After Session 3

Question 1

FLAG

Answer 1

A piece of cloth that represents country, group etc

A flag is a piece of cloth that represents a country, group, or institution. If you’re particularly proud of your Irish heritage, you might fly an Irish flag in your front yard.

(v) To signal with, or as with, a flag
(v) 1. To fall off in energy, vigor, interest, or activity
2. To droop or hang loose

Question 2

SOMATIC

Answer 2

Characteristic of the body as opposed to the mind or spirit.

Somatic is a fancy word that just means dealing with the body. You may be tired of hearing your great-grandfather’s somatic complaints, but give him a break — his body has been working for 80 years!

(adj.) 1. Pertaining to the body (as opposed to the mind, a body part, or the
environment)
2. Relating to the wall of the body cavity

The shocks of the movie are crass and somatic, not disconcerting or social.

Question 3

FLUKE

Answer 3

A stroke of luck

A fluke is an unexpected stroke of good luck. It was a fluke to find that fifty dollar bill on the ground, and it made you smile for the rest of the day.

(n) A stroke of good luck; a chance occurrence or accident

Tonight was another fluke, a lucky break, a gift.

Question 4

DOFF

Answer 4

remove

Use the verb doff to describe removing something. You probably always doff your cap before the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

(v) 1. To take off or remove (as clothes); to tip or remove (one’s hat) in greeting
2. To put aside or discard

And doffing wasn’t as hard as farm work.

Question 5

APOCRYPHAL

Answer 5

being of questionable authenticity

Urban legends — stories about phantom hitchhikers, deep-fried rats, and spider eggs in bubblegum — are classic examples of apocryphal tales. They’re told as if they’re true, but no one can ever verify their origins or authenticity.

(adj) being of questionable authenticity

Alas, like many good stories this one appears to be apocryphal.

Question 6

SCURVY

Answer 6

A condition caused by a deficiency in ascorbic acid

If you are a pirate who doesn’t get to shore very often to shop for fresh fruits and veggies, you might suffer from scurvy, a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency.

(n) A wasting disease caused by vitamin C deficiency
(adj.) Contemptible, despicable, or mean

Question 7

APPOSITE

Answer 7

Being of striking appropriateness and pertinence

Something apposite is fitting or relevant. It is apposite that radio stations play Christmas carols on Christmas Eve and that your tax accountant takes vacation after April 15th. It all makes sense.

(adj.) Appropriate, relevant, or apt

It was apposite to our situation, and it would certainly become appropriate to Rushdie’s.

Question 8

SQUALID

Answer 8

foul and run-down and repulsive

Squalid things appear neglected, or morally repulsive in nature, like a frat house after a semester of hard partying and zero cleanup.

(adj.) Foul, dirty, or wretched, as from extreme poverty or neglect
(adj.) Morally repulsive or sordid

Well, here’s one of the wonders, he told himself, gazing about the squalid, foul-smelling hall.

Question 9

GARRULOUS

Answer 9

full of trivial conversation

A garrulous person just won’t stop talking (and talking, and talking, and talking…).

(adj) full of trivial conversation

I was relieved that Kali, most garrulous of women, had not come, but it was a short-lived relief.

Question 10

GAMBOL

Answer 10

play or run boiserously

To gambol is to run around playing excitedly. Although the word sounds like “gamble,” when you gambol you never lose — you just have a great time!

(v) To frolic; to skip or leap about playfully

I leaned back in the embrasure in a more comfortable position, so that I could enjoy more fully the aërial gambolling.

Question 11

FULMINATE

Answer 11

cause to explode violently and with a loud noise

Watch a bomb fulminate or explode and hope you’re under safe cover. Have your parents fulminate or blow up at you for coming home past curfew and hope you’re not grounded for too long.

(v) To send out or issue with denunciation, invective, or condemnation
(v) To explode

Speed heats the brain to a full boil, leaving the mouth to function as a fulminating exhaust pipe.

Question 12

SALUBRIOUS

Answer 12

promoting health

Salubrious is a fancy way to describe something that’s good for you or is generally favorable to mind or body, but it need not be limited to describing healthy foods or liquids.

(adj.) Promoting or conducive to health or well being

A fine mist of pulverized concrete seems to cover everything, and the once salubrious climate is overwhelmed by smog.

