High-Frequency Words Flashcards

Question

appropriate

Answer 1

acquire; take possession of for one's own use *The ranch owners ___ the lands that had originally been set aside for the Indians' use.*

Answer 2

hard; strenuous *Her ___ efforts had sapped her energy.*

Answer 3

without guile; open and honest *Red Riding Hood's ___ comment, "Grandma, what big eyes you have!" indicates the child's innocent surprise at the changed appearance.*

Answer 4

practicing self-denial; austere *The wealthy, self-indulgent young man felt oddly drawn to the strict, ___ life led by members of some monastic orders.*

Answer 5

diligent *It took him weeks of ___ work before he was satisfied with his portrait of his son.*

Answer 6

ease or lessen (pain); satisfy (hunger); soothe (anger) *Jilted by her, he tried to ___ his heartache by indulging in ice cream.*

Answer 7

make thinner; weaken or lessen (in density, force, degree) *The long, dry spell ___ the creek to the merest trickle.*

Answer 8

daring; bold *Audiences cheered as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia made their ___, death-defying leap to freedom and escaped Darth Vader's troops.*

Answer 9

forbiddingly stern; severely simple and unornamented *His ___ demeanor tended to scare off the more timid students, who never visited his study willingly.*

Answer 10

self-governing *Although UC Berkeley is just one part of the state university system, in many ways it is ___, for it runs several programs not subject to outside control.*

Answer 11

assert confidently or declare; as used in law, state formally as a fact *The self-proclaimed psychic ___ that, because he had extrasensory perception, he needed no seismographs to foretell earthquakes.*

Answer 12

hackneyed; commonplace; trite; lacking originality *The hack writer's worn-out clichés made his comic sketch seem ___.*

Answer 13

contradict; give a false impression *His coarse, hard-bitten exterior ___ his innate sensitivity.*

Answer 14

kindly; doing good *The overgenerous philanthropist had to curb his ___ impulses before he gave away all his money and left himself with nothing.*

Answer 15

support; reinforce *The debaters amassed file boxes full of evidence to ___ their arguments.*

Answer 16

pompous; using inflated language *Puffed up with conceit, the orator spoke in such a ___ manner that we longed to deflate him.*

Answer 17

rude; insensitive *Though he constantly interrupted his wife, she ignored his ___ behavior, for she had lost hope of teaching him courtesy.

Answer 18

flourishing; growing quickly; putting out buds *They could scarcely keep up with the ___ demand for the services of their production company.*

Answer 19

make shiny by rubbing; polish *The maid ___ the brass fixtures until they reflected the lamplight.*

Answer 20

support; prop up *Just as architects ___ the walls of cathedrals with flying ___, debaters ___ their arguments with facts.*

Answer 21

discordant; inharmonious *Do the students in orchestra enjoy the ___ sounds they make when they're tuning up? I don't know how they can stand the racket.*

Answer 22

unpredictable; fickle *The storm was ___: it changed course constantly.*

Answer 23

punishment; severe criticism *Sensitive even to mild criticism, she could not bear the ___ that she found in certain reviews.*

Answer 24

agent that influences pace of chemical reaction; thing that causes action *After a banana is harvested, enzymes within its cells continue to act as a ___ for the biochemical processes of ripening, causing it to rot.*

Answer 25

burning; sarcastically biting *The critic's ___ remarks angered the hapless actors who were the subjects of his sarcasm.*

Answer 26

trickery; deception *Those sneaky lawyers misrepresented what occurred, made up implausible scenarios to confuse jurors, and depended on ___ to win the case.*

Answer 27

convincing *She argued her case with such ___ that the jury had to decide in favor of her client.*

Answer 28

corresponding in extent, degree, amount, etc.; proportionate *By the end of WWII, much progress had been made in assigning nurses rank and responsibilities ___ with their training and abilities.*

Answer 29

brief, comprehensive summary *This text can serve as a ___ of the tremendous amount of new material being developed in this field.*

Answer 30

trying to please; overly polite; obliging *Someone ___ is not smug or complacent; he yields to others because he has an excessive need to please.*

Answer 31

yielding; conforming to requirements *Because he usually gave in and went along with whatever his friends desired, his mother worried he was too ___.*

Answer 32

reconciling; soothing *She was still angry despite his ___ words.*

Answer 33

overlook; forgive; give tacit approval; excuse *Unlike Douglass, who ___ Huck's minor offenses, Watson did nothing but scold.*

Answer 34

confuse; puzzle *No mystery could ___ Sherlock Holmes for long.*

Answer 35

person competent to act as a judge of art, etc.; a lover of an art *The American art critic and ___ of Italian art was hired by wealthy art lovers to select paintings for their collections.*

