Page 32 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary

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A: SAT Words
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ancient (AYN shent) adj. 1. belonging to the distant past, especially prior to the
end of the Western Roman Empire (476 A.D.); 2. having been in existence a long
time; very, very old; 3. antiquated; old-fashioned —n. 1. a person who lived in
ancient times; 2. a very old person
• In ancient days, Athens and Sparta were great city-states.
• Baltimore’s Fort McHenry is an ancient structure.
• Barbara thinks her mom’s notions of proper behavior are totally ancient,
dude.
• Julius Caesar was an ancient; so is my grandfather.
[Syn. old]
ancillary (AN sil er ee) adj. 1. underling or subordinate, often used with to; 2.
that serves as an aid; auxiliary
• On the Minnow, Gilligan was ancillary to the Skipper.
• While the main body of a news article imparts primary information, side-
bars usually contain ancillary or related facts.
anecdote (AN ik doht) n. 1. a short, entertaining account of something that
happened, usually personal or biographical; 2. (obsolete) a little-known amusing
fact
• Jonah related the anecdote about himself and the whale.
• Many are unaware of the fact that some social studies books once con-
tained the anecdote that Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin that he’d
built with his own hands.
[anecdotal adj., anecdotally adv.] [Syn. story]
animate (AN i mayt) vt. 1. to bring to life; to give life to; 2. to cause to be ener-
getic or spirited; 3. to move to action; inspire
• Skillful puppeteers are able to convincingly animate lifeless, wooden,
marionettes.
• You can rely on Harold to join in a dull discussion and, by so doing, to
immediately animate it.
• The group of soldiers sat around acting glum, until Sergeant Jones animated
them to take action.
[-d, animating, animation n.]
antagonist* (an TAG uh nisst) n. 1. a person who competes against or opposes
another; adversary; opponent; 2. a muscle, drug, etc. that acts to opppose another
• The Boston Red Sox baseball team is the chief antagonist of the New York
Yankees baseball team.
• For every muscle in your body that causes a body part to move in a certain
direction, an antagonist muscle exists to return the part to its original
position.
[-ic adj., -ically adv., antagonism n.] [Syn. opponent]