English One Vocabulary Four

Bewilder Means “to confuse” or “confused/confusing” Verb: Bewilders, bewildered, bewildering Adjectives: Bewildered, bewildering The adjectives are more commonly used than the verbs. I was bewildered by the rules of rugby, so I had no clue who was winning.

Controversial Means “causing people to disagree” Adjective (noun: controversy) Whether or not to go to war is a controversial issue.

Disheartened Means “discouraged about something” or “bummed out” Adjective Though I was disheartened by the fact that I didn’t do well on the test, I was determined to do better next time.

Fruitless Means “unsuccessful” (as in an attempt at something) Adjective Opposite: Fruitful (“successful”) After several fruitless attempts at finding a date, someone finally said yes to him.

Hostile Means “unfriendly” or “aggressive” Adjective (noun: hostility: “aggression”) He did not understand why the teacher was so hostile to him; he only asked how his day was going.

Inflict Means “to cause something unpleasant to happen to another person” Verb: Inflicts, inflicted, inflicting She was convinced that the dentist was inflicting unnecessary pain because she didn’t like her.

Malignant Means “deadly” or “evil” Adjective They moved out of the house because they became convinced it was haunted by malignant spirits.

Mortify Means “to humiliate” Verb: Ends in “y”, so must be changed: mortified, mortifies, mortifying I was mortified when I accidentally sent the text asking out the wrong person.

Procure Means “to get something through special effort” Verb: Procured, procures, procuring After waiting in line for three hours, I finally procured an iPhone 6.

Virtual Means “Almost/pretty much the same thing” Adjective Many people consider Chihuahuas virtual rodents.

Wayward Means “disobedient” Adjective (usually describes a person who makes bad decisions) I received a call from my wayward friend, and I knew he would ask for money.

Wince Means “to pull/move away (because something hurts)” Verb: Winced, winces, wincing The dog winced when the cat scratched him.