Answer 36

claim; thesis *It is our ___ that, if you follow our tactics, you will boost your score on the GRE.*

Answer 37

quarrelsome *Disagreeing violently with the referees' ruling, the coach became so ___ that the referees threw him out of the game.*

Answer 38

penitent, remorseful *Her ___ tears did not influence the judge when he imposed the sentence.*

Answer 39

riddle; difficult problem *During the long car ride, she invented ___ to entertain the children.*

Answer 40

approach; tend to meet; come together *African-American men from all over the US ___ on Washington to take part in the Million Man March.*

Answer 41

coiled around; involved; intricate *His argument was so ___ that few of us could follow it intelligently.*

Answer 42

cowardly *Her ___ refusal to join the protest was criticized by her comrades, who had expected her to be brave and stand up for her beliefs.*

Answer 43

intimidate; frighten *"Boast all you want. Mere words cannot ___ me," the hero answered the villain.*

Answer 44

propriety; orderliness and good taste in manners *Even the best-mannered students have trouble behaving with ___ on the last day of school.*

Answer 45

failure to act *When the visiting team failed to show up for the big game, they lost the game by ___.*

Answer 46

courteous regard for another's wish *In ___ to the minister's request, please do not take photographs during the wedding service.*

Answer 47

portray; depict; sketch *Using only a few descriptive phrases, Austen ___ the character of Mr. Collins so well that we can predict his every move.*

Answer 48

diminish, belittle *All attempts to ___ the character of our late president have failed; the people still love him and cherish his memory.*

Answer 49

ridicule; make fun of *The critics ___ his pretentious dialogue and refused to consider his play seriously.*

Answer 50

unoriginal; obtained from another source *Although her early poetry was clearly ___ in nature, the critics thought she had promise and eventually would find her own voice.*

Answer 51

dry up *A tour of this smokehouse will give you an idea of how the pioneers used to ___ food in order to preserve it.*

Answer 52

aimless; haphazard; digressing at random *In prison he set himself the task of reading straight through the dictionary; to him, reading was purposeful, not ___.*

Answer 53

something that discourages; hindrance *Does the threat of capital punishment serve as a ___ to potential killers?*

Answer 54

bitter scolding; invective *Luther's vitriolic ___ against the Jews are part of the history that leads to Kristallnacht.*

Answer 55

split; branching into two parts (especially contradictory ones) *He didn't know how to resolve the ___ between his ambition to go to college and his childhood longing to run away and join the circus.*

Answer 56

shyness *You must overcome your ___ if you intend to become a salesperson.*

Answer 57

wordy; rambling; spread out (like a gas) *If you pay authors by the word, you tempt them to produce ___ manuscripts rather than brief ones.*

Answer 58

wandering away from the subject *Nobody minded when his lectures wandered away from their official theme; his ___ were always more fascinating.*

Answer 59

correct a false impression; undeceive *Once she started teaching, she was quickly ___ of any romantic notions she had about her role.*

Answer 60

mentally quick and observant; having insight *Though no genius, the star was sufficiently ___ to distinguish her true friends from the countless phonies who flattered her.*

Answer 61

not harmonious; conflicting *Nothing is quite so ___ as the sound of a junior high school orchestra tuning up.*

Answer 62

defame; destroy confidence in; disbelieve *The campaign was highly negative in tone; each candidate tried to ___ the other.*

Answer 63

lack of consistency; difference *The police noticed some ___ in his description of the crime and did not believe him.*

Answer 64

separate; unconnected; consisting of distinct parts *In programmed instruction, information is presented in ___ units; you must respond correctly to each unit before you advance to the next.*

Answer 65

lacking genuine candor; insincere *Now that we know they are in a bitter divorce, we find their earlier remarks regretting their lack of time together to be ___.*

Answer 66

unprejudiced *Given the judge's political ambitions and the lawyers' financial interest in the case, the only ___ person was the court reporter.*

Answer 67

lacking coherence; separated at the joints *Unable to think of anything to say, the unprepared student scribbled a few ___ sentences on his answer sheet.*

Answer 68

eliminate from consideration; reject *Believing in his love for her, she ___ the notion that he might be unfaithful.*

Answer 69

belittle *A doting mother, she was more likely to praise her son's crude attempts at art than to ___ them.*

Answer 70

basically different; unrelated *Unfortunately they have ___ notions of marriage: he sees it as a carefree extended love affair, while she sees it as solemn commitment.*

Answer 71

disguise; pretend *Even though he tried to ___ his motive for taking modern dance, we all knew he was there not to dance but to meet girls.*

Answer 72

distribute; spread; scatter (like seeds) *By their use of the Internet, propagandists have been able to ___ their doctrines to new audiences around the globe.*

