Basic II

Question 1

flush

Answer 1

flush
adjective: to be in abundance

The exam’s passage is flush with difficult words, words that you may have learned only yesterday.

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

Question 2

aboveboard

Answer 2

aboveboard
adjective: open and honest

The mayor, despite his avuncular face plastered about the city, was hardly aboveboard – some concluded that it was his ingratiating smile that allowed him to engage in corrupt behavior and get away with it.

Question 3

hodgepodge

Answer 3

hodgepodge
noun: a confusing mixture or jumble

Those in attendance represented a hodgepodge of the city’s denizens: chimney sweepers could be seen sitting elbow to elbow with stockbrokers.

Question 4

becoming

Answer 4

becoming
adjective: appropriate, and matches nicely

Her dress was becoming and made her look even more beautiful.

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

Question 5

cardinal

Answer 5

cardinal
adjective: of primary importance; fundamental

Most cultures consider gambling a cardinal sin and thus have outlawed its practice.

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

Question 6

scintilating

Answer 6

scintillating
adjective: describes someone who is brilliant and lively

Richard Feynman was renowned for his scintillating lectures—the arcana of quantum physics was made lucid as he wrote animatedly on the chalkboard.

Question 7

animosity

Answer 7

animosity
noun: intense hostility

The governor’s animosity toward his rival was only inflamed when the latter spread false lies regarding the governor’s first term.

Question 8

preemptive

Answer 8

preemptive
adjective: done before someone else can do it

Just as Martha was about to take the only cookie left on the table, Noah preemptively swiped it.

Question 9

chauvinistic

Answer 9

chauvinist
noun: a person who believes in the superiority of their group

The chauvinist lives on both sides of the political spectrum, outright shunning anybody whose ideas are not consistent with his own.

Question 10

stem

Answer 10

stem
verb: to hold back or limit the flow or growth of something

To stem the tide of applications, the prestigious Ivy requires that each applicant score at least 330 on the Revised GRE.

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

Question 11

melee

Answer 11

melee
noun: a wild, confusing fight or struggle

After enduring daily taunts about my name, I became enraged and pummeled the schoolyard bully and his sycophantic friends in a brutal melee.

Question 12

virago

Answer 12

virago
noun: an ill-tempered or violent woman

Poor Billy was the victim of the virago’s invective—she railed at him for a good 30-minutes about how he is the scum of the earth for speaking loudly on his cellphone in public.

Question 13

replete

Answer 13

replete
adjective: completely stocked or furnished with something

Only weeks after the hurricane made landfall, the local supermarket shelves were replete with goods, so quick was the disaster relief response.

Question 14

cadaverous

Answer 14

cadaverous
adjective: emaciated; gaunt

Some actors take challenging roles in which they have to lose so much weight that they appear cadaverous.

Question 15

catalyst

Answer 15

catalyst
noun: something that speeds up an event

Rosa Parks’s refusal to give up her bus seat acted as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement, setting into motion historic changes for African-Americans.

Question 16

imponderable

Answer 16

imponderable
adjective: impossible to estimate or figure out

According to many lawmakers, the huge variety of factors affecting society make devising an efficient healthcare system an imponderable task.

Question 17

sanctimonious

Answer 17

sanctimonious
adjective: making a show of being pious; holier-than-thou

Even during the quiet sanctity of evening prayer, she held her chin high, a sanctimonious sneer forming on her face as she eyed those who were attending church for the first time.

Question 18

fleece

Answer 18

fleece
verb: to deceive

Many people have been fleeced by Internet scams and never received their money back.

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

Question 19

pittance

Answer 19

pittance
noun: a small amount (of money)

Vinny’s uncle beamed smugly about how he’d offered his nephew fifty dollars for his Harvard tuition; even twice the amount would have been a mere pittance.

Question 20

cogent

Answer 20

cogent
adjective: clear and persuasive

A cogent argument will change the minds of even the most skeptical audience.

Question 21

check

Answer 21

check
verb: to limit (usually modifying the growth of something)

Deserted for six months, the property began to look more like a jungle and less like a residence—weeds grew unchecked in the front yard

noun: the condition of being held back or limited

When government abuses are not kept in check, that government is likely to become autocratic.

This word has other definitions, but these are the most important ones to study

Question 22

paucity

Answer 22

paucity
noun: a lack of something

There is a paucity of jobs hiring today that require menial skills, since most such jobs have either been automated or outsourced.

Question 23

checkered

Answer 23

checkered
adjective: marked by disreputable or unfortunate happenings

One by one, the presidential candidates dropped out of the race, their respective checkered pasts— from embezzlement to infidelity—sabotaging their campaigns.

Question 24

disparate

Answer 24

disparate
adjective: two things are fundamentally different

With the advent of machines capable of looking inside the brain, fields as disparate as religion and biology have been brought together by scientists trying to understand what happens in the brain when people have a religious experience.

Question 25

corroborate

Answer 25

corroborate
verb: to confirm or lend support to (usually an idea or claim)

Her claim that frog populations were falling precipitously in Central America was corroborated by locals, who reported that many species of frogs had seemingly vanished overnight.

