After Session 7

Question 1

AMORTIZE

Answer 1

liquidate gradually

To amortize is to gradually pay off a debt. A bank will help you amortize a loan so that you can make a monthly payment until you’ve paid back the entire amount.

(v) To gradually and systematically write off (such as a debt)

Question 2

COWER

Answer 2

show fear or submission

To cower is to shrink in fear. Whether they live in the country or city, any mouse will cower when a huge, hungry cat approaches.

(v) To shrink or cringe in fear

Question 3

DISSONANCE

Answer 3

disagreeable sounds

Disagreeable sounds can be called dissonance. You know it’s dissonance if you have the strong desire to cover your ears with your hands.

(n) Harsh, unpleasantly conflicting, or cacophonous sounds
(n) Inconsistency or lack of agreement

Question 4

BALEFUL

Answer 4

threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments

Baleful means the foreshadowing of tragic or evil events. If no one’s listening in class and your teacher reprimands you with a baleful glance, expect a pop quiz.

(adj.) Harmful in influence or intent
(adj.) Foreboding; ominous

Question 5

DISTENDED

Answer 5

cause to expand as if by internal pressure

A soda and pizza binge might make your stomach distend, meaning your stomach will swell as a result of pressure from the inside.

(adj.) Extended, expanded, or increased in size or volume
(adj.) Swollen

“The gas distended the animal’s body”

Question 6

PARADOX

Answer 6

** a statement that contradicts itself**

Here’s a mind-bender: “This statement is false.” If you think it’s true, then it must be false, but if you think it’s false, it must be true. Now that’s a paradox!

(n) A seemingly false or contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true

“`I always lie’ is a paradox because if it is true it must be false”

Question 7

PRETERNATURAL

Answer 7

existing outside of or not in accordance with nature

Preternatural describes something that seems oddly abnormal and out of sync with everything else. If you hear a preternatural dog’s barking, maybe it sounds like a police siren instead of a howl.

(adj.) Exceeding the natural, normal, or regular; extraordinary
(adj.) Existing outside of or beyond the normal course of nature
(adj.) Supernatural

Question 8

PREEN

Answer 8

clean with one’s bill

When a bird or a cat preens, it smooths its feathers or cleans its fur. When you preen, you primp and pay careful attention to how you’re dressed and groomed, as if you’re inviting the whole world to watch you.

(v) (Of animals) To smooth and clean one’s fur or feathers
(v) To dress with great care or primp
(v) To gloat, congratulate oneself, or swell with pride

Question 9

LAMBASTE

Answer 9

censure severely or angrily

To lambaste is to reprimand or berate someone severely. People lambaste those who have angered or disappointed them.

(v) To berate, criticize, or reprimand harshly
(v) To beat or whip

Question 10

LASSITUDE

Answer 10

a feeling of lack of interest or energy

If you are feeling lassitude, you’re weary and just can’t be bothered. Couch potatoes make lassitude into an art form.

(n) Weariness or fatigue
(n) Listlessness or indolence

Question 11

DIVEST

Answer 11

take away possessions from someone

It could be your wine portfolio, your stake in a mining company, or even the extra coats that are taking up space in your closet. Whatever it is, when you divest something, you get rid of it.

(v) To deprive or dispossess of property, ownership, or title; to sell off, as an
investment
(v) To strip of clothing or equipment

Question 12

LEVITY

Answer 12

a manner lacking seriousness

Joking that your dead grandmother “never looked better” could inject some levity, or frivolity, into her funeral, but your relatives might find your joke inappropriate to the occasion.

(n) Lightness or unseriousness of manner, mind, or character, to the point of being
inappropriate; frivolity
(n) Fickleness or inconstancy

Question 13

PRODIGAL

Answer 13

recklessly wasteful

Use the adjective prodigal to describe someone who spends too much money, or something very wasteful. Your prodigal spending on fancy coffee drinks might leave you with no money to buy lunch.

(adj.) Wastefully, recklessly extravagant or spendthrift
(adj.) Lavish, profuse, or yielding in abundance

“prodigal in their expenditures”

Question 14

BANAL

Answer 14

repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse

If something is boring and unoriginal, it’s banal. Banal things are dull as dishwater.

(adj.) Without originality or freshness

Question 15

LAGGARD

Answer 15

someone who takes more time than necessary

Hey pokey! Yeah you, Mr. Slow Pants. Quit your dawdling! This is no time to be a laggard, or someone who’s always lagging behind.

