Junior Vocabulary

Warm-ups Junior Vocabulary

Antebellum: Existing before a war, especially the American Civil War (1861-65) • When World War I was over, the French nobility found it impossible to return to their extravagant antebellum way of life. Unit 1

Bellicose: Warlike, aggressive, quarrelsome. • The country often elected the more bellicose party after a period of tension along the border, hoping that military action would result. Unit 1

Belligerence: Aggressiveness; combativeness. • The belligerence in Turner’s voice told them that the warning was a serious threat. Unit 1

Rebellion: open defiance and opposition, sometimes armed, to a person or thing in authority. • The substitute teacher attempted to end the student rebellion by insisting on absolute quiet. Unit 1

Pacify: 1.)To soothe anger or agitation. 2.)To subdue by armed action. • It took the police hours to pacify the angry demonstrators. Unit 1

Pacifist: A person opposed to war or violence, especially someone who refuses to bear arms or to fight, on moral or religious grounds. Unit 1

Pact: An agreement between two or more people or groups. • The boys made a pact to never tell about what they had found near the railroad tracks that day. Unit 1

Appease: to make peaceful and quiet; to calm, satisfy. • The Aztecs offered mass human sacrifices—of 80,000 prisoners on one occasion!—in order to appease their gods. Unit 1

Hostage: A person given or held to ensure that an agreement, demand, or treaty is kept or fulfilled. • The kidnappers released their hostage unharmed once all their demands were met. Unit 1

Hospice: A place or program to help care for the terminally ill. • Uncle Harold was moved to the hospice only after my aunt had almost collapsed with exhaustion while caring for him. Unit 1

Hostel: An inexpensive, supervised place for young travelers to stay overnight. • Generations of American college students have traveled through Europe cheaply by staying at hostels instead of hotels. Unit 1

Amicable: Friendly, peaceful. • Their relations with their in-laws were generally amicable, despite some bickering during the holidays. Unit 1

Paramour: A lover, often secret, not allowed by law or custom. • He was her paramour for many years before she finally divorced her husband. Unit 1

Criminology: The study of crime, criminals, law enforcement, and punishment. • His growing interest in criminology led him to become a probation officer. Unit 1

Recrimination: An accusation in retaliation for an accusation made against oneself; the making of such an accusation. • Their failure to find help led to endless and pointless recrimination over the responsibility for the accident. Unit 1

Probity: Absolute honesty and uprightness. • Her unquestioned probity helped win her the respect of her fellow judges. Unit 1

Reprobate: A person of thoroughly bad character. • Finally, on the verge of physical and financial ruin, the reprobate dropped his lowlife friends, joined AA, and begged his wife to come back. Unit 1

Gravid: Pregnant or enlarged with something. • The gravid sow moved heavily from trough to tree. Unit 1

Gravitate: To move or be drawn toward something, especially by natural tendency or as if by an invisible force. • During hot weather, the town’s social life gravitated towards the lake. Unit 1

Alleviate: To lighten, lessen, or relieve, especially physical or mental suffering. • Cold compresses alleviated the pain of the physical injury. Unit 1

Leavening: Something that lightens and raises; something that modifies, eases, or animates. • The speech was on a dull subject—”Microeconomic Theory in the 1970s”—but its leavening of humor made the time pass quickly. Unit 1

Hector: to bully; to intimidate or harass by bluster or personal pressure. • He would swagger around the playground and hector those trying to play. Unit 1

Stentorian: Extremely loud, often with especially deep richness of sound. • Even without a microphone, his stentorian voice broadcast the message of peace to the farthest reaches of the auditorium. Unit 14

Stoic: Seemingly indifferent to pleasure or pain. • She bore the pain of her broken leg with stoic patience. Unit 1

Sybaritic: Marked by a luxurious or sensual way of life. • Eventually their sybaritic excesses consumed all their savings. Unit 1

Junior Vocabulary