Answer 73

disintegration; looseness in morals *The profligacy and ___ of life in Caligula's Rome appall some historians.*

Answer 74

discord; opposite of harmony *The composer often used ___, or clashing or unresolved chords.*

Answer 75

expand; swell out *I can tell when he is under stress by the way the veins on his forehead ___.*

Answer 76

purify; refine; concentrate *A moonshiner ___ mash into whiskey; an epigrammatist ___ thoughts into quips.*

Answer 77

vary; go in different directions from the same point *The spokes of the wheel ___ from the hub.*

Answer 78

strip; deprive *Before Eisenhower appointed Charlie Wilson as the Secretary of Defense, he required Wilson to ___ himself of his holdings in General Motors.*

Answer 79

provide written evidence *She kept all the receipts from her business trip in order to ___ her expenses for the firm.*

Answer 80

opinionated; arbitrary; doctrinal *We tried to discourage him from being so ___, but never could convince him that his opinions might be wrong.*

Answer 81

sleeping; lethargic; latent *At fifty, her long-___ ambition to write flared up once more; within a year she had completed the first of her great historical novels.*

Answer 82

someone easily fooled *While the gullible Watson often was made a ___ by unscrupulous parties, Sherlock Holmes was far more difficult to fool.*

Answer 83

showing excitement; overflowing with enthusiasm *Her ___ nature could not be repressed; she was always bubbling over with excitement.*

Answer 84

selective; composed of elements drawn from disparate sources *His style of interior decoration was ___: furnishings from widely divergent periods, strikingly juxtaposed to create a unique decor.*

Answer 85

power to produce desired effect *The ___ of this drug depends on the regularity of the dosage.*

Answer 86

impudence; shameless boldness; sheer nerve; presumptuousness *When the boss told him she was firing him for laziness and insubordination, he had the ___ to ask for a letter of recommendation.*

Answer 87

poem or song expressing lamentation *On the death of Edward King, Milton composed the ___ "Lycidas."*

Answer 88

draw out by discussion *The detectives tried to ___ where he had hidden his loot.*

Answer 89

adorn; ornament; enhance, as a story *The costume designer ___ the leading lady's ball gown with yards of ribbon and lace.*

Answer 90

based on experience *He distrusted hunches and intuitive flashes; he placed his reliance entirely on ___ data.*

Answer 91

imitate; rival *In a brief essay, describe a person you admire, someone whose virtues you'd like to ___. *

Answer 92

prevailing among a specific group of people or in area/country *This disease is ___ in this part of the world; more than 80% of the population are at one time or another affected by it.*

Answer 93

weaken *She was slow to recover from her illness; even a short walk to the window ___ her.*

Answer 94

cause; produce *To receive praise for real accomplishments ___ self-confidence in a child.*

Answer 95

increase; improve *You can ___ your chances of being admitted to your top college by learning to write well; an excellent essay will ___ any application.*

Answer 96

short-lived; fleeting *The mayfly is an ___ creature: its adult life lasts little more than a day.*

Answer 97

calmness of temperament; composure *Even the inevitable strains of caring for an ailing mother did not disturb her ___.*

Answer 98

lie; mislead; attempt to conceal the truth *No matter how bad the news is, give it to us straight. Above all, don't ___.*

Answer 99

learned; scholarly *Unlike much scholarly writing, Huizinga's prose was entertaining as well as ___, lively as well as learned.*

Answer 100

hard to understand; known only to the chosen few *New Yorker short stories often include ___ allusions to obscure people and events.*

Answer 101

expression of praise, often on the occasion of someone's death *Instead of delivering a spoken ___ at her memorial service, his sang a song he had written in her honor. *

Answer 102

mild expression in place of an unpleasant one *The expression "he passed away" is a ___ for "he died."*

Answer 103

worsen; embitter *The latest bombing ___ England's already existing bitterness against the IRS, causing the Prime Minister to break off the peace talks abruptly.*

Answer 104

clear from blame *Fearful of being implicated as a conspirator in the plot to kill him, he equivocated, prevaricated and lied to try to ___ himself.*

Answer 105

urgent situation; pressing needs/demands; requiring immediate attention *The ___ of war gave impetus and funding to computer research and the development of code-breaking machines.*

Answer 106

projection; conjecture *Based on their ___ from the results of the primaries on Super Tuesday, the networks predicted that Bush would be the Republican candidate for presidency.*

Answer 107

joking (often inappropriately); humorous *I'm serious about this project; I don't need any ___, smart-alecky cracks about do-good little rich girls. *

Answer 108

help bring about; make less difficult *Rest and proper nourishment should ___ the patient's recovery.*

Answer 109

false; misleading *___ reasoning doesn't always yield erroneous results; even though your logic may be faulty, the answer you get may be correct.*

