Kaplan Vocab II (C)

Question 1

Insipid

Answer 1

adj.
Lacking in qualities that interest, stimulate or challenge.

While it is fashionable to write off that decade as an insipid time, one long pajama party, the ’50s, in sport at least, were a revolutionary age.

early 17th century: from French insipide or late Latin insipidus, from in- ‘not’ + sapidus, , from sapere ‘to taste’

Question 2

Dissipation

Answer 2

noun.
Wasteful or intemperate living, an act of self-indulgence.

The break is so complete that there was little left to tell, just a few years in which Capote becomes a dissipated caricature of himself on the way to a lonely and pitiful death.

late Middle English: from Latin dissipat- ‘scattered’, from the verb dissipare, from dis- ‘apart, widely’ + supare ‘to throw’

Question 3

Ribald

Answer 3

adj.
Coarse, lewd.

Over a lunch meeting, the star revealed herself to be wry and ribald, resolutely refusing to take herself too seriously.

Middle English (as a noun denoting a lowly retainer or a licentious or irreverent person): from Old French ribauld, from riber ‘indulge in licentious pleasures’, from a Germanic base meaning ‘prostitute’.

Question 4

Inveigh

Answer 4

verb.
Speak or write about something with great hostility

Last weekend, Donald Trump held a rally in Ohio, in large part to inveigh against a congressman: Anthony Gonzalez, a Republican.

late 15th century (in the sense ‘carry in, introduce’; formerly also as enveigh ): from Latin invehere ‘carry in’, invehi ‘be carried into, assail’, from in- ‘into’ + vehere ‘carry’

Question 5

Objurgate

Answer 5

verb.
Rebuke harshly

Particularly humiliating for the general was the White House’s objurgation of his misguided and unauthorized attempt at enunciating foreign policy

early 17th century: from Latin objurgat- ‘chided, rebuked’, from the verb objurgare, based on jurgium ‘strife’/jurgare ‘take to the law’

Question 6

Obloquy

Answer 6

noun.
Strong public condemnation, disgrace brought about by such.

The Conservative party deserves not credit for finally ejecting a disgraced prime minister, but obloquy for enabling him for so long.

late Middle English: from late Latin obloquium ‘contradiction’, from Latin obloqui, from ob- ‘against’ + loqui ‘speak’.

Question 7

Pillory

Answer 7

noun, verb.
(The means by which one might) attack or expose to public ridicule/scorn.

Democrats seem stunned when their GOP opponents pillory them with lies, rage and ad hominem attacks.

Middle English: from Old French pilori, probably from Provençal espilori (associated by some with a Catalan word meaning ‘peephole’, of uncertain origin).

Question 8

Obsequies

Answer 8

Funeral rites

The murder victim’s father was the chief mourner at the obsequies

late Middle English: plural of obsolete obsequy, from Anglo-Norman French obsequie, from the medieval Latin plural obsequiae (from Latin exsequiae ‘funeral rites’, influenced by obsequium ‘dutiful service’).

Question 9

Abnegate

Answer 9

verb.
Deny, renounce, relinquish

Abnegating this responsibility is going against the will of the people we were elected to protect.

early 17th century: from Latin abnegat- ‘renounced’, from the verb abnegare, from ab- ‘away, off’ + negare ‘deny’.

Question 10

Ascetic

Answer 10

adj, noun.
Austere, (one) engaging in strict self-denial and abstention from all forms of indulgence, particularly for religious reasons.

The monks’ ascetic practices include sleep deprivation and a thousand-day walk.

mid 17th century: from medieval Latin asceticus or Greek askētikos, from askētēs ‘monk’, from askein ‘to exercise’.

Question 11

Fetid

Answer 11

adj.
Having a heavy, offensive smell.

Last week, a fetid stench emanated from drainage areas beneath multiple buildings.

late Middle English: from Latin fetidus (often erroneously spelled foetidus ), from fetere ‘to stink’.

Question 12

Rebarbative

Answer 12

adj.
Unattractive, objectionable, repellant

One wonders why a skinny, rebarbative marionette should be getting so much attention.

late 19th century: from French rébarbatif, -ive, from Old French se rebarber ‘face each other ‘beard to beard’ aggressively’, from barbe ‘beard’.

