Chapter 2 Enlarging Vocabulary through Central Ideas

1. Chapter 2Enlarging Vocabulary through Central Ideas Central Ideas 1-5

2. Central Ideas: • Skill • Poverty • Wealth • Fear • Courage

3. Part 1: SKILL • Adroit • Ambidextrous • Apprentice • Aptitude • Craftsperson • Dexterity • Maladroit • Versitile

4. 1. Adroit (adj) • Expert in using the hands or mind; skillful; clever; deft; dexterous • Our adroit passing enabled us to score four touchdowns.

5. 2. Ambidextrous (adj) • Able to use both hands equally well • Ruth is an ambidextrous hitter; she can bat right-handed or left-handed.

6. 3. Apprentice (n) • Person learning an art or trade under a skilled worker; learner; beginning; novice; tyro • Young Ben Franklin learned the printing trade by serving as an apprentice to his half brother James.

7. 4. Aptitude (n) • Natural tendency to learn or understand; bent; talent • Cindy is not clumsy with tools; she has mechanical aptitude.

8. 5. Craftsperson (n) • Skilled worker; artisan • To build a house, you need the services of carpenters, bricklayers, plumbers, and electricians; each one must be a skilled craftsperson.

9. 6. Dexterity (n) • Skill using the hands or mind; deftness; adroitness; expertise • You can’t expect an apprentice to have the same dexterity as a skilled worker.

10. 7. Maladroit (adj) • Clumsy; inept; awkward • A maladroit worker banged his thumb with a hammer.

11. 8. Versatile (adj) • Capable of doing many things well; many-sided; all-around • Leonardo da Vinci was remarkably versatile. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, and scientist.

12. Part 2: Poverty • Destitute • Economize • Frugal • Impoverished • Indigence

13. 9. Destitute (adj) • Not possessing the necessities of life, such as food, shelter, and clothing; needy; indigent • The severe earthquake killed hundreds of persons and left thousands destitute.

14. 10. Economize (v) • Reduce expences; be frugal • Consumers can economize by buying their milk in gallon containers.

15. 11. Frugal (adj) • Barely enough; scanty • Avoiding waste; economical; sparing; saving; thrifty • The old man had nothing to eat but bread and cheese; yet he offered to share his frugal meal with his visitor. • My weekly allowance for lunches and fares isn’t much, but I can get by on it if I am frugal.

16. 12. Impoverish (v) • Make very poor; reduce to poverty; bankrupt; ruin; pauperize • The increase in dues of only a dollar a year will not impoverish anyone.

17. 13. Indigence (n) • Poverty; penury • By hard work, countless thousands of Americans have raised themselves from indigence to wealth.

18. Part 3: Wealth • Affluent • Avarice • Avaricious • Covet • Dowry • Financial • Fleece • Hoard • Lavish • Lucrative • Means • Opulence • Sumptuous

19. 14. Affluent (adj) • Very wealthy; rich; opulent • The new wing to the hospital is a gift from an affluent humanitarian.

20. 15. Avarice (n) • Excessive desire for wealth; greediness; cupidity • If manufacturers were to raise prices without justification, they could be accused of avarice.

21. 16. Avaricious (adj) • Greedy; grasping; covetous • An avaricious person likes to get and keep, but not to give or share.

22. 17. Covet (v) • Desire; long for; crave, especially something belonging to another • Jorge coveted his neighbor’s farm but could not get her to sell it.

23. 18. Dowry (n) • Money, property, etc., that a bride brings to her husband • The dowry that his wife brought him enabled the Italian engraver Piranesi to devote himself completely to art.

24. 19. Financial (adj) • Having to do with money matters; monetary; pecuniary; fiscal • People who keep spending more than they earn usually get into financial difficulties.

25. 20. Fleece (v) • (literally, to remove the wool from sheep or a similar animal) • Deprive or strip of money or belongings by fraud; charge excessively for goods or services; rob; cheat; swindle • If your sister paid $9000 for that car, she was fleeced. The mechanic says it was worth $5000.

