Freshman English Vocab Unit 4

Abscond

To run off and hide,

The suspect absconded to Canada to avoid the police.

Access

Approach or admittance to places, persons, things; an increase, To get at, obtain,

You need a password to access your online bank

Anarchy

A lack of government and law; confusion,

When the teacher left the room, the classroom fell into anarchy.

Arduous

Hard to do, requiring much effort,

Climbing the steep mountain was an arduous task.

Auspicious

Favorable; fortunate,

Finding a rainbow on the morning of her test felt like an auspicious sign.

Daunt

To overcome with fear, intimidate; to dishearten, discourage,

The big hill might daunt a new runner.

Disentangle

To free from tangles or complications,

I tried to disentangle the knot in my headphones.

Fated

Determined in advance by destiny or fortune,

He was fated to become a great leader.

Hoodwink

To mislead by a trick, swindle,

The clever salesman tried to hoodwink the customer into buying a broken TV.

Incinerate

Not having life; without energy or spirit,

The city uses a large furnace to incinerate its trash.

Inanimate

Not having life; without energy or spirit,

She talked to her computer as if it were more than an inanimate machine.

Intrepid

Very fearless, unshakable, brave,

The intrepid explorer climbed the tall mountain without any fear.

Larceny

Theft,

He was arrested and charged with larceny

Pliant

Bending readily, easily influenced,

She used the pliant clay to shape a small animal.

Pompous

Overly self-important in speech and manner; excessively stately or ceremonious,

He gave a pompous speech about how smart he is.

Precipice

A very steep cliff; the brink or edge of disaster,

He stood safely back from the edge of the rocky precipice.

Prototype

An original model on which later versions are patterned,

The engineer built a simple prototype for his new invention.

Rectify

To make right, correct,

The store manager promised to rectify the billing error on my receipt.

Reprieve

A temporary relief or delay; To grant a postponement,

The hot weather gave us a reprieve from the freezing winter cold.

Revile

To attack with words; call bad names,

The angry crowd began to revile the dishonest politician.