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 ancientdays, Athens and Sparta were great city-states.
- Baltimore’s Fort McHenry is an ancientstructure.
- 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 ancillaryto the Skipper.
- While the main body of a news article imparts primary information, side-
bars usually contain ancillaryor 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 anecdoteabout himself and the whale.
- Many are unaware of the fact that some social studies books once con-
tained the anecdotethat 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 animatelifeless, wooden,
marionettes. - You can rely on Harold to join in a dull discussion and, by so doing, to
immediately animateit. - 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 antagonistof the New York
Yankees baseball team. - For every muscle in your body that causes a body part to move in a certain
direction, an antagonistmuscle exists to return the part to its original
position.
[-ic adj., -ically adv., antagonism n.] [Syn. opponent]
A: SAT Words 23