Word Roots Help

Word Roots

agoraphobic    
root: phobe means fear
(adj.)
fear of open or public spaces
My neighbor is _____, so I do his grocery shopping for him.

assimilate    
root: simul means copy
(verb)
to fit in
It is very difficult to_____ to another culture as an adult.

attribute    
root: trib means to give
(noun)
a special quality
(verb)    
to credit
I _____ much of my success to my education.

benevolent    
root: ben means good
(adj.)
kind, having goodwill
The _____ counselor always seemed to understand her students' problems.

biodegradable    
root: bio means life
(adj.)
able to be broken down by living things
Ella is a staunch environmentalist, so she buys only _____ products.

conspicuous    
root: spic, spec mean see
(adj.)
highly visible
Nikolai's _____ Halloween costume made it hard not to notice him.

contradiction    
root: contra means against, dict means say
(noun)
the act or state of disagreeing
My teacher made a direct _____ to her earlier instructions by allowing us to turn in a handwritten report.

credence    
root: cred means believe
(noun)
belief, believability
Marty gave _____ to the gossip because it came from a reliable source.

evident    
root: vid means see
(adj.)
obvious
The effects of the drought will be _____ to anyone who comes to visit the area.

gregarious    
root: greg means crowd
(adj.)
sociable
People want to be around Eva because of her _____ nature.

impediment    
root: pod means foot, ped means child
(noun)
a barrier or hindrance
I had to work with a therapist to overcome my speech _____.

incisive    
root: cis, cid mean to cut
(adj.)
penetrating, clear cut
Journalistic writing should be _____ and factual.

inference    
root: fer means bear or carry
(noun)
guess or surmise
Using his technical expertise, he was able to make an _____ about his findings.

mediocre    
root: med means middle
(adj.)
of medium quality, neither good nor bad, average
The movie was _____ at best, but I watched the whole thing anyway.

philanthropy    
root: phil means love
(noun)
giving generously to worthy causes
The Stark family is very wealthy and known for its _____; last year, they donated one million dollars to help build a new community arts center.

precedent    
root: ced means go
(noun)
a prior ruling or experience
There is no _____ for this case, so it will be difficult to win in court.

recapitulate    
root: cap means head
(verb)
to review in detail
Before the final exam, the professor always likes to _____ key points for the students.

remittance    
root: mit, mis means to send
(noun)
payment, transmittal of money
I forgot to enclose my _____, so I had to pay a late fee the following month.

tangential    
root: tang, tac, tig mean touch
(adj.)
touching slightly, relating to
When giving a speech, Jeanine makes so many _____ remarks that it is hard to grasp her message.

urbane    
root: urb means city
(adj.)
polished, sophisticated
Her _____ manner is a result of many years in the public eye.

TIP

Go through the list and circle each word's suffix. Review their meanings. Now that you know about prefixes, suffixes, and roots, you can successfully dissect a word to discover its meaning.

Practice exercises for this study guide can be found at: Word Roots Practice