241-280

Question 1

hackneyed

Answer 1

adj. commonplace; trite.
When the reviewer criticized the movie for its hackneyed plot, we agreed; we had seen similar stories hundred of times before.

Question 2

hamper

Answer 2

v. obstruct
The new mother didn’t realize how much the effort of caring for an infant would hamper her ability to keep an immaculate house.

Question 3

hardy

Answer 3

adj. sturdy; robust.

We asked the gardening expert to recommend particularly hardy plants that could withstand the harsh New England winters.

Question 4

haughtiness

Answer 4

n. pride; arrogance.
When she realized that Darcy believed himself too good to dance with his inferiors, Liz took great offense at his haughtiness.

Question 5

hedonist

Answer 5

n. one who believes that pleasure is the sole aim in life.

A thoroughgoing hedonist, he considered only his own pleasure and ignored any claims others had on his money or time.

Question 6

heresy

Answer 6

n. opinion contrary to popular belief; opinion contrary to accepted religion.
n. heretic
Galileo’s assertion that the earth moved around the sun directly contradicted the religious teachings of his day; as a result, he was tried for heresy.

Question 7

hierarchy

Answer 7

n. arrangement by rank or stand; authoritarian body divided into ranks,
To be low man on the totem pole is to have an inferior place in the hierarchy.

Question 8

homogeneous

Answer 8

adj. of the same kind.
v. homogenize
Because of the student body at Elite Prep was so homogeneous, Sara decided to send her daughter to a school that offered greater cultural diversity.

Question 9

hypocritical

Answer 9

adj. pretending to be virtuous; deceiving.
n. hypocrisy
It was hypocritical of Martha to say nice things about my poetry to me and then make fun of my verses behind my back.

Question 10

hypothetical

Answer 10

adj. based on assumptions or hypotheses; supposed.
n. hypothesis.
This is only a hypothetical situation.

Question 11

iconoclastic

Answer 11

adj. attacking cherished traditions.

Deeply iconoclastic, Jean deliberately set out to shock conventional theatergoers with his radical plays.

Question 12

idiosyncrasy

Answer 12

n. individual trait, usually odd in nature.
adj. idiosyncratic
One of Richard’s little idiosyncrasies was his liking for ketchup of cottage cheese.

Question 13

ignominy

Answer 13

n. deep disgrace; shame or dishonor.
adj. ignominious
To lost the Ping-Pong match to a trained chimpanzee!
How could Rollo stand the ignominy of his defeat?

Question 14

illicit

Answer 14

adj. illegal.

The defense attorney maintained that his client had never preformed an illicit actions.

Question 15

illusory

Answer 15

adj. deceptive; not real.

Unfortunately, the costs of running the lemonade stand were so high that Tom’s profits proved illusory.

Question 16

immutable

Answer 16

adj. unchangeable

All things change over time; nothing is immutable.

Question 17

impair

Answer 17

v. injure; hurt.

Drinking alcohol can impair your sense to drive safely.

Question 18

impeccable

Answer 18

adj. faultless.

The uncrowned queen of the fashion industry, Diana was acclaimed for her impeccable taste.

Question 19

impecunious

Answer 19

adj. without money.

Though Scrooge claimed he was too impecunious to give aims, he easily could have afforded to be charitable.

Question 20

impede

Answer 20

v. hinder; block.

A series of accidents impeded the launching of the space shuttle.

Question 21

implausible

Answer 21

adj. unlikely; unbelievable.

Though her alibi seemed implausible, it in fact turned out to be true.

Question 22

implement

Answer 22

v. put into effect; supply with tools.
n.
The mayor was unwilling to implement the plan until she was sure it had the governor’s backing.

Question 23

impregnable

Answer 23

adj. invulnerable.

Until the development of the airplane as a military weapon, the fort was considered impregnable.

Question 24

impudence

Answer 24

n. impertinence; insolence.

Criminals are sent to jail for their impudence.

Question 25

inadvertently

Answer 25

adv. unintentionally: by oversight.

Judy’s great fear was that she might inadvertently omit a question on the exam and mismark her whole answer sheet.

Question 26

inane

Answer 26

adj. silly; senseless.

Why are you bothering to make such inane remarks?

Question 27

incidental

Answer 27

adj. not essential; minor.

The scholarship covered his major expenses at college and some of his incidental expenses as well.

Question 28

incisive

Answer 28

adj. cutting; sharp.

His incisive remarks made us see the fallacy in our plans.

Question 29

incite

Answer 29

v. arouse to action; motivate.
In a fiery speech, Mario incited his fellow students to go out on strike to protest the university’s anti-affirmative action stand.

Question 30

inclusive

Answer 30

adj. tending to include all.
The comedian turned down the invitation to join the Players’ Club, saying any club that would let him in was too inclusive for him.

Question 31

incongruous

Answer 31

adj. not fitting; absurd.
n. incongruity
Dave saw nothing incongruous about wearing sneakers with his tuxedo; he couldn’t understand why his date took one look at him and started to laugh.

Question 32

inconsequential

Answer 32

adj. insignificant; unimportant.

The apology was inconsequential because it was not the person’s fault.

Question 33

incontrovertible

Answer 33

adj. indisputable
Unless you find the evidence against my client absolutely incontrovertible, you must declare her not guilty of this charge.

Question 34

incorrigible

Answer 34

adj. not correctable.

Though Widow Douglass hoped to reform Huck, Miss Watson called him incorrigible and said he would come to no good end.

Question 35

indefatigable

Answer 35

adj. tireless.
Although the effort of taking out the garbage tired Wayne out for the entire morning, when it came to partying, he was indefatigable.

Question 36

indict

Answer 36

v. charge
n. indictment
The district attorney didn’t want to indict the suspect until she was sure she had a strong enough case to convince a jury.

Question 37

indifferent

Answer 37

adj. uncaring.

Because Ann felt no desire to marry, she was indifferent to Carl’s constant proposals.

Question 38

indiscriminate

Answer 38

adj. choosing at random; confused.

She disapproved of her son’s indiscriminate television viewing and decided to restrict him to educational programs.

Question 39

indolent

Answer 39

adj. lazy
n. indolence
Couch potatoes lead an indolent life lying back on their Lazyboy recliners watching TV.