ENGLISH VOCABULARY By Holly Casserly

APTITUDE  Noun  Synonym: Proneness, talent, potential  Antonym: Skilless, inability, talentless

 Ability to learn or understand quickly.  Her aptitude for Japanese was so good, she could speak it fluently in three years.

ATTENTIVE  Adjective  Synonym: Alert  Antonym: Neglectful

 Give attention to something; also be considerate to others.  The salesman’s attentive nature made the customer want to buy from his store.

BANISH  Verb  Synonym: Exile  Antonym: Welcome

 To force to leave a country or place.  Nancy was so scared, what if the Queen banished her? Or put her in the dungeon? … What if the Queen put her in the dungeon of the place that she banished her to?!

BARRICADE  Noun/Verb  Synonym: Barrier  Antonym: Opening

 (n) A temporary structure put up to block passage; an obstacle.  (v) To block an opening or passage.  (n) The barricade was so weak, the angry warrior sliced through it with one hefty swipe of his sword.  (v) After barricading the threshold with the enormous table, his adversaries were foiled and could not follow the warrior.

GUSTO  Noun  Synonym: Enthusiasm  Antonym: Reluctance

 Great enjoyment; zest.  The little girl showed great gusto in beating the seasoned cook. She was so happy she gave everyone a slice of the enormous cake.

HABITATION  Noun  Synonym: Abode  Antonym: Office

 A place to live.  The scientist didn’t like to use small words like house, or home. He preferred habitation or niche.

HASTEN  Verb  Synonym: Accelerate  Antonym: Loiter

 To act or move quickly; hurry; to cause something to happen more quickly.  “Hurry up Dad! I’m going to be late for my soccer tournament!” she yelled at her dad, trying to hasten them out the door.

HAVOC  Noun  Synonym: Catastrophe  Antonym: Peace

 Very great destruction or disorder. “I love havoc, don’t you?” she inquired. “No, it’s kind of hard when you have to dodge the falling building.

QUELL  Verb  Synonym: Calm  Antonym: Violent

 To cause to feeling to be less intense; to settle.  She quelled the crying baby by singing a sweet lullaby.

RECLUSE  Noun  Synonym: Solitary monk, hermit  Antonym: Extrovert, social butterfly

 A person who live alone and has little to do with society.  The old recluse hadn’t seen any humans in such a long time.

REPLENISH  Verb  Synonym: Fill  Antonym: Empty

 To build a supply of something again; fill again.  Gary wanted to go replenish his water bottle, so he went to the water fountain to fill it up again.

RECUPERATE  Verb  Synonym: Provide  Antonym: Deplete

 To return to normal health; to recover.  Eliza was so sick from the H1N1 virus, so could have died. I’m so thankful she recuperated.

HONORS VOCABULARY  The next five words are Honors supplemental words

BEDLAM  Noun  Synonym: Pandemonium  Antonym: Peace

 A scene or state of wild uproar and confusion.  Jack hit Joe, so Joe kicked Jack, and the kitchen exploded in bedlam.

KOWTOW  Verb  Synonym: overly-attentive  Antonym: Ignore

 To be overly polite and flattering, to fawn  I hated the way the sales clerk kowtowed to the wealthy customers and ignored the poor clients.

COGITATE  Verb  Synonym: Ponder  Antonym: Ignore

 To think hard; meditate.  Melissa cogitated on how her husband could cook better than her. She wondered why and planned to take some cooking classes.

DISHEVELED  Adjective  Synonym: Messy  Antonym: Orderly

 Hanging loosely or in disorder; unkempt.  The disheveled fiancé trudged into the conference room, her hair was blue and tousled, and her clothes were wrinkly. Plus, her best friend was trying to steal her wedding.

PULCHRITUDE  Noun  Synonym: Elegance  Antonym: Ugly

 Physical beauty; comeliness.  The gorgeous woman strutted into the ballroom, people around her saying that she looked pulchritudinous.