Question 13

ABSCISSION

Answer 13

the act of cutting something off

Abscission means the cutting off or removal of something, like an unsightly mole on the chin.

(n) The act of cutting off

Not abscisic acid, the one that “abscission zone” would seem to imply.

Question 14

GAUCHE

Answer 14

lacking social poise or refinement

Use the word gauche when you want to call something tacky, graceless, tactless, rude, boorish, or awkward and foolish. Have you just pointed out someone’s misuse of this word? Oh dear, how gauche!

(adj.) Lacking in tact, sensitivity, or other social graces

You wouldn’t be as gauche as to ask, “Hey, are you related to the guy who makes vacuum cleaners?”

Question 15

TRUCULENT

Answer 15

defiantly aggressive

If you are quick to argue, always looking for a fight, and hard to please, you are truculent. You can also write a truculent essay, and fans upset by a loss can become truculent.

(adj) defiantly aggressive

The decals glowed with a truculent orange in the dark.

Question 16

ASPERITY

Answer 16

harshness of manner

Asperity is the harsh tone or behavior people exhibit when they’re angry, impatient, or just miserable. Did your supervisor snap “Late again!” when you showed up 20 minutes after your shift was supposed to start? She’s speaking with asperity.

(n.) harshness of manner

“Now where,” he answered with asperity, “where except in the great tea shop on the main street of the town?”

Question 17

FINESSE

Answer 17

subtly skillful handling of a situation

Having finesse means you can handle difficult situations with diplomacy and tact, like the finesse it takes to help two friends work out their differences — without taking sides or alienating either one.

(n) Skillful or adroit handling
(n) Refinement or delicacy or performance, skill, or workmanship

Others, he thinks, would do this with less finesse.

Question 18

GERMANE

Answer 18

relevant and appropaite

Germane means relevant; it fits in. If you are giving a speech on dog training, stick to the germane, canine stuff. Topics that would not be germane? Catnip toys, hamster wheels, and the use of a saddle.

(adj.) Relevant or closely related

Question 19

VISCID

Answer 19

having the sticky properties of an adhesive

The adjective viscid is used to describe something that is sticky or a thick, slow-moving liquid. If you bake bread and you get flour all over your counters, clean it up carefully because adding water can turn the flour into a viscid paste, and then you’ll really have a mess!

(adj.) Having a sticky, adhesive, or viscous quality or consistency

I could hear the creature breathing in the dark, a viscid leaking like faulty pipeworks.

Question 20

GLIB

Answer 20

artfully persuasive in speech

A hiring manager might think you’re being glib, or slick and insincere, if you say you’ve led a successful multinational corporation when you were actually in charge of flipping burgers for a fast-food restaurant chain.

(adj.) Fluent in speaking or writing to the point of insincerity or thoughtlessness
(adj.) Done with natural ease or off hand nonchalance

“Oh, a couple of hundred,” came the glib reply.

Question 21

REQUITE

Answer 21

make repayment for or return something

You can requite a friend’s kindness by doing your friend a favor or by being kind in return. Requite means “to repay or return.”

(v) To repay or make return for; to reciprocate
(v) To avenge
(v) To recompense for a service, benefit, or injury

For months they’d been coming here, four or five nights a week as the Voice requited.

Question 22

GROUSE

Answer 22

to complain or grumble

A grouse is a plump little bird. Don’t like birds? You can grouse, or complain, about them. The word grouse means both, but a grouse wouldn’t grouse because birds don’t whine.

(v) To complain, grumble
(n) A grievance; a persistent complaint
(n) Any of various types of plump, chicken-like gamebirds

He had pheasants and grouse and the ducks down on the pond and fishes behind all his dams.

Question 23

APPRECIABLE

Answer 23

Enough to be estimated or measured

Movie theater popcorn tastes much better than microwave popcorn. The difference between them is appreciable — that is, you notice it.

(adj) Possible to see, measure, or estimate

“appreciable amounts of noxious wastes are dumped into the harbor”

Question 24

DILATE

Answer 24

become wider

To dilate something is to make it wider. When the light fades, the pupil of your eye will dilate, meaning it looks bigger.

