5 Antipathy - Attenuate

Question 1

antipathy

Answer 1

strong dislike

Antonio’s antipathy for reporters stemmed from his childhood, when journalists hassled him about his father’s trial.

Question 2

apathy

Answer 2

an absence of emotion or enthusiasm
The teacher was disappointed in the students’ apathy toward the field trip; she had mistakenly believed that this trip would finally excite them about learning.

Question 3

apocryphal

Answer 3

fake; untrue

April told an apocryphal tale about my mother; I wanted so much to believe it even though I knew it wasn’t true.

Question 4

apostate

Answer 4

person who abandons their religion or cause

I had been an apostate from my religion for years, but recently had started thinking about rejoining the church.

Question 5

approbation

Answer 5

approval

Apollo’s proposal for new lighting on campus was met with approbation, as the board agreed there was a safety issue.

Question 6

archaic

Answer 6

so extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period
The college cannot have sorority or fraternity houses because of an archaic town law that does not allow unmarried people to live together.

Question 7

ardor

Answer 7

intense passion
Mrs. Armstrong, my English teacher, is known for her ardor for the literature of William Faulkner; last summer she even visited his hometown in Mississippi in order to better visualize the settings of his books.

Question 8

arrogate

Answer 8

to claim without rights

The government arrogated Arianna’s land, so she hired a lawyer to prove it did not have any rights to her property.

Question 9

ascertain

Answer 9

to make certain
The detective was able to ascertain the suspect’s whereabouts on the night of the burglary through surveillance
video.

Question 10

ascetic

Answer 10

a person who practices self-denial as a spiritual discipline
To prove his devotion to the religion, the ascetic did not own anything that might provide comfort or pleasure, such as a mattress or television set.

Question 11

assail

Answer 11

to attack
Asa was determined to master the GRE Verbal Reasoning section, so she assailed vocabulary words with
determination.

Question 12

assiduous

Answer 12

constant and attentive

Ashley is an assiduous researcher; she was able to find articles on the poet that even the librarian could not locate.

Question 13

assuage

Answer 13

to relieve or ease

The shoplifter assuaged his guilt by confessing to the crime.

Question 14

attenuate

Answer 14

to weaken

Atticus’ muscles slowly attenuated when he quit working out at the gym.