29/10/2024

Question 1

parochial

Answer 1

(ADJ)narrowly restricted in scope or outlook

Eg:
Jasmine was sad to admit it, but her fledgling relationship with Jacob did not work out because his culinary tastes were simple too parochial; “After all,” she quipped on her blog, “he considered chef Boyardee ethnic food.”

Question 2

undermine

Answer 2

(V) to weaken (usually paired with an abstract term)

Eg:
the student undermined the teacher’s authority by questioning the teacher’s judgment on numerous occasions.

Question 3

profligate

Answer 3

(ADJ) spending resources recklessly or wastefully

Eg:
The composer Wagner, while living on a limited salary, was so profligate as to lie all the walls of his apartment with pure silks.

(N) some one who spends resources recklessly or wastefully

Eg:
Most lottery winners go from being conservative, frugal types to outright profligates who blow millions on fast cars, lavish homes and giant yachts.

Question 4

amenable

Answer 4

(ADJ) easily persuaded

Eg:
Even though she did not like the outdoors, Shirley was generally amenable and so her brother was able to persuade her to go camping.

Question 5

restive

Answer 5

(ADJ) restless

Eg:
The crowd grew restive as the comedian’s opening jokes fell flat

Question 6

equivocal

Answer 6

(ADJ) confusing or ambitious

Eg:
the findings of the study were equivocal-the two researchers had different opinions on what the results signified.

Question 7

venality

Answer 7

(N) the condition of being susceptible to bribes or corruption

Eg:
Even some of the most scared sporting events are not immune to venality, as many of the officials have received substantial bribes to make biased calls.

Question 8

prevaricate

Answer 8

(V) to speak in an evasive way

Eg:
the cynic quipped, “There is not much variance in politicians; they all seem to prevaricate”.

Question 9

impertinent

Answer 9

(ADJ) being disrespectful; improperly forward or bold

Eg:
Dexter, distraught over losing his pet dachshund, Madeline, found the police officer’s questions impertinent-after all, he thought, did she have to pry into such details as to what Madeline’s favorite snack was?

Question 10

innocuous

Answer 10

(ADJ) harmless and doesn’t produce any ill effects

Eg:
everyone found Nancy’s banter innocuous-except for Mike, who felt like she was intentionally picking on him.

Question 11

amorphous

Answer 11

(ADJ) shapeless

Eg:
His study plan for the GRE was at best amorphous; he would do questions from random pages in any one of the seven test prep books

Question 12

calumny

Answer 12

(N) making of a false statement meant to injure a person’s reputation

Eg:
with presidential primaries well under way, the air is thick with calumny, and the mud already wait-high

Question 13

enervate

Answer 13

(V) to sap energy from

Eg:
John preferred to avoid equatorial countries; the intense sun would always leave him enervated after he’d spent the day sightseeing

Question 14

betray

Answer 14

(V) to reveal or make known something usually unintentionally

Eg:
With the gold medal at stake , the gymnast awaited his turn, his quivering lip betraying his intense emotions

Question 14

upbraid

Answer 14

(V) to reproach; to scold

Eg:
Bob took a risk walking into the “Students Barbershop”-in the end he had to upbraid the apparently drunk barber for giving him an uneven bowl cut.

Question 15

iconoclast

Answer 15

(N) somebody who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions

Eg:
lady Gaga, in challenging what it means to be clothed, is an iconoclast for wearing a “meat dress” to a prominent awards show.

Question 16

acrimony

Answer 16

(N) bitterness and ill will

Eg:
the acrimony between the president and the VP sent clear signal to voters, the health of the current administration was imperiled.

Question 17

harangue

Answer 17

(N) a long pompous speech; a tirade

Eg:
Dinner at Billy’s was more a punishment then a reward, since anyone who sat at the dinner table would have to listen to Billy’s father’s interminable harangues against the government.

(V) to deliver a long pompous speech or tirade

Eg:
Tired of his parents haranguing him about his laziness and lack of initiative, Tyler finally moved out of home at the age of 35.

Question 18

demur

Answer 18

(V) to object or show reluctance

Eg:
Wallace dislikes the cold, so he demurred when his friends suggested they go skiing in the Alps.

Question 19

veracious

Answer 19

(ADJ) truthful

Eg:
While we elect our leaders in the hope that every word they speak will be veracious, history has shown that such a hope is naïve.

