Section: Vocabulary Date:
Heading: Vocabulary Flashcards
Directions: Place this handout in the beginning of your vocabulary section of your binder. For each vocabulary word and base, create a vocabulary flashcard to help you review. There will be a weekly quiz that will require your knowledge and application of the terms for each literary work. Review your flashcards daily.
Vocabulary Cards
Base Cards
Section: Vocabulary Date:
Heading: Grade 10, “The Book of Sand” – Honors Vocabulary
“The Book of Sand” (43-47)
1. infinite: (adj) endless (44)
2. pedantically: (adv) with undue attention to trivial points of scholarship (44)
3. bibliophile: (n) book lover or collector (46)
4. misanthropy: (n) hatred or mistrust of people (47)
5. contrivance: (n) artificial arrangement; invention, plan, or mechanical device (47)
Power Words / SAT Prep:
1. chattel: (n) an item of personal, movable property; a slave
sentence: Tex’s cattle were his chattel.
2. austere: (adj) stern, as in manner; without excess, unadorned, severely simple and plain
sentence: An austere steer is no fun at a party.
3. lament: (v) to express sorrow or regret; to mourn
sentence: We lament that Joe got buried in cement.
4. aloof: (adj) distant, reserved in manner; uninvolved
sentence: Snowball, the cat, was so aloof when guests came she hid on the roof.
5. cerebral: (adj) of or relating to the brain; intellectual
sentence: Eat your cereal so you’ll grow up and be cerebral like your father.
Bases/Roots: A base or root is a part of a word that carries meaning. Bases/roots are usually from different languages (Greek/Latin), and they help us understand the meaning of whole words. A prefix is added to the beginning of a base word (ex: re-, dis-, un-). A suffix is added to the end of a base word (ex: -ing, -er, -est, -ed).
1. phile: an attraction to something, a lover of
words: bibliophile, cinephile
2. anthrop: human being, mankind
words: misanthropy, anthropomorphism
Section: Vocabulary Date:
Heading: Grade 10, “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant” – Honors Vocabulary
“The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant” (34-40):
1. denizens: (n) inhabitants or occupants (36)
2. pensive: (adj) dreamily thoughtful (36)
3. dubious: (adj) doubtful; not sure (37)
4. antipathy: (n) a feeling of hatred; powerful and deep dislike (38)
5. filial: (adj) pertaining to or due from a son or a daughter (38)
6. surreptitiously: (adv) stealthily; sneakily (38)
7. concussion: (n) powerful shock or impact (38)
8. conspicuous: (adj) obvious or easy to see (38)
9. luminous: (adj) glowing; giving off light (39)
10. quizzical: (adj) puzzled; questioning (40)
Bases:
1. lumin: light; to shine
words: luminous, luminary
2. aqu (a): water
words: aquarium, aqueduct
Section: Vocabulary Date:
Heading: Grade 10, “The Cold Equations” – Honors Vocabulary
“The Cold Equations” (8-27):
1. inured: (adj) trained; accustomed to (10)
2. increments: (n) small increases (11)
3. recoil: (v) to draw back in fear, surprise or disgust (14)
4. paramount: (adj) supreme; dominant
5. annihilate: (v) to destroy; to demolish (20)
6. irrevocable: (adj) irreversible; incapable of being canceled or undone (20)
7. immutable: (adj) unchangeable; never changing or varying (20)
8. ponderous: (adj) heavy and slow-moving
9. apprehension: (n) dread; fear of a future event
10. ineffably: (adv) indescribably; inexpressibly
Bases:
1. mut: to change
words: mutable, immutable (CE)
2. mult: many
words: multitude, multinational
Section: Vocabulary Date:
Heading: Grade 10, “Through the Tunnel” – Honors Vocabulary
“Through the Tunnel” (276-284)
1. contrition: (n) regret or sense of guilt at having done wrong (278)
2. supplication: (n) humble appeal or request (278)
3. inquisitive: (adj) questioning; curious (280)
4. minute: (adj) small; tiny (280)
5. incredulous: (adj) disbelieving; skeptical
Power Words / SAT Prep:
1. incongruous: (adj) not appropriate; unsuited to the surroundings; not fitting in
sentence: The new Alaskan senator’s presence in congress was incongruous.
2. bulwark: (n) a defensive wall; something serving as a principal defense
sentence: Bulls work building a bulwark.
3. connoisseur: (n) an expert, particularly in matters of art and taste
sentence: The king of the sewer is a connoisseur of garbage.
4. cacophony: (n) harsh sounds
sentence: There was a cacophony of coughing in the smoking lounge.
5. expunge: (v) to remove; to delete; to erase
sentence: The sponge expunged the spill.
