Vocabulary for the College Bound Student Chapter 2

Ameliorate

Amelioration

verb. become better; make better; improve; enhance (ant. worsen)

noun. improvement (ant. degradation)

Conserve

Conservation

Conservationist

verb. keep from waste, loss, or decay; save (ant. waste)

noun. preservation from loss, injury, or waste

noun. one who advocates the conservation of natural resources

Detriment

Detrimental

noun. injury, damage, or something that causes it; disadvantage (ant. advantage)

adj. harmful; damaging

Exotic

adj. 1. introduced from another country; foreign (ant. native; indigenous)

adj. 2. strikingly unusual; strange

Folly

noun. lack of good sense; foolish action or undertaking (ant. wisdom)

Formerly

Former

adv. in an earlier period; previously (ant. now)

adj. preceding; previous (ant. latter)

Harmony

Harmonious

noun. peaceable or friendly relations; accord; agreement; tranquillity; concord (ant. conflict; disharmony)

adj. friendly; amicable

Ignore

Ignoramus

verb. refuse to take notice of; disregard (ant. heed)

noun. ignorant, stupid person; dunce; dolt; dullard; nincompoop

Impediment

Impede

noun. something that hinders or obstructs; hindrance; obstacle (ant. aid)

verb. interfere with or slow the progress of; hinder; obstuct

Indolent

Indolence

adj. disposed to avoik exertion; lazy; idle; lethargic (ant. industrious)

noun. idleness, laziness

Intact

adj. untouched by anything that damages or diminishes; left complete or entire; uninjured (ant. imperfect)

Invalid

Invalidate

Invalid

adj. not binding in law; having no force or effected; void; nugatory (ant. valid)

verb. abolish; annul

noun. sickly or disabled person

Noncarcinogenic

adj. not producing, or tending to produce, cancer (ant. carcinogenic)

Parsimonious

Parsimony

adl. unduly sparing in the spending of money; stingy; miserly; tightfisted (ant. generous)

noun. stinginess; parsimoniousness (ant. generosity; liberality)

Raze

verb. destroy utterly by tearing down; demolish; level (ant. erect)

Reticent

Reticence

adj. inclined to be silent or secretive; uncommunicative; reserved (ant. frank)

noun. restraint in communicating (ant. frankness)

Retire

verb. 1. withdraw from active duty or business

verb. 2. go to bed (ant. rise)

Retort

Retort

verb. answer; reply sharply or angrily (ant. ask)

noun. quick, witty, or sharp reply; answer

Subvert

Subversion

verb. overturn or overthrow from the foundation; undermine (ant. uphold)

noun. sabotage; undermining

Tractable

Tractability

adj. easily led, taught, or controlled; yielding; docile; amenable (ant. unruly; intractable)

noun. obedience

Baffle

Baffling

verb. bewilder; perplex; fill with confusion; puzzle; frustrate

adj. frustrating; bewildering

Cinema

Cinematography

noun. movies; motion-picture industry

noun. art of making motion pictures

Despise

Despicable

verb. look down on with contempt or disgust; loathe, regard as inferior (ant. admire)

adj. worthy of contempt; contemptiple (ant. laudable)

Ebullient

Ebullience

adj. overflowing with enthusiasm; exuberant; efferevescent; high-spirited; vivacious

noun. exuberance

Exaggerate

Exaggeration

verb. overstate; go beyond the limits of the actual truth; magnify (ant. minmize)

noun. overstatement (ant. understatement)

Exhort

Exhortation

verb. arouse by words; advise strongly; urge

noun. urgent recommendation of advice

Expertise

noun. specialized skill or techincal knowledge; know-how; expertness

Finicky

adj. excessively concerned with trifles or details; hard to please; fussy; particular; fastidious; persnickety

Gall

Gall

verb. make sore; irritate mentally; annoy; vex

noun. brazen boldness; nerve (ant. meekness)

Inane

Inanity

adj. lacking significance or sense; pointless; silly; insipid; jejune; vapid (ant. deep; profound)

noun. foolishness; shallowness

Indemnify

verb. compensate for loss, damage, or injury; reimburse; repay

Occident

occidental

noun. west; countries of America and Europe (ant. Orient)

adj. western (ant. oriental)

Peruse

Perusal

verb. read; look at fairly attentively; study

reading; study

Scuffle

Scuffle

verb. struggle at close quarters in a rough and confused manner; wrestle; grapple

noun. brawl; fight

Spurn

verb. thrust aside with disdain or contempt; reject (ant. accept)

Stipend

noun. fixed pay for services; salary; regualar allowance awarded a scholarship winner

Surveillance

noun. close watch over a person, group, or area; supervision

Tepid

Tepidly

adj. moderately warm; lukewarm

adv. unenthusiastically; lukewarmly

Wager

Wager

verb. risk (something) on the outcome of a contest or uncertain event; gamble; bet

noun. bet

Wane

verb. decrease in power or size; dwindle; decline; sink (ant. wax)