Answer 110

brainless; inane; foolish, yet smug *Fatheads are by definition ___.*

Answer 111

trying to please by behaving obsequiously, flattering, or cringing *Courtiers ___ upon princes; groupies ___ upon rock stars.*

Answer 112

apt; suitably expressed; well chosen *He was famous for his ___ remarks and was called upon to serve as master-of-ceremonies at many a banquet.*

Answer 113

glowing ardor; intensity of feeling *At the protest rally, the students cheered the strikers and booed the dean with equal ___.*

Answer 114

droop; grow feeble *When the opposing hockey team scored its third goal only minutes into the first period, the home team's spirits ___.*

Answer 115

inexperienced *The folk dance club set up an apprentice program to allow ___ dance callers a chance to polish their skills.*

Answer 116

reject; mock; show contempt for *The painter is known for works that ___ the conventions of high art, such as paintings on velvet or linoleum.*

Answer 117

stir up; instigate *Her archenemy spread some nasty rumors that ___ trouble in the club.*

Answer 118

prevent by taking action in advance *By setting up a prenuptial agreement, the prospective bride and groom hoped to ___ any potential arguments about money in the event of a divorce.*

Answer 119

thrift; economy *In economically hard times, anyone who doesn't learn to practice ___ risks bankruptcy.*

Answer 120

useless; hopeless; ineffectual *It is ___ for me to try to get any work done around here while the phone is ringing every 30 seconds.*

Answer 121

deny *She was too honest to ___ the truth of the report.*

Answer 122

loquacious; wordy; talkative *My uncle can out-talk any other three people I know. He is the most ___ person in the county.*

Answer 123

urge on; prod; incite *She was furious with herself for having lost her temper, and even more furious with him for having ___ her into losing it.*

Answer 124

pompous; bombastic; using high-sounding language *The politician could never speak simply; she was always ___.*

Answer 125

sociable *Typically, party-throwers are ___; hermits are not.*

Answer 126

without deceit *He is naïve, simple, and ___; he cannot be guilty of fraud.*

Answer 127

easily deceived *___ people have only themselves to blame if they fall for con artists repeatedly.*

Answer 128

long, passionate, and vehement speech *In her lengthy ___, the principal berated the offenders.*

Answer 129

of the same kind *Because the student body was so ___, they decided to send her daughter to another school with more cultural diversity.*

Answer 130

exaggeration; overstatement *Apple's claims about the new computer are pure ___: no machine is the good!*

Answer 131

attacking cherished traditions *Deeply ___, he deliberately set out to shock conventional theatergoers with his radical plays.*

Answer 132

worship of idols; excessive admiration *Public display of the ruler's countenance is very recent and in the more conservative countries is still regarded as a blasphemy verging on ___.*

Answer 133

unchangeable *All things change over time; nothing is ___.*

Answer 134

injure; hurt *Drinking alcohol can ___ your ability to drive safely; if you're going to drink, don't drive.*

Answer 135

without feeling; imperturbable; stoical *Refusing to let the enemy see how deeply shaken he was by his capture, the prisoner kept his face ___.*

Answer 136

hinder; block *The special prosecutor determined that the Attorney General, though inept, had not intentionally set out to ___ the progress of the investigation.*

Answer 137

impervious; not permitting passage through its substance *This new material is ___ to liquids.*

Answer 138

calm; placid *He remained ___ and in full command of the situation in spite of the hysteria and panic all around him.*

Answer 139

unaffected by; incapable of being damaged or distressed *Having read so many negative reviews of his acting, the movie star had learned to ignore them and was now ___ to criticism.*

Answer 140

incapable of being pacified *She was the ___ enemy of the family.*

Answer 141

understood but not stated *He never told her he adored her; he believed his love was ___ in his deeds.*

Answer 142

burst inward, cave in *If you break a vacuum tube, the glass tube ___.*

Answer 143

unintentionally; by oversight; carelessly *Her great fear was that she might ___ omit a question on the exam and mismark her whole answer sheet.*

Answer 144

recently begun; rudimentary; elementary *Before the Creation, the world was an ___ mass.*

Answer 145

lack of harmony; absurdity *The ___ of his wearing sneakers with formal attire amused the observers.*

Answer 146

insignificant; unimportant *Brushing off her apologies for having broken the wine glass, he said, "Don't worry about it; it's ___."*

Answer 147

introduce something into a larger whole; combine; unite *Breaking with precedent, President Truman ordered the military to ___ blacks into every branch of the armed services.*

Answer 148

uncertain; not clearly fixed; indefinite *That interest rates shall rise appears certain; when they will do so, however, remains ___.*

