Difficult Barron's 2400 Upper-Level

Question 1

bane

Answer 1

a cause for ruin

Question 2

bevy

Answer 2

a large group

Question 3

bilk

Answer 3

to steal; to embezzle

Question 4

boon

Answer 4

a sudden gain; a windfall

Question 5

gait

Answer 5

a manner or rate of walking

Question 6

glib

Answer 6

easeful with speaking, storytelling

Question 7

glut

Answer 7

to oversupply; to stuff

Question 8

hack

Answer 8

hackneyed, trite, stale; to chop

Question 9

hale

Answer 9

healthy

Question 10

mire

Answer 10

a swamp pit; mud; a quagmire

Question 11

alacrity

Answer 11

cheerful readiness

Question 12

aspersion

Answer 12

misleading or false rumor; gossip

Question 13

brook (v.)

Answer 13

to endure; to put up with

Question 14

bungle

Answer 14

to botch; to mess up

Question 15

chagrin

Answer 15

embarrassment

Question 16

constituents

Answer 16

voters

Question 17

denuded

Answer 17

made ineffective or infertile

Question 18

diaphanous

Answer 18

sheer, gauzy, see-through; transparent

Question 19

discretionary

Answer 19

based on personal choice; showing prudence

Question 20

epitaph

Answer 20

words inscribed on a tomb

Question 21

extant

Answer 21

existing

Question 22

felicitous

Answer 22

suitable; pleasant

Question 23

flotilla

Answer 23

fleet of ships

Question 24

gaunt

Answer 24

thin; haggard

Question 25

hermetic

Answer 25

sealed in an airtight manner

Question 26

insular

Answer 26

isolated; remote

Question 27

jingoism

Answer 27

aggressive touting of one’s patriotism

Question 28

juggernaut

Answer 28

relentless force

Question 29

melee

Answer 29

a hand-to-hand fight involving several participants

Question 30

mendacity

Answer 30

deceit, dishonesty, fabrication

Question 31

myopic

Answer 31

short-sighted

Question 32

nondescript

Answer 32

featureless; hard to describe

Question 33

oblique

Answer 33

indirect; slanted

Question 34

perfidious

Answer 34

disloyal; traitorous

Question 35

petulant

Answer 35

irritable

Question 36

plaudits

Answer 36

applause; praise

Question 37

precept

Answer 37

a rule of behavior or action

Question 38

probity

Answer 38

honesty; integrity

Question 39

pundits

Answer 39

erudite (learned, scholarly) persons

Question 40

quibble

Answer 40

to find fault with

Question 41

raiment

Answer 41

clothing, apparel, attire

Question 42

rectitude

Answer 42

the quality of being right, moral, good

Question 43

reprehensible

Answer 43

worthy of blame

Question 44

retrograde

Answer 44

going backward and therefore not progressing

Question 45

spate

Answer 45

an outpouring

Question 46

subterfuge

Answer 46

deception

Question 47

surfeit (n.)

Answer 47

a surplus, an oversupply

Question 48

synergistic

Answer 48

working together and having a greater combined effect because of simultaneous operation

Question 49

table (v.)

Answer 49

to set aside an issue to be discussed at a later time

Question 50

temper (v.)

Answer 50

to lessen the severity of

Question 51

treacly/treacle

Answer 51

overly sentimental

Question 52

unheralded

Answer 52

unannounced

Question 53

upstart

Answer 53

a rebel, an insurgent; a maverick

Question 54

venial

Answer 54

forgivable; pardonable

Question 55

verisimilitude

Answer 55

probability; something that has the appearance of truth

Question 56

victuals

Answer 56

food

Question 57

watershed

Answer 57

a defining moment; a turning point

Question 58

waylay

Answer 58

to ambush

Question 59

wheedle

Answer 59

to cajole or coax

Question 60

windfall

Answer 60

an unexpected gain or boon