Common Words 1

Question 1

impertinent

Answer 1

being disrespectful; improperly forward or bold
Synonyms : fresh , impudent , overbold , sassy , saucy , smart , wise
I hope he didn’t think me impertinent when I asked him about his private life.

Question 2

prevaricate

Answer 2

To speak in an evasive way
Synonyms : beat around the bush , equivocate , palter , tergiversate
“he seemed to prevaricate when journalists asked pointed questions”

Question 3

venality

Answer 3

the condition of being susceptible to bribes or corruption
Even some of the most sacred sporting events are not immune to venality, as many of the officials have received substantial bribes to make biased calls.

Question 4

qualify

Answer 4

to make less severe; to limit (a statement)
Chris qualified his love for San Francisco, adding he didn’t like the weather there as much as he liked the weather in Los Angeles.

Question 5

venerate

Answer 5

to respect deeply
Synonyms : fear , revere , reverence
The professor, was venerated amongst his colleagues.

Question 6

egregious

Answer 6

standing out in negative way; shockingly bad
crying , flagrant , glaring , gross , rank
The dictator’s abuse of human rights was so egregious that many world leaders demanded that he be tried in an international court for genocide.

Question 7

restive

Answer 7

restless
Synonyms : edgy , high-strung , highly strung , jittery , jumpy , nervy , overstrung , uptight
The crowd grew restive as the comedian’s opening jokes fell flat.

Question 8

calumny

Answer 8

making of a false statement meant to injure a person’s reputation
Synonyms : calumniation , defamation , hatchet job , obloquy , aspersion , slander , denigration , traducement
With the presidential primaries well under way, the air is thick with calumny, and the mud already waist-high.

Question 9

harangue

Answer 9

long pompous speech / tirade
Tired of his parents haranguing him about his laziness and lack of initiative

Question 10

iconoclast

Answer 10

somebody who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions
Lady Gaga, in challenging what it means to be clothed, is an iconoclast for wearing a “meat dress” to a prominent awards show.

Question 11

disinterested

Answer 11

unbiased; neutral
The potential juror knew the defendant, and therefore could not serve on the jury, which must consist only of disinterested members.

Question 12

involved

Answer 12

complicated, and difficult to comprehend
Synonyms : byzantine, convoluted, knotty, tangled, tortuous
The physics lecture became so involved that the undergraduate’s eyes glazed over.

Question 13

wanting

Answer 13

lacking
Synonyms : deficient , lacking
She did not think her vocabulary was wanting, yet there were so many words that inevitably she found a few she didn’t know.

Question 14

galvanise

Answer 14

to excite or inspire (someone) to action
Synonyms : startle
At mile 23 of his first marathon, Kyle had all but given up, until he noticed his friends and family holding a banner that read, “Go Kyle”; galvanized, he broke into a gallop, finishing the last three miles in less than 20 minutes.

Question 15

anomalous

Answer 15

adjective: not normal
According to those who do not believe in climate change, the extreme weather over the last five years is simply anomalous

Question 16

frugal

Answer 16

not spending much money (but spending wisely)
Synonyms : economical , scotch , sparing , stinting
Monte was no miser, but was simply frugal, wisely spending the little that he earned.

Question 17

intimate

Answer 17

to suggest something subtly
Synonyms : adumbrate , insinuate
At first Manfred’s teachers intimated to his parents that he was not suited to skip a grade; when his parents protested, teachers explicitly told them that, notwithstanding the boy’s precocity, he was simply too immature to jump to the 6th grade.

Question 18

enervate

Answer 18

to sap energy from
Synonyms : faze , unnerve , unsettle
John preferred to avoid equatorial countries; the intense sun would always leave him enervated after he’d spent the day sightseeing.

Question 19

censured

Answer 19

verb: to express strong disapproval

Synonyms : animadversion

After being caught in bed with a mistress, the mayor was quickly censured by the city council.

Question 20

auspicious

Answer 20

favorable, the opposite of sinister
Despite an auspicious beginning, Mike’s road trip became a series of mishaps, and he was soon stranded and penniless, leaning against his wrecked automobile.

Question 21

amorphous

Answer 21

shapeless
Synonyms : formless , shapeless , unstructured
His study plan for the GRE was at best amorphous; he would do questions from random pages in any one of seven test prep books.

Question 22

chastise

Answer 22

to reprimand harshly
Synonyms : castigate , chasten , correct , objurgate
Though chastised for eating the snacks for the party, Lawrence shrugged off his mother’s harsh words, and continued to plow through jars of cookies and boxes of donuts.

Question 23

betray

Answer 23

to reveal or make known something, usually unintentionally

Synonyms : bewray

With the gold medal at stake, the gymnast awaited his turn, his quivering lip betraying his intense emotions.

Question 24

upbraid

Answer 24

to reproach; to scold
Bob took a risk walking into the “Students Barbershop” - in the end he had to upbraid the apparently drunk barber for giving him an uneven bowl cut.

Question 25

innocuous

Answer 25

harmless and doesn’t produce any ill effects
Synonyms : innocent
Everyone found Nancy’s banter innocuous - except for Mike, who felt like she was intentionally picking on him.

Question 26

amalgam

Answer 26

a mixture of multiple things
The band’s music was an amalgam of hip-hop, flamenco and jazz, blending the three styles with surprising results.

Question 27

Laconic

Answer 27

one who says very few words

Synonyms : crisp , curt , terse

While Martha always swooned over the hunky, laconic types in romantic comedies, her boyfriends inevitably were very talkative - and not very hunky.

Question 28

ambivalent

Answer 28

mixed or conflicting emotions about something
Sam was ambivalent about studying for the exam because doing so ate up a lot of his time, yet he was able to improve his analytical skills.

Question 29

extant

Answer 29

still in existence (usually refers to documents).
Despite many bookstores closing, experts predict that some form of book dealing will still be extant generations from now.

Question 30

veracious

Answer 30

truthful
Synonyms : right
While we elect our leaders in the hope that every word they speak will be veracious, history has shown that such a hope is naive.

Question 31

artful

Answer 31

clever in a cunning way
Bernie Madoff’s artful Ponzi scheme stole billions of dollars from investors and is considered the largest financial fraud in U.S. history.

Question 32

castigate

Answer 32

to reprimand harshly
Synonyms : chasten , chastise , correct , objurgate
Drill sergeants are known to castigate new recruits so mercilessly that the latter often break down during their first week in training.