Bases:
1. bene: well, good
words: benefit, benevolence
2. magn: great
words: magnanimous, magniloquent
Section: Vocabulary Date:
Heading: Grade 10, “With All Flags Flying” – Honors Vocabulary
“With All Flags Flying” (308-316)
1. telescoped: (v) slid or collapsed into one another; like the sections of a collapsible telescope (314)
2. chronic: (adj) constant; lasting a long time or recurring often (314)
Power Words / SAT Prep:
1. trenchant: (adj) cutting, incisive, having a sharp point; caustic, sarcastic
sentence: A trenchant mouth is characteristic of the famous Madagascar trench ant.
2. procrastinate: (v) to put off until a later time
sentence: Larry hated to cut the grass and would procrastinate about it for weeks.
3. roster: (n) a list of names, especially of personnel available for duty
sentence: There is a rooster on the roster.
4. impede: (v) to obstruct or interfere with; to delay
sentence: The job of highway patrolmen is to impede speeding motorists.
5. forbear: (v) to refrain from; to abstain; to be patient or tolerant
sentence: Please forbear feeding the four bears.
6. migratory: (adj) roving, wandering, nomadic
sentence: My story is one of many migratory movements.
7. evade: (v) to elude or avoid by cunning; to flee from a pursuer
sentence: The escaped prisoners evaded the authorities by breaking into a church and disguising themselves as nuns.
8. efface: (v) to rub away
sentence: Efface a face by erasing it.
Bases:
1. chron: time
words: chronic, anachronism
2. onym: name, word
words: antonym, anonymous
Section: Vocabulary Date:
Heading: Grade 10, To Kill a Mockingbird – Honors Vocabulary
To Kill a Mockingbird:
1. coterie: (n) a circle of close associates or friends
2. eccentric: (adj) strange; deviating from “normal”
3. foray: (n) a sudden raid or attack
4. imprudent: (adj) marked by hasty behavior or disrespect
5. irascible: (adj) easily angered
6. malevolent: (adj) having or showing ill-will; malicious; wishing harm on others
7. milieu: (n) environment or surroundings
8. quixotic: (adj) idealistic and totally impractical
9. taciturn: (adj) silent or uncommunicative by nature
10. vapid: (adj) lacking liveliness, interest, or flavor
Bases:
1. mal: bad
words: malicious, malevolent
2. dic (t): to say
words: dictionary, edict
3. loqu, locut: to speak
words: elocution, loquacious
4. spec: to look
words: spectacle, circumspect
Power Words / SAT Prep:
1. asunder: (adv) in separate parts; apart from each other in position
sentence: The thunder tore the young lovers asunder.
2. incite: (v) to arouse to action
sentence: The mob was incited to riot when the police arrived and began hitting people with their nightsticks.
3. quixotic: (adj) idealistic and totally impractical
sentence: Putting all taxpayers on the honor system is a quixotic suggestion.
4. beleaguer: (v) to besiege; to surround; to harass
sentence: The little leaguers beleaguered the big leaguers.
5. milieu: (n) environment or surroundings
sentence: The boys’ locker room showers were a milieu of mildew.
6. histrionic: (adj) overly dramatic, theatrical
sentence: Professor Bradley liked his history on the histrionic side.
7. bludgeon: (n/v) a short heavy, thick club that has one end larger than the other; to hit something very hard; to attack or overcome by aggressive argument
sentence: There was nothing temperate about the lawyer’s summary to the jury; he bludgeoned them with all the gruesome details of the murder.
8. arduous: (adj) hard, difficult, tiresome
sentence: The arduous snow-covered trail is hard on us.
9. reminisce: (v) to recall the past
sentence: Sometimes when we are feeling nostalgic, my wife and I lie back and listen to the music of the 1960s and reminisce about when we were dating.
10. opportune: (adj) occurring or coming at a good time
sentence: It’s not an opportune time for a opera tune.
11. dulcet: (adj) melodious, soft, soothing
sentence: If you don’t like opera, even the most dulcet tones of the finest sopranos make for a dull sit.
12. lassitude: (n) listlessness; weariness
sentence: After eating three servings of Thanksgiving dinner, George succumbed to a feeling of lassitude and fell asleep on the couch.
13. coterie: (n) a circle of close associates or friends
sentence: Today’s tennis stars rarely travel along but with a coterie of managers and coaches.
Section: Vocabulary Date:
Heading: Grade 10 - Night– Honors Vocabulary
Night Vocabulary Words:
1. holocaust: (n) great destruction of life; The Holocaust: the destruction of over six million European Jews by the Nazis
2. genocide: (n) the killing of a whole national or ethnic group
3. stereotype: (n) an accepted or fixed notion of a person that is believed without investigation. It generalizes a person’s character by labeling him/her, refusing to view a person as an individual, only as a type of person.
