has, as they say, “ a short fuse”, patience cannot be considered one of his outstanding __________________.
8. Two of our divisions were marching rapidly towards each other and hoped to effect a(n) _________________ before the enemy attacked.
9. Disease had so ___________________ his once handsome face that I could scarcely recognize him!
10. The Monroe ______________________ sought to prevent the colonization of the American continents by European powers.
11. Her happy expression and the __________________ way she walked down the street gave the impression of someone “on top of the world.”
12. The drawn and _______________ faces of the rescued miners showed clearly the terrible strain they had undergone.
13. In her most celebrated novels, such as Pride and Prejudice and Emma, Jane Austen reached the ______________ of her literary art.
14. Because of his ability to __________________ his opponents’ blows, he was rarely hurt in his many fights in the ring.
15. We will need several trucks to ______________ all the books to the new library building.
16. Because Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters of all time, many batters have tried to imitate his ________________ at the plate.
17. The room was so overcrowded with flashy furnishings that the overall effect was cheap and _______________.
18. I agree that we should not exaggerate his achievements, but we should not ________________ them either.
19. In the early 19th century, Thomas Bowdler attempted to “clean up” the works of Shakespeare by _________________ all words and phrases that he felt were coarse or offensive.
20. Most Americans think of Australia as a strange and wonderful continent full of _________________ plants and animals.
Synonyms
Choose the word from this unit that is most nearly the same in meaning as the groups of expressions.
1. flashy, loud, garish, gaudy, tacky, vulgar _________________________ 1
2. a traitor, deserter, renegade _________________________ 2
3. to carry, transport; to send, transmit; to impart _________________________ 3
4. carefree, unconcerned, lighthearted _________________________ 4
5. to wreck, lay waste, devastate _________________________ 5
6. strange, alien; picturesque, colorful _________________________ 6
7. to hesitate, falter _________________________ 7
8. careworn, drawn, gaunt, wasted _________________________ 8
9. posture, bearing; a position _________________________ 9
10. lowly, humble; a servant, underling, scullion _________________________10
11. a principle, belief _________________________11
12. to ward off, fend off, deflect _________________________12
13. modest, unpretentious _________________________13
14. looting, pillaging; ravenous, rapacious _________________________14
15. to cut our, delete, expunge _________________________15
16. a quality, trait; to credit with, ascribe to _________________________16
17. to roll about; to delight in, bask in _________________________17
18. a union; a seam, joint; a turning point _________________________18
19. the summit, top, peak pinnacle _________________________19
20. to minimize, underrate, disparage _________________________20
Antonyms
Choose the word from this unit that is most nearly the opposite in meaning as the groups of expressions.
1. downcast, dejected, glum __________________________ 1
2. to stand firm, be resolute __________________________ 2
3. to put in, insert, interpolate __________________________ 3
4. native, indigenous; familiar, commonplace __________________________ 4
5. a loyalist, diehard __________________________ 5
6. the low point, bottom, nadir __________________________ 6
7. conceited, pretentious, self-important __________________________ 7
8. refined, tasteful; subdued, muted __________________________ 8
9. to exaggerate, magnify, overestimate __________________________ 9
10. healthy, glowing, radiant, hale and hearty __________________________10
11. a boss, master; lofty, elevated __________________________11
12. to do no harm to, spare __________________________12
Choosing the Right Word
Encircle the boldface word that more satisfactorily completes each sentence.
1. Instead of answering my question, the skillful debater (parried, ravaged) by asking a question of his own.
2. Mother said that she certainly believes in the (doctrine, acme) of human brotherhood but would like to broaden it to include “human sisterhood.”
3. He is so conceited that it is hard to (convey, parry) to him the simple idea that we don’t want him as a member of our group.
4. For a long time the towns and villages of the Normandy coast of France showed the (ravages, doctrines) of the great invasion of 1944.
5. Americans expect candidates to take a definite (stance, parry) on each of the important issues in a national election.
6. The immigrants never (excised, wavered) in their determination to become American citizens.
7. No matter how (menial, tawdry) the assignment may be, take pride in your work, and do your best.
8. I am thoroughly disgusted by people who try to make themselves seem more important than they really are by (conveying, belittling) others.
9. While we were in the Orient, we sampled such (exotic, predatory) dishes as thousand-year-old eggs and bird’s nest soup.
10. I could see that the captain was deeply worried, even though he tried hard to appear confident and (haggard, jaunty) to the passengers.
11. History teaches us that in any great crisis, there will be some (turncoats, menials) willing to go over to the enemy.
12. Even after pitching two no-hit games this season, Stan was the same quiet and (jaunty, unassuming) boy we had always known.
13. So long as you continue to (parry, wallow) in self-pity, you will lack the strength needed to solve your problems.
14. He hoped that election to the Presidency would be the (acme, attribute) of his long and brilliant career.
15. “If we are to keep the body politic healthy,” the Senator remarked, “we must (excise, attribute) the cancer of racial prejudice entirely from it.”
16. No wonder she looked careworn and (haggard, jaunty) after waiting for news of her loved ones for several days.
17. We were disgusted by the (unassuming, tawdry) speech in which he tried to present himself as a great national leader.
18. Thieves are essentially a (predatory, jaunty) class of criminals because they live off what they can take from others.
19. The general (belittled, attributed) our failure to win the battle to a lack of sufficient manpower rather than to a lack of courage.
20. When she arrived at that critical (juncture, stance) in her career, she realized that her whole future depended on the decision she made.