Grade Seven

Unit Nine

1. accelerate (v) to speed up, cause to move faster; to bring about more quickly

syn: step up, quicken, hastenant: slow down, retard.

decelerateEx. Pressing the gas pedal

causes the car to accelerate.

2. bystander (n) one who looks on or observes, a person present but not taking part

syn: observer, spectator, onlooker

ant: active participantEx. The bystander watched the

parade go by.

3. canvass (v) to go through an area in order to procure votes, sales, or opinions; to go over in detail; to discuss

syn: poll, survey, solicitEx. Each candidate has

people who canvass an area for votes.

4. casual (adj) happening by chance or on an irregular basis; showing little concern; informal

syn: accidental, haphazard, offhandant: formal, serious, premeditated, intentional

Ex. The woman was a casual acquaintance seen only at occasional business meetings.

5. downtrodden (adj) treated unfairly and cruelly, oppressed

syn: mistreated, ground underfoot

ant: uplifted, liberatedEx. The litter of kittens was

downtrodden before being rescued by the Humane Society.

6. entice (v) to attract, tempt

syn: lure, beguileant: nauseate, sicken,

revolt, repelEx. Catnip entices my

cats.

7. erode (v) to wear away gradually, eat away

syn: corrode, abradeant: nurture, promote,

encourageEx. Each betrayal caused

their friendship to erode further.

8. flounder (v) to thrash about in a clumsy or ineffective way

syn: wallow, struggleEx. The speaker

floundered about looking for the right word to use.

9. graphic (adj) lifelike, vivid, relating to the pictorial arts

syn: lively, descriptive, colorfulant: dull, boring, unrealistic,

colorlessEx. The graphic novel visualized

the action of the story.

10. gruesome (adj) horrible, revolting, ghastly

syn: gory, hideous, grislyant: pleasant, delightful,

appealingEx. The movie graphically

depicted the gruesome details of the mauling.

11. melancholy (adj) sad, gloomy, unhappy

(n) sadness, gloominesssyn: (adj) depressed, dejected (n) dejection, depressionant: (adj) merry, happy, cheerful (n) joy, elationEx. The tone of the poem was

melancholy as the writer described losing his true love.

12. ordeal (n) a difficult or painful experience, a trial

syn: test, hardshipant: pleasure, cinchEx. Preparing for the

marathon was an ordeal. The runner ran fifteen miles every day in all types of weather.

13.parch (v) to make dry and thirsty; to shrivel with heat

syn: dry up, dehydrate, desiccate

ant: soak, drench, saturate, waterlog

Ex. The runner was parched after the race and had to replenish his electrolytes.

14. persist (v) to continue steadily in a course of action, refuse to stop or be changed; to last, remain

syn: persevere, keep at it, endure

ant: give up, discontinueEx. To become a good athlete,

one must persist at perfecting the fundamentals.

15.puny (adj) of less than normal strength or size; of no importance

syn: undersized, pint-size, small, weakant: robust, brawny, mammoth, giganticEx. The runt of the litter was

puny and might not survive.

16. quibble (v) to evade or belittle a point by twisting words or raising minor objections (n) a petty objection

syn: (v) nitpick, split hairs, cavil (n) squabble

Ex. The siblings started to quibble over flavors of ice cream to distract their parents from the original argument about who had broken the television.

17. ratify (v) to approve, give formal approval to; confirm

syn: endorse, sanction, upholdant: cancel, repeal, annul, vetoEx. The student council

members ratified the agreement to raise the price of a dance ticket.

18. regal (adj) royal, kinglike; fit for a king

syn: majestic, stately, princely, augustant: lowly, humble, abject,

servileEx. The actor portraying the

king, had to speak in a royal voice.

19. stifle (v) to smother, prevent from breathing; to hold back or choke off

syn: strangle, suppress, snuffant: nurture, promote,

encourageEx. She had to stifle the

urge to sing during class.

20. vital (adj) having life, living; necessary to life, essential; key, crucial

syn: indispensible, fundamentalant: nonessential, unnecessaryEx. Oxygen is vital to human

beings.