4-2, 5-2

Question 1

deferential

Answer 1

respecful

Question 2

apprehensive

Answer 2

anxious or fearful that something bad or unpleasant will happen

Question 3

exasperating

Answer 3

intensely irritating and frustrating

Question 4

abet

Answer 4

encourage, assist

Question 5

credulous

Answer 5

Gullible; prone to believing or trusting too easily or without enough evidence

Theranos is a horror story of wishful thinking, credulous media, and celebrity impunity

Question 6

culminate

Answer 6

Reach the highest point or final stage

The investigation could culminate in the retroactive imposition of significant tariffs on solar cells and modules from Chinese companies

Question 7

cupidity

Answer 7

Greed, great or excessive desire, avarice

The cupidity of the government and white real estate developers leaves working-class locals with few options

Question 8

curmudgeon

Answer 8

Bad-tempered, difficult person; grouch

Question 9

debase

Answer 9

Degrade; lower in quality, value, rank, etc.; lower in moral quality

… a constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to outlaw debasing the American flag.

Question 10

declaim

Answer 10

to speak pompously or bombastically (usually on stage or podium); harangue

Listening to an actor declaim a passage in a Shakespeare play can be enjoyable.
Most people don’t appreciate being treated as an audience, and good advice is usually more welcome when it’s not given in a declamatory style.

Question 11

declivity

Answer 11

Downward slope

Question 12

decorous

Answer 12

Behaving with propriety and good taste; polite

We were asked to be on our most decorous behavior at the formal event

Question 13

deface

Answer 13

Vandalize, mar the appearance of

The building was defaced with graffitti

Question 14

deference

Answer 14

Respectful submission; yielding to the authority or opinion of another

The media’s deference to the mourning period has sparked discomfort, as regular news coverage and tv programming has been bene eclipsed with updates on King Charle’s accession

Question 15

deleterious

Answer 15

Harmful, unhealthful

High quit rates have become so deleterious that companies are flagging the Great Resignation as a potential business risk in their annual reports

Question 16

delimit

Answer 16

Fix, mark, or define the boundaries of

Strict guidelines and laws delimit his responsibilities as the monarch

Question 17

disposition

Answer 17

A person’s general or natural mood; tendency

Question 18

disquieting

Answer 18

Disturbing, causing anxiety

In much of the Bay Area, COVID and protocols have kept people in their homes, engulfing whole cities in a sense of disquieting calm

Question 19

dissemble

Answer 19

Mislead, conceal the truth, put on a false appearance of

The government will soon mandate that all visitors be vaccinated, but my relative plans to dissemble in order to evade the requirement

Question 20

disseminate

Answer 20

to spread, disperse

The group then used Telegram to disseminate photos of the vandalism.

Question 21

dissonance

Answer 21

Harsh, inharmonious sound; cacophony; disagreement

the dissonance between what we are told and what we see with our own eyes

Question 22

distaff

Answer 22

Female, esp. relating to the maternal side of the family; women or women’s work; a staff that holds wool or flax for spinning

distaff executives are still the vast minority

Question 23

dissent

Answer 23

Disagree or take an opposing view, esp. in relation to a formal body such as a government, political party, or church; such a view

Three of the justices dissented from the majority opinion.

Question 24

dissolution

Answer 24

breaking bonds or breaking up of a group of people; death, disintegration; sinking into extreme hedonism, vice, and degradation

What unites the democrats now is a passionate antagonism for Donald Trump, and a sincere worry that American democracy is on the precipice of dissolution

Question 25

distend

Answer 25

swell or cause to well by pressure from inside

the abdomen distended rapidly

Question 26

distill

Answer 26

purify; extract the essential elements from

Question 27

dither

Answer 27

Act indecisively (verb); a state of fear or trembling excitement

The nation is facing humanitarian crisis, and countless allies remain trapped there, but the White House continue to dither