blue book #02

Question 1

aggregate

Answer 1

1.
formed by the conjunction or collection of particulars into a whole mass or sum; total; combined:
the aggregate amount of indebtedness.

2.
a sum, mass, or assemblage of particulars; a total or gross amount:
the aggregate of all past experience.

Question 2

aggrieve

Answer 2

1.
to oppress or wrong grievously; injure by injustice.

2.
to afflict with pain, anxiety, etc.

Question 3

agile

Answer 3

1.
quick and well-coordinated in movement; lithe:
an agile leap.

2.
active; lively:
an agile person.

3.
marked by an ability to think quickly; mentally acute or aware:
She’s 95 and still very agile.

Question 4

agitation

Answer 4

the act or process of agitating; state of being agitated:

She left in great agitation.

Question 5

agnostic

Answer 5

a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience; disbeliever, doubter.

Question 6

agrarian

Answer 6

1. pertaining to farming.

2.
rural; agricultural.

3.
growing in fields; wild:
an agrarian plant.

Question 7

alacrity

Answer 7

1.
cheerful readiness, promptness, or willingness:
We accepted the invitation with alacrity.

2.
liveliness; briskness.

Question 8

alarmist

Answer 8

a person who tends to raise alarms, especially without sufficient reason, as by exaggerating dangers or prophesying calamities.

Question 9

alchemy

Answer 9

1.
a form of chemistry and speculative philosophy practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concerned principally with discovering methods for transmuting baser metals into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life.

2.
any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.

Question 10

algorithm

Answer 10

a set of rules for solving a problem in a finite number of steps

Question 11

alias

Answer 11

a false name used to conceal one’s identity; an assumed name:
The police files indicate that “Smith” is an alias for Simpson.

Question 12

alibi

Answer 12

1.
an excuse, especially to avoid blame.

2.
to make or find (one’s way) by using alibis:
to alibi one’s way out of work.

Question 13

alien

Answer 13

1.
a resident born in or belonging to another country who has not acquired citizenship by naturalization (distinguished from citizen).

2.
a foreigner.

3.
a person who has been estranged or excluded.

Question 14

alienated

Answer 14

1.
to make indifferent or hostile:
By refusing to get a job, he has alienated his entire family.

2.
to cause to be withdrawn or isolated from the objective world:
Bullying alienates already shy students from their classmates.

3.
to turn away; transfer or divert:
to alienate funds from their intended purpose.

Question 15

alight

Answer 15

1.
to dismount from a horse, descend from a vehicle, etc.

2.
to settle or stay after descending:
The bird alighted on the tree.

3.
to encounter or notice something accidentally.

Question 16

allay

Answer 16

1.
to put (fear, doubt, suspicion, anger, etc.) to rest; calm; quiet.

2.
to lessen or relieve; mitigate; alleviate:
to allay pain.

Question 17

allege

Answer 17

1.
to assert without proof.

2.
to declare with positiveness; affirm; assert:
to allege a fact.

3.
to declare before a court or elsewhere, as if under oath.

4.
to plead in support of; offer as a reason or excuse.

Question 18

allegory

Answer 18

1.
a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.

2.
a symbolical narrative.

Question 19

alleviate

Answer 19

to make easier to endure; lessen; mitigate:

to alleviate sorrow; to alleviate pain.

Question 20

alliteration

Answer 20

1.
the commencement of two or more stressed syllables of a word group either with the same consonant sound or sound group (consonantal alliteration) as in from stem to stern, or with a vowel sound that may differ from syllable to syllable (vocalic alliteration) as in each to all.

2.
the commencement of two or more words of a word group with the same letter, as in apt alliteration’s artful aid.

Question 21

allocate

Answer 21

to set apart for a particular purpose; assign or apportion:

to allocate funds for new projects.

Question 22

allot

Answer 22

1.
to divide or distribute by share or portion; distribute or parcel out; apportion:
to allot the available farmland among the settlers.

2.
to appropriate for a special purpose:
to allot money for a park.

3.
to assign as a portion; set apart; dedicate.

Question 23

allure

Answer 23

1.
to attract or tempt by something flattering or desirable.

2.
to fascinate; charm; appeal.

3.
to be attractive or tempting.

