100 Vocabulary Words for 10th Grade Students

Question 1

placebo

Answer 1

a medicine or procedure prescribed for the psychological benefit to the patient rather than for any physiological effect.

Question 2

plagiarism

Answer 2

the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.
“there were accusations of plagiarism”

Question 3

precocious

Answer 3

(of a child) having developed certain abilities or inclinations at an earlier age than is usual or expected.
“a precocious, solitary boy”

Question 3

precursor

Answer 3

a person or thing that comes before another of the same kind; a forerunner.
“a three-stringed precursor of the violin”

Question 4

progression

Answer 4

• the process of developing or moving gradually towards a more advanced state.
  “good opportunities for career progression”
• a number of things in a series.
  “the vista unfolds in a progression of castles and vineyards as seemingly endless as the Rhine itself”

Question 5

proliferate

Answer 5

increase rapidly in number; multiply.
“the science fiction magazines which proliferated in the 1920s”

Question 6

prowess

Answer 6

• skill or expertise in a particular activity or field.
  “his prowess as a fisherman”
• bravery in battle.
  “the hereditary nobility had no monopoly of skill and prowess in war”

Question 7

requisition

Answer 7

an official order laying claim to the use of property or materials.
“I had to make various requisitions for staff and accommodation”

Question 8

resolute

Answer 8

admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering.
“she was resolute and unswerving”

Question 9

retribution

Answer 9

punishment inflicted on someone as vengeance for a wrong or criminal act.
“employees asked not to be named, saying they feared retribution”

Question 10

retrospective

Answer 10

looking back on or dealing with past events or situations.
“our survey was retrospective”

Question 11

scourge

Answer 11

• a whip used as an instrument of punishment.
• a person or thing that causes great trouble or suffering.
  “the scourge of mass unemployment”

Question 12

solstice

Answer 12

A solstice is an event in which a planet’s poles are most extremely inclined toward or away from the star it orbits

Question 13

solvent

Answer 13

having assets in excess of liabilities; able to pay one’s debts.
“interest rate rises have very severe effects on normally solvent companies”

Question 14

strident

Answer 14

(of a sound) loud and harsh; grating.
“his voice had become increasingly strident”

Question 15

taboo

Answer 15

a social or religious custom prohibiting or restricting a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing.
“many taboos have developed around physical exposure”

Question 16

taciturn

Answer 16

(of a person) reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little.
“after such gatherings she would be taciturn and morose”

Question 17

terse

Answer 17

sparing in the use of words; abrupt.
“a terse statement”

Question 18

tome

Answer 18

a book, especially a large, heavy, scholarly one.
“a weighty tome”

Question 19

ultimatum

Answer 19

a final demand or statement of terms, the rejection of which will result in retaliation or a breakdown in relations.
“their employers issued an ultimatum demanding an immediate return to work”

Question 20

uncanny

Answer 20

strange or mysterious, especially in an unsettling way.
“an uncanny feeling that she was being watched”