Caesar’s English II Lesson XVI. The English adjective incongruous means incompatible, lacking...

Caesar’s English II

Lesson XVI

The English adjective incongruous means incompatible, lacking congruity. Things are incongruous when they don’t go together. Thomas Hardy wrote in The Return of the Native that “The incongruity between the men’s deeds and their environment was great.”

incongruous adj.(in-KONG-gru-us): incompatible Spanish: incongruo

Malevolence, from the Latin malevolens, is ill (mal) will (vol); it is an evil intention to do harm. Sherlock Holmes, in Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, says that “I have not finally made up my mind whether it is a benevolent or a malevolent agency which is in touch with us.” And in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, we read, “What malevolence you must have to wish to convince me that there is no happiness in the world.”

malevolence n. (mal-LEV-o-lence): ill will Spanish: malevolencia

Our English adjective ambiguous (the noun is ambiguity) refers to the kind of uncertainty we feel when there are multiple possible meanings, and we aren’t sure which one is meant. A very clear meaning is unambiguous. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, we see the request to “Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while, ‘til we can clear these ambiguities.”

ambiguous adj.(am-BIG-yo0-us): uncertain Spanish: ambiguo

The English noun felicity comes from the Latin felix, happy. The adjective form is felicitous. Felicity is great happiness. One of the clearest uses of felicity comes from Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography: “I grew convinced,” Franklin wrote, “that truth, sincerity, and integrity in dealings between man and man were of the utmost importance to the felicity of life.”

felicity n.(feh-LISS-ih-tee): great happiness Spanish: felicidad

The English adjective irrevocable refers to something that can not (ir) be called (voc) back (re)--can not be revoked. In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man James Joyce wrote that “a definite and irrevocable act of his threatened to end forever, in time and in eternity, his freedom.”

irrevocable adj.(ir-re-VOKE-able): unalterable Spanish: irrevocable

Caesar’s English XVI

1. incongruous: incompatible

2. malevolence: ill will

3. ambiguous: uncertain

4. felicity: great happiness

5. irrevocable: unalterable

Caesar’s Classic Words Challenge

1. From James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain

The cat turned to watch them, with yellow, ___________ eyes.

a. malevolent

b. ambiguous

c. incongruous

d. irrevocable

Caesar’s Classic Words Challenge

1. From James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain

The cat turned to watch them, with yellow, ___________ eyes.

a. malevolent

b. ambiguous

c. incongruous

d. irrevocable

2. From Robert Penn Warren’s All the Kings Men

It was an ____________, speculative look.

a. malevolent

b. ambiguous

c. irrevocable

d. felicitous

2. From Robert Penn Warren’s All the Kings Men

It was an ____________, speculative look.

a. malevolent

b. ambiguous

c. irrevocable

d. felicitous

3. From Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

They were one of those ______________ and impossible married couples.

a. ambiguous

b. irrevocable

c. incongruous

d. malevolent

3. From Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

They were one of those ______________ and impossible married couples.

a. ambiguous

b. irrevocable

c. incongruous

d. malevolent

The Grammar of Vocabulary: ambiguous, an adjective.

Caesar’s order was not ambiguous; it was clear.