Advanced II

Question 1

bilious

Answer 1

bilious
adjective: irritable; always angry

Rex was bilious all morning, and his face would only take on a look of contentedness when he’d had his morning cup of coffee.

Question 2

histrionic

Answer 2

histrionic
adjective: to be overly theatrical

Though she received a B- on the test, she had such a histrionic outburst that one would have thought that she’d been handed a death sentence.

Question 3

disabuse

Answer 3

disabuse
verb: to persuade somebody that his/her belief is not valid

As a child, I was quickly disabused of the notion that Santa Claus was a rotund benefactor of infinite largess—one night I saw my mother diligently wrapping presents and storing them under our Christmas tree.

Question 4

benighted

Answer 4

benighted
adjective: fallen into a state of ignorance

Far from being a period of utter benightedness, The Medieval Ages produced some great works of theological speculation.

Question 5

sangfroid

Answer 5

sangfroid
noun: calmness or poise in difficult situations

The hostage negotiator exhibited a sangfroid that oftentimes was more menacing than the sword at his throat, or the gun at his head.

Question 6

sybarite

Answer 6

sybarite
noun: a person who indulges in luxury

Despite the fact that he’d maxed out fifteen credit cards, Max was still a sybarite at heart: when the police found him, he was at a $1,000 an hour spa in Manhattan, getting a facial treatment.

Question 7

gerrymander

Answer 7

gerrymander
verb: to manipulate voting districts in order to favor a particular political party

Years ago, savvy politicians had gerrymandered the city center to ensure their re-election.

Question 8

cupidity

Answer 8

cupidity
noun: greed for money

Some people believe that amassing as much wealth as possible is the meaning to life—yet they often realize that cupidity brings anything but happiness.

Question 9

jejune

Answer 9

jejune
adjective: dull; lacking flavor

Although many top chefs have secured culinary foam’s popularity in haute cuisine, Waters criticizes it for being jejune and unfilling.

adjective: immature; childish

Her boss further cemented his reputation for being jejune after throwing a fit when the water cooler wasn’t refilled.

Question 10

maudlin

Answer 10

maudlin
adjective: overly emotional and sad

Just as those who were alive during the 70’s are mortified that they once cavorted about in bellbottoms, many who lived during the 80’s are now aghast at the maudlin pop songs they used to enjoy—really, just what exactly is a total eclipse of the heart?

Question 11

expurgate

Answer 11

expurgate
verb: to remove objectionable material

The censor expurgated every reference to sex and drugs, converting the rapper’s raunchy flow into a series of bleeps.

Question 12

pyrrhic

Answer 12

pyrrhic
adjective: describing a victory that comes at such a great cost that the victory is not worthwhile

George W. Bush’s win in the 2000 election was in many ways a pyrrhic victory: the circumstances of his win alienated half of the U.S. population.

Question 13

limpid

Answer 13

limpid
adjective: having clarity in terms of expression

Her limpid prose made even the most recondite subjects accessible to a

Question 14

sententious

Answer 14

sententious
adjective: to be moralizing, usually in a pompous sense

The old man, casting his nose up in the air at the group of adolescents, intoned sententiously, “Youth is wasted on the young.”

Question 15

schadenfreude

Answer 15

schadenfreude
noun: joy from watching the suffering of others

From his warm apartment window, Stanley reveled in schadenfreude as he laughed at the figures below, huddled together in the arctic chill.

Question 16

martinet

Answer 16

martinet
noun: a strict disciplinarian

The job seemed perfect to Rebecca, until she found out that her boss was a total martinet; after each project the boss would come by to scrutinize—and inevitably criticize—every little detail of the work Rebecca had done.

Question 17

vituperate

Answer 17

vituperate
verb: to criticize harshly; to berate

Jason had dealt with disciplinarians before, but nothing prepared him for the first week of boot camp, as drill sergeants vituperated him for petty oversights such as forgetting to double knot the laces on his boots.

Question 18

quisling

Answer 18

quisling
noun: a traitor

History looks unfavorably upon quislings; indeed they are accorded about the same fondness as Nero—who watched his city burn down while playing the violin.

Question 19

mettlesome

Answer 19

mettlesome
adjective: filled with courage or valor

For its raid on the Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Seal Team Six has become, for many Americans, the embodiment of mettle.

Question 20

peremptory

Answer 20

peremptory
adjective: bossy and domineering

My sister used to peremptorily tell me to do the dishes, a chore I would either do perfunctorily or avoid doing altogether.

Question 21

parvenu

Answer 21

parvenu
noun: a person who has suddenly become wealthy, but not socially accepted as part of a higher class

The theater was full of parvenus who each thought that they were surrounded by true aristocrats.

Question 22

jaundiced

Answer 22

jaundiced
adjective: to be biased against due to envy or prejudice

Shelly was jaundiced towards Olivia; though the two had once been best friends, Olivia had become class president, prom queen, and, to make matters worse, the girlfriend of the one boy Shelly liked.

Question 23

impecunious

Answer 23

impecunious
adjective: lacking money; poor

In extremely trying times, even the moderately wealthy, after a few turns of ill-fortune, can become impecunious.

