_A_

Question 1

abase

She is not abased or dejected, but exalted, rather.

Answer 1

cause to feel shame

Question 2

aberration

While Tampa Bay has taken a huge nosedive a year after going 10-6, maybe that 2010 success was an aberration.

Answer 2

a state or condition markedly different from the norm

Question 3

abhor

There are sane readers who abhor gratuitous violence but love Reacher’s menacing wisecracks.

Answer 3

find repugnant

Question 4

abject

Mr. Jobling stood wringing his hands helplessly, his flaccid features expressive of abject despair.

Answer 4

most unfortunate or miserable

Question 5

abrasive

“He has always been focused, driven, demanding and, as a result, very difficult and abrasive,” Mr. Norman said.

Answer 5

sharply disagreeable, unpleasant, or harsh

Question 6

abstain

Griffin felt that he had better abstain from questioning, and let his host run on.

Answer 6

refrain from doing, consuming, or partaking in something

Question 7

abstract

Presenting an abstract concept, waving our arms trying to describe it, we will lose our audience right away.

Answer 7

existing only in the mind

Question 8

abundant

Fringing and barrier reefs are abundant throughout the archipelago, surrounding nearly every island.

Answer 8

present in great quantity

Question 9

accentuate

It was a carefully studied costume; and he accentuated its eccentricity by adopting theatrical attitudes and an air of satisfied negligence.

Answer 9

stress or single out as important

Question 10

acclimate

The Jets will leave Friday for Denver, the better to acclimate to the altitude and change in time zone.

Answer 10

get used to a certain environment

Question 11

accomplice

Tiller, the thief, and a supposed accomplice, are under arrest.

Answer 11

a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan

Question 12

accord

Friday’s accord removes one of two main sticking points that have been holding up a strategic partnership agreement between the two countries.

Answer 12

concurrence of opinion

Question 13

acerbic

They were complaining, sometimes yelling, and maybe a bit acerbic.

Answer 13

harsh or corrosive in tone

Question 14

acme

Paris wholly has got to the acme of its frenzy; whirled, all ways, by panic madness.

Answer 14

the highest level or degree attainable

Question 15

acquiesce

I favored building a fire and staying there till morning, but Frank preferred pushing on to camp, so I acquiesced.

Answer 15

agree or express agreement

Question 16

acquit

He said that in the absence of other evidence, “the accused is acquitted and discharged.”

Answer 16

pronounce not guilty of criminal charges

Question 17

acrimonious

At times, the two groups squabble like schoolchildren, and the exchange gets acrimonious.

Answer 17

marked by strong resentment or cynicism