Ap Lang Vocab 5

Question 1

arcane

Answer 1

(adj) only known to a few people

(The professor is an expert in arcane Lithuanian literature.)

Question 2

buttress

Answer 2

something that offers support

(The buttress supports the roof above the statues.)

Question 3

cajole

Answer 3

to convince

(Freddie didn’t really want to go to the baseball game, but his friends cajoled him to join them, so he did.)

Question 4

circumspect

Answer 4

to be cautious

(when bringing up my friends religion I should be very circumspect)

Question 5

empirical

Answer 5

based on observations and experiences than theory

(they provided empirical evidence to support their argument)

Question 6

dichotomy

Answer 6

comparison between two things that are entirely different

((The novel shows an interesting dichotomy - those who are poor clearly appear happy, while those who are in the higher class of society are miserable.)

Question 7

hubris

Answer 7

excessive pride or self-confidence

(It was pure hubris that made Jeremy believe he could jump off of the top of his roof and land without injuring himself.)

Question 8

inexorable

Answer 8

incapable of being persuaded

(Although I begged for hours, Mom was inexorable and refused to let me go to the concert the night before the SAT.)

Question 9

irreverence

Answer 9

a lack of respect for people or things that are generally taken seriously

(the irreverence displayed by my friends laughter when discussing my fathers death disturbed me)

Question 10

maudlin

Answer 10

weakly sentimental

(Although many people enjoy romantic comedies, I usually find them maudlin and shallow.)

Question 11

nascent

Answer 11

beginning to display signs of future potential.

(the new dating app was in its nascent form because of its recent release date)

Question 12

ostensible

Answer 12

appearing as such, seemingly

(my friend kept ostensibly asking me if i had a special event planned, when really she was seeing if I had remembered her birthday)

Question 13

penultimate

Answer 13

next to last

( having almost eaten the penultimate gum that was last remaining in the box)

Question 14

petulance

Answer 14

rudeness, irritability

(The nanny resigned after she could no longer tolerate the child’s petulance.)

Question 15

polemic

Answer 15

an aggressive argument against a specific opinion

(My brother launched into a polemic against my arguments that hot dog is not a sandwich)

Question 16

quixotic

Answer 16

dellusional, impractical

(Sandra entertained a quixotic desire to fall in love at first sight in a laundromat.)

Question 17

solipsistic

Answer 17

believing that oneself is all that exists

(Colette’s solipsistic attitude about not having enough money was completely insensitive to the the homeless people on the street.)

Question 18

soporific

Answer 18

causing sleep

(my bio teachers soporific voice was causing the whole class to fall asleep)

Question 19

vacillate

Answer 19

to fluctuate, hesitate

(I prefer a definite answer, but my friends vacillate between mexican food or asian food.)

Question 20

vicissitude

Answer 20

event that occurs by chance

(The vicissitudes of daily life prevent me from predicting what might happen from one day to the next.)