Academic vocabulary

By: Katie GreenhutMrs. West 2nd acc.

Abstract #2 relating to or

involving general ideas or qualities rather than specific people, objects, or actions.

Ex: The abstract noun is freedom. Along with the word happiness, sadness is also an abstract noun. She was asked to identify the parts of one sentence; first she labeled the abstract noun. The student didn’t hear the teacher ask for him to tell her the abstract noun, instead he told her the concrete noun, therefore missing the question.

Acronym #4 a word formed

from the first letters of each one of the words in a phrase

Ex: LOL is an acronym of laughing out loud. Acronyms are used when people are lazy, or trying to sound cool. On the righting test, some acronyms are better written out, such as UGA. As well as odd sayings, I often study for tests by using acronyms, but it is important to remember what the letters stand for

Affect #6 the conscious

subjective aspect of an emotion considered

Ex: The arrow affected the aardvark. The affect, pollution, has made many problems for life today, such as mutant squirrels. People are affected by negativity, but some people are more affected by it than others. As well as

Annotate #12 to make or

furnish critical or explanatory notes or comment

Ex: She annotated the sentence. Because the sentence was a fragment, the teacher annotated the part that was wrong. Since we were editing papers, by the time I got mine back it was covered in comments that others annotated. Because of my grade, the teacher wanted people to annotate my writing, but the bell rang before anyone could see what my paper said.

articulate #22 able to express

ideas clearly and effectively in speech or writing

Ex: The teacher’s writing is always articulated. Unlike her writing, he writes with very articulated and crisp style. I made sure to articulate when I told my sibling not to play with scissors. Because of my nerves, I couldn’t articulate and my words were tangled

assert #25 To state

(something) in a strong and definite way

Ex: You must be assertive! Even if I’m assertive, my younger sister never listens to me. My coach looked happy, but later she asserted that we weren’t working hard enough. My teacher was very assertive when she told the class about the test grades, but even though most people did poorly, I still got a B.

Chronology #44 The order that

something comes in

Ex: My agenda is in chronologic order. Because of our chronologic schedule, I can never really find time enough to go to the bathroom. I was studying my chronological timeline, but I couldn’t find when Washington was born. Since I am very scheduled, I had to write numbers next to each event chronologically, but they were already in that order.

claim #47 to say that

something is true when some people may say it is not true

Ex: The villain made a claim. Since I was outnumbered, the truth merely shrunk to a claim. He walked briskly to my desk and he made a claim. Because of the situation, I heard tons of claims about the murder, but they were all wrong.

coherent #52 logical and well-

organized : easy to understand

Ex: She was coherent. Because of my strict teacher, my binder was coherent for once. Nat was very coherent when explaining, but Joe never seemed to understand. Because of the author, the book was not coherent and the plot became cloudy and unreal

compile #55 To put together into a presentation or summary ect.Ex: They compiled their ideas. Because there were so many of them, it took a long time to compile their ideas to one general need, In math we compiled all sorts of numbers, but when we divided I got confused. During our test, we had to compile two sentences, but I didn’t really know how too.

conceive #60 To think of or

create somethingEx: An ideas was conceived. Because of the plane crash, a great pile of metal was conceived on the shore. Malcom Gladwell says that we can all conceive great success as long as we have a certain IQ. While I’d prefer drawing, Joe conceives his ideas by writing, which is strange.

constitutes #74 To make up or

form somethingEx: Six sentences constitute a paragraph. Because of South America, we are able to constitute steel into the new building. The bill of rights is a constitute of the constitution, but there are also lengthy sections in the constitution. Since Jack fell down, his head no longer constitutes his crown; maybe Jill picked it up on her way down.

contend #76 To argue or state

something in a definite way

Ex: The witnesses all contended in court. Though it is annoying, I consistently contend that I should be allowed to have a horse. I contender that I was innocent, but the judge disagreed. Since his confidence was high, the American idol contestant contended that he would win, but the judges thought differently.

convey #82 To bring or carry

something from one place to another

Ex: Can you convey the information to Max? because of alcohol, the criminal had a tough time conveying the truth. Since the legend was conveyed over generations, the new version was very different than the original. Because of the conveyor belt, I found my luggage conveyed on the other end of the airport, but the screen told me it would be.

correlate #84 either one of two

things that are closely connected or correlated with each other

Ex: The two shoes correlate. According to my research there is a correlation between The temperature and amount of ice-cream sold. I have an adorable puppy, and we bought an adorable bed to correlate with her coat. Because of our correlating schedules, my friends and I are in the same classes, but I feel bad for our teachers.

