Nebulous

• (NEB yoo lus)• adjective• vague or unclear• The nebulous answer revealed the student’s

lack of understanding.

Myopic

• (mi O pik)• adjective• near-sighted; lack of long-range thinking or

planning• The myopic teenager refused to discuss his

future.

Oblique

• (oh BLEEK)• adjective• 1. having a slanting position or direction 2. indirect; not straight to the point • “The oblique ramp allowed me to master the

new trick,” the skateboarded responded.

Passe

• (pa SAY)• adjective• out-of-date; old-fashioned• My mom insisted, “This passe dress WILL

come back into style!”

Rectitude

● (REK tuh tood)● noun● moral or religious correctness● Sara’s rectitude was challenged during the

test.

Sibilant

● (SIB lunt)● adjective● having or making a hissing sound● The lisp created a sibilant sound in his

speech.Label the group of words that is highlighted.

Tacit

● (TA sit)● adjective● making no sound; unspoken; implied● At my grandmother’s house, my sister and I

have a tacit agreement to try and stay out of trouble.

Label the highlighted phrase.

Umbrage

● (UM brej)● noun● offense or displeasure● Emily took umbrage with the foul language

being used in class.Put brackets around the 2 prepositional phrases. In the remaining clause, underline the subject once and the verb twice.

Vehement

● (Ve uh ment)● adjective● acting with great force; intensely emotional● The teacher is vehement about her students

success in the class this year.Put brackets around the 2 prepositional phrases. In the remaining clause, underline the subject once and the verb twice.

Wrought

● (rot)● adjective● formed or fashioned; shaped by hammering

or beating (as in metal)● In class yesterday, my students perfected

their carefully wrought SAQs.

In “The Necklace,” find and highlight a sentence that includes a prepositional phrase.

Banal

● (buh NAL)● adjective● commonplace and often predictable● The banal lecture made the students fall

asleep, so they missed some important information.

Find the subject(s) and verb(s) in the sentence. What do you notice?

Cerebral

● (suh REE brul)● adjective● brainy; intellectual● The cerebral student almost always had the

right answer, but yesterday was an exception.

Find the subject(s) and verb(s) in the sentence.

Disseminate

● (dis SIM uh nayt)● verb● to spread the seeds of something● Teachers use Edline to disseminate

information to students, so the material covered in class is always accessible.

Elusive

● (i LOO siv)

● adjective

● hard to pin down; evasive● Vivian spent hours searching for her elusive

cat, and she finally found it hiding in a kitchen cabinet.

Feral

• (FER uhl)

• adjective

• untamed; wild

• The feral dog in the hallway must have scared the students because there was a mass exodus from the building.

• Find the subject(s) and verb(s) in the sentence. What do you notice?

Hypothetical

• (hi po thet ical)

• adjective

• guessed; proposed outcome

• Scientists utilize hypothetical situations to experiment since they want to make sure their theories are correct.

Lampoon

• (lam POON)

• verb

• to satirize; to mock; to parody

• Even though its opinion is not always politically correct, the New Yorker lampoons politicians in cartoons.

Maverick

• (MAV rik)

• n.

• a nonconformist; a rebel

• Steve Jobs is a considered a maverick because he pioneered the trend of putting technology in people’s hands.

Novel• (NAH vul)

• adjective

• new or original

• Although students should be familiar with them, the sentence types covered in class can seem like a novel concept, and some students struggle.

• Find the subject(s) and verb(s) in the sentence. What do you notice?

Placid• (PLA sid)

• adjective

• undisturbed; tranquil

• Even though Marissa appeared placid when she saw the enormous roach, she was shaking with fear on the inside, so she yelled, “Help!”

• Underline the subject/verb in each highlighted clause, and decide whether each clause is independent or dependent.

Catalyst• (KAT uh list)

• noun

• a person or thing that brings about an event or change

• Allen was the catalyst for the accident at Coit and Campbell, but he left the scene because he was scared of the consequences.

• Bracket each of the clauses and decide whether they are independent or dependent.

Decimate

• (DES uh mayt)

• verb

• to kill or destroy a large part of

• Hurricane Katrina decimated the Gulf Coast in 2005, yet the people of Louisiana are resilient since they have rebuilt a large portion of the damaged areas.

• Bracket each of the clauses and decide whether they are independent or dependent.

Enigma• (en IG ma)

• noun

• one that is puzzling, ambiguous, or inexplicable

• Mrs. Desai thinks it is quite an enigma that the Eagles lost yesterday even though she painted her nails green for good luck!

bracket the clauses - what type of sentence is this?

Finesse

• (fi NES) 

• noun

• skillful maneuvering

Running relieves my stress, but I don’t always run with finesse due to my clumsy nature.

What do you notice about the underlined word?

Guile

•(gīl)

•noun

•treacherous cunning; skillful deceit

•“Studying is delightful,” the student said with guile on his face, indicating his sarcasm.

•Underline the gerund. What role does it play in the sentence (ex. subject, verb, direct object, etc.)?

Homily

•(HAHM uh lee) 

•noun

•a sermon

•Each month, one child has the privilege of reading the homily during church.

Underline the gerund. What is it used as in the sentence (ex. subject, direct object, object of a preposition, etc.)?

