Ninth Grade Vocabulary

Unit 13

Latin FLUERE, FLUCTUM

“to flow”

AffluentAdjective—wealthy and privileged; well-to-doSentence: In the more affluent neighborhoods, many people have three or more luxury cars.Syn: prosperous Ant: impoverished

SuperfluousAdjective—extraSentence: Ruben told me that the last paragraph was superfluous, since the other paragraphs already covered the important information.Syn: excessive

Ant: crucial

MellifluousAdjective—sweetly flowing or soundingSentence: The mellifluous notes of Meg’s song reminded Jack of a gently running brook.Syn: harmonious

Latin LEVIS

“light”

LeavenVerb—to make less heavy or seriousSentence: No matter how Angela tried to leaven the mood, everyone seemed determined to be miserableSyn: lighten

Ant: dampen

LevityNoun—lack of seriousness; jollySentence: The speaker’s levity seemed out of place at the funeral.Syn: jollity

Ant: gloominess

AlleviateVerb—to make less painful of dangerousSentence: Alice has developed a home remedy which will alleviate the symptoms of a bad cold.Syn: ease

Ant: aggravate

Latin LABI, LAPSUS

“slip, slide”

ElapseVerb—to slip awaySentence: Three hours elapsed, and weary students began to finish the SAT.

CollapseNoun—complete failure and ruinSentence: Heavy snow on a roof can cause it to collapse.

RelapseNoun—a falling back into an old illness or habitSentence: Since I decided to give up sugar, I have not had a single relapse.Syn: setback

Latin CEDERE, CESSUM

“to move along, to go”

RecedeVerb—to move back or away fromSentence: Many flood victims sought shelter while waiting for the flood waters to recede.Syn: retreat

Ant: advance

ConcessionNoun—something given up or yieldedSentence: Joan’s mom made a concession in allowing her to keep her cell in her room, and now her grades are fallingSyn: admission

Ant: refusal

CedeVerb—to surrenderSentence: The two nations fought over the land for years until one finally ceded it to the other.Syn: yield

Ant: withhold