Vocabulary 8 is due on Monday 28 January. Below is a copy of the work passed out on Friday. Please note once again that 10 points is taken off for each day late. You may always turn in the work early or send along the list of words.
The best with any Regents exams you have.
Vocabulary 8 definitions
1. allege (verb)- to assert without proof or confirmation; to claim, contend
2. arrant (adj)- thoroughgoing, out-and-out; shameless, blatant, egregious, unmitigated
3. badinage (noun)- light and playful conversation; banter, persiflage, repartee
4. conciliate (verb)- to overcome the distrust of, win over; to appease, pacify, to reconcile, placate, mollify
5. countermand (verb) to cancel or reverse on order or command with another that is contrary to the first
6. echelon (noun)- one of a series of grades in an organization or field of activity; level, rank
7. exacerbate (verb) – to make more violent, severe, bitter or painful; to aggregate, to intensify
8. fatuous (adj)- stupid, foolish in a self-satisfied way; silly, vapid, inane, doltish, vacuous
9. irrefutable (adj) – impossible to disprove; beyond argument, indisputable, incontrovertible, undeniable
10. lackadaisical (adj) – lacking in spirit or interest, half-hearted
11. litany (noun)- a prayer consisting of short appeals to god recited by the leader alternating with responses from the congregation; any repetitive chant; a long list, rigmarole, catalog, megillah
12. juggernaut (noun) – a massive and inescapable force or object that crushes whatever is in its path.
13. macabre (adj)- grisly, gruesome, horrible, distressing; having death as a subject; grotesque, grim, ghoulish
14. paucity (noun) – an inadequate quantity, scarcity, dearth of original ideas; lack
15. portend (verb)- to indicate beforehand that something is about to happen; to give advance warning of; bode,
foretell, foreshadow, suggest
16. raze (verb)- to tear down, destroy completely; to cut or scrape off or out to make room for a larger complex
17. recant (verb)- to withdraw a statement or belief to which one has previously been committed, renounce, retract; repudiate, disavow.
18. saturate (verb)- to soak thoroughly, fill to capacity; to satisfy fully, permeate, drench flood, imbue
19. saturnine (adj)- of a gloomy or surly disposition; cold or sluggish in mood; sullen, morose
20. slough (verb)- to cast off, discard; to get rid of something objectionable or unnecessary; to plod through mud; to shed, slog (noun)- a mire; a state of depression
Vocabulary 8 exercise 1 Use the correct form.
1. However much it may cost me, I will never ________________________ the principles to which I have devoted my life.
2. No sooner had the feckless tsar decreed a general mobilization that he __________________________ his order, only to reissue it a short time later.
3. Though some “home remedies” appear to alleviate the symptoms of a disease, they many in fact __________________________ the condition.
4. Ms. Ryan’s warnings to the class to “review thoroughly” seemed to me to ________________________ an unusually difficult exam.
5. The men now being held in police custody are _________________________ to have robbed eight supermarkets over the last year.
6. Her friendly manner and disarming smile helped to ________________________________ those who opposed her views on the proposal.
7. The service in honor of the miners trapped in the underground collapse included prayers and _________________________________.
8. We object to the policy of ________________________________ historic old buildings to make way for unsightly parking lots.
9. You are not going to do well in your job if you continue to work in such a(n) _________________________________ and desultory manner.
10. The enemy’s lines crumpled before the mighty _______________________________ of our attack like so much wheat before a harvester.
11. As a snake ______________________________ off its old skin, so he hoped to rid himself of his weaknesses and develop a new and better personality.
12. My shirt became so ______________________________ with perspiration that beastly day that I had to change it more than once during the match.
13. After he made that absurd remark, a(n) _______________________________grin of self-congratulation spread like syrup across the lumpy pancake of his face.
14. “I find it terribly depressing to be around people whose dispositions are so ______________________________ and misanthropic,” I remarked.
15. The breaking news story concerned corruption among the highest ________________________________ of politics.
16. Only someone with a truly ________________________________ sense of humor would decide to use a hearse as the family car or a coffin as a bed.
17. “It seems to me that such ________________________________ hypocrisy is indicative of a thoroughly opportunistic approach to running for office,” I said sadly.
18. The seriousness of the matter under discussion left no room for the type of lighthearted ____________________________ encountered in the locker room.
19. At first I thought it would be easy to shoot holes in their case, but I soon realized that their arguments were practically ________________________________.
20. His four disastrous years in office were marked by a plenitude of promises and a(n) __________________________ of performance.
Vocabulary 8 exercise 2
1. Ebenizer Scrooge, the protagonist of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, has a decidedly _____________________
personality.
2. On the stand, the defendant _____________________________ the guilty admissions she had made in her
confession to the police.
3. Shouting and name-calling are sure to _____________________________ any quarrel.
4. The continuing popularity of horror movies suggests that one way to score at the box office is to exploit the
_________________________________.
5. Any population that has experienced the ______________________________ of war firsthand will not easily
forget its destructive power.