Impeccable

•(im PEK uh bul) 

•adjective

•flawless; entirely without sin

Dragging her overburdened suitcase across the house caused Ashley to ruin her impeccable wood floors.

Underline the GERUND in this sentence.

Malevolent

•(muh LE vo lent)

•adjective

•evil; harmful; malicious

After swimming practice, Emily’s nemesis demonstrated his malevolent feelings by sliding her cell phone into the pool.

•What do you notice about the usage of the word “swimming” in the sentence? What is it describing?

Look carefully at the use of the word swimming...

•After swimming practice, Emily’s nemesis demonstrated his malevolent feelings by discreetly sliding her cell phone into the pool.

• Swimming is the best exercise, according to many physicians.

oblivion

•(uh BLI  vee un) 

•noun

•total forgetfulness; the state of being forgotten

Rushing to get to school on time, and in a complete state of oblivion, Ryan forgot his homework folder at home.

prodigy

•(PRAH  duh jee) 

•noun

•an extremely talented child; an extraordinary accomplishment or occurrence

•Considered a child prodigy, Tiger Woods picked up a golf club for the first time before the age of 2 and won his first tournament before the age of 7.

Look carefully at the use of the word considered...

•Considered a child prodigy, Tiger Woods picked up a golf club for the first time before the age of 2 and won his first tournament before the age of 7.

•I considered both of the candidates before choosing the best person for the job.

encumber

•(en KUM bur)

•verb

•to burden; to hinder

Too much homework encumbers my social life.

The encumbered students must figure out the best way to stay organized in order to meet all of the demands of their coursework.

introspective

•(in truh SPEC tiv) 

•adjective

•tending to examine one’s own thoughts and feelings

Maryam bought a diary, hoping the purchase would inspire her to become more introspective.

Purchasing a diary was supposed to make Maryam more introspective.

Identify each highlighted word as either a gerund or a participle.

monolithic• (mon uh lith ik)

• adjective

• 1. massive 2. made of a single piece

The essay revised by Sally required only minor tweaks and not monolithic changes.

Running a marathon seems like a monolithic feat since I can only run three miles without getting too tired.

Identify each highlighted word as either a gerund or a participle.

obstreperous• (uhb STREE per us)

• adjective

• noisy, boisterous, or unruly

The obstreperous students left class on Friday complaining about their homework over the weekend.

Complaining loudly is the only thing my obstreperous friend Sally does when we try to hang out at the mall!

• Identify each highlighted word as either a gerund or a participle.

purloin

• (PER loyn)

• verb

• to steal

Purloining yard signs from our rival school, which is a tradition, is looked down upon by Mrs. Vance.

Look at the commas around the clause “which is a tradition.” Are the commas necessary?

repertoire

•(REP er twahr)

•noun

•the stock of special skills, devices, techniques, etc. of a particular person or particular field

Thomas has a vast repertoire of songs that he likes to sing throughout each and every class period.

Why are these clauses NOT separated by a comma?

spurious

•(SPYOOR ee us)

•adjective

•not true or genuine; false

The spurious confession by the young boy, which was suspicious, did not have accurate facts about the crime.

temerity

•(tuh MER uh tee)

•noun 

•boldness; recklessness; audacity

The temerity that some students express with their attitudes towards school work can cause trouble for their averages.

undulate

•(un DYOO layt)

•verb

•to move in waves

Watching the ocean undulate under the stars always calms my nerves.

vex

•(veks) 

•verb

•to annoy OR to confuse

We were vexed by the delay, which should not have occurred, since our team was completely prepared.

cadence

•(KAYD uns)

•n.

•rhythm; the rise and fall of sounds

•The drum cadence, which is played by the Pearce drum line before each pep rally, gets students ready to show their school spirit at the assembly!

•What do you notice about these clauses? What type of clauses are they?

cadence

•(KAYD uns)

•noun

•rhythm; the rise and fall of sounds

Because The Odyssey has been translated into English, the cadence of the ancient Greek language is lost.

Why is there a comma after the word English?

chicanery

•(shi KAY nuh ree)

•noun

•trickery; deceitfulness, especially legal or political

The chicanery used by the Greeks to deceive the Trojans was illustrated when they used the Trojan Horse to infiltrate Troy.

futile

•(FYOO til)

•adjective

•incapable of succeeding; useless

Odysseus’ efforts to leave Calypso's island are futile until Zeus intervenes.

inconspicuous

•(in con SPIK yoo us)

•adjective

•hard to see; attracting little attention

Odysseus and his crew were inconspicuous as they hid underneath the wooly sheep to escape the Cyclops’ cave.

livid

•(LI vid)

•adjective

•extremely angry

The Cyclops was livid when he discovered that Odysseus had tricked him.

painstaking

•(PAYN stay king)

•adjective

•done with great thoughtfulness or care

The child created a model volcano with painstaking attention to detail.

puerile

•(PYOOR uhl)

•adjective

•childish, immature

The Black Friday customer threw a puerile fit when the store was sold out of televisions.

respite

•RES pit

•noun

•a period of rest or relief

After our “Icemageddon” respite, we are charging ahead to the end of the semester.

sordid

•SOR did

•adjective

•sleazy, dirty, shameful

The con artist engaged in sordid lies and bribery to acquire money.