361-400

Question 1

pariah

Answer 1

n. social outcast.

If everyone ostracized singer Mariah, would she then be Mariah the pariah?

Question 2

parsimony

Answer 2

n. stinginess; excessive frugality.

Furious because her father wouldn’t let her buy out the clothing store, Annie accused him of parsimony.

Question 3

partisan

Answer 3

adj. one-sided; prejudiced.

On certain issues of principle, she refused to take a partisan stand, but let her conscience be her guide.

Question 4

paucity

Answer 4

n. scarcity

They closed the restaurant because the paucity if customers made it uneconomical to operate.

Question 5

penury

Answer 5

n. severe poverty; stinginess.

When his pension fund failed, George feared he would end his days in penury.

Question 6

perfunctory

Answer 6

adj. superficial; not thorough; lacking interest, care, enthusiasm
The auditor’s perfunctory inspection of the books overlooked many errors.

Question 7

pernicious

Answer 7

adj. very destructive.

Crack cocaine has had a pernicious effect on urban society.

Question 8

perpetuate

Answer 8

v. make something last; preserve from extinction.

Some critics attack Tom Sawyer because they believe Twain’s book perpetuates a false image of Blacks in this country.

Question 9

pervasive

Answer 9

adj. pervading; spread throughout every part.
v. pervade.
Despite airing them for several hours, Martha could not rid her clothes of the pervasive odor of mothballs.

Question 10

phenomena

Answer 10

n observable facts; subjects of scientific investigation.

We kept careful records of the phenomena we noted in the course of these experiments.

Question 11

philanthropist

Answer 11

n. lover of mankind.

In his role as a philanthropist, John donated millions of dollars to charity.

Question 12

piety

Answer 12

n. religious devotion; godliness.
adj. pious.
The nuns in the convent were noted for their piety; they spent their days in worship and prayer.

Question 13

pitfall

Answer 13

n. hidden danger.

Her parents warned Sophie against the many pitfalls that lay in wait for her in the dangerous big city.

Question 14

pithy

Answer 14

adj. concise; meaningful.

While other girls might have gone on and on about how uncool Elton was, Liz summed it up in one pithy remark.

Question 15

polemical

Answer 15

adj. aggressive in verbal attack.

Lexy was a master of polemical rhetoric.

Question 16

ponderous

Answer 16

adj. weighty; unwieldy.

His humor lacked the light tough; his jokes were always ponderous.

Question 17

pragmatic

Answer 17

adj. practical (as opposed to idealistic); concerned with the practical worth or impact of something.
This coming trip to France should provide me with a pragmatic test of the value.

Question 18

prattle

Answer 18

v. babble.

Baby John prattled on and on about the cats and his ball and the Cookie Monster.

Question 19

precarious

Answer 19

adj. uncertain; risky.

Saying the stock would be a precarious investment, the broker advised her client against purchasing it.

Question 20

preclude

Answer 20

v. make impossible; eliminate.
The fact that the band was already booked to play in Hollywood on New Year’s Eve precluded their accepting the New Year’s Eve gig in London they were offered.

Question 21

precocious

Answer 21

adj. advanced in development.
n. precocity.
Listening to the grown-up way the child discussed serious topics, we couldn’t help remarking how precocious she was.

Question 22

predecessor

Answer 22

n. former occupant of a post.

I hope I can live up to the fine examples set by my late predecessor in this office.

Question 23

presumptuous

Answer 23

adj. overconfident; taking liberties.
Matilda thought it was somewhat presumptuous of the young man to have addressed her without first having been introduced.

Question 24

pretentious

Answer 24

adj. making unjustified claims; showing off.

None of the other prize winners are wearing their medals; isn’t it a bit pretentious of you to wear yours?

Question 25

prevalent

Answer 25

adj. widespread; generally accepted.
A radical committed to social change, Reed had no patience with the conservative views prevalent in the America of his day.

Question 26

prodigal

Answer 26

adj. wasteful; reckless with money.

Don’t be so prodigal spending my money.

Question 27

profane

Answer 27

v. violate; desecrate; treat unworthily.
The members of the mysterious Far Eastern cult sought to kill the British explorer because he had profaned the sanctity of their holy goblet by using it as an ashtray.

Question 28

profligate

Answer 28

adj. dissipated; wasteful; wildly immoral.

Although surrounded by wild and profligate companions, she nevertheless managed to retain some sense of decency.

Question 29

profusion

Answer 29

n. overabundance; lavish expenditure; excess.
Freddy was so overwhelmed by the profusion of choices on the menu that he knocked over his wine glass and soaked his host.

Question 30

proliferation

Answer 30

n. rapid growth; spread; multiplication.
v. proliferate
Times of economic hardship inevitably encourage the proliferation of countless get-rich-quick schemes.

Question 31

prolific

Answer 31

adj. abundantly fruitful.

My editors must assume I’m a prolific writer: they expect me to revise six books this year!

Question 32

provincial

Answer 32

adj. pertaining to a province; limited in outlook; unsophisticated.
As provincial government, Sir Henry administrated the Queen’s law in his remote corner of Canada.