6. The newspaper tabloid ____________________________ that the movie star and the director were having
creative differences.
7. In Shakespeare’s tragedy the audience sees clearly that Iago is an _____________________ scoundrel, but
Othello is blind to his treachery.
8. Although the civil servant began in the lower _______________________of government service, he rose
quickly through the ranks.
9. The town ____________________________ the old schoolhouse to make room for a larger, more modern
school complex.
10. We were presented with such overwhelming proof that our verdict was ____________________________.
11. At New Year’s time, many people resolve to ____________________________ off bad habits and start
living better, healthier lives.
12. The team’s performance in the late innings was _____________________________ because they were so
far ahead.
13. In order to discredit the candidate, the columnist quoted some of his more _______________________,
self-serving remarks.
14. I enjoy delightful ____________________________ between stars like Spencer Tracy and Katherine
Hepburn in 1940’s movies.
15. The senate campaign was marred by a _____________________________ of original ideas.
16. A sponge that is _______________________________ with water swells up but does not drip.
17. Whenever she talks about her childhood, she recites an interminable _____________________________ of
grievances.
18. In Shakespeare’s plays, disturbances in the heavens usually ______________________________ disaster or
trouble in human affairs.
19. Today’s directive clearly ______________________________________ all previous instructions on how to
exit the building in case of fire.
20. Because of the weakness of our army, we had to try to _________________________________ the enemy.
Vocabulary 8 exercise 3
Synonyms
1. the indisputable evidence __________________________________
2. the banter of the morning talk show hosts ___________________________________
3. the egregious corruption of the officials ___________________________________
4. claimed that a crime had been committed ___________________________________
5. foreshadows dangers to come ___________________________________
6. an idea that permeates all aspects of society __________________________________
7. will aggravate tensions between the rivals _________________________________
8. a long rigmarole of questions and answers ___________________________________
9. a listless response from voters _____________________________________
10. the upper levels of power ______________________________________
11. tried to placate both sides in the dispute __________________________________
12. revoked the outgoing President’s orders ______________________________________
13. wore a very grotesque mask ___________________________________
14. crushed by the force of progress ___________________________________
15. slog through the seemingly endless files ____________________________________
Antonyms
16. a growing abundance of cheap labor _____________________________________
17. given to lighthearted predictions _____________________________________
18. known for his sensible opinions ___________________________________
19. has reaffirmed her support of free trade _________________________________
20. constructed a downtown shopping district __________________________________
Vocabulary 8 exercise 3
1. By (portending / sloughing) off the artificiality of her first book the novelist arrived in a style that was simple, genuine and highly effective.
2. By denying your guilt without offering any explanation of your actions, you will only (recant / exacerbate) an already bad situation.
3. Not surprisingly, the committee’s final report was an incongruous mixture of the astute and the (irrefutable / fatuous).
4. Stephen’s King’s book Danse (Macabre / Lackadaisical) surveys popular and obscure horror fiction of the twentieth century.
5. With incredible unconcern, the nobles of Europe immersed themselves in social frivolities as the fearful
(juggernaut / litany) of World War I steamrolled ineluctably toward them.
6. Over the years, hard work and unstinting devotion to duty have raised me from one (echelon / paucity) of company management to the next.
7. She excused herself from lending me the money I so desperately needed by (conciliating / alleging) that she had financial troubles of her own.
8. Economists believe that the drop in automobile sales and steel production (countermands / portends) serious problems for business in the future.
9. We have many capable and well-meaning people in our organization, but it seems to me that there is a (paucity / juggernaut) of real leadership.
10. It is a good deal easier to (raze / allege) an old building that it is to destroy a time-honored social institution.
11. I never ask any one “How are you?” anymore because I am afraid I will be treated to an endless (litany / badinage) of symptoms and ailments.
12. His attempts at casual (badinage / echelon) did not conceal the fact that he was acutely embarrassed by his blunder.
13. What possible purpose will be served by setting up yet another hamburger stand in an area already (saturated / sloughed) with fast-food shops?
14. His debating technique is rooted in the firm belief that anything bellowed in a loud voice is absolutely (saturnine / irrefutable).
15. Our excitement at visiting the world-famous ruins was dampened by the (lackadaisical / arrant) attitude of the bored and listless guide.
16. In earlier times, people whose views conflicted with “received opinion” often had to (recant /portend) their ideas or face the consequences.
17. Only a(n) (arrant / macabre) knave would be capable of devising such an incredibly underhanded and treacherous scheme.
18. The authority of the Student Council is not absolute because the principal can (countermand / exacerbate) any of its decisions.
19. Someone with such a (fatuous / saturnine) outlook on life doesn’t make an agreeable traveling companion, especially on a long journey.
20. The views of the two parties involved in this dispute are so diametrically opposed that it will be almost
impossible to (conciliate / saturate) them.
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