Question 13

Canard

Answer 13

noun
Unfounded rumor/belief

Trump’s supposed resistance to war was always a canard.

mid 19th century: from French, literally ‘duck’, also ‘hoax’, from Old French caner ‘to quack’.

Question 14

Distaff

Answer 14

noun, adj.
(That which is) of or pertaining to women.
OR: specifically something used for spinning wool/flax

And behind the camera, Scherfig has created something of a distaff utopia: both the book and the screenplay were written by women.

Old English distæf : the first element is apparently related to Middle Low German dise, disene ‘distaff, bunch of flax’; the second is staff1. distaff (sense 2 of the noun) arose because spinning was traditionally done by women

Question 15

Scion

Answer 15

noun.
Descendant of a wealthy/influential family, a young shoot of a plant.

Season 1 of the thriller is set in a world where the Caped Crusader’s alter-ego is a Black man, rather than the rich white scion of one of Gotham’s elite families, and on in which Bruce Wayne’s parents aren’t murdered.

Middle English: from Old French ciun ‘shoot, twig’, of unknown origin.

Question 16

Tendentious

Answer 16

adj.
Expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view, especially a controversial one.

Polls can have their own politics, and media polls are often accused of being tendentious.

early 20th century: suggested by German tendenziös .

Question 17

Raillery

Answer 17

noun.
Good-natured teasing, banter

French’s evocation of place, a rural way of life and overall creepiness are superb, as is the dialogue, a festival of Irish raillery and repartee.

mid 17th century: from French raillerie, from railler ‘to rail’

Question 18

Simper

Answer 18

noun, verb
A silly, affected or ingratiating smile, to make or speak through such a smile.

Judging by his simpering public appearances with Putin – including one where Trump dissed his own US intelligence agencies – these calls would be fascinating.

akin to Middle Dutch zimperlijc elegant, Danish dialect simper affected, coy

Question 19

Abatement

Answer 19

noun.
The act of abating something (i.e. make it less intense or widespread, or remove it).
An amount abated, especially a deduction from the full amount of a tax.

An additional $4,393 was spent on hazardous material abatement and removal, which was not included in the original budget.

Middle English (in the legal sense): from Old French abatre ‘to fell’, from a- (from Latin ad ‘to, at’) + batre ‘to beat’ (from Latin battere, battuere ‘to beat’).

Question 20

Interregnum

Answer 20

noun
The time during which the throne is vacant between two consecutive reigns, a period where normal functions of government are suspended, a lapse or pause in a continuous series

Adele’s endlessly lip-syncable music might be made for the more theatrical moments posted to TikTok, which caught fire and became a fresh vehicle for pop stardom in the interregnum between 25 and 30.

late 16th century (denoting temporary rule between reigns or during suspension of normal government): from Latin, from inter- ‘between’ + regnum ‘reign’

Question 21

Clement

Answer 21

adj.
Mild, merciful

Sitting atop a series of ridges, Bangalore lies more than 3,000 feet above sea level—an elevation that affords the city month after month of moderate temperatures, nippy evenings, and clement afternoons.

late Middle English: from Latin clemens, clement-

Question 22

Unstinting

Answer 22

adj.
Given or giving without restraint.

Their unstinting efforts exemplified the work so many Americans did to unite the nation in the face of crisis.

Old English styntan ‘make blunt’, of Germanic origin

Question 23

Penury

Answer 23

noun.
Extreme poverty (or frugality)

English roads teemed with men turned vagrant by penury; Spain was on the cusp of war.

late Middle English: from Latin penuria ‘need, scarcity’; perhaps related to paene ‘almost’

Question 24

Baneful

Answer 24

adj.
Harmful/destructive

We are mired in a baneful pandemic unlike anything endured for a century, parsing our lives into 14-day increments of health and survival — or not.

Old English bana ‘thing causing death, poison’, of Germanic origin.

Question 25

Quiescent

Answer 25

adj.
Inactive, dormant, asymptomatic/not showing complications

This is the first time many adults have experienced meaningful inflation: Price gains had been largely quiescent since the late 1980s.

mid 17th century: from Latin quiescent- ‘being still’, from the verb quiescere, from quies ‘quiet’.

