Set 5 Vocabulary

By: Shaalini DesaiBlock 6

Counter

• POS: verb• Synonym: backtalk • Antonym: agree• Definition: to say or do something in opposition

to something else

• My brother will always counter me and not my parents; he always agrees with my mom and dad.

Cunning

• POS: adjective• Synonym: devious• Antonym: naïve, shy• Definition: sly, crafty, or clever

• As cunning as he is, he also apologizes to the gullible victims he fools.

Debris

• POS: noun• Synonym: waste• Antonym: purity• Definition: remains of destroyed or discarded

material; wreckage

• The dilapidated house was surrounded with debris left from the large and challenging tornado, but neighbors helped clean up the remains of the habitation.

Defiance

• POS: noun• Synonym: audacity• Antonym: submission• Definition: an act of refusal or resistance to an

opposing force or authority

• Bob was in defiance of Jo because of the competitive game on Friday; they were versing each other and have been adversaries for 4 years.

Jut

• POS: verb• Synonym: bulge• Antonym: recede• Definition: to extend sharply outward; to

project or stick out

• Sarah tripped over the jacket that was jutting out of a locker and realized that it was her own coat that was sticking out of her locker.

Kindle

• POS: verb• Synonym: illuminate • Antonym: extinguish • Definition: to build or start a fire; to excite a feeling or

idea

• Suddenly, after cogitating for quite a while, a thought kindled in Bob’s mind after staying on a cold isolated island for a year. He could kindle a fire with the bark he found on shore!

Knoll

• POS: noun• Synonym: mount• Antonym: flatland• Definition: a small, rounded hill

• In a small home on a knoll lived an old, somber, reclusive man and whenever someone knocks on his door, all he replies is “Go to your home and never come back on this hill.”

Luminous

• POS: adjective• Synonym: bright• Antonym: dim• Definition: giving off light; shining

• The delicate and intricate ice sculptures were luminous in the moonlight, glistening beautifully.

Specimen

• POS: noun• Synonym: case• Antonym: N/A• Definition: something studied by scientists or

doctors as an example of a set of things or systems

• Gingerly, Bob the scientist lifted the specimen used for studying the human brain.

Stamina

• POS: noun• Synonym: energy• Antonym: lethargy• Definition: the ability to resist fatigue or illness;

endurance

• My coach says that to be a healthy and strong basketball player, I have to have stamina and perseverance.

Subside

• POS: verb• Synonym: decrease• Antonym: rise• Definition: to become less active or intense or

agitated

• Large waves on the beach washed away all of my beach toys, but as soon as the waves subsided, I was able to retrieve the toys.

Swagger

• POS: verb• Synonym: saunter, strut• Antonym: loiter• Definition: to walk in a way that makes it look as

if you think you’re important or confident; strut

• Just to impress his friends, Jo walked with a swagger thinking that he can be as cool as them.

Honors

Saturnine

• POS: adjective• Synonym: somber• Antonym: cheerful• Definition: of gloomy or surly disposition

• Marty the Mountain Lion became saturnine after no one showed up to his Mercer family reunion; he never came back to Mercer and everyone was worried about where Marty disappeared.

Caduceus

• POS: noun• Synonym: staff• Antonym: stick• Definition: a staff with two snakes twined around it

and two wings at its top

• Some people ask what the staff is called that Hermes always carries as the messenger of the Greek gods and goddesses. It is known as the caduceus.

Lethargy

• POS: noun• Synonym: laziness• Antonym: liveliness• Definition: abnormal drowsiness

• My brother shows lethargy when he doesn’t want to do what I tell him to; he always acts like he’s sick or his stomach is aching.

Draconian

• POS: adjective• Synonym: brutal• Antonym: kind, congenial• Definition: cruel, harsh, severe

• The Draconian professor forced his students to do a 5000 word essay about him in two days. All of the students were horrified and complained to the Principal about the professor’s harshness.

Mercurial

• POS: adjective• Synonym: temperamental• Antonym: unchangeable • Definition: characterized by rapid and unpredictable

changeableness of mood

• I dislike the way that my friend is mercurial. At one point she talks about her annoying puppy, and then she suddenly starts talking about what she loves to eat for dinner.