26. 21. Hoard (v) • Save and conceal; accumulate; amass • Aunt Bonnie had a reputation as a miser who hoarded every penny she could get her hands on.

27. 22. Lavish (adj) • Too free in giving, using, or spending; profuse; prodigal • Given or spent too freely; very abundant; extravagant; profuse • The young heir was warned that he would soon have nothing left if he continued to be lavish with money. • Vera’s composition is good, but it doesn’t deserve the lavish praise that Linda gave it.

28. 23. Lucrative (adj) • Profitable; moneymaking • Because the gift shop did not produce a sufficient profit, the owner decided to go into a more lucrative business.

29. 24. Means (n. pl) • Wealth; property; resources • To own an expensive home, a yacht, and a limousine, you have to be a person of means.

30. 25. Opulence (n) • Wealth; riches; affluence • Dickens contrasts the opulence of France’s nobility with the indigence of her peasants.

31. Sumptuous (adj) • Involving large expense; luxurious; costly • The car with the leather upholstery and thick rugs is beautiful but a bit sumptuous for my simple tastes.

32. Fear • Apprehensive • Cower • Dastardly • Intimidate • Poltroon • Timid • Trepidation

33. 27. Apprehensive (adj) • Expecting something unfavorable; afraid; anxious • Apprehensive parents telephoned the school when the class was late getting home from the museum.

34. 28. Cower (v) • Draw back tremblingly; shrink or crouch in fear; cringe; recoil • If you stand up to your bullying sister instead of cowering before her, she may back down.

35. 29. Dastardly (adv) • Cowardly and mean • It was dastardly of the captain to desert the sinking vessel and leave the passengers to fend for themselves.

36. 30. Intimidate (v) • Make fearful or timid; frighten; force by fear; cow; bully • The younger children would not have given up the playing field so quickly if the older ones hadn’t intimidated them.

37. 31. Poltroon (n) • Thorough coward; dastard; craven • Like the poltroon that he was, Tonseten hid under the bed when he saw a fight coming.

38. 32. Timid (adj) • Lacking courage or self-confidence; fearful; timorous; shy • If the other team challenges us, we should accept. Let’s not be so timid!

39. 33. Trepidation (n) • Nervous agitation; fear, fright; trembling • I thought Carol would be nervous when she made her speech, but she delivered it without trepidation.

40. Courage • Audacious • Audacity • Dauntless • Exploit • Fortitude • Indomitable • Plucky • Rash

41. 34. Audacious (adj) • Bold; fearlessly daring • Too bold; insolent; impudent • The audacious sea captain set a couse for uncharted waters. • After we had waited for about twenty minutes, an audacious latecomer strolled up and tried to get in at the head of our line.

42. 35. Audacity (n) • Nerve; rashness; temerity • Oliver Twist, nine-year-old poorhouse inmate, was put into solitary confinement when he had the audacity to ask for a second helping of porridge.

43. 36. Dauntless (adj) • Fearless; intrepid; very brave; valiant • The frightened sailors wanted to turn back, but their dauntless captain urged them to sail on.

44. 37. Exploit (n) • Heroic act; daring deed; feat • Amelia Earhart won worldwide fame for her expoits as an aviator.

45. 38. Fortitude (n) • Courage in facing danger, hardship or pain; endurance; bravery; pluck; backbone; valor • The officer showed remarkable fortitude in remaining on duty despite a painful wound.

46. 39. Indomitable (adj) • Incapable of being subdued; unconquerable; invincible • The bronco that would not be broken threw all its riders. It had an indomitable will to be free.

47. 40. Plucky (adj) • Courageous; brave; valiant; valorous • After two days on a life raft, the plucky survivors were rescued by a helicopter.

48. 41. Rash (adj) • Overhasty; foolhardy; reckless; impetuous; taking too much risk • When you lose your temper, you may say or do something rash and regret it afterward.