Question 26

unconsionable

Answer 26

unconscionable
adjective: unreasonable; unscrupulous; excessive

The lawyer’s demands were so unconscionable that rather than pay an exorbitant sum or submit himself to any other inconveniences, the defendant decided to find a new lawyer.

Question 27

sanguine

Answer 27

sanguine
adjective: cheerful; optimistic

With the prospect of having to learn 3,000 words during the course of the summer, Paul was anything but sanguine.

Question 28

avarice

Answer 28

avarice
noun: greed (one of the seven deadly sins)

The Spanish conquistadors were known for their avarice, plundering Incan land and stealing Incan gold.

Question 29

immaterial

Answer 29

immaterial
adjective: not relevant

The judge found the defendant’s comments immaterial to the trial, and summarily dismissed him from the witness stand.

Question 30

pugnacious

Answer 30

pugnacious
adjective: eager to fight or argue; verbally combative

The comedian told one flat joke after another, and when the audience started booing, he pugnaciously spat back at them, “Hey, you think this is easy – why don’t you buffoons give it a shot?”

Question 31

extenuating

Answer 31

extenuating
adjective: making less guilty or more forgivable

The jury was hardly moved by the man’s plea that his loneliness was an extenuating factor in his crime of dognapping a prized pooch.

Question 32

moment

Answer 32

moment
noun: significant and important value

Despite the initial hullabaloo, the play was of no great moment in Hampton’s writing career, and within a few years the public quickly forgot his foray into theater arts.

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

Question 33

amok

Answer 33

amok
adverb: in a frenzied or uncontrolled state

Wherever the bowl haircut teen-idol went, his legions of screaming fans ran through the streets amok, hoping for a glance at his boyish face.

Question 34

raft

Answer 34

raft
noun: a large number of something

Despite a raft of city ordinances passed by an overzealous council, noise pollution continued unabated in the megalopolis.

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

Question 35

vicarious

Answer 35

vicarious
adjective: felt or undergone as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another

The advent of twitter is a celebrity stalker’s dream, as he or she can—through hundreds of intimate “tweets”—vicariously live the life of a famous person.

Question 36

errant

Answer 36

errant
adjective: to be wandering; not sticking to a circumscribed path

Unlike his peers, who spent their hours studying in the library, Matthew preferred errant walks through the university campus.

Question 37

start

Answer 37

start
verb: to suddenly move in a particular direction

All alone in the mansion, Henrietta started when she heard a sound.

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

Question 38

wax

Answer 38

wax
verb: to gradually increase in size or intensity

Her enthusiasm for the diva’s new album only waxed with each song; by the end of the album, it was her favorite CD yet.

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

Question 39

badger

Answer 39

badger
verb: to pester

Badgered by his parents to find a job, the 30-year-old loafer instead joined a gang of itinerant musicians.

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

Question 40

heyday

Answer 40

heyday
noun: the pinnacle or top of a time period or career

During the heyday of Prohibition, bootlegging had become such a lucrative business that many who had been opposed to the 18th Amendment began to fear it would be repealed.

Question 41

contrite

Answer 41

contrite
adjective: to be remorseful

Though he stole his little sister’s licorice stick with malevolent glee, Chucky soon became contrite when his sister wouldn’t stop crying.

Question 42

lassitude

Answer 42

lassitude
noun: extreme tiredness, either mental or physical

Upon finishing a 6-hour standardized exam, Dahlia emerged from the testing center overcome by lassitude.

Question 43

vicarious

Answer 43

vicarious
adjective: felt or undergone as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another

The advent of twitter is a celebrity stalker’s dream, as he or she can—through hundreds of intimate “tweets”—vicariously live the life of a famous person.

Question 44

ferret

Answer 44

ferret
verb: to search for something persistently

Ever the resourceful lexicographer, Fenton was able to ferret out the word origin of highly obscure words.

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

Question 45

apex

Answer 45

apex
noun: the highest point

The Ivy League is considered the apex of the higher education system.

Question 46

desecrate

Answer 46

desecrate
verb: to willfully violate or destroy a sacred place

After desecrating the pharaoh’s tomb, the archaeologist soon fell victim to a horrible illness.

Question 47

bellicose

Answer 47

bellicose
adjective: warlike; inclined to quarrel

Known for their bellicose ways, the Spartans were once the most feared people from Peloponnesus to Persia.

Question 48

beatific

Answer 48

beatific
adjective: blissfully happy

Often we imagine all monks to wear the beatific smile of the Buddha, but, like any of us, a monk can have a bad day and not look very happy.

Question 49

exhort

Answer 49

exhort
verb: to strongly urge on; encourage

Nelson’s parents exhorted him to study medicine, urging him to choose a respectable profession; intransigent, Nelson left home to become a graffiti artist.

Question 50

misanthrope

Answer 50

misanthrope
noun: a hater of mankind

Kevin is such a misanthrope that he refused to attend the Christmas party, claiming that everyone’s happiness was “fake” and “annoying.”

Question 51

junta

Answer 51

junta
noun: an aggressive takeover by a group (usually military); the group that executes such a takeover

As dangerous of a threat as North Korea is, some analysts believe that were a junta suddenly to gain power, it could be even more unpredictable and bellicose than the current leadership