Hard Words 4

Question 1

Complaisant

Answer 1

overly polite; willing to please; obliging

Question 2

Compunction

Answer 2

uneasiness caused by guilt

Question 3

Consecrate

Answer 3

to declare sacred

Question 4

Congenial

Answer 4

similar in tastes and habits; friendly

Question 5

Contrite

Answer 5

very sorrowful for a wrong

Question 6

Contumacious

Answer 6

rebellious; disobedient

Question 7

Ostentatious

Answer 7

characterized by vulgar or pretentious display; designed to impress or attract noise; [obtrusive, flamboyant, gaudy, garish]

Question 8

Tinsel

Answer 8

a form of decoration consisting of thin strips of shiny metal foil; [showy or superficial attractiveness of glamour]

Question 9

Meretricious

Answer 9

apparently attractive but having no value or integrity; [archaically refers to prostitutes]

Question 10

Kitschy

Answer 10

(of art, objects, or design) considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way

Question 11

Brummagem

Answer 11

cheap, showy, counterfeit

Question 12

Controvert

Answer 12

deny the truth of something; argue about something

Question 13

Continence

Answer 13

abstinence

Question 14

Convivial

Answer 14

sociable

Question 15

Copious

Answer 15

abundant; plentiful

Question 16

Cornucopia

Answer 16

state of abundance

Question 17

Covetous

Answer 17

desiring something owned by another

Question 18

Cozen

Answer 18

to mislead by trick or fraud; deceive

Question 19

Stout

Answer 19

somewhat fat or heavy build (e.g. stout beer)

Question 20

Fecund

Answer 20

producing or capable of producing an abundance of offspring or new growth; fertile

Question 21

Admonish

Answer 21

to caution or reprimand

Question 22

Affected

Answer 22

pretentious or phony

Question 23

Allay

Answer 23

to lessen; ease; soothe

Question 24

Ambrosia

Answer 24

something sweet; the food of the gods

Question 25

Analgesic

Answer 25

medication that reduces or eliminates pain

Question 26

Nostrum

Answer 26

medicine or remedy of doubtful effectiveness; supposed cure

Question 27

Nugatory

Answer 27

trifling; invalid

Question 28

Obsequious

Answer 28

overly submissive

Question 29

Obsequy

Answer 29

funeral ceremony

Question 30

Obviate

Answer 30

to make unnecessary; to anticipate and prevent

Question 31

Occlude

Answer 31

to shut; block

Question 32

Officious

Answer 32

too helpful to the point where it’s meddlesome

Question 33

Olfactory

Answer 33

concerning the sense of smell

Question 34

Onerous

Answer 34

burdensome

Question 35

Opprobrium

Answer 35

disgrace; contempt

Question 36

Ostentatious

Answer 36

showy; trying to attraction attention; pretentious

Question 37

Overweening

Answer 37

presumptuous; arrogant; overbearing

Question 38

Pallid

Answer 38

lacking color or liveliness

Question 39

Paragon

Answer 39

model of excellence or perfection

Question 40

Patois

Answer 40

regional dialect; nonstandard speech; jargon

Question 41

Paucity

Answer 41

scarcity

Question 42

Pedantic

Answer 42

showing off learning

Question 43

Pellucid

Answer 43

transparent; translucent; easily understood

Question 44

Penchant

Answer 44

inclination

Question 45

Penury

Answer 45

extremely poverty

Question 46

Peregrination

Answer 46

wandering from place to place

Question 47

Peremptory

Answer 47

imperative; leaving no choice

Question 48

Perfidious

Answer 48

faithless; disloyal; untrustworthy

Question 49

Perfunctory

Answer 49

superficial; not thorough; performed really as duty

Question 50

Perigee

Answer 50

point in an orbit that is closest to the Earth