Question 26

Propitious

Answer 26

adj.
Favorably disposed, advantageous, auspicious

Now seems like a propitious time to begin jettisoning reliance on Russia for any such technology, since the national defense strategy identifies Moscow as a major threat for the foreseeable future.

late Middle English: from Old French propicieus or Latin propitius ‘favourable, gracious’.

Question 27

Propitiate

Answer 27

verb.
Win or regain someone’s favor (a god, spirit, person) by doing something that pleases them.

In interviews, the inhabitants complained that rocks being blasted off the mountains were falling on their homes and angering the local neak ta, who had to be propitiated with offerings of roast pigs.

late Middle English: from Latin propitiat- ‘made favourable’, from the verb propitiare, from propitius ‘favourable, gracious’

Question 28

Cavil

Answer 28

verb, noun.
(Make) petty or unnecessary objections.

As much as Republicans want to cavil about the efficiency of state government, the truth is that the healthcare system in place now is the very antithesis of effectiveness and efficiency.

mid 16th century: from French caviller, from Latin cavillari, from cavilla ‘mockery’.

Question 29

Martinet

Answer 29

noun.
A strict disciplinarian, one who is particular about rules and etiquette in a situation.

The woman in charge was a martinet who treated all those beneath her like children

late 17th century (denoting the system of drill invented by Martinet): named after Jean Martinet, 17th-century French drill master.

Question 30

Carom

Answer 30

verb, noun.
(To) strike and rebound (as in pool) (esp at an angle), to move as if by caroms (think bouncing between places)

Antetokounmpo punctuated this painful afternoon with 2:11 left when he tossed the ball off the backboard from 5 feet out, grabbed the carom and dunked for a 101-87 lead.

late 18th century: abbreviation of carambole, from Spanish carambola, apparently from bola ‘ball’

Question 31

Periphrastic

Answer 31

adj.
Indirect and circumlocutory.

[The French Dispatch is] a clockwork marvel of intricate imagery and periphrastic wordplay.

early 19th century: from Greek periphrastikos, from periphrazein ‘declare in a roundabout way’.

Question 32

Esurient

Answer 32

adj.
Hungry or greedy.

Each post made me more and more esurient until I found myself rummaging desperately through my refrigerator at 2 a.m. in a bid to satiate my sweet tooth.

late 17th century: from Latin esurient- ‘being hungry’, from the verb esurire, from esse ‘eat’.

Question 33

Fey

Answer 33

adj.
Doomed, marked by foreboding of death, visionary, otherworldly, precious, campy

New wavers like Depeche Mode knit the supposedly frivolous and fey sounds of disco into their gloom.

Question 34

Threnody

Answer 34

noun.
A lament.

His diary shrank to a litany of suffering and a threnody for what might have been.

mid 17th century: from Greek thrēnōidia, from thrēnos ‘wailing’ + ōidē ‘song’.

Question 35

Refractory

Answer 35

adj.
Stubborn, unresponsive, resistant to treatment.

Charles could be uncommunicative and dilatory, evasive and mendacious, refractory, vindictive, obstinate, even outright wicked, though self-delusive about the motives of others.

early 17th century: alteration of obsolete refractary, from Latin refractarius ‘stubborn’

Question 35

Renitent

Answer 35

adj.
Resisting physical pressure, constraint, compulsion.
(No one uses this word like ever ever).

The dam, which had been renitent for years, finally collapsed.

French or Latin; French rénitent, from Latin renitent-, renitens, present participle of reniti to resist, from re- + niti to strive

Question 36

Craven

Answer 36

adj.
Contemptibly cowardly.

The Republicans are hell-bent on the destruction of American democracy, or else too craven to stand in the way—the result is the same.

Middle English cravant ‘defeated’, perhaps via Anglo-Norman French from Old French cravante, past participle of cravanter ‘crush, overwhelm’, based on Latin crepare ‘burst’.

Question 37

Timorous

Answer 37

adj
Timid, suggesting such.

All artists, even those who appear to be timorous, quavering messes, have a core of steel.

late Middle English (in the sense ‘feeling fear’): from Old French temoreus, from medieval Latin timorosus, from Latin timor ‘fear’, from timere ‘to fear’.

