English II H - Unit 3 Vocabulary

PEL, PULS

to push; to drive

JAC, JECT

to throw; to cast

MIT, MIS

send

MOT, MOV

to move

Compel

v. to force or strongly persuade; to coerce

Fill in the blank: The pressures of poverty ____ many people to do things they would not do otherwise.

BLANK: COMPEL

Impulse

n. a sudden, involuntary urge to do something

Fill in the blank: When Nick saw the rows and rows of candy, he was seized by an ____ to spend all of his money.

BLANK: IMPULSE

Expel

v. to send out or away

Fill in the blank: The council took a vote on whether to ____ the treasurer for his accounting mistakes.

BLANK: EXPEL

Conjecture

n. a theory or inference, not fact

Fill in the blank: Because you do not know where I was on the night in question, you assertions about what I did are pure ____.

BLANK: CONJECTURE

Dejected

adj. downcast or sad; depressed

Fill in the blank: After Mac lost the race, he sat by himself on the team’s bus, ____.

BLANK: DEJECTED

Abject

adj. lowly; miserable and wretched

Fill in the blank: Ellen’s ____ begging and promises had no effect on her parents, who grounded her after she broken her curfew.

BLANK: ABJECT

Emissary

n. an agent sent on a mission

Fill in the blank: During the peace talks, the young Italian diplomat was sent as an ____ to Beijing.

BLANK: EMISSARY

Dimissive

adj, showing little regard; scornful

Fill in the blank: The professor responded to my confused question with a ____ wave of his hand.

BLANK: DIMISSIVE

Remiss

adj. failing to fulfill one’s duty; negligent

Fill in the blank: Do you think I was ____ in not cleaning up after the party?

BLANK: REMISS

Motive

n. a cause for action

Fill in the blank: The detective had the difficult job of establiishing a ____ for the murder of a popular businessman.

BLANK: MOTIVE

Motif

n. a recurring theme, subject, or idea

Fill in the blank: The recurring father-son ____ in this novel makes me wonder about the author’s relationship with his own father.

BLANK: MOTIF

Emote

v. to dramatically express emotions

Fill in the blank: My sister tended to ____ more than the other members of our shy, socially awkward family.

BLANK: EMOTE