Debate #92 a discussion

between people in which they express different opinions about something

Ex: The lawyers often debate. Due to a broken arm, I debated that I shouldn’t go to volleyball practice. I debated that it isn’t fair to have weekend homework, but my teacher wasn’t going to hear it. As the bird flew into the window, I was debating that windows should be colored so our feathered friends wouldn’t die, but my mom said that we would get in trouble for rainbow windows.

deduce #93 To use logic or

reason to form a conclusion or opinion about something

Ex: She deduced the case. Because there were bloody footprints on the carpet, the detective deduced that the victim had been kicked. Even though I saw all of the evidence , I still didn’t think my friend was responsible for the crime. Because of the evidence, I deduce that Tim was cheating on Marty’s test, but my teacher seems to have no idea.

depict #98 To describe

someone or something using words, a story, etc.

Ex: I depict the mountain. Due to my lack of artistic ability, I was forced to depict the field trip with words. She depicted the tree as tall and green, but it’s winter so I doubt she is right. Because the tables are so close, she heard the bully depict her like a monster, but she didn’t care because she wasn’t the one with a hairy nose.

Derive #99 To take or get

something from something else

Ex: The butterfly derived from a caterpillar. Because I wouldn’t go to the store, I derived a poster board from my friend. The wolf seemed to derive from the forest, but I knew better than to stare at a wild animal. Since my dog died, the house has felt so empty, but I still see her derive from clouds in my dreams.

Devise#105 to invent or plan

something that is difficult or complicated

Ex: She devised the new car. Because risk is high, my friends and I took a while to devise the prank. He devised the plans for a new spacecraft carefully, but he failed to realize the material chosen would burn up during reentry. Since the builders have finished devising the new establishment, they have begun to build, what an amazing process!

Diction#106 How words are

used in text or writing; how clearly a person speaks

Ex: The students diction was awful. Because of the anesthetic, the patient’s diction was unbearably poor. I walked with the professor, and both of us were speaking with incredible diction. Because of the test, my voice was panicked and my diction was awful, but at least I wasn’t the student who feinted because I was nervous.

Diminish #109 to become or to

cause something to become less in size, importance, etc.

Ex: The cake diminished. Because the economy is so bad, recently the value of any U.S. coin has diminished. He stood at her side, but the life was quickly diminishing from her eyes. Since the students were energetic, the teachers patience diminished at a remarkable rate; the students went on being obnoxious anyways

Employ #121 To make use of Ex: She was employed by the prompt. Although it was late, they were told to employ the workers. The pencil sat unemployed at my desk, but it should have been writing. Since the candle fell over, the fire department has been employing every hose, but the fire is still burning

Extract #143 To take from of

copy out ofEx: You must extract the key terms from this book. While they take notes on every page, you must only extract facts from pages 24 and 243. The class extracted the key terms from the document, but they missed one of the most important ones. Although the poem was long, we extracted our favorite lines, and we also took note of the influential ones.

Footer #150 A line of

information put at the end of a page for identification

Ex: The footer explains the latten word on page 234. Until you add a footer, the readers won’t understand the meaning of that word. I looked at the bottom of the page for the definition of flabbergasted, but the author didn’t put a footer. Whereas we are all good writers, the best writers use footers, but they only use them when there is a weird word in the text.

Header#163 A word/phrase at

the beginning of a document that

Ex: The teacher said do look at the headings to find out what we should learn. If I had payed attention to the header, I probably wouldn’t have read the wrong chapter. The header said that the chapter was about dogs, but the majority of it was about pets in general. Because I didn’t have much time, I pre-red the unit before the quiz, but I really should have studied the night before.

Imply#170 To suggest

something in an indirect way

Ex: He implied that he liked her. As we watched our teacher stare at a stack of quizzes, we got the feeling that she was implying that we were going to have a quiz. The birds were circling overhead, and we assumed there was something dead beneath them. After she left, he implied that he wanted to leave, but he still had work to do.

Inquire #179 To ask for

information from someone.

Ex: I inquired the class. After the quiz, I inquired my friend to see if she thought it was easy. I inquired the teacher, but she couldn’t help me during the test. Unless she responds to my question, we have to inquire Sam, but she isn’t here today.

Integrate#181 To combine things

to make one bigger thing.

Ex: The Holocaust and Japan’s bombing were integrated in WWII. As long as the dogs don’t bark, we can integrate them with the puppies. The government integrates certain taxes, but you can do simple math to see what money is from which tax. Unless the wind changes, we can integrate the smaller sail with the larger one, but that may make us fall over

Intermittent#185 Occurring at

irregular intervals, not consistent

Ex: The fireworks are intermittent. Though the barks were intermittent, I thing the dog needs to come inside. The intermittent crashes implied that there was someone in the house, but I was too scared to check it out. Till the intermittent noise stopped, I stayed inside, but I should have been running.

Irony#192 A strange of funny

situation where something seems to be opposite of what you expected

Ex: That’s so ironic! Because the turtle won, the turtle and the hair was ironic. I thought my team would win, but the results were ironic. It would be ironic if there is a quiz today, because I didn’t study, but I could probably still pass it.