Answer 149

poverty *Neither the economists nor the political scientists have found a way to wipe out the inequities of wealth and eliminate ___ from society.*

Answer 150

lazy *Couch potatoes lead an ___ life lying back in their Lazyboy recliners watching TV.*

Answer 151

inactive; lacking power to move *"Get up, you lazy-bones," she cried to him, who lay in bed ___.*

Answer 152

naïve and trusting; young; unsophisticated *The woodsman didn't realize how ___ Little Red Riding Hood was until he heard that she had gone off into the woods with the Big Bad Wolf.*

Answer 153

firmly established by nature or habit *Katya's ___ love of justice caused her to champion anyone she considered to be treated unfairly by society.*

Answer 154

harmless *An occasional glass of wine with dinner is relatively ___ and should have no ill effect on most people.*

Answer 155

unconscious; unresponsive *She and I are very different; at times when I would be covered with embarrassment, she seems ___ to shame.*

Answer 156

hint; imply; creep in *When you said I looked robust, did you mean to ___ that I'm getting fat?*

Answer 157

lacking in flavor; dull *Flat prose and flat ginger ale are equally ___: both lack sparkle.*

Answer 158

narrow-mindedness; isolation *The ___ of the islanders manifested itself in their suspicion of anything foreign.*

Answer 159

unruly; stubborn; unyielding *He was ___: he absolutely refused to take a bath.*

Answer 160

refusal of any compromise; stubbornness *The negotiating team had not expected such ___ from the striking workers, who rejected any hint of a compromise.*

Answer 161

overwhelm; flood; submerge *This semester I am ___ with work: you should see the piles of paperwork flooding my desk.*

Answer 162

accustomed; hardened *She became ___ to the Alaskan cold.*

Answer 163

irritable; easily angered *The teacher's ___ temper intimidated the schoolgirls, who feared she'd burst into a rage at any moment.*

Answer 164

uncertain how to act; weak *Once you have made your decision, don't waver; a leader should never appear ___.*

Answer 165

plan of a trip *Disliking sudden changes in plans when she traveled abroad, she refused to change her ___.*

Answer 166

brief and to the point *Many of the characters portrayed by him are ___ types: strong men of few words.*

Answer 167

languor; weariness *After a massage and a long soak in the hot tub, I surrendered to my growing ___ and lay down for a nap.*

Answer 168

potential but undeveloped; dormant; hidden *Polaroid pictures were popular at parties because you could see the ___ photographic image gradually appear before your eyes.*

Answer 169

praise *They ___ her efforts to raise money to combat cystic fibrosis.*

Answer 170

drowsy; dull *She tried to stay alert and listen to her professor, but the stuffy room made her ___; she felt like to nod off.*

Answer 171

lack of seriousness or steadiness; frivolity *Stop giggling and wriggling around in the pew: such ___ is improper in church.*

Answer 172

record of a voyage or flight; record of day-to-day activities *To see how much work I've accomplished recently, take a look at the number of new files listed on my computer ___.*

Answer 173

talkative *Though she barely says a word to us these days, put a phone in her hand and see how ___ she can be.*

Answer 174

easily understood; clear; intelligible *She makes an excellent teacher: her explanations of technical points are ___ enough for a child to grasp.*

Answer 175

shining; issuing light *The sun is a ___ body.*

Answer 176

generosity *Noted for his ___, the philanthropist donated millions of charity.*

Answer 177

one who feigns illness to escape duty *The captain ordered the sergeant to punish all ___ and force them to work.*

Answer 178

capable of being shaped by pounding; impressionable *Gold is a ___ metal, easily shaped into bracelets and rings.*

Answer 179

rebel; nonconformist *To the masculine literary establishment, George Sand with her trousers and smoking cigars was a ___ who fought her proper womanly role.*

Answer 180

lying; habitually dishonest *Distrusting him from the start, she assumed he was ___ and refused to believe a word he said.*

Answer 181

change of form *The ___ of caterpillar to butterfly is typical of many such changes in animal life.*

Answer 182

excessively careful; painstaking; scrupulous *She was a ___ housekeeper, fussing about each and every detail that went into making up her perfect home.*

Answer 183

one who hates mankind *The author portrays human beings as vile, degraded beasts; for this reason, various critics considered him a ___.*

Answer 184

lessen in intensity; moderate; appease *Because solar energy could reduce greenhouse gases and increase energy efficiency, conversion to solar energy may ___ global warming.*

Answer 185

soothe *The airline customer service representative tried to ___ the angry passenger by offering her a seat in first class.*

Answer 186

ill-humored; sullen; melancholy *Forced to take early retirement, Bill acted ___ for months; then, he shook off his gloom and was his usual cheerful self.*

