For each word make a study card or sheet. Include the word in the middle in the top left place a definition, in the top right write a synonym (a word that means nearly the same thing), in the bottom left write (or draw) an example or write sentence with context clues, and in the bottom right write an antonym (a word that is the opposite of the word. (Not all words have antonyms.) Quiz on Monday, April 2. I'll check the study cards/sheets then.
B
balk (v.) to stop, block abruptly (Edna’s boss balked at her request for another raise.)
banal (adj.) dull, commonplace (The client rejected our proposal because they found
our presentation banal and unimpressive.)
bane (n.) a burden (Advanced physics is the bane of many students’ academic lives.)
bard (n.) a poet, often a singer as well (Shakespeare is often considered the greatest bard in the history of the English language.)
beguile (v.) to trick, deceive (The thief beguiled his partners into surrendering all of their money to him.)
behemoth (n.) something of tremendous power or size (The new aircraft carrier is
among several behemoths that the Air Force has added to its fleet.)
benevolent (adj.) marked by goodness or doing good (Police officers should be
commended for their benevolent service to the community.)
benign (adj.) favorable, not threatening, mild (We were all relieved to hear that the
medical tests determined her tumor to be benign.)
bequeath (v.) to pass on, give (Jon’s father bequeathed his entire estate to his mother.)
berate (v.) to scold vehemently (The angry boss berated his employees for failing to
meet their deadline.)
bereft (adj.) devoid of, without (His family was bereft of food and shelter following the tornado.)
beseech (v.) to beg, plead, implore (The servant beseeched the king for food to feed his starving family.)
bilk (v.) cheat, defraud (The lawyer discovered that this firm had bilked several clients out of thousands of dollars.)
blandish (v.) to coax by using flattery (Rachel’s assistant tried to blandish her into accepting the deal.)
blight 1. (n.) a plague, disease (The potato blight destroyed the harvest and bankrupted many families.) 2. (n.) something that destroys hope (His bad morale is a blight upon this entire operation.)
boisterous (adj.) loud and full of energy (The candidate won the vote after giving
several boisterous speeches on television.)
bombastic (adj.) excessively confident, pompous (The singer’s bombastic performance
disgusted the crowd.)
boon (n.) a gift or blessing (The good weather has been a boon for many businesses
located near the beach.)
bourgeois (n.) a middle-class person, capitalist (Many businessmen receive criticism for their bourgeois approach to life.)
brazen (adj.) excessively bold, brash (Critics condemned the novelist’s brazen attempt to plagiarize Hemingway’s story.)
brusque (adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (The captain’s brusque manner offended the
passengers.)
buffet 1. (v.) to strike with force (The strong winds buffeted the ships, threatening to capsize them.) 2. (n.) an arrangement of food set out on a table (Rather than sitting around a table, the guests took food from our buffet and ate standing up.)
burnish (v.) to polish, shine (His mother asked him to burnish the silverware before
setting the table.)
buttress 1. (v.) to support, hold up (The column buttresses the roof above the statue.) 2. (n.) something that offers support (The buttress supports the roof above the statues.)
C
cacophony (n.) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound (The elementary school
orchestra created a cacophony at the recital.)
cadence (n.) a rhythm, progression of sound (The pianist used the foot pedal to
emphasize the cadence of the sonata.)
cajole (v.) to urge, coax (Fred’s buddies cajoled him into attending the bachelor party.)
calamity (n.) an event with disastrous consequences (The earthquake in San Francisco
was a calamity worse than any other natural disaster in history.)
calibrate (v.) to set, standardize (The mechanic calibrated the car’s transmission to
make the motor run most efficiently.)
callous (adj.) harsh, cold, unfeeling (The murderer’s callous lack of remorse shocked the jury.)
calumny (n.) an attempt to spoil someone else’s reputation by spreading lies (The local official’s calumny ended up ruining his opponent’s prospect of winning the election.)
camaraderie (n.) brotherhood, jovial unity (Camaraderie among employees usually
leads to success in business.)
candor (n.) honesty, frankness (We were surprised by the candor of the mayor’s speech
because he is usually rather evasive.)
canny (adj.) shrewd, careful (The canny runner hung at the back of the pack through
much of the race to watch the other runners, and then sprinted past them at the end.)
canvas 2. (v.) to cover, inspect (We canvassed the neighborhood looking for clues.) 1. (n.) a piece of cloth on which an artist paints (Picasso liked to work on canvas rather than on bare cement.)
capacious (adj.) very spacious (The workers delighted in their new capacious office space.)
capitulate (v.) to surrender (The army finally capitulated after fighting a long costly battle.)
capricious (adj.) subject to whim, fickle (The young girl’s capricious tendencies made it difficult for her to focus on achieving her goals.)
captivate (v.) to get the attention of, hold (The fireworks captivated the young boy, who had never seen such things before.)
carouse (v.) to party, celebrate (We caroused all night after getting married.)
carp (v.) to annoy, pester (The husband divorced his wife after listening to her carping voice for decades.)
catalyze (v.) to charge, inspire (The president’s speech catalyzed the nation and
resuscitated the economy.)
caucus (n.) a meeting usually held by people working toward the same goal (The
ironworkers held a caucus to determine how much of a pay increase they would
request.)
caustic (adj.) bitter, biting, acidic (The politicians exchanged caustic insults for over an hour during the debate.)
cavort (v.) to leap about, behave boisterously (The adults ate their dinners on the patio, while the children cavorted around the pool.)
censure 1. (n.) harsh criticism (The frustrated teenager could not put up with anymore of her critical mother’s censure.) 2. (v.) to rebuke formally (The principal censured the head of the English Department for forcing students to learn esoteric
vocabulary.)
cerebral (adj.) related to the intellect (The books we read in this class are too cerebral—they don’t engage my emotions at all.)
chastise (v.) to criticize severely (After being chastised by her peers for mimicking
Britney Spears, Miranda dyed her hair black and affected a Gothic style.)
chide (v.) to voice disapproval (Lucy chided Russell for his vulgar habits and sloppy
appearance.)
choreography (n.) the arrangement of dances (The plot of the musical was banal, but the choreography was stunning.)
chronicle 1. (n.) a written history (The library featured the newly updated chronicle of World War II.) 2. (v.) to write a history (Albert’s diary chronicled the day-to-day growth of his obsession with Cynthia.)
chronological (adj.) arranged in order of time (Lionel carefully arranged the snapshots of his former girlfriends in chronological order, and then set fire to them.)
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