Question 24

mulct

Answer 24

mulct
verb: to defraud or swindle

The so-called magical diet cure simply ended up mulcting Maria out of hundreds of dollars, but did nothing for her weight.

Question 25

quixotic

Answer 25

quixotic
adjective: wildly idealistic; impractical

For every thousand startups with quixotic plans to be the next big name in e-commerce, only a handful ever become profitable.

Question 26

propitiate

Answer 26

propitiate
verb: to placate or appease

The two sons, plying their angry father with cheesy neckties for Christmas, were hardly able to propitiate him – the father already had a drawer full of ones he had never worn before or ever planned to.

Question 27

curmudgeon

Answer 27

curmudgeon
noun: a grouchy, surly person

Since Uncle Mike was the family curmudgeon, each Thanksgiving he was plied with copious amounts of wine, in the hope that he would become less grouchy.

Question 28

venial

Answer 28

venial
adjective: easily excused or forgiven; pardonable

His traffic violations ran the gamut from the venial to the egregious—on one occasion he simply did not come to a complete stop; another time he tried to escape across state lines at speeds in excess of 140 mph.

Question 29

fell

Answer 29

fell
adjective: terribly evil

For fans of the Harry Potter series, the fell Lord Voldemort, who terrorized poor Harry for seven lengthy installments, has finally been vanquished by the forces of good—unless, that is, JK Rowling decides to come out of retirement.

This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 30

phantasmagorical

Answer 30

phantasmagorical
adjective: illusive; unreal

Those suffering from malaria fall into a feverish sleep, their world a whirligig of phantasmagoria; if they recover, they are unsure of what actually took place and what was simply a product of their febrile imaginations.

Question 31

palimpsest

Answer 31

palimpsest
noun: something that has been changed numerous times but on which traces of former iterations can still be seen

The downtown was a palimpsest of the city’s checkered past: a new Starbucks had opened up next to an abandoned, shuttered building, and a freshly asphalted road was inches away from a pothole large enough to swallow a small dog.

Question 32

propitiate

Answer 32

propitiate
verb: to placate or appease

The two sons, plying their angry father with cheesy neckties for Christmas, were hardly able to propitiate him – the father already had a drawer full of ones he had never worn before or ever planned to.

Question 33

blinkered

Answer 33

blinkered
adjective: to have a limited outlook or understanding

In gambling, the blinkered addict is easily influenced by past successes and/or past failures, forgetting that the outcome of any one game is independent of the games that preceded it.

Question 34

arch

Answer 34

arch
adjective: to be deliberately teasing

The baroness was arch, making playful asides to the townspeople; yet because they couldn’t pick up on her dry humor, they thought her supercilious.

This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 35

arriviste

Answer 35

arriviste
noun: a person who has recently reached a position of power; a social climber

The city center was aflutter with arrivistes who tried to outdo one another with their ostentatious sports cars and chic evening dress.

Question 36

excoriate

Answer 36

excoriate
verb: to criticize very harshly

Entrusted with the prototype to his company’s latest smartphone, Larry, during a late night karaoke bout, let the prototype slip into the hands of a rival company—the next day Larry was excoriated, and then fired.

Question 37

execrate

Answer 37

execrate
verb: to curse and hiss at

Though the new sitcom did decently in the ratings, Nelson railed against the show, saying that it was nothing more than an execrable pastiche of tired clichés and canned laughter.

Question 38

invective

Answer 38

invective
noun: abusive or denunciatory language

The Internet has unleashed the invectives in many of us; many people post stinging criticism on the comments section underneath newspaper articles or YouTube videos.

Question 39

remonstrate

Answer 39

remonstrate
verb: to make objections while pleading

The mothers of the kidnapped victims remonstrated to the rogue government to release their children, claiming that the detention violated human rights.

Question 40

apotheosis

Answer 40

apotheosis
noun: exaltation to divine status; the highest point of development

As difficult as it is to imagine, the apotheosis of Mark Zuckerberg’s career, many believe, is yet to come.

Question 41

hedge

Answer 41

hedge
verb: to limit or qualify a statement; to avoid making a direct statement

When asked why he had decided to buy millions of shares at the very moment the tech company’s stock soared, the CEO hedged, mentioning something vague about gut instinct.

Question 42

Pollyannaish

Answer 42

Pollyannaish
adjective: extremely optimistic

Even in the midst of a lousy sales quarter, Debbie remained Pollyannaish, never losing her shrill voice and wide smile, even when prospective customers hung up on her.

Question 43

factious

Answer 43

artificial, not natural

Question 44

imbroglio

Answer 44

confusing, potentially embarrassing situation

Question 45

juggernaut

Answer 45

impossible to stop

Question 46

malapropism

Answer 46

confusion of one word for another

Question 47

mulch

Answer 47

to defraud or swindle

Question 48

mellifuous

Answer 48

smooth and sweet sounding

Question 49

sartorial

Answer 49

related to fashion or clothes

Question 50

tendentious

Answer 50

likely to lean towards a controversial view

Question 51

protean

Answer 51

a versatile

Question 52

picayune

Answer 52

petty