Answer 187

worldly as opposed to spiritual; everyday *Uninterested in philosophical or spiritual discussions, he talked only of ___ matters like the daily weather forecast or the latest sports results.*

Answer 188

cancel out; nullify; deny *A sudden surge of adrenalin can ___ the effects of fatigue: there's nothing like a good shock to wake you up.*

Answer 189

recent convert; beginner *This mountain slope contains slides that will challenge experts as well as ___.*

Answer 190

stubborn *In this retelling of Peter Pan, Fiona Button as Wendy is heartbreaking in her stoical disappointment at Peter's ___ refusal to grow up.*

Answer 191

slavishly attentive; servile; sycophantic *She valued people who behaved as if they respected themselves; nothing irritated her more than an excessively ___ waiter or a fawning salesclerk.*

Answer 192

make unnecessary; get rid of *I hope this contribution will ___ any need for further collections of funds.*

Answer 193

meddlesome; excessively pushy in offering one's services *After her long flight, she wanted to nap but the ___ bellboy was intent on showing all the special features of the deluxe suite.*

Answer 194

burdensome *She asked for an assistant because her work load was too ___.*

Answer 195

infamy; vilification *He refused to defend himself against the slander and ___ hurled against him by the newspapers; he preferred to rely on his record.*

Answer 196

vibrate pendulumlike; waver *It is interesting to note how public opinion ___ between the extremes of optimism and pessimism.*

Answer 197

showy; pretentious; trying to attract attention *That casino is the most ___ gambling palace in the East: it easily out-glitters its competitors.

Answer 198

model of perfection *Her fellow students disliked her because the teacher always pointed her out as a ___ of virtue.*

Answer 199

one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party *Rather than joining forces to solve our nation's problems, the Democrats and Republicans spend their time on ___ struggles.*

Answer 200

pertaining to disease *As we study the ___ aspects of this disease, we must not overlook the psychological elements.*

Answer 201

scarcity *They closed the restaurant because the ___ of customers made it uneconomical to operate.*

Answer 202

showing off learning; bookish *Leavening her decisions with humorous, down-to-earth anecdotes, the judge was not at all the ___ legal scholar.*

Answer 203

strong inclination; liking *He has a ___ for taking risks: one semester he went steady with three girls, two of whole were stars on the school karate team.*

Answer 204

severe poverty; stinginess *When his pension fund failed, he feared he would end his days in ___ and became a penny-pincher.*

Answer 205

something long-lasting *These plants are hardy ___ and will bloom for many years.*

Answer 206

treacherous; disloyal *When he realized that she had betrayed him, he reproached his ___ friend.*

Answer 207

superficial; not thorough; lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm *The auditor's ___ inspection of the books overlooked many errors.*

Answer 208

penetrable; porous; allowing liquids or gas to pass through *If your jogging clothes weren't made out of ___ fabric, you'd drown in your own sweat (figuratively speaking).*

Answer 209

spread throughout *Despite airing them for several hours, she couldn't rid her clothes of the ___ odor of mothballs that clung to them.*

Answer 210

calm; not easily disturbed *The nurse was a cheerful but ___ person, unexcited in the face of sudden emergencies.*

Answer 211

devoutness; reverence for God *Living her life in prayer and good works, Mother Teresa exemplified the true spirit of ___.*

Answer 212

pacify; conciliate *The store manager tried to ___ the angry customer, offering to replace the damaged merchandise or to give back her money.*

Answer 213

ability to be molded *When clay dries out, it loses its ___ and becomes less malleable.*

Answer 214

trite remark; commonplace statement *In giving advice to his son, he expressed himself only in ___; every word out of his mouth was a truism.*

Answer 215

excess; overabundance *She offered a ___ of excuses for her shortcomings.*

Answer 216

full of pores; like a sieve *Dancers like to wear ___ clothing because it allows the ready passage of water and air.*

Answer 217

practical (not idealistic); concerned with practical worth or impact *This coming trip to France should provide me with a ___ test of the value of my conversational French class.*

Answer 218

uncertain; risky *Saying the stock was currently overpriced and would be a ___ investment, the broker advised her client against purchasing it.*

Answer 219

rash; premature; hasty; sudden *Though I was angry enough to resign on the spot, I had enough sense to keep myself from quitting in such a ___ fashion.*

Answer 220

forerunner *Though they shared many traits with Romantic poets who followed them, many critics consider them ___ of the Romantic Movement, not true Romantics. *

Answer 221

arrogant; taking liberties *It seems ___ for one so relatively new to the field to challenge the conclusions of its leading experts.*

Answer 222

lie *Some people believe that to ___ in a good cause is justifiable and regard the statement as a "white lie."*

Answer 223

characteristic of earlier time; primitive, unspoiled *This area has been preserved in all its ___ wildness.*