4. prejudice: (n) an attitude of closed mindedness which allows a person to prejudge another negatively without any knowledge of that person; hatred that one feels towards another person for no concrete reason
5. scapegoat: (n) one who bears the blame for the mistakes or crimes of another
6. edict: (n) official statement; law
7. firmament: (n) the sky, or heavens
8. pestilential: (adj) filled with disease; contagious
9. pillage: (v) to rob with open violence
10. premonition: (n) anticipation of an event, usually negative, even without actual warning
11. truncheon: (n) a police officer’s stick
12. blandishments: (n) something used to coax
13. crucible: (n) container for cooking at high heat
14. manacle: (v) to handcuff
15. queue: (n) waiting line
16. wizened: (adj) dry, shrunken, wrinkled
17. contagion: (n) an influence that spreads rapidly
18. encumbrance: (n) burden
19. indeterminate: (adj) vague, not fixed in advance
20. rivet: (v) to hold attention tightly, as if physically attached
Power Words / SAT Prep:
1. ballistics: (n) the study of dynamics or flights characteristics of projectiles
sentence: Most naval warships carry ballistic missiles.
2. ambiance: (n) mood, feeling; general atmosphere
sentence: The ambiance of the locker room after the team lost the championship was depressing.
3. enrage: (v) to put in a rage; to infuriate, to anger
sentence: Muriel’s boss was enraged when he found out she had gone on her vacation to the Caribbean and left a lot of unfinished work on her desk.
4. laconic: (adj) brief, using few words
sentence: The doctor was laconic with his patients to the point of being rude.
5. harrowing: (adj) extremely distressed; disturbing or frightening
sentence: After the harrowing experience when Eddie’s main parachute didn’t open and his emergency chute saved him at the last minute, he vowed never to jump again.
Bases:
1. cide: a person or substance that kills, an act of killing
words: genocide, homicide
2. typ: stamp, model
words: stereotype, archetype
3. cau, caus: to burn
words: cauterize, holocaust
4. xen: stranger, foreigner
words: xenophobia, xenophile
5. phobia: fear of
words: claustrophobia, arachnophobia
21. compatriots: (n) fellow countrymen
22. phylacteries: (n) small boxes containing scripture; worn by some Jewish men for daily prayer
23. bestial: (adj) like a beast or animal
semblance: (n) outward appearance, but with a sense of falsity
24. hermetically: (adv) completely sealed; airtight
Section: Vocabulary Date:
Heading: Grade 10 – Antigone – Honors Vocabulary
Antigone Vocabulary:
Prologue & Parodos:
1. repulse: (n) driving back; repelling (692)
2. decree: (n) an official order or decision (693)
3. sated: (v) filled; satisfied (697)
4. swagger: (n) bold, arrogant strut (697)
Scene 1 & Ode 1:
5. sentry: (n) a guard (701)
6. comprehensive: (adj) including all of the relevant details (702)
7. anarchist: (n) anyone who opposes any kind of law or organized form of government (703)
8. senile: (adj) mentally impaired; often used to describe the mental deterioration that may accompany old age (703)
9. lithe: (adj) flexible and graceful (705)
Scene 2 & Ode 2:
10. insolence: (n) bold disrespect (709)
11. waver: (v) to show doubt or uncertainty about what to do (712)
12. transcend: (v) to go beyond the limits of (713)
Scene 3 & Ode 3:
13. diviners: (n) people who claim to foretell the future by interpreting certain signs or events (716)
14. deference: (n) courteous respect (716)
15. malicious: (adj) mean-spirited; spiteful; evil (716)
16. somberly: (adv) earnestly and solemnly; in a gloomy manner (720)
17. piety: (n) loyal, dutiful devotion (720)
Scene 4 & Ode 4:
18. vigil: (n) purposeful watching and staying awake (724)
19. transgress: (v) to disobey (725)
20. wrath: (n) intense anger (726)
Scene 5, Paean, & Exodos:
21. augury: (n) the skill of foretelling the future from signs, such as the flight of birds or the appearance of a comet (728)
22. calamity: (n) a great misfortune resulting in immense loss and sorrow; disaster (728)
23. aphorism: (n) a short, wise, often clever saying (729)
24. recoil: (v) to draw back, as in fear or disgust (729)
25. defile: (v) to make dirty (729)
Power Words / SAT Prep:
1. aptitude: (n) capacity for learning; natural ability
sentence: Birds have an aptitude for altitude.
2. endure: (v) to carry on through despite hardships; to put up with
sentence: Settlers in the 1800s endured many hardships on their way to California.
3. chronic: (adj) continuing for a long time; continuous
sentence: George was a chronic complainer; he never saw the positive side to anything.
4. giddy: (adj) a light-headed sensation; dizzy, frivolous
sentence: Jackie didn’t faint, but she said the sun was so hot she felt giddy.