ENGLISH VOCABULARY

By Holly Casserly

APTITUDE

Noun

Synonym: Proneness , talent, potential

Antonym: Skilless, inability, talentless

Ability to learn or understand quickly.

Her aptitude for Japanese was so good, she could

speak it fluently in three years.

ATTENTIVE

Adjective

Synonym: Alert

Antonym: Neglectful

Give attention to something; also be considerate to

others.

The salesman’s attentive nature made the

customer want to buy from his store.

BANISH

Verb

Synonym: Exile

Antonym: Welcome

To force to leave a country or place.

Nancy was so scared, what if the Queen banished

her? Or put her in the dungeon? … What if the

Queen put her in the dungeon of the place that she

banished her to?!

BARRICADE

Noun/Verb

Synonym: Barrier

Antonym: Opening

(n) A temporary structure put up to block passage;

an obstacle.

(v) To block an opening or passage.

(n) The barricade was so weak, the angry warrior

sliced through it with one hefty swipe of his sword.

(v) After barricading the threshold with the

enormous table, his adversaries were foiled and

could not follow the warrior.

GUSTO

Noun

Synonym: Enthusiasm

Antonym: Reluctance

Great enjoyment; zest.

The little girl showed great gusto in beating the

seasoned cook. She was so happy she gave everyone

a slice of the enormous cake.

HABITATION

Noun

Synonym: Abode

Antonym: Office

A place to live.

The scientist didn’t like to use small words like

house, or home. He preferred habitation or niche.

HASTEN

Verb

Synonym: Accelerate

Antonym: Loiter

To act or move quickly; hurry; to cause something

to happen more quickly.

“Hurry up Dad! I’m going to be late for my soccer

tournament!” she yelled at her dad, trying to hasten

them out the door.

HAVOC

Noun

Synonym: Catastrophe

Antonym: Peace

Very great destruction or disorder. “I love havoc, don’t you?” she inquired.

“No, it’s kind of hard when you have to

dodge the falling building.

QUELL

Verb

Synonym: Calm

Antonym: Violent

To cause to feeling to be less intense; to settle.

She quelled the crying baby by singing a sweet

lullaby.

RECLUSE

Noun

Synonym: Solitary monk, hermit

Antonym: Extrovert, social butterfly

A person who live alone and has little to do with

society.

The old recluse hadn’t seen any humans in such a

long time.

REPLENISH

Verb

Synonym: Fill

Antonym: Empty

To build a supply of something again; fill again.

Gary wanted to go replenish his water bottle, so

he went to the water fountain to fill it up again.

RECUPERATE

Verb

Synonym: Provide

Antonym: Deplete

To return to normal health; to recover.

Eliza was so sick from the H1N1 virus, so could

have died. I’m so thankful she recuperated.

HONORS VOCABULARY

The next five

words are Honors

supplemental

words

BEDLAM

Noun

Synonym: Pandemonium

Antonym: Peace

A scene or state of wild uproar and confusion.

Jack hit Joe , so Joe kicked Jack, and the kitchen

exploded in bedlam.

KOWTOW

Verb

Synonym: overly-attentive

Antonym: Ignore

To be overly polite and flattering, to fawn

I hated the way the sales clerk kowtowed to the

wealthy customers and ignored the poor clients.

COGITATE

Verb

Synonym: Ponder

Antonym: Ignore

To think hard; meditate.

Melissa cogitated on how her husband could cook

better than her. She wondered why and planned to

take some cooking classes.

DISHEVELED

Adjective

Synonym: Messy

Antonym: Orderly

Hanging loosely or in disorder; unkempt.

The disheveled fiancé trudged into the conference

room, her hair was blue and tousled, and her clothes

were wrinkly. Plus, her best friend was trying to

steal her wedding.

PULCHRITUDE

Noun

Synonym: Elegance

Antonym: Ugly

Physical beauty; comeliness.

The gorgeous woman strutted into the ballroom,

people around her saying that she looked

pulchritudinous.