Question 20

chastise

Answer 20

(V) to reprimand harshly

Eg:
though chastised for eating the snacks for the party, Lawrence shrugged off his mother’s harsh words, and continued to plow through jars of cookies and boxes of donuts

Question 21

aberration

Answer 21

(N) a derivation from what is normal or expected

Eg:
Aberrations in climate have become the norm; rarely a week goes by without some meteorological phenomenon making headlines.

Question 22

commensurate

Answer 22

(ADJ) to be in proportion or corresponding in degree or amount

Eg:
The convicted felon’s life sentence was commensurate with the heinousness of his crime.

Question 23

vindicate

Answer 23

(V) to clear of accusation, blame, suspicion or doubt with supporting arguments or proof.

Eg:
Even seven tour de France wins cannot vindicate lance Armstrong in the eyes of the public– that the athlete used performance enhancing drugs invalidates all those wins

Question 24

censure

Answer 24

(V) to express strong disapproval

Eg:
After being caught in bed with a mistress, the mayor was quickly censured by the city council.

Question 25

galvanize

Answer 25

(V) to excite or inspire(someone) to action

Eg:
At mile 23 of his first marathon, Kyle had all but given up, until he noticed his friends and family holding a banner that read, “go Kyle”, galvanized, he broke into a gallop, finishing the last three miles in less than 20 minutes.

Question 26

belie

Answer 26

(V) to give a false representation to; misrepresent

Eg:
The smile on her face belies the pain she must feel after the death of her husband.

Question 27

ambivalent

Answer 27

(ADJ) mixed or conflicting emotions about something

Eg:
Sam was ambivalent about studying for the exam because doing so ate up a lot of his time yet he was able to improve his analytical skills.

Question 28

castigate

Answer 28

(V) to reprimand harshly

Eg:
Drill sergeants are known to castigate new recruits so mercilessly that the latter often break down during their first week in training.

Question 29

laconic

Answer 29

(ADJ) (describes a person, speech or style of writing) using very few words.

Eg:
While Maratha always swooned over the hunky, laconic types in romantic comedies, her boyfriends inevitably were very talkative–and not very hunky.

Question 30

extant

Answer 30

(ADJ) still in existence (usually refers to documents)

Eg:
Despite many bookstores closing, experts predict that some form of book, dealing will still be extant generations from now.

Question 31

mercurial

Answer 31

(ADJ) (of a person) prone to unexpected & unpredictable changes in mood

Eg:
The fact that ell’s moods were as mercurial as the weather was problematic for her relationships–it didn’t help that she lived in Chicago.

Question 32

prodigal

Answer 32

(ADJ) rashly or wastefully extravagant

Eg:
Successful professional athletes who do not fall prey to prodigality seem to be the exception–most live decadent lives.

Question 33

ingenuous

Answer 33

(ADJ) to be naïve and innocent

Eg:
2 years in Manhattan had changed Jenna from a ingenuous girl from the suburbs to a jaded urbanite, unlikely to fall for any ruse, regardless of how elaborate.

Question 34

gregarious

Answer 34

(ADJ) to be likely to socialize with others

Eg:
Often we think that great leaders are those who are gregarious, always in the middle of a larger group of people; yet as Mahatma Gandhi and many others have shown us, leaders can also be introverted.

Question 35

venerate

Answer 35

(V) to respect deeply

Eg:
The professor, despite his sleep-inducing lectures, was venerated amongst his colleagues, publishing more papers yearly than all of his peers combined.

Question 36

parsimonious

Answer 36

(ADJ) extremely frugal; miserly

Eg:
Katie is so parsimonious that she only buys a pair of socks if all of her other socks have holes in them.

Question 37

egregious

Answer 37

(ADJ) standing out in a negative way; shockingly bad

Eg:
The dictator’s abuse of human rights was so egregious that many world leaders demanded that he be tried in an international court for genocides.

Question 38

frugal

Answer 38

(ADJ) not spending much money (but spending wisely)

Eg:
Monte was not miser, but was simply frugal, wisely spending the little that he earned.

Question 39

chastise

Answer 39

(V) to reprimand harshly

Eg:
Though chastised, for eating the snacks for the party, Lawrence shrugged off his mother’s harsh words and continued to plow through jars of cookies and boxes of donuts.

Question 40

amalgam

Answer 40

(N) a mixture of multiple things

Eg:
The band’s music was an amalgam of hip-hop, flamenco and jazz, blending the three styles with surprising results.