Chapter 8 Answer Key
New Words Drill
1. Antipodal means “situated on opposite sides.”
2. Antithesis is an opposing idea.
3. The root auto- means “self,” so an autocrat wants to manage a country by him- or herself
(not in a democratic manner).
4. Contraband is negative, as contra- means “against.” (Contraband is something that is
illegally or unethically acquired.)
5. Contretemps is negative, as contra- means “against.” (A contretemps is an argument or
dispute; literally, “against time.”)
6. To perform a task autonomously means to do it by yourself. It is comprised of the roots
auto- and nom-.
7. To debilitate is to weaken.
8. To debunk is to prove false.
9. If a machine is defunct, it is no longer functioning.- A degenerate person is morally weak or bad. (De- is a negative root.)
11. A dejected person is sad. (De- is a negative root.)
Replete means “filled up.”
A magnanimous person is generous. The root magna- means “great” or “big.”
A peripatetic person would travel a lot. Peri- means “around.”
Post- means “after,” so posterity refers to the people who live after you.
Posthumously means “after death”; the root post- means “after.”
A malapropism is an improper use of a word; mal- is negative.
A benign tumor is the opposite of a malignant tumor.
Voc- pertains to speaking, so your vocation is your “calling.”
An anthology is a collection of works, especially written works, so log- (words) is more
helpful here. Antho- is NOT the same as anthro-.
Dis- is negative, so disparate groups are dissimilar.
De- is negative; all of the words (debase, decry, defame, defile, degrade, deplore, and
deride) mean criticizing, harming, or rejecting.
Amo- means “love”; being enamored with something means to be in love with it.
Pugn- means “fighting” or “attacking,” while pun- is more similar to “punish.” They are both
negative roots, but they are not identical. Impunity means “immunity from punishment.”
To exonerate means to find innocent. Ex- means “outside,” so to exonerate literally means
that the accused is being taken “outside” of blame.
Exculpate is similar to the meaning of exonerate; both words literally mean to take