(v) 1. To cause to expand; to widen or enlarge
2. To speak or write at length on a subject

One of his pupils was dilated and the other wasn’t, but no one knew what that meant.

Question 25

SUBSIDE

Answer 25

wear off or die down

To subside is to die down or become less violent, like rough ocean waves after a storm has passed (or your seasickness, if you happened to be sailing on that ocean).

(v) To sink to a lower or normal level (such as a fever);
to sink or settle down (as onto a couch or to the bottom of a river)
(v) To become less agitated or active

When the gales had finally subsided, he shook his index finger.

Question 26

REDUNDANT

Answer 26

More than is needed or desired

The word redundant applies to things that are unnecessary or could be left out. Calling a blank sheet of paper empty is redundant.

(adj.) More than necessary; superfluous
(adj.) Excessively wordy or repetitive

“Oh, you mean, redundant, like saying the same thing over and over but in different ways?”

Question 27

ANTIPATHY

Answer 27

A feeling of intense dislike.

An antipathy is a deep-seated dislike of something or someone. Usually it’s a condition that is long-term, innate, and pretty unlikely to change — like your antipathy for the Red Sox.

(n) An aversion, disliking, or distaste for
(n) An object of dislike or aversion

That eye of hers, that voice stirred every antipathy I had.

Question 28

CONVOLUTED

Answer 28

Highly complex or intricate

If something is convoluted, it’s intricate and hard to understand. You’ll need to read over your brother’s convoluted investment scheme a few times before deciding whether or not to go in on it.

(adj.) Having a great number of coils, loops, or folds
(adj.) Intricate or involved

He pretended, for me, that his mind and his heart were not dark and convoluted places.

Question 29

MITIGATE

Answer 29

lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of

Choose the verb mitigate when something lessens the unpleasantness of a situation. You can mitigate your parents’ anger by telling them you were late to dinner because you were helping your elderly neighbor.

(v) To moderate (the force, intensity, or strength of) or alleviate

Just “running out of fuel, sir” at the end of a sentence, preceded by the mitigating “ah.”

Question 30

SANG-FROID

Answer 30

great coolness and composure under strain

If you have sang-froid, you can keep your cool, even under stress. Your feathers aren’t easily ruffled.

(n) Self-possession or composure, especially under stress

Question 31

IMPLOSION

Answer 31

a sudden inward collapse

An implosion is the abrupt, violent collapse of something large. When an old building needs to be removed to make way for new structures, implosion is often used as a controlled way to destroy it.

(n) Forceful collapse inward

Question 32

CONDONE

Answer 32

excuse, overlook, or make allowances for

If you condone something, you allow it, approve of it, or at least can live with it. Some teachers condone chewing gum, and some don’t.

(v) To overlook, dismiss, or forgive (an offense)

Question 33

CATALYST

Answer 33

an event or person causing a change.

A catalyst is an event or person causing a change. Getting kicked out of your parents’ house might be a catalyst for becoming more independent.

n) Something precipitating, provoking, or accelerating an action, event, or change
(n) A substance that starts or speeds a chemical reaction

It could be that this penury was the catalyst for Bobby’s often-criticized “greediness” later in his career.

Question 34

INTEMPERANCE

Answer 34

Unable to hold yourself back. excess in action and immoderate indulgence of appetites

Intemperance is when you can’t do anything half way, or hold yourself back. You might describe your inability to eat a single slice of cake — instead, gobbling the whole thing — as intemperance.

(n) Indulgence of passions or appetites
(n) Excessive drinking of alcohol

It is a celebration of intemperance, and a condemnation of its destructiveness.

Question 35

STALWART

Answer 35

having rugged physical strength

To be stalwart is to be courageous and dependable, like a stalwart knight who defends a kingdom from a ferocious dragon.

(adj.) Strong or vigorous in mind, body, or spirit

Question 36

AUGMENT

Answer 36

enlarge or increase

Do you need to make something bigger, better, or stronger? Then you need to augment it. To augment is to increase the amount or strength of something.

(v) To enlarge; to make greater, more intense, or more numerous

Taylor’s force grew quickly, in no small part augmented by boys whom he armed and drugged into a killing frenzy.