Question 24

allusion

Answer 24

1.
a passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication:
The novel’s title is an allusion to Shakespeare.

2.
the act of alluding; the making of a casual or indirect reference to something:
The Bible is a fertile source of allusion in art.

Question 25

aloof

Answer 25

1.
at a distance, especially in feeling or interest; apart:
They always stood aloof from their classmates.

2.
reserved or reticent; indifferent; disinterested:
Because of his shyness, he had the reputation of being aloof.

Question 26

altercation

Answer 26

a heated or angry dispute; noisy argument or controversy.

Question 27

altruism

Answer 27

the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to the welfare of others (opposed to egoism).

Question 28

amalgamate

Answer 28

1.
to mix or merge so as to make a combination; blend; unite; combine:
to amalgamate two companies.

2.
to combine, unite, merge, or coalesce:
The three schools decided to amalgamate.

3.
to blend with another metal, as mercury.

Question 29

amass

Answer 29

1.
to gather for oneself; collect as one’s own:
to amass a huge amount of money.

2.
to collect into a mass or pile; gather:
He amassed his papers for his memoirs.

3.
to come together; assemble:
crowds amassing for the parade.

Question 30

ambiance

Answer 30

1.
the mood, character, quality, tone, atmosphere, etc., particularly of an environment or milieu:
The restaurant had a delightful ambiance.

2.
that which surrounds or encompasses; environment.

Question 31

ambidextrous

Answer 31

1.
able to use both hands equally well:
an ambidextrous surgeon.

2.
unusually skillful; facile:
an ambidextrous painter, familiar with all media.

3.
double-dealing; deceitful.

Question 32

ambiguous

Answer 32

1.
open to or having several possible meanings or interpretations; equivocal:
an ambiguous answer.

2.
of doubtful or uncertain nature; difficult to comprehend, distinguish, or classify:
a rock of ambiguous character.

4.
lacking clearness or definiteness; obscure; indistinct:
an ambiguous shape; an ambiguous future.

Question 33

ambivalence

Answer 33

1.
uncertainty or fluctuation, especially when caused by inability to make a choice or by a simultaneous desire to say or do two opposite or conflicting things.

2.
the coexistence within an individual of positive and negative feelings toward the same person, object, or action, simultaneously drawing him or her in opposite directions.

Question 34

ameliorate

Answer 34

to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve:
strategies to ameliorate negative effects on the environment.

Question 35

amenable

Answer 35

1.
ready or willing to answer, act, agree, or yield; open to influence, persuasion, or advice; agreeable; submissive; tractable:
an amenable servant.

2.
liable to be called to account; answerable; legally responsible:
You are amenable for this debt.

Question 36

amend

Answer 36

1.
to alter, modify, rephrase, or add to or subtract from (a motion, bill, constitution) by formal procedure:
Congress may amend the proposed tax bill.

2.
to change for the better; improve:
to amend one’s ways.

3.
to remove or correct faults in; rectify.

Question 37

amenity

Answer 37

1.
an agreeable way or manner; courtesy; civility:
the graceful amenities of society.

2.
any feature that provides comfort, convenience, or pleasure:
The house has a swimming pool, two fireplaces, and other amenities.

3.
the quality of being pleasing or agreeable in situation, prospect, disposition, etc.; pleasantness:
the amenity of the Caribbean climate.

Question 38

amiable

Answer 38

1.
having or showing pleasant, good-natured personal qualities; affable:
an amiable disposition.

2.
friendly; sociable:
an amiable greeting; an amiable gathering.

3.
agreeable; willing to accept the wishes, decisions, or suggestions of another or others.

Question 39

amicable

Answer 39

showing goodwill; friendly; peaceable:

an amicable settlement.

Question 40

amity

Answer 40

1.
friendship; peaceful harmony.

2.
mutual understanding and a peaceful relationship, especially between nations; peace; accord.

Question 41

amoral

Answer 41

1.
not involving questions of right or wrong; without moral quality; neither moral nor immoral.

2.
having no moral standards, restraints, or principles; unaware of or indifferent to questions of right or wrong:
a completely amoral person.

Question 42

amorous

Answer 42

1.
inclined or disposed to love, especially sexual love:
an amorous disposition.

2.
showing or expressing love:
an amorous letter.

