M

Question 1

maelstrom

(n.)

Answer 1

a destructive whirlpool which rapidly sucks in objects

(Little did the explorers know that as they turned the next bend of the calm river a vicious maelstrom would catch their boat.)

Question 2

magnanimous

(adj.)

Answer 2

noble, generous

(Although I had already broken most of her dishes, Jacqueline was magnanimous enough to continue letting me use them.)

Question 3

malediction

(n.)

Answer 3

a curse

(When I was arrested for speeding, I screamed maledictions against the policeman and the entire police department.)

Question 4

malevolent

(adj.)

Answer 4

wanting harm to befall others

(The malevolent old man sat in the park all day, tripping unsuspecting passersby with his cane.)

Question 5

malleable

(adj.)

Answer 5

capable of being shaped or transformed

(Maximillian’s political opinions were so malleable that anyone he talked to was able to change his mind instantly.)

Question 6

mandate

(n.)

Answer 6

an authoritative command

(In the Old Testament, God mandates that no one should steal.)

Question 7

manifest

1.(adj.) 2.(v.)

Answer 7

1. easily understandable, obvious
2. to show plainly

1. (When I wrote the wrong sum on the chalkboard, my mistake was so manifest that the entire class burst into laughter.)
2. (His illness first manifested itself with particularly violent hiccups.)

Question 8

manifold

(adj.)

Answer 8

diverse, varied

(The popularity of Dante’s Inferno is partly due to the fact that the work allows for manifold interpretations.)

Question 9

maudlin

(adj.)

Answer 9

weakly sentimental

(Although many people enjoy romantic comedies, I usually find them maudlin and shallow.)

Question 10

maverick

(n.)

Answer 10

an independent, noncomformist person

(Andreas is a real maverick and always does things his own way.)

Question 11

mawkish

(adj.)

Answer 11

characterized by sick sentimentality

(Although some nineteenth- century critics viewed Dickens’s writing as mawkish, contemporary readers have found great emotional depth in his works.)

Question 12

maxim

(n.)

Answer 12

a common saying expressing a principle of conduct

(Miss Manners’s etiquette maxims are both entertaining and instructional.)

Question 13

meager

(adj.)

Answer 13

deficient in size or quality

(My meager portion of food did nothing to satisfy my appetite.)

Question 14

medley

(n.)

Answer 14

a mixture of differing things

(Susannah’s wardrobe contained an astonishing medley of colors, from olive green to fluorescent pink.)

Question 15

mendacious

(adj.)

Answer 15

having a lying, false character

(The mendacious content of the tabloid magazines is at least entertaining.)

Question 16

mercurial

(adj.)

Answer 16

characterized by rapid change or temperamentality

(Though he was widely respected for his mathematical proofs, the mercurial genius was impossible to live with.)

Question 17

meritorious

(adj.)

Answer 17

worthy of esteem or reward

(Manfred was given the congressional medal of honor for his meritorious actions.)

Question 18

metamorphosis

(n.)

Answer 18

the change of form, shape, substance

(Winnifred went to the gym every day for a year and underwent a metamorphosis from a waiflike girl to an athletic woman.)

Question 19

meticulous

(adj.)

Answer 19

extremely careful with details

(The ornate needlework in the bride’s gown was a product of meticulous handiwork.)

Question 20

mitigate

(v.)

Answer 20

to make less violent, alleviate

(When I had an awful sore throat, only warm tea would mitigate the pain.)

Question 21

moderate

1.(adj.) 2.(n.)

Answer 21

1. not extreme
2. one who expresses moderate opinions

1. (Luckily, the restaurant we chose had moderate prices; none of us have any money.)
2. (Because he found both the liberal and conservative proposals too excessive, Mr. Park sided with the moderates.)

Question 22

modicum

(n.)

Answer 22

a small amount of something

(Refusing to display even a modicum of sensitivity, Henrietta announced her boss’s affair in front of the entire office.)

Question 23

modulate

(v.)

Answer 23

to pass from one state to another, especially in music

(The composer wrote a piece that modulated between minor and major keys.)

Question 24

mollify

(v.)

Answer 24

to soften in temper

(The police officer mollified the angry woman by giving her a warning instead of a ticket.)

Question 25

morass

(n.)

Answer 25

a wet swampy bog; figuratively, something that traps and confuses

(When Theresa lost her job, she could not get out of her financial morass.)

Question 26

mores

(n.)

Answer 26

the moral attitudes and fixed customs of a group of people

(Mores change over time; many things that were tolerated in 1975 are no longer seen as being socially acceptable.)

Question 27

morose

(adj.)

Answer 27

gloomy or sullen

(Jason’s morose nature made him very unpleasant to talk to.)

Question 28

multifarious

(adj.)

Answer 28

having great diversity or variety

(This Swiss Army knife has multifarious functions and capabilities. Among other things, it can act as a knife, a saw, a toothpick, and a slingshot.)

Question 29

mundane

(adj.)

Answer 29

concerned with the world rather than with heaven, commonplace

(He is more concerned with the mundane issues of day-to-day life than with spiritual topics.)

Question 30

munificence

(n.)

Answer 30

generosity in giving

(The royal family’s munificence made everyone else in their country rich.)

Question 31

mutable

(adj.)

Answer 31

able to change

(Because fashion is so mutable, what is trendy today will look outdated in five years.)

Question 32

myriad

(adj.)

Answer 32

consisting of a very great number

(It was difficult to decide what to do Friday night because the city presented us with myriad possibilities for fun.)