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Question 1

efface

Answer 1

(v.) to wipe out, obliterate, rub away (The husband was so angry at his wife for leaving him that he effaced all evidence of her presence; he threw out pictures of her
and gave away all her belongings.)

Question 2

effervescent

Answer 2

(adj.) bubbly, lively (My friend is so effervescent that she makes everyone smile.)

Question 3

efficacious

Answer 3

(adj.) effective (My doctor promised me that the cold medicine was
efficacious, but I’m still sniffling.)

Question 4

effrontery

Answer 4

(n.) impudence, nerve, insolence (When I told my aunt that she was boring, my mother scolded me for my effrontery.)

Question 5

effulgent

Answer 5

(adj.) radiant, splendorous (The golden palace was effulgent.)

Question 6

elegy

Answer 6

(n.) a speech given in honor of a dead person (At the funeral, the widow gave a moving elegy describing her love for her husband.)

Question 7

eloquent

Answer 7

(adj.) expressive, articulate, moving (The priest gave such an eloquent sermon that most churchgoers were crying.)

Question 8

elucidate

Answer 8

(v.) to clarify, explain (I didn’t understand why my friend was so angry with me, so I asked Janine to elucidate her feelings.)

Question 9

emaciated

Answer 9

(adj.) very thin, enfeebled looking (My sister eats a lot of pastries and
chocolate but still looks emaciated.)

Question 10

emend

Answer 10

(v.) to correct or revise a written text (If my sentence is incorrect, the editor will emend what I have written.)

Question 11

eminent

Answer 11

1. (adj.) distinguished, prominent, famous (Mr. Phillips is such an eminent scholar that every professor on campus has come to hear him lecture.) 2. (adj.)
   conspicuous (There is an eminent stain on that shirt.)

Question 12

emollient

Answer 12

(adj.) soothing (This emollient cream makes my skin very smooth.)

Question 13

empirical

Answer 13

1. (adj.) based on observation or experience (The scientist gathered empirical data on the growth rate of dandelions by studying the dandelions behind his house.)
2. (adj.) capable of being proved or disproved by experiment (That all cats hate
   getting wet is an empirical statement: I can test it by bathing my cat, Trinket.)

Question 14

enamor

Answer 14

(v.) to fill with love, fascinate, usually used in passive form followed by “of” or “with” (I grew enamored of that boy when he quoted my favorite love poem.)

Question 15

encumber

Answer 15

(v.) to weigh down, burden (At the airport, my friend was encumbered by her luggage, so I offered to carry two of her bags.

Question 16

enervate

Answer 16

(v.) to weaken, exhaust (Writing these sentences enervates me so much that I will have to take a nap after I finish.)

Question 17

enfranchise

Answer 17

(v.) to grant the vote to (The Nineteenth Amendment enfranchised
women.)

Question 18

engender

Answer 18

(v.) to bring about, create, generate (During the Olympics, the victories of
U.S. athletes engender a patriotic spirit among Americans.)

Question 19

enigmatic

Answer 19

(adj.) mystifying, cryptic (That man wearing the dark suit and dark glasses is so enigmatic that no one even knows his name.)

Question 20

enmity

Answer 20

(n.) ill will, hatred, hostility (Mark and Andy have clearly not forgiven each
other, because the enmity between them is obvious to anyone in their presence.)

Question 21

ennui

Answer 21

(n.) boredom, weariness (I feel such ennui that I don’t look forward to anything,
not even my birthday party.)

Question 22

enthrall

Answer 22

(v.) to charm, hold spellbound (The sailor’s stories of fighting off sharks and finding ancient treasures enthralled his young son.)

Question 23

ephemeral

Answer 23

(adj.) short-lived, fleeting (She promised she’d love me forever, but her “forever” was only ephemeral: she left me after one week.)

Question 24

epistolary

Answer 24

(adj.) relating to or contained in letters (Some people call me “Auntie’s boy,”
because my aunt and I have such a close epistolary relationship that we write each
other every day.)

Question 25

epitome

Answer 25

(n.) a perfect example, embodiment (My mother, the epitome of good taste, always dresses more elegantly than I do.)

Question 26

equanimity

Answer 26

(n.) composure (Even though he had just been fired, Mr. Simms showed great equanimity by neatly packing up his desk and wishing everyone in the office well.)

Question 27

equivocal

Answer 27

(adj.) ambiguous, uncertain, undecided (His intentions were so equivocal that I didn’t know whether he was being chivalrous or sleazy.)

