Lesson 29
Appearances and Attitudes
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1. ambivalent: having conflicting feelings toward a person or thing, such as love and hate
2. bucolic: rural; rustic; pastoral. The Greek word boukolikos means “herdsman”
3. crotchety: full of peculiar whims; ill-tempered; eccentric. Crochet work was done with a small, twisted hook; from “twisted” it was an easy jump to “eccentric” –thus the connection between crochet and crotchety
4. dilatory: slow; late in doing things; inclined to delay; meant to gain time
5. disconsolate: sad; dejected; cheerless
6. dudgeon: resentment; an angry or offended feeling. It comes from the Anglo-French expression en digeon, which meant “the hand on the dagger hilt”
7. froward: contrary; not easily controlled; stubbornly willful
8. genteel: well bred; refined; excessively polite
9. jocund: pleasant; agreeable; genial. Our word joke can be traced back to jocund.
10. loquacious: talkative. Some synonyms are garrulous, voluble, prolix, verbose, and prating.
11. splenetic: irritable; bad-tempered; spiteful. The word derives from spleen, the abdominal organ that the ancients regarded as the seat of emotions
12. tendentious: opinionated; advancing a definite point of view or doctrine
13. truculent: fierce; cruel; savage
14. vacuous: empty; purposeless; stupid; senseless
15. venal: really bribed or corrupted
Exercises
I. Which Word comes to Mind?
In each of the following, read the statement, then circle the word that comes to mind
1. Cows in meadow, sheep in the corn
(venal, bucolic, disconsolate)
2. First, I want to go-then I want to stay
(ambivalent, truculent, dudgeon)
3. “What’s your rush? So what if we’re late?”
(jocund, dilatory, genteel)
4. The millionaire asked to be buried in his Rolls Royce
(crotchety, tendentious, froward)
5. “Were you vaccinated with a phonograph needle?”
(vacuous, loquacious, splenetic)
6. Jane always has a smile on her face
(froward, venal, jocund)
7. Firing someone can easily put him/her into this frame of mind
(dudgeon, tendentious, bucolic)
8. The slightest remark sets Virginia
(truculent, splenetic, dilatory)
9. I can’t make up my mind
(crotchety, ambivalent, tendentious)
10. A decidedly partisan view of the inaugural address
(genteel, splenetic, tendentious)
II. True or False?
In the space provided, indicate whether each statement is true or false
____ 1. A jocund person has a good chance of being hired as a receptionist
____ 2. Splenetic behavior is always a sign of good breeding
____ 3. Truly great bullfighters welcome an animal that is froward
____ 4. Watergate has become synonomous with venal arrangements
____ 5. Skyscrapers and subways are integral parts of the bucolic life
____ 6. Greg’s genteel nature may account for his shyness
____ 7. A truculent response is guaranteed to win friends.
____ 8. Feeling disconsolate over his loss, Fred briefly considered retiring from baseball.
____ 9. The student’s vacuous stare suggested he did not understand the question
____ 10. Because of his loquacious nature. Carlos had little to say.
III. Fill in the Blank
Insert one of the new words in the proper space in each sentence below.
1. Martha wondered how Gary
2. The successful politician walks a thin line between appearing too ______________ and too wishy-washy.
3. Stephan tired to sort out his ___________________ feelings of respect and resentment towards his father.
4. After the hectic campaign, the president-elect was refreshed by his _______________ retreat
5. A(n) ____________________ child perhaps needs more love than a well-adjusted one
6. The _____________ life has its merits, but most people cannot resist the attractions and excitement of the city.
7. A _________________ person tends to give others little opportunity to express themselves.
8. The fans were deeply disappointed to learn that their idol had been bitten by the ______________ bug
9. The _________________ host easily broke the iciness between two of the guests who had been enemies for years.
10. Because of George’s ________________ habits, we often referred to him as the late George Owens.
IV. What’s the Antonym?
Which of the new words is most nearly opposite in meaning to the one provided?
1. punctual ______________________
2. gentle _____________________
3. even-tempered _____________________
4. gross _____________________
5. incorruptible _____________________
6. agreeable _____________________
7. cheerful _____________________
8. unequivocal _____________________
9. urban _____________________
10. intelligent _____________________
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