Question 37

ABRIDGE

Answer 37

Lessen, diminish

So the editor wants to cut your epic 800-page history of the stapler to a 150-page summary instead. Don’t cry — he just wants to abridge your masterpiece, trimming it down to the more readable essential elements.

(v) To cut short or condense (especially of a written work)

Question 38

INDIFFERENT

Answer 38

marked by a lack of interest

If you’re indifferent about something, you don’t care much about it one way or another. You might feel indifferent about politics, changing the channel whenever the TV news comes on.

(n) Not caring; having no interest; unbiased, impartial

I don’t mean it to sound indifferent, but it does.

Question 39

VERBOSE

Answer 39

using or containing too many words

If you’re verbose, you use far more words than you need to. A verbose book report goes on and on and is packed with long, complicated words that aren’t at all necessary.

(adj.) Using more words than necessary; wordy

Question 40

SQUELCH

Answer 40

suppress or crush completely

When you squelch something, you’re putting an end to it. You can squelch an idea or a rebellion.

(v) To crush or squash as if by trampling
(v) To quell or suppress completely
(v) To silence, as by a crushing remark
(v) To emit a splashing, sucking sound

Question 41

EMACIATE

Answer 41

grow weak and thin or waste away physically

To emaciate is to make someone extremely thin or very weak. A serious illness can often emaciate a person, leaving them gaunt and frail.

(adj.) Wasted away, enfeebled, or made extremely thin

The emaciated, dirty, bearded face: its eyes never even blinked.

Question 42

EXTEMPORE

Answer 42

with little or no preparation or forethought.

Something extempore is spontaneous and unscripted. An extempore dance party on the city bus might be fun, while an extempore speech in front of the whole school could be terrifying.

(adj.) Done, said, or composed with little or no preparation; unpremeditated

There were no musical instruments and psalms were led, while prayers were extempore and interminable with some church members rambling on for 20 minutes minimum.

Question 43

FORESTALL

Answer 43

keep from happening or arising; make impossible.

It takes a bit of planning to forestall something, meaning stop it from happening. To forestall the effects of aging, exercise and take care of your health all your life.

(v) To hinder or prevent in advance
(v) To anticipate or deal with in advance
(v) To buy up goods so as to drive up prices for resale

Question 44

ANALOGOUS

Answer 44

similar or equivalent in some respects

Use the adjective analogous to describe something that is similar to something else and can be compared to another.

(adj.) Similar or related so that one can draw an analogy or comparison

Question 45

QUIESCENCE

Answer 45

a state of quiet (but possibly temporary) inaction

If there’s a particular time of day when your ten kittens settle down to nap, you can call that their period of quiescence, or the time when they are all quiet and restful.

(n) The state of being quiescent; tranquil restfulness or repose

I answered miserably that the disease hath a period of quiescence before it blooms.

Question 46

ADULTERATE

Answer 46

make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance

If you adulterate something, you mess it up. You may not want to adulterate the beauty of freshly fallen snow by shoveling it, but how else are you going to get to work?

(v) To make impure or corrupt by adding foreign or inferior materials or
ingredients, particularly in preparation for sale

If the car hadn’t been adulterated for the mysterious and missing goats, it would hold thirty-two horses.

Question 47

NABOB

Answer 47

a wealthy man

(n) A person who is wealthy, prominent, or important
(n) A provincial governor of India’s Mogul empire (historical)

Question 48

CARDINAL

Answer 48

serving as an essential component. something that shouldn’t be broken.

A cardinal is a bright red songbird, and the word also refers to the bird’s crimson color. In Catholicism, a cardinal is a high-ranking bishop. In math, you use cardinal numbers to count. A cardinal rule is one that is central and should not be broken.

(adj.) Of prime importance; chief; main

Question 49

NOISOME

Answer 49

causing or able to cause nausea

If you accidentally leave half a sandwich under your bed for a few days, cover your nose while you sleep because it will probably become quite noisome. This is a fancy way of saying that it will stink.

(adj.) Having an extremely offensive smell

I also became aware of the noisome stench arising from it.

Question 50

PUISSANCE

Answer 50

power to influence or coerce

Puissance is the power to influence what other people do or believe. A celebrity who is extremely popular with teens has puissance to help end problems like bullying just by talking about it in interviews.

(n) Power; might

“the puissance of the labor vote”