| A | B |
|---|
| apprehensive | afraid (I was apprehensive about going to the dentist.) |
| resemble | a likeness or similarity (My grandfather resembled Georage Washington.) |
| admire | to regard someone with approval (I admire people who write well.) |
| bewilder | confuse (Calculus bewilders me.) |
| contemptuous | expressing hate for another (John is contemputous of unemployed people.) |
| defiant | stubborn refusal to obey (Sandy displays defiant behavior in class.) |
| dogged | stubborn (Ralph was dogged in his attempt to learn French.) |
| impersonal | not personal; distant (My aunt always sends impersonal cards for birthdays.) |
| implore | plead (I implore you to be quiet.) |
| mimic | copy (George is such a great mimic.) or (It is not polite to mimic your sister.) |
| nonchalant | casual (After breaking the lamp, Cindy tried to act nonchalant.) |
| quaver | shake or quiver (When you are afraid, you might quaver.) |
| rueful | feeling sorrow or pity (Sam's attitude toward homeless people was rueful.) |
| savvy | to know or understand (Hugo was savvy about hiking.) |
| stupor | dazed (After getting hit in the head by a bat, Kate stood there in a stupor.) |
| towhead | very blond |
| unfathomable | unbelievable (It is unfathomable that Reggie cannot get A's in math.) |
| delirious | wild with excitement (Sue was delirious about winning the blue ribbon.) |
| idolize | admire greatly (Many people idolize Barrack Obama.) |
| veer | go off in a different direction (The car skidded in the mud and veered into the river.) |
| rogue | playfully mischievious person |
| stalk | follow (Jane was bothered by a stalker.) |
| sage | wise (Your grandfather always has sage advice.) |
| aloof | stuck up (Chandra is aloof.) |
| cease | to stop (Cease your chatter!) |
| elude | avoid capture; escape understanding (The concepts of math elude me.) |
| presumptuous | arrogant (It is presumptuous of you to assume that Lana will agree to go out with you.) |
| vain | overly worried about appearance (Lana is vain.) |
| din | noise (Cease your constant din!) |
| cower | shrink in fear (The dog cowered in the corner.) |
| derision | ridicule, mockery (Treating your little sister with derision is cruel.) |
| giddy | silly (Nancy is always giddy before an important test.) |
| haste | too fast (Do not make important decisions in haste.) |
| idle | doing nothing (When your brain is idle, it will think of mischief.) |
| despise | hate (Patsy despises peas.) |
| humble | modest (Yvonne was humble about her straight A's.) |
| wary | watchful (Be wary of people who pretend to be friends.) |
| revenge | getting back at someone (The British got revenge against the Spanish.) |
| intruder | someone who comes in without an invitation (There is an intruder in the house!) |
| blunt | abrupt (Olga is always blunt with her criticism.) |
| indignant | expressing displeasure at something unjust (Reggie was indignant that he was punished for something he didn't do.) |
| folly | foolishness (It is folly to believe that you can beat Dexter at pingpong.) |
| filth | dirty (Take your filthy clothes outside.) |
| torment | give great suffering (Do not torment your guests with your bad cooking.) |
| resolve | decide (Joyce resolved to try harder duing second semester.) |
| premonition | a feeling that something will happen in the future (Candy had a premonition about falling off of a cliff.) |
| reluctant | unwilling (Hector was reluctant to give his son the car keys.) |
| morose | gloomy (Sam always has a morose look on his face.) |
| calamity | big disaster (Your report card - all D's - is a calamity!) |
| cajole | persuade (Teresa cajoled her mother into buying her a new dress.) |
| famished | very hungry (Hurry! Let's eat! I'm famished!) |
| malinger | pretend to be sick to get out of doing something (We will not let you malinger in the hospital.) |
| contemplate | think hard (Before you make a decision, take some time to contemplate your options.) |
| impel | to force (He was impelled into the military.) |
| pandemonium | crazy wild loud (After the election, there was pandemonium in the hall.) |
| capsized | turn upsidedown (The tiny boat capsized in the ocean.) |
| gelatinous | like jelly (That gelatinous floating thing is a jellyfish!) |
| taut | tight (Keep the line taut.) |
| myriad | many (There is a myriad of choices when it comes to colleges.) |
| gaunt | very thin (After months in the hospital, Joe was gaunt.) |
| endure | live through (You just have to endure two more weeks of school.) |
| benevolent | good; not harmful (The benevolent woman gave thousands of dollars to charity.) |
| subdue | to bring under control (To subdue the fish, Santiago clubbed it with a bat.) |
| skiff | small boat (The skiff was not seaworthy so it sank.) |
| phosphorescence | shining (The phosphorescent fish was easy to see.) |