Answer 224

uprightness; incorruptibility *Everyone took his ___ for granted; his indictment for embezzlement, therefore, shocked us all.*

Answer 225

doubtful; unsettled; questionable; perplexing *Given the way building costs have exceeded estimated for the job, whether the arena will ever be completed is ___.*

Answer 226

wasteful; reckless with money *Don't be so ___ spending my money; when you've earned some money, you can waste as much of it as you want.*

Answer 227

deep; not superficial; complete *Freud's remarkable insights into human behavior caused his fellow scientists to honor him as a ___ thinker.*

Answer 228

tend to prevent the purchase or use of something; want to prevent or forbid *She wanted to buy a new Volvo but had to settle for a used Dodge because the new car's price was ___.*

Answer 229

grow rapidly; spread; multiply *Times of economic hardship inevitably encourage countless get-rich-quick schemes to ___.*

Answer 230

natural inclination *Convinced of his own talent, he has an unfortunate ___ to belittle the talents of others.*

Answer 231

appease *The natives offered sacrifices to ___ the gods.*

Answer 232

fitness; correct conduct *She counsels her readers so that they may behave with ___ in social situation and not embarrass themselves.*

Answer 233

ostracize; banish; outlaw *Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus ___ all those who had conspired against Julius Caesar.*

Answer 234

limited; restricted *Unable to give the candidate full support, the mayor gave him only a ___ endorsement.*

Answer 235

minor objection or complaint *Aside from a few hundred teensy-weensy ___, the hypercritical critic loved the play.*

Answer 236

at rest; dormant; temporarily inactive *After the eruption, fear of the volcano was great; people did not return to cultivate its lands until it was ___ for two years.*

Answer 237

made less dense [of a gas] *The mountain climbers had difficulty breathing in the ___ atmosphere.*

Answer 238

obstinately stubborn; determined to resist authority; unruly *Which animal do you think is more ___, a pig or a mule?*

Answer 239

disclaim or disavow; retract a previous statement; openly confess error *Hoping to make Joan to Arc ___ her sworn testimony, her English captors tried to convince her that her visions were sent by the Devil.*

Answer 240

abstruse; profound; secret *He read many ___ books in order to obtain the material for his scholarly thesis.*

Answer 241

stubborn; unmanageable *The ___ horse was eliminated from the race when he refused to obey the jockey.*

Answer 242

disprove *The defense called several respectable witnesses who were able to ___ the lying testimony of the prosecutor's sole witness.*

Answer 243

banish to an inferior position; delegate; assign *After he dropped his second tray of drinks that week, the manager swiftly ___ him to a minor post cleaning up behind the bar.*

Answer 244

express disapproval or disappointment *He never could do anything wrong without imagining how the look on his mother's face would ___ him afterwards.*

Answer 245

person hardened in sin, devoid of a sense of decency *As a conservative, he was how easy it is for liberals, assisted by a compliant press, to case ideological foes as moral ___ and avoid engaging their ideas.*

Answer 246

disown; disavow *On separating from him, she announced that she would ___ all debts incurred by her soon-to-be ex-husband.*

Answer 247

cancel *Because of the public outcry against the new taxes, the senator proposed a bill to ___ the unpopular financial measure.*

Answer 248

determination, willpower *Nothing could shake his ___ to succeed despite all difficulties.*

Answer 249

determination; firmness of purpose, commitment *How dare you question my ___ to take up sky-diving! Of course I haven't changed my mind!*

Answer 250

reserved; uncommunicative; inclined to silence *Fearing his competitors might get advance word about his plans from talkative staff members, the boss preferred ___ employees to loquacious ones.*

Answer 251

respectful; worshipful *Though I bow my head in church and recite the prayers, sometimes I don't feel properly ___.*

Answer 252

person celebrated for wisdom *Hearing tales of a mysterious Master of All Knowledge who lives in the hills of Tibet, she was possessed with a burning desire to consult the legendary ___.*

Answer 253

healthful *Many people with hay fever move to more ___ sections of the country during the months of August and September.*

Answer 254

approve; ratify *Nothing will convince me to ___ the engagement of my daughter to such a worthless young man.*

Answer 255

satisfy fully *Having stuffed themselves with goodies until they were ___, the guests were so full they were ready for a nap.*

Answer 256

soak thoroughly *Thorough watering is the key to lawn care: you must ___ your new lawn well to encourage its growth.*

Answer 257

enjoy; have a distinctive flavor, smell, or quality *Relishing his triumph, he especially ___ the chagrin of the critics who had predicted his failure.*

Answer 258

hide away or cache; produce and release a substance into an organism *The pack rat ___ odds and ends in its nest; the pancreas ___ insulin in the islets of Langerhans.*

