1. ENGLISH VOCABULARY By Holly Casserly

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

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

4. ATTENTIVE  Adjective  Synonym: Alert  Antonym: Neglectful

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

6. BANISH  Verb  Synonym: Exile  Antonym: Welcome

7.  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?!

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

9.  (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.

10. GUSTO  Noun  Synonym: Enthusiasm  Antonym: Reluctance

11.  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.

12. HABITATION  Noun  Synonym: Abode  Antonym: Office

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

14. HASTEN  Verb  Synonym: Accelerate  Antonym: Loiter

15.  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.

16. HAVOC  Noun  Synonym: Catastrophe  Antonym: Peace

17.  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.

18. QUELL  Verb  Synonym: Calm  Antonym: Violent

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

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

21.  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.

22. REPLENISH  Verb  Synonym: Fill  Antonym: Empty

23.  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.

24. RECUPERATE  Verb  Synonym: Provide  Antonym: Deplete

25.  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.

26. HONORS VOCABULARY  The next five words are Honors supplemental words

27. BEDLAM  Noun  Synonym: Pandemonium  Antonym: Peace

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

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

30.  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.

31. COGITATE  Verb  Synonym: Ponder  Antonym: Ignore

32.  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.

33. DISHEVELED  Adjective  Synonym: Messy  Antonym: Orderly

34.  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.

35. PULCHRITUDE  Noun  Synonym: Elegance  Antonym: Ugly

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