Question 28

erudite

Answer 28

(adj.) learned (My Latin teacher is such an erudite scholar that he has translated some of the most difficult and abstruse ancient poetry.)

Question 29

eschew

Answer 29

(v.) to shun, avoid (George hates the color green so much that he eschews all
green food.)

Question 30

esoteric

Answer 30

(adj.) understood by only a select few (Even the most advanced students
cannot understand the physicist’s esoteric theories.)

Question 31

espouse

Answer 31

(v.) to take up as a cause, support (I love animals so much that I espouse animal
rights.)

Question 32

ethereal

Answer 32

(adj.) heavenly, exceptionally delicate or refined (In her flowing silk gown and
lace veil, the bride looked ethereal.)

Question 33

etymology

Answer 33

(n.) the history of words, their origin and development (From the study of
etymology, I know that the word “quixotic” derives from Don Quixote and the word “gaudy” refers to the Spanish architect Gaudí.)

Question 34

euphoric

Answer 34

(adj.) elated, uplifted (I was euphoric when I found out that my sister had
given birth to twins.)

Question 35

evanescent

Answer 35

(adj.) fleeting, momentary (My joy at getting promoted was evanescent
because I discovered that I would have to work much longer hours in a less friendly
office.)

Question 36

evince

Answer 36

(v.) to show, reveal (Christopher’s hand-wringing and nail-biting evince how nervous he is about the upcoming English test.)

Question 37

exacerbate

Answer 37

(v.) to make more violent, intense (The gruesome and scary movie I saw last
night exacerbated my fears of the dark.)

Question 38

exalt

Answer 38

(v.) to glorify, praise (Michael Jordan is the figure in basketball we exalt the most.)

Question 39

exasperate

Answer 39

(v.) to irritate, irk (George’s endless complaints exasperated his roomate.)

Question 40

exculpate

Answer 40

(v.) to free from guilt or blame, exonerate (My discovery of the ring behind
the dresser exculpated me from the charge of having stolen it.)

Question 41

excursion

Answer 41

(n.) a trip or outing (After taking an excursion to the Bronx Zoo, I dreamed
about pandas and monkeys.)

Question 42

execrable

Answer 42

(adj.) loathsome, detestable (Her pudding is so execrable that it makes me
sick.)

Question 43

exhort

Answer 43

(v.) to urge, prod, spur (Henry exhorted his colleagues to join him in protesting
against the university’s hiring policies.)

Question 44

exigent

Answer 44

(adj.) urgent, critical (The patient has an exigent need for medication, or else he will lose his sight.)

Question 45

exonerate

Answer 45

(v.) to free from guilt or blame, exculpate (The true thief’s confession
exonerated the man who had been held in custody for the crime.)

Question 46

exorbitant

Answer 46

(adj.) excessive (Her exorbitant praise made me blush and squirm in my seat.)

Question 47

expedient

Answer 47

(adj.) advisable, advantageous, serving one’s self-interest (In his bid for reelection, the governor made an expedient move by tabling all controversial
legislation.)

Question 48

expiate

Answer 48

(v.) to make amends for, atone (To expiate my selfishness, I gave all my profits to
charity.)

Question 49

expunge

Answer 49

v.) to obliterate, eradicate (Fearful of an IRS investigation, Paul tried to
expunge all incriminating evidence from his tax files.)

Question 50

expurgate

Answer 50

(v.) to remove offensive or incorrect parts, usually of a book (The history
editors expurgated from the text all disparaging and inflammatory comments about
the Republican Party.)

Question 51

extant

Answer 51

(adj.) existing, not destroyed or lost (My mother’s extant love letters to my father are in the attic trunk.)

Question 52

extol

Answer 52

(v.) to praise, revere (Violet extolled the virtues of a vegetarian diet to her meat-
loving brother.)

Question 53

extraneous

Answer 53

(adj.) irrelevant, extra, not necessary (Personal political ambitions should
always remain extraneous to legislative policy, but, unfortunately, they rarely are.)

Question 54

extricate

Answer 54

(v.) to disentangle (Instead of trying to mediate between my brother and
sister, I extricated myself from the family tension entirely and left the house for the
day.)

Question 55

exult

Answer 55

(v.) to rejoice (When she found out she won the literature prize, Mary exulted by
dancing and singing through the school’s halls.)