3.
of or relating to love:
amorous poetry.

4.
being in love; enamored:
She smiled and at once he became amorous of her.

Question 43

amorphous

Answer 43

1.
lacking definite form; having no specific shape; formless:
the amorphous clouds.

2.
of no particular kind or character; indeterminate; having no pattern or structure; unorganized:
an amorphous style; an amorphous personality.

Question 44

amplify

Answer 44

1.
to make larger, greater, or stronger; enlarge; extend.

2.
to expand in stating or describing, as by details or illustrations; clarify by expanding.

Question 45

amputate

Answer 45

1.
to cut off, as by surgery.

2.
to prune, lop off, or remove:
Because of space limitations the editor amputated the last two paragraphs of the news report.

Question 46

amulet

Answer 46

a small object worn to ward off evil, harm, or illness or to bring good fortune; protecting charm.

Question 47

anachronism

Answer 47

1.
something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time:
The sword is an anachronism in modern warfare.

2.
an error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigned a date or period other than the correct one:
To assign Michelangelo to the 14th century is an anachronism.

Question 48

analogous

Answer 48

having analogy; corresponding in some particular:

A brain and a computer are analogous.

Question 49

analogy

Answer 49

1.
a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based:
the analogy between the heart and a pump.

2.
similarity or comparability:
I see no analogy between your problem and mine.

Question 50

anarchy

Answer 50

1.
a state of society without government or law.

2.
political and social disorder due to the absence of governmental control:
The death of the king was followed by a year of anarchy.

3.
lack of obedience to an authority; insubordination:
the anarchy of his rebellious teenage years.

5.
confusion and disorder:
Intellectual and moral anarchy followed his loss of faith.
It was impossible to find the book I was looking for in the anarchy of his bookshelves.

Question 51

anathema

Answer 51

1.
a person or thing detested or loathed:
That subject is anathema to him.

2.
a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction.

3.
a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication.

Question 52

anecdote

Answer 52

a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an interesting or amusing nature.

Question 53

anemia

Answer 53

1.
a quantitative deficiency of the hemoglobin, often accompanied by a reduced number of red blood cells and causing pallor, weakness, and breathlessness.

2.
a lack of power, vigor, vitality, or colorfulness:
His writing suffers from anemia.

Question 54

angst

Answer 54

a feeling of dread, anxiety, or anguish.

Question 55

animation

Answer 55

liveliness; vivacity; spirit:

to talk with animation.

Question 56

animosity

Answer 56

a feeling of hostility, ill will, or enmity that tends to display itself in action:
a deep-seated animosity between two opponents; animosity against one’s neighbor.

Question 57

animus

Answer 57

strong dislike or enmity; hostile attitude; animosity.

Question 58

annex

Answer 58

1.
to attach, append, or add, especially to something larger or more important.

2.
to incorporate territory into the domain of a city, country, or state:
Germany annexed part of Czechoslovakia.

3.
to take or appropriate, especially without permission.

Question 59

annihilate

Answer 59

1.
to reduce to utter ruin or nonexistence; destroy utterly:
The heavy bombing almost annihilated the city.

2.
to destroy the collective existence or main body of; wipe out:
to annihilate an army.

3.
to annul; make void:
to annihilate a law.

4.
to defeat completely; vanquish:
Our basketball team annihilated the visiting team.

Question 60

annul

Answer 60

1.
to make void or null; abolish; cancel; invalidate:
to annul a marriage.

2.
to reduce to nothing; obliterate.

Question 61

anodyne

Answer 61

1.
a medicine that relieves or allays pain.

2.
anything that relieves distress or pain:
The music was an anodyne to his grief.

Question 62

anoint

Answer 62

1.
to rub or sprinkle on; apply an unguent, ointment, or oily liquid to.

2.
to consecrate or make sacred in a ceremony that includes the token applying of oil:
He anointed the new high priest.

Question 63

anomaly

Answer 63

1.
a deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form.

2.
an anomalous person or thing; one that is abnormal or does not fit in:
With his quiet nature, he was an anomaly in his exuberant family.

3.
an odd, peculiar, or strange condition, situation, quality, etc.

4.
an incongruity or inconsistency.