(adj.) Slow, sluggish, or lagging behind

Question 16

PROFLIGATE

Answer 16

unrestrained by convention or morality

Profligate, as a noun or as an adjective, implies recklessly wasting your money on extravagant luxury. Profligate behavior is a lot of fun, but you’ll regret it later — when you get your charge card bill.

(adj.) Utterly dissolute
(adj.) Wildly extravagant or wasteful

Question 17

EXIGENT

Answer 17

demanding attention

When you describe something as exigent, you are saying it requires attention: it can’t be ignored.

(adj.) Urgent, pressing, or demanding immediate action
(adj.) Demanding a good deal or too much

“”regarded literary questions as exigent and momentous”

Question 18

PROFUNDITY

Answer 18

he quality of being physically deep

Profundity describes being thoughtful, deep, and wise. Your profundity might inspire friends to come to you for advice.

(n) Something profound; intellectual, mental, or emotional depth

“the profundity of the mine was almost a mile”

Question 19

LIBERTINE

Answer 19

unrestrained by convention or morality

If you drink a lot, eat a lot, and live a wild and unrestrained life, you might be called a libertine.

(n) One who is dissolute, debauched, or without moral restraint
(n) One who is unconventional in religious matters

Question 20

LETHARGY

Answer 20

inactivity; showing an unusual lack of energy

Is your pet slug always this comatose, or is this display of lethargy unusual? The word lethargy describes inactivity or a lack of energy.

(n) A state of sluggishness, inactivity, laziness, or indifference
(n) Unusually intense drowsiness or sleepiness

Question 21

HUSBAND

Answer 21

use cautiously and frugally

The word husband comes from the Old Norse hūsbōndi, where hūs meant house and bōndi meant dweller. As a verb, husband means to conserve resources and use them frugally. Because of the flooding in the area, roads are cut off and everyone is being asked to husband their supplies. This conservation of resources sense of husband also occurs in the related noun husbandry.

(v) Manage prudently, sparingly or economically; conserve

Question 22

FORD

Answer 22

cross a river where it’s shallow

When you’re out hiking in the wilderness, you may have to ford a river if there’s no bridge. Roll up your pant legs because you’ll have to wade through the water at a shallow point.

(n) A shallow place in a body of water where one can cross on foot, by horse, etc.
(v) To cross over a body of water, such as a river, in this way

Question 23

LIMPID

Answer 23

Clear and bright

The adjective limpid describes something (often liquid) that is clear, serene and bright. Nature calendars often feature glamour shots of a limpid stream or a limpid lake.

(adj.) Clear or transparent
(adj.) Simple, transparent, or easily understood (as in style or speech)
(adj.) Untroubled or serene

“limpid blue eyes”

Question 24

PROSCRIBE

Answer 24

command against

To proscribe something is to forbid or prohibit it, as a school principal might proscribe the use of cell phones in class.

(v) To prohibit or forbid
(v) To condemn as dangerous or harmful
(v) To banish; to publish the name of a convicted outlaw

Question 25

LIST

Answer 25

cause to lean to the side

List can also be a verb used to describe what you do when you make a list. You could list all the state capitals, people’s names, your favorite movies, or pretty much anything. Listing can be done numerically, alphabetically, or randomly. Also, a line or surface that leans or tilts has a list, like a sagging bookcase that’s overloaded. To lean in this way is to list: the Leaning Tower of Pisa is listing.

(v) To lean to one side, as a ship

“Erosion listed the old tree”

Question 26

PUNGENCY

Answer 26

(n) The state or quality of being acrid in smell; biting, caustic, sharp, or incisive

“the pungency of mustard”

Question 27

LOLL

Answer 27

loosely or laxly

To loll means to hang around lazily without doing much at all. It’s a great pleasure to loll about in the park instead of going to work. But your boss might have a problem with it.

(v) To move or rest in a reclined, indolent manner; to droop or hang

Question 28

LOQUACIOUS

Answer 28

full of trivial conversation

A loquacious person talks a lot, often about stuff that only they think is interesting. You can also call them chatty or gabby, but either way, they’re loquacious.

(adj.) Excessively talkative or garrulous; wordy

Question 29

IMPUTE

Answer 29

attribute or credit to

The verb impute can be used to blame someone for doing something bad, give credit for good work, or just tell it like it is, like when you impute your lateness to my not telling you where to meet me.

