Vocabulary for “The Book of Sand” by Jorge Luis Borges

1. acquire: (v) to get or gain

2. affront: ((v) to insult, especially openly, to offend the pride or dignity; (n) a deliberate insult

3. arbitrary: (adj) founded on or subject to personal whims, prejudices, etc.; capricious

4. assure: (v) to cause to feel sure or certain; convince

5. bibliophile: (n) a person who collects or is fond of books

6. confide: (v) to disclose secret or personal matters in confidence; reveal to in private

7. contaminate: (v) to make impure, especially by touching or mixing; pollute

8. contrivance: (v) an artificial rather than natural selection or arrangement of details, parts, etc

9. dismay: (v) to fill with apprehension, alarm, depression or discouragement; (n) consternation or agitation

10. emanate: (v) to issue or proceed from or as from a source

11. feign: (v) to put on a show of emotion; pretend

12. haggle: (v) to bargain or wrangle (over a price, terms of an agreement, etc); barter

13. infinite: (adj) having no limits or boundaries in time, space, extent, or magnitude; immeasurably great or numerous

14.insomnia: (n) chronic inability to fall asleep or to enjoy uninterrupted sleep

15. meager: (adj) deficient in amount, quality, or extent

16. misanthrope: (n) a person who dislikes or distrusts other people or mankind in general

17. nondescript: (adj) lacking distinct or individual characteristics; having no outstanding features

18. pedantic: (adj) overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, especially in teaching

19. speculate: (v) to conjecture without knowing the complete facts

20. stipulate: (v) to specify, often as a condition of an agreement

Match the antonym from Column A with the Vocabulary Word in Column B

Column AColumn B

____1. happya. acquire

____2. fullb. feign

____3. get rid ofc. arbitrary

____4. certaintyd. infinite

____5. sinceritye. confide

____6. finitef. meager

____7. uniqueg. contaminate

____8. systematich. nondescript

____9. gossipi. dismay

____10. cleansej. speculate

Word Bank
misanthrope assure contrivance haggle emanate
insomnia pedantic stipulate affront bibliophile

Use the vocabulary words from the Word Bank to complete the following sentences.

  1. Most librarians also consider themselves ______.
  1. Night after night, I toss and turn; I do not know how to rid myself of my ______.
  1. Let me ______you that no harm will come to your dog while it is in my care.
  1. The contract clearly ______that all fees be paid on time.
  1. The grumbly old loner is a ______.
  1. It is not uncommon to ______when purchasing items at a flea market.
  1. The lecturer was ______even though the information could be fun to learn.
  1. She seemed to ______from a beautiful light.
  1. It is an ______to her when others do not wipe their feet as they enter her home.
  1. It was easy with a little ______to avoid meeting him.

Identify 3 words from the vocabulary list that are challenging. Use the following strategy chart to help you study and learn each word. Copy this onto another sheet of paper for each additional words.

Frayer Model: Strategy for Vocabulary Development

TERM / EXAMPLES
Definition dictionary/vocab list:
Definition in your own words: / Sketch/give 2 examples that illustrate what ______is.
NON-EXAMPLES / EXTENSION
Sketch/give 2 non-examples of ______. / Give 2 examples of how______might be used in the real world.

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