#9 apathy ~ apprehensive

Question 1

apathy

/ˈæpəθi/

Answer 1

n. lack of interest; lack of feeling
- The members of the student council accused the senior class of apathy because none of the seniors had bothered to sign up for the big fundraiser.
- Jill didn’t care one bit about current events; she was entirely apathetic.

Question 2

aphorism

/ˈæfəˌrɪzəm/

Answer 2

n. a brief, often witty saying; a proverb
- Benjamin Franklin was fond of aphorisms. He was frequently aphoristic.
- Chef Hussain is particularly fond of Woolf’s aphorism, “One cannot think well, love well or sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

Question 3

apocalypse

/əˈpɒkəlɪps/

Answer 3

n. a prophetic revelation, esp. one concerning the end of the world
In strict usage, apocalypse refers to specific Christian writings, but most people use it more generally in connection with predictions of things like nuclear war, the destruction of the ozone layer and the spread of fast-food restaurants to every corner of the universe.
To make such predictions, or to be deeply pessimistic, is to be apocalyptic.

Question 4

apocryphal

/əˈpɒkrəfəl/

Answer 4

n. of dubious authenticity; fictitious; spurious
- Brandi’s blog discredited the apocryphal report of Martians in Congress.
- An apocryphal story is one whose truth is not proven or whose falsehood is strongly suspected.
Like apocalypse, this word has a religious origin. The Apocrypha are a number of “extra” books of the Old Testament that Protestants and Jews don’t include in their bibles because they don’t think they’re authentic.

Question 5

apotheosis

/əˌpɒθiˈoʊsɪs, ˌæpəˈθiəsɪs/

Answer 5

n. elevation to divine status; the perfect example of sth.
- Some people think that the Corvette is the apotheosis of American car making. They think it’s the ideal.
- Geoffrey is unbearable to be with. He thinks he’s the apotheosis of masculinity.

Question 6

appease

/əˈpiz/

Answer 6

v. to soothe; to pacify by giving in to
- Jaleel appeased his angry mother by promising to make his bed every morning without fail until the end of time.
- The trembling farming handed over all his grain, but still the emperor was not appeased.
The noun is appeasement.

Question 7

appreciate

/əˈpriʃiˌeɪt/

Answer 7

v. to increase in value
- The Browns bought their house twenty years ago for a hundred thousand dollars, but it has appreciated considerably since then; today it’s worth almost two million dollars.
- Harry bought Joe’s collection of old chewing-tobacco tins as an investment. His hope was that the tins would appreciate over the next few years, enabling him to turn a profit by selling them to someone else.

Question 8

depreciate

/dɪˈpriʃiˌeɪt/

Answer 8

v. to decrease in value

- When a car loses value over time, we say it is depreciated.

Question 9

apprehensive

/ˌæprɪˈhɛnsɪv/

Answer 9

adj. worried; anxious
- The apprehensive child clung to his father’s leg as the two of them walked into the main circus tent to watch the lion tamer.
- Rhea was apprehensive about the exam, because she had forgotten to go to class for several months. As it turned out, her apprehensions were justified. She couldn’t answer a single question on the test.

Question 10

misapprehension

/ˌmɪsæprɪˈhɛnʃən/

Answer 10

n. a misunderstanding

- Rhea had no misapprehensions about her lack of preparation; she knew perfectly well she would fail abysmally.