Vocab List 1

BW

The focus on the battle’s effects on Heorot and its furnishings primarily serves to emphasize

(A) the monetary losses the Danes are incurring (B) the intensity of the struggle between

Beowulf and Grendel (C) Beowulf’s disregard for Hrothgar’s prized

mead-hall (D) Grendel’s determination to completely

destroy Heorot (E) the poet’s unwillingness to describe the

gruesomeness of the actual struggle

1. de

DownDecline (v.)Decamp (v.)Depraved (adj.)Demur (v.)

Demur

To demur is to object politely.

In the face of majority opinion, she nevertheless demurred.

2. punct

PointPunctual (adj.)Punctuation (n.)Puncture (v.)Punctilious (adj.)Poignant (adj.)

Poignant

Poignant means sharp.

The poignant parting left the two lovers heartbroken.

3. tude

State ofLatitude (n.)Longitude (n.)Lassitude (n.)Solitude (n.)

Lassitude

Lassitude is sluggishness or lack of energy.

Gradually, the dinner party guests roused themselves from their steak-induced lassitude.

4. pre

BeforePrehistoric (adj.)Prelapsarian (adj.)Prenatal (adj.)Prenuptial (adj.)

Prelapsarian

Prelapsarian means before the fall (big mistake/ lapse) of mankind; Edenic

Pastoral poems sometimes present country life in an almost prelapsarian fashion.

5. ad

ToAdduce (v.)Adhere (v.)Admonish (v.)Advertise (v.)

admonish

To admonish means to warn.

The mother admonished the toddler not to touch the hot stove.

6. hend

GraspApprehend (v.)Apprehensive (adj.)Comprehend (v.)Prehensile (adj.)

7. Apprehensive

Apprehensive means uneasy, fearful.

Beowulf was not apprehensive about fighting the demon.

7. pro

BeforeProdigious (adj.)Progress (v.)Protract (v.)Protrude (v.)

Prodigious

Prodigious means enormous or abnormal.

Grendel is a prodigious being.

8. in

NotIndignant (adj.)Insensible (adj.)Intelligible (adj.)Interminable (adj.)

Indignant

Indignant means feeling or showing scornful anger or a sense of injured pride.

The celebrity gave the hostess an indignant reply and flounced out when told the restaurant was not taking any more reservations.

9. dol

SufferCondolence (n.)Doleful (adj.)Dolorous (adj.)Indolence (n.)Indolent (adj.)

Indolent

Indolent means lazy.

The new hires were informed that indolence would not be tolerated; they would be terminated if they did not meet productivity for three consecutive months.

10. per

ThroughPeremptory(adj.)Perforate (v.)Permeate (v.)Perspicacious (adj.)

Peremptory

Peremptory means imperious or dictatorial.

The hostess’ peremptory reply to the spoiled celebrity was “we seat on a first-come, first- served basis; fame does not guarantee you a reservation.”

11. ag

To doAggressive (adj.)Ambiguous (adj.)

Ambiguous

Ambiguous means having an obscure or double meaning.

The poem Beowulf is ambiguous as to whether its reference point is Christian or pagan.

12. val

Strength/worth

Ambivalent (adj.)Valiant (adj.)Valor (n.)Value (n. or v.)

Ambivalent

Ambivalent means having opposing or contradictory feelings about something.

Some of the seniors felt ambivalent about graduating; on the one hand, they were eager for independence. On the other, they were saddened to leave childhood behind.

13. ous

Full ofFractious (adj.)Insidious (adj.)Rapacious (adj.)Zealous (adj.)

Fractious

Fractious means irritable or peevish.

A long nap cured the toddler’s fractious behavior.

14. lent

Full ofOpulent (adj.)Succulent (adj.)Truculent (adj.)Violent (adj.)

Opulent

Opulent means luxurious.

We took a tour of the opulent mansions at Newport, Rhode Island.

15. put

ThinkDispute (v.)Impute (v.)Putative (adj.)Reputation (n.)

Putative

Putative means reputed or supposed (showing doubt)

The audience doubted the speaker’s putative background as a CIA agent.

16. moll

SoftMollify (v.)

Mollify

To mollify is to appease or pacify, especially by reducing the severity of something.

The court mollified the juvenile offender’s family by setting aside his sentence and assigning community service.

17. greg

GroupEgregious (adj.)Gregarious (adj.)

Gregarious

Gregarious means fond of company; social.

The gregarious undergrad enjoyed sorority life.

18. alter

OtherAltercation (n.)Altercatiori (n.)Alter ego (n.)Alternative (n.)

Alter ego

An alter ego is a person’s secondary or alternative personality.

In literature, the antagonist is often the protagonist’s symbolic alter ego.

19. ego

I Ego (n.)Egocentric (adj.)Egotistical (adj.)Alter ego (n.)

Egocentric

Egocentric means self-centered.

Egotistical people are often accused of thinking the world revolves around them.

20. ambi

BothAmbiance (n.)Ambiguous (adj.)Ambidextrous (adj.)Ambivalent (adj.)

ambidextrous

Ambidextrous refers the ability to use both hands equally well.

At first they thought the boy was right-handed, then left-handed, and finally they realized he was ambidextrous.