Question 38

Peripatetic

Answer 38

noun, adj.
(One who is) itinerant.

More than 100 cowboy poetry festivals are held each year, and the peripatetic Mr. Black was often featured as the main event.

late Middle English (denoting an Aristotelian philosopher): from Old French peripatetique, via Latin from Greek peripatētikos ‘walking up and down’, from the verb peripatein

Question 39

Peregrination

Answer 39

noun.
A journey, especially a long and meandering one.

Joe Biden has been unusually disengaged from the Middle East, and will probably return home with little to show for his peregrinations.

late 16th century (earlier (Middle English) as peregrination ): from Latin peregrinat- ‘travelled abroad’, from the verb peregrinari, from peregrinus ‘foreign, travelling’

Question 40

Enervate

Answer 40

verb, adj.
Weaken or drain of energy, lacking physical/mental/moral vigor.

To a great extent, that reflects the endless, enervating nature of the Brexit debate.

early 17th century: from Latin enervat- ‘weakened (by extraction of the sinews)’, from the verb enervare, from e- (variant of ex-) ‘out of’ + nervus ‘sinew’

Question 41

Stultify

Answer 41

verb.
Cause to lose enthusiasm and initiative, impair or make ineffective, cause to appear foolish or absurd.

The sudden mass switch to virtual forms of working and socializing is expected to jump-start more nuanced investigations into what makes social interaction satisfying–or stultifying.

mid 18th century: from late Latin stultificare, from Latin stultus ‘foolish’.

Question 42

Apothegm/Apophthegm

Answer 42

noun.
Concise saying, aphorism.

Her mother endlessly repeated the apothegm “cleanliness is next to godliness”.

mid 16th century: from French apophthegme or modern Latin apothegma, from Greek, from apophthengesthai ‘speak out’.

Question 43

Bromide

Answer 43

noun.
A tiresome person, a hackneyed platitude

What parents need, then, is not another bromide against micromanaging their kids, but pragmatic steps to alter course and still feel good about it.

Potassium bromide is a sedative, hence the figurative use.

Question 44

Dictum

Answer 44

noun.
A formal pronouncement by an authority, a short statement expressing a truth or principle.

For all the stunts and brash marketing, the franchise has found a crucial ingredient that traces to Barnum’s dictum about treating customers well.

late 16th century: from Latin, literally ‘something said’, neuter past participle of dicere

Question 45

Abjure

Answer 45

verb.
Renounce, abstain from

Sinema gets permission to hide from the press and abjure her constituents in part because she has been given the centrist/moderate stamp of approval.

late Middle English: from Latin abjurare, from ab- ‘away’ + jurare ‘swear’.

Question 46

Adjure

Answer 46

verb.
Urge or request someone solemnly/urgently to do something (as if under oath or penalty of a curse).

In life, Morris Wohansky ran a dry-goods business. In death, he shocked Ontario with a gravestone that adjured workers to unite — and sparked an anti-communist panic

late Middle English (in the sense ‘put a person on oath’): from Latin adjurare, from ad- ‘to’ + jurare ‘swear’ .

Question 47

Rapacious

Answer 47

adj.
Excessively greedy or grasping

Celebrity worship in 2022 comes freighted with rapacious consumerism, everyone pitching their own brand.

mid 17th century: from Latin rapax, rapac- (from rapere ‘to snatch’)

Question 48

Doctrinaire

Answer 48

noun, adj.
(One who is) stubbornly or excessively devoted to a doctrine without regard for practical concerns.

Vance represents a more doctrinaire America Firstism, which in some ways is traditional Republican politics on steroids and in other ways departs from those traditions.

late Middle English: from Old French, from Latin doctrina ‘teaching, learning’, from doctor ‘teacher’, from docere ‘teach’.

Question 49

Specious

Answer 49

adj.
Superficially plausible but actually wrong (sophistic), misleadingly attractive.

Trump had demanded audits and trumpeted specious findings as evidence of voter fraud.

late Middle English (in the sense ‘beautiful’): from Latin speciosus ‘fair’, from species ‘appearance, form, beauty’, from specere ‘to look’.