Abhorrent

Abhor

adj. (followed by to) in conflict; utterly opposed; loathsome; repugnant; odious; abonimable (ant. admirable

verb. utterly destest; loathe; hate

Admonish

Admonition

verb. reprove gently but seriously; warn of a fault; caution (ant. commend)

noun. gentle warning; friendly reproof

Ambrosial

adj. extremely pleasing to taste or smell; delicious; like ambrosia (the food of the gods); heavenly

Confine

Confinement

verb. shut up; imprison; keep in narrow, cramped quarters (ant. free)

noun. imprisonment

Decade

noun. period of ten years

Detonate

Detonation

verb. explode with suddenness and violence; cause (something) to explode

noun. explosion

Ephemeral

adj. lasting one daily only; fleeting; transitory; short-lived; transient (ant. permanent, perpetual)

Gullible

Gull

adj. easily deceived or cheated; credulous (ant. astute)

verb. deceive, cheat

Haggle

verb. dispute or argue over a price in a petty way; bargain; wrangle

Immerse

Immersion

verb. 1. plunge or place into a liquid; dip; duck
verb. 2. engross; absorb

noun. state of being deeply engrossed; absorption

Insomnia

Insomniac

noun. inability to sleep; abnormal wakefulness; sleeplessness

noun. person suffering from insomnia

Lapse

Lapse

noun. 1. slip; error; accidental mistake; trivial fault
noun. 2. interval

verb. cease being in force; become invalid

Probe

Prober

noun. critical inquiry into suspected illegal activity; investigation

noun. investigator

Render

Rendering

verb. hand down officially; deliver (as a verdict); give

noun. presentation; interpretation

Repast

noun. food for one occasion of eating; meal

Replinish

verb. bring back to condition of being full; refill

Score

noun. group or set of twenty; twenty

Snub

Snub

noun. act or instance of snubbing (treating with contempt); rebuff; slight; insult

verb. treat with disdain or contempt; slight

Suture

noun. strand or fiber used to sew parts of the living body; also, stitch made with such material

Unwittingly

adv. unintentionally; by accident; inadvertently; unknowingly (ant. intentionally)

Acquit

Acquittal

verb. 1. relieve from an accusation; pronounce not guilty; discharge; exculpate; exonerate (ant. convict)
verb. 2. perform one's part; conduct oneself

noun. exculpation; discharge (ant. conviction)

Complex

Complexity

adj. having varied interrelated parts, and therefore hard to understand; complicated; intricate (ant. simple)

noun. difficulty; intricacy (ant. simplicity)

Cosign

Cosignee

verb. give, transfer, or deliver, as if by signing over; hand over; commit

noun. person to whom something is shipped

Effrontery

noun. shameless boldness; insolence; gall; termerity; nerve; chutzpah

Excruciating

adj. causing great pain or anguish; agonizing; unbearably painful

Forbearance

noun. act of forbearing (refraining); abstaining; leniency; patience (ant. anger)

Hamper

verb. interfere with; hinder; impede (ant. aid)

Nettlesome

adj. literally, full of nettles (plants with stinging hairs); irritating; causing annoyance or vexation

Oblivious

Oblivion

adj. (usually followed by of) forgetful; unmindful; not aware; unwitting

noun. condition of being forgotten or unknown; forgetfulness

Prodigious

Prodigy

adj. extraordinary in amount or size; enormous; gigantic; huge; colossal (ant. tiny)

noun. person of extraordinary talent or ability; wonder

Rejuvenate

verb. make young or youthful again; give new vigor to ; reinvigorate; refresh

Residue

Residual

noun. whatever is left after a part is taken, disposed of, or gone; remainder; rest

adj. remaining after a part is used or taken

Salutary

adj. favorable to health; healthful; curative; beneficial; salubrious

Scrutinize

Scrutiny

verb. examine very closely; inspect; vet

noun. examination; inspection; review

Supersede

verb. force out of use; displace; supplant; replace

Sweltering

Swelter

adj. oppressively hot; torrid; sultry (ant. frigid)

verb. suffer from oppressive hear

Unruffled

adj. not upset or agitated; calm; cool; unflustered; imperturable; collected (ant. discomposed)

Unwieldly

Unwieldiness

adj. hard to wield (handle) because of size or weight; unmanageable; bulky; cumbersome

noun. bulkiness

Withdraw

Withdrawl

verb. 1. take back; remove (ant. deposit)
verb. 2. draw back; go away; retreat; leave (ant. advance)
noun. 1. taking back; removal
noun. 2. drawing back; retreat; departure (ant. approach)

Zany

Zany

adj. having the characteristics of a clown; mildly insane; crazy; clownish; loony

noun. clown; buffoon