Question 64

anonymous

Answer 64

1.
without any name acknowledged, as that of author, contributor, or the like:
an anonymous letter to the editor; an anonymous donation.

2.
of unknown name; whose name is withheld:
an anonymous author.

3.
lacking individuality, unique character, or distinction:
an endless row of drab, anonymous houses.

Question 65

antagonist

Answer 65

1.
a person who is opposed to, struggles against, or competes with another; opponent; adversary.

2.
the adversary of the hero or protagonist of a drama or other literary work:
Iago is the antagonist of Othello.

Question 66

antecedent

Answer 66

1.
preceding; prior:
an antecedent event.

2.
a preceding circumstance, event, object, style, phenomenon, etc.

3.
ancestors.

4. history, events, characteristics, etc., of one’s earlier life:
   Little is known about his birth and antecedents.

Question 67

anterior

Answer 67

1.
situated before or at the front of; fore (opposed to posterior).

2.
going before in time or sequence; preceding; earlier:
events anterior to the outbreak of war.

Question 68

anthology

Answer 68

1.
a book or other collection of selected writings by various authors, usually in the same literary form, of the same period, or on the same subject:
an anthology of Elizabethan drama; an anthology of modern philosophy.

2.
a collection of selected writings by one author.

Question 69

anthropocentric

Answer 69

1.
regarding the human being as the central fact of the universe.

2.
assuming human beings to be the final aim and end of the universe.

3.
viewing and interpreting everything in terms of human experience and values.

Question 70

anthropology

Answer 70

1.
the science that deals with the origins, physical and cultural development, biological characteristics, and social customs and beliefs of humankind.

2.
the study of human beings’ similarity to and divergence from other animals.

3.
the science of humans and their works.

Question 71

anthropomorphic

Answer 71

1.
ascribing human form or attributes to a being or thing not human, especially to a deity.

2.
resembling or made to resemble a human form:
an anthropomorphic carving.

Question 72

antics

Answer 72

1.
playful tricks or pranks

2.
grotesque, fantastic, or ludicrous gestures, acts, or postures

Question 73

antidote

Answer 73

1.
a medicine or other remedy for counteracting the effects of poison, disease, etc.

2.
something that prevents or counteracts injurious or unwanted effects:
Good jobs are the best antidote to teenage crime.

Question 74

antipathy

Answer 74

1.
a natural, basic, or habitual repugnance; aversion.

2.
an instinctive contrariety or opposition in feeling.

3.
an object of natural aversion or habitual dislike.

Question 75

antipodes

Answer 75

1.
places diametrically opposite each other on the globe.

2.
those who dwell there.

Question 76

antiquated

Answer 76

1.
continued from, resembling, or adhering to the past; old-fashioned:
antiquated attitudes.

2.
no longer used; obsolete or obsolescent:
The spinning wheel is an antiquated machine.

3.
aged; old.

Question 77

antithesis

Answer 77

1.
opposition; contrast:
the antithesis of right and wrong.

2.
the direct opposite (followed by of or to):
Her behavior was the very antithesis of cowardly.

Question 78

apathetic

Answer 78

1.
having or showing little or no emotion:
apathetic behavior.

2.
not interested or concerned; indifferent or unresponsive:
an apathetic audience.

Question 79

apex

Answer 79

1.
the tip, point, or vertex; summit.

2.
climax; peak; acme:
His election to the presidency was the apex of his career.

Question 80

aphasia

Answer 80

the loss of a previously held ability to speak or understand spoken or written language, due to disease or injury of the brain.

Question 81

aphorism

Answer 81

a terse saying embodying a general truth, or astute observation, as “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Question 82

aplomb

Answer 82

1.
imperturbable self-possession, poise, or assurance.

2.
the perpendicular, or vertical, position.

Question 83

apocalyptic

Answer 83

predicting or presaging imminent disaster and total or universal destruction:
the apocalyptic vision of some contemporary writers.

Question 84

apocryphal

Answer 84

1.
of doubtful authorship or authenticity.

2.
false; spurious:
He told an apocryphal story about the sword, but the truth was later revealed.

Question 85

apogee

Answer 85

1.
the point in the orbit of a heavenly body, especially the moon, or of a man-made satellite at which it is farthest from the earth (as opposed to perigee).

2.
the highest or most distant point; climax.