(n) Attribute; give blame or responsibility for (sometimes falsely)

“People impute great cleverness to cats”

Question 30

QUELL

Answer 30

suppress or crush completely

Meaning to suppress or overcome, quell is what you have to do with nerves before a big test and fears before going skydiving.

(v) To suppress, subdue, or put down forcefully
(v) To calm or pacify

Question 31

PIQUE

Answer 31

** call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)**

The verb pique means to make someone angry or annoyed. But when something piques your interest or curiosity, here the verb pique just means to arouse, stimulate, or excite.

(n) A feeling of offense or wounded pride; resentment

Question 32

LULL

Answer 32

make calm or still

See lull, think “calm.” It could be the noun form (like “the lull before the storm”) or the verb: one can lull someone by calming them (as in lulling a baby to sleep with a lullaby).

(v) To soothe or put to sleep
(v) To deceive or cause to feel a false sense of safety or security

Question 33

CANON

Answer 33

standard, approved

Canon (one “n”) refers to a collection of rules or texts that are considered to be authoritative. Shakespeare and Chaucer are part of the canon of Western literature, so you might read their work in an English class.

(n) That which is standard, approved, or sanctioned, especially in regards to
scripture or literature
(n) A rule, principal, or law

Question 34

QUACK

Answer 34

medically unqualified or sound a duck makes

There are good quacks and bad quacks. A good quack is the sound a duck makes. A bad quack is someone pretending to be a doctor. (You’d be better off visiting the duck with your ailment.)

(n) One who fraudulently claims to have medical skills; a charlatan

Question 35

LUMBER

Answer 35

the wood of trees used for building, or to move clumsy or slow

Do you move clumsily, heavily and slowly, without a shred of grace? Then it sounds like you might lumber. Sorry to hear that.

(v) To move in a clumsy, heavy, slow way; to move with a rumbling noise

Question 36

MACERATE

Answer 36

** soften**

When you macerate something, you soften it by soaking it in a liquid, often while you’re cooking or preparing food.

(v) To make soft or dissolve by soaking; to emaciated

“macerate peaches”

Question 37

DESULTORY

Answer 37

marked by lack of definite plan or enthusiasm

If you lack a definite plan or purpose and flit from one thing to another, your actions are desultory. Some people call such desultory wanderings spontaneous. Others call it “being lost.”

(adj.) Lacking in consistency or order; unplanned or fitful
(adj.) Random or disconnected from the main subject

“desultory thoughts”
“the desultory conversation characteristic of cocktail parties”

Question 38

EPICURE

Answer 38

a person devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment

We call a person who truly loves food — food at the highest levels — an epicure. Occasionally, you might find the word epicure used for a person who loves something else, but an epicure is usually someone who delights in fine food.

(n) Someone with refined, discriminating taste, especially in food or wine; a
connoisseur

Question 39

REBUFF

Answer 39

a deliberate discourteous act

If you rebuff someone, you reject or snub him. You might decide to rebuff a classmate’s invitation to the dance after hearing him gossip meanly about a friend.

(v) To reject or criticize bluntly or abruptly; to snub
(v) To check, repel, or drive of

Question 40

RECANT

Answer 40

formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief

If you’re someone who speaks before you think, you may need to recant, or take back, that overly honest assessment of your friend’s new haircut.

(v) To formally repudiate or retract a former statement or belief
(v) To openly admit error

Question 41

RECONDITE

Answer 41

difficult to penetrate

It’s rather difficult to penetrate the meaning of recondite. Fitting, because it’s an adjective that basically means hard for the average mind to understand.

(adj.) Challenging to those of average understanding or knowledge; abstruse or
deep
(adj.) Concealed or hidden

“some recondite problem in historiography”

Question 42

SOPORIFIC

Answer 42

inducing sleep

Something that is soporific is sleep-inducing. Certain medicines, but also extreme coziness, can have a soporific effect.

(adj.) Tending to cause sleep or dull alertness
(adj.) Sleepy, lethargic, or drowsy

Question 43

BELIE

Answer 43

be in contradiction with

To belie means to contradict. If you are 93 but look like you are 53, then your young looks belie your age.

(v) To contradict or show to be false
(v) To misrepresent or give a false impression of

Question 44

REDOUBTABLE

Answer 44

inspiring fear

Redoubtable means honorable, maybe even intimidatingly so. If your grandmother worked tirelessly to raise four kids on her own and started her own taxi cab business and to this day, keeps all of her cabbies in line, she is without a doubt redoubtable.