Answer 259

fragment, generally of pottery *The archaeologists assigned several students the task of reassembling earthenware vessels from the ___ from his expedition.*

Answer 260

doubter; suspends judgment until examining evidence supporting the other point of view *I am a ___ about the new health plan; I want some proof that it can work.*

Answer 261

worried; concerned *The employer was very ___ about the health of her employees because replacements were difficult to get.*

Answer 262

sleep-causing; marked by sleepiness *His lectures were so ___ that even he fell asleep in class.*

Answer 263

seemingly reasonable but incorrect; misleading (often intentionally) *To claim that, because houses and birds both have wings, both can fly is extremely ___ reasoning.*

Answer 264

colored band produced when a beam of light passes through a prism *The visible portion of the ___ includes red at one end and violet at the other.*

Answer 265

occurring irregularly *Although you can still hear ___ outbursts of laughter and singing outside, the big parade has passed.*

Answer 266

token of disgrace; brand *I don't attach any ___ to the fact that you were accused of this crime; the fact that you were acquitted clears you completely.*

Answer 267

be thrifty; set limits *"Spare no expense," the bride's father said, refusing to ___ on the wedding arrangements.*

Answer 268

make express conditions, specify *Before agreeing to reduce American military forces in Europe, the president ___ that NATO teams be allowed to inspect Russian bases.*

Answer 269

dull; impassive *The earthquake shattered his usual ___ demeanor; trembling, he crouched on the no longer stable ground.*

Answer 270

writ summoning a witness to appear *The prosecutor's office was ready to serve a ___ on the reluctant witness.*

Answer 271

settle down; descend; grow quiet *The doctor assured us that the fever would eventually ___.*

Answer 272

establish by evidence; verify; support *These endorsements from satisfied customers ___ our claim that Barron's GRE is the best GRE prep book on the market.*

Answer 273

cause to be set aside; replace; make obsolete *Bulk mailing postal regulation 3D ___ bulk mailing postal regulation 3C. If, in bundling, you follow regulation 3C, your bulk mailing will be returned.*

Answer 274

hypothesis; surmise *I based my decision to confide in him on the ___ that he would be discreet.*

Answer 275

understood; not put into words *We have a ___ agreement based on only a handshake.*

Answer 276

peripheral; only slightly connected; digressing *Despite Clark's attempts to distract her with ___ remarks, Lois kept on coming back to her main question: why couldn't he come to dinner with Superman?*

Answer 277

thin; rare; slim *The allegiance of our allies is held by such ___ ties that we have little hope they will remain loyal.*

Answer 278

extended scolding; denunciation; harangue *Every time the boss holds a meeting, he goes into a lengthy ___, scolding us for everything from tardiness to padding our expenses.*

Answer 279

lethargy; sluggishness; dormancy *Throughout the winter, nothing aroused the bear from his ___: he would not emerge from hibernation until spring.*

Answer 280

winding; full of curves *Because this road is so ___, it is unwise to go faster than twenty miles an hour on it.*

Answer 281

docile; easily managed *Although she seemed a ___ young woman, she had a stubborn streak of independence.*

Answer 282

violation of a law; sin *Although they were willing to overlook his minor ___, she refused to forgive and forget.*

Answer 283

aggressiveness; ferocity *Their reviews were noted for their caustic attacks and general tone of ___.*

Answer 284

waver; fluctuate *Uncertain which suitor she ought to marry, the princess ___, saying now one, now the other.*

Answer 285

revere *There, the common people still ___ their traditional spiritual leader.*

Answer 286

truthful *I can recommend him for this position because I have always found him ___ and reliable.*

Answer 287

wordy *We had to make some major cuts in his speech because it was far too ___.*

Answer 288

practical or workable; capable of maintaining life *The plan to built a new baseball stadium, though missing a few details, is ___ and stands a good chance of winning popular support.*

Answer 289

sticky, gluey *Melted tar is a ___ substance.*

Answer 290

abusive; scolding *He became more ___ as he realized that we were not going to grant him his wish.*

Answer 291

changeable; explosive; evaporating rapidly *The political climate today is extremely ___: no one can predict what the electorate will do next.*

Answer 292

justified; authorized *Before the judge issues the injunction, you must convince her this action is ___.*

Answer 293

very cautious *The spies grew ___ as they approached the sentry.*

Answer 294

turmoil; bewildering jumble *The existing ___ of overlapping federal and state claims cries out for immediate reform.*

Answer 295

capricious; fanciful *The hero is a playful, ___ man who takes a notion to dress up as a woman so that he can look after his children in custody of his ex.*

Answer 296

fanatic; person who shows excessive zeal *Though he was devout, he was no ___; he never tried to force his religious beliefs on his friends.*