(adj.) Causing fear; alarming or formidable
(adj.) Illustrious; worthy of respect

Question 45

MEANDER

Answer 45

move or cause to move in a winding or curving course

To meander means to wander aimlessly on a winding roundabout course. If you want some time to yourself after school, you might meander home, taking the time to window shop and look around.

(v) To ramble or wander aimlessly and without urgency
(v) To take a winding, indirect course

Question 46

MENDACIOUS

Answer 46

given to lying

A mendacious person is one who tells lies habitually and intentionally. Don’t get stuck at the water cooler or bus stop next to someone you consider mendacious!

(adj.) Lying or dishonest; misleading

Question 47

MERCURIAL

Answer 47

liable to sudden unpredictable change

Mercurial describes someone whose mood or behavior is changeable and unpredictable, or someone who is clever, lively, and quick. With a mercurial teacher, you never know where you stand.

(adj.) Changeable, volatile, or given to rapid shifts in mood
(adj.) Having qualities associated w/Greek god Mercury, including cleverness,
eloquence, and thievishness

Question 48

METAPHYSICAL

Answer 48

pertaining to the philosophical study of being and knowing

Add the Greek prefix “meta-“ (beyond) to the base “physical” (nature), and you get metaphysical — a near synonym to the Latinate word “supernatural.” Both concern phenomena that are outside everyday experience or knowledge.

(adj) concerned with abstract thought; related to metaphysics (branch of
philosophy concerned with explaining the nature of being and of the world);
very subtle or abstruse

Question 49

SALIENT

Answer 49

conspicuous, prominent, or important

If something stands out in a very obvious way, it can be called salient. It’s time to find new friends if the differences between you and your current friends are becoming more and more salient.

(adj.) Standing out; most noticeable or important

Question 50

METAMORPHOSE

Answer 50

change in outward structure or looks

If you’ve ever seen a caterpillar emerge from its cocoon transformed into a butterfly, you’ve watched it metamorphose or change completely.

(v) To change or be transformed utterly in form or appearance
(v) To cause or subject to metamorphosis

Question 51

NORMATIVE

Answer 51

relating to or dealing with typcial standards or patterns

Something pertaining to norms — something normal or typical — can be described as normative. Temper tantrums, whining, and even hitting are all normative behaviors — if you’re three. If you’re thirty, you might have a problem.

(adj.) Prescribing a norm or standard; expressing value judgments (how things
should be) instead of just stating the facts

Question 52

SHYSTER

Answer 52

a person who uses unscrupulous or unethical methods

A shyster is someone who might rip you off or do something unethical in order to get his way.

(n) A person who uses petty or unethical practices, esp. a lawyer who does this

Question 53

MIMETIC

Answer 53

things that imitate or echo something else

Mimetic things imitate or echo something else. A mimetic pattern on the wings of a bird might look just like the pattern on tree bark or the leaves of a plant.

(adj.) Imitative; copying; relating to mimicry

“mimetic coloring of a butterfly”

Question 54

CREPUSCULAR

Answer 54

like twilight; dim

The adjective crepuscular describes anything that’s related to twilight, like the crepuscular glow of the dimming light on a lake as darkness falls.

(adj.) Like twilight; dim

“the evening’s crepuscular charm”

Question 55

SYNCRETISM

Answer 55

the union of different systems of thought or belief

Syncretism is a union or attempted fusion of different religions, cultures, or philosophies — like Halloween, which has both Christian and pagan roots, or the combination of Aristotelian philosophy with the belief system of the early punk rock practitioners.

(n) Reconciliation or fusion (esp. only partial) of different philosophies, religions, belief systems, etc.

Question 56

ECUMENICAL

Answer 56

something universal

The adjective ecumenical refers to something universal or something that has a wide, general application.

(adj.) Universal; worldwide in scope

“ecumenical thinking”
“ecumenical activities”

Question 57

ROCOCO

Answer 57

having excessive asymmetrical ornamentation

Rococo describes a very ornate style originating in Europe. If you love tons of decoration and fancy details, then you’ll love the rococo style of architecture and music.

(n) A style of art originating in 18th century France marked by elaborate
ornamentation (an abundance of scrolls, foliage,etc.)
(adj.) Extremely elaborate or complicated