Magoosh Basic - II

Question 1

preemptive

Answer 1

adjective: done before someone else can do it

Just as Martha was about to take the only cookie left on the table, Noah preemptively swiped it.

Question 2

avarice

Answer 2

noun: greed (one of the seven deadly sins)

The Spanish conquistadors were known for their avarice, plundering Incan land and stealing Incan gold.

Question 3

immaterial

Answer 3

adjective: not relevant

The judge found the defendant’s comments immaterial to the trial, and summarily dismissed him from the witness stand.

Question 4

raft

Answer 4

noun: a large number of something

Despite a raft of city ordinances passed by an overzealous council, noise pollution continued unabated in the megalopolis.
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 4

animosity

Answer 4

noun: intense hostility

The governor’s animosity toward his rival was only inflamed when the latter spread false lies regarding the governor’s first term.

Question 4

catalyst

Answer 4

noun: something that speeds up an event

Rosa Parks’s refusal to give up her bus seat acted as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement, setting into motion historic changes for African-Americans.

Question 5

desecrate

Answer 5

verb: to willfully violate or destroy a sacred place

After desecrating the pharaoh’s tomb, the archaeologist soon fell victim to a horrible illness.

Question 5

melee

Answer 5

noun: a wild, confusing fight or struggle

After enduring daily taunts about my name, I became enraged and pummeled the schoolyard bully and his sycophantic friends in a brutal melee.

Question 5

cadaverous

Answer 5

adjective: emaciated; gaunt

Some actors take challenging roles in which they have to lose so much weight that they appear cadaverous.

Question 5

disparate

Answer 5

adjective: different in every way:
The two cultures were so utterly disparate that she found it hard to adapt from one to the other.

Question 6

corroborate

Answer 6

verb: to confirm or lend support to (usually an idea or claim)

Her claim that frog populations were falling precipitously in Central America was corroborated by locals, who reported that many species of frogs had seemingly vanished overnight.

Question 6

wax

Answer 6

verb: to gradually increase in size or intensity

Her enthusiasm for the diva’s new album only waxed with each song; by the end of the album, it was her favorite CD yet.
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 7

cogent

Answer 7

adjective: clear and persuasive

A cogent argument will change the minds of even the most skeptical audience.

Question 7

moment

Answer 7

noun: significant and important value

a decision of great moment

this words has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 7

virago

Answer 7

noun: an ill-tempered or violent woman

Poor Billy was the victim of the virago’s invective—she railed at him for a good 30-minutes about how he is the scum of the earth for speaking loudly on his cellphone in public.

Question 7

becoming

Answer 7

adjective: appropriate, and matches nicely

Her dress was becoming and made her look even more beautiful.
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 8

sanctimonious

Answer 8

adjective: making a show of being pious; holier-than-thou

Even during the quiet sanctity of evening prayer, she held her chin high, a sanctimonious sneer forming on her face as she eyed those who were attending church for the first time.

Question 9

badger

Answer 9

verb: to pester

Badgered by his parents to find a job, the 30-year-old loafer instead joined a gang of itinerant musicians.
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 9

stem

Answer 9

verb: to hold back or limit the flow or growth of something

To stem the tide of applications, the prestigious Ivy requires that each applicant score at least 330 on the Revised GRE.
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 10

pittance

Answer 10

noun: a small amount (of money)

Vinny’s uncle beamed smugly about how he’d offered his nephew fifty dollars for his Harvard tuition; even twice the amount would have been a mere pittance.

Question 10

paucity

Answer 10

noun: a lack of something

There is a paucity of jobs hiring today that require menial skills, since most such jobs have either been automated or outsourced.

Question 10

lassitude

Answer 10

noun: extreme tiredness, either mental or physical

Upon finishing a 6-hour standardized exam, Dahlia emerged from the testing center overcome by lassitude.

Question 11

sanguine

Answer 11

adjective: cheerful; optimistic

With the prospect of having to learn 3,000 words during the course of the summer, Paul was anything but sanguine.

Question 11

ferret

Answer 11

verb: to search for something persistently

After a bit of ferreting, I managed to find his address.

This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 11

flush

Answer 11

adjective: to be in abundance

The exam’s passage is flush with difficult words, words that you may have learned only yesterday.
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 11

extenuating

Answer 11

adjective: making less guilty or more forgivable

The jury was hardly moved by the man’s plea that his loneliness was an extenuating factor in his crime of dognapping a prized pooch.

Question 11

errant

Answer 11

adjective: to be wandering; not sticking to a circumscribed path

Unlike his peers, who spent their hours studying in the library, Matthew preferred errant walks through the university campus.

adjective: Errant is used to describe someone whose actions are considered unacceptable or wrong by other people.

example: an errant husband is unfaithful to his partner.

Question 11

start

Answer 11

verb: to suddenly move in a particular direction

All alone in the mansion, Henrietta started when she heard a sound.
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 12

replete

Answer 12

adjective: To be replete with something means to be full of it.

Only weeks after the hurricane made landfall, the local supermarket shelves were replete with goods, so quick was the disaster relief response.

Question 12

aboveboard

Answer 12

adjective: open and honest

The mayor, despite his avuncular face plastered about the city, was hardly aboveboard – some concluded that it was his ingratiating smile that allowed him to engage in corrupt behavior and get away with it.

Question 12

junta

Answer 12

noun: an aggressive takeover by a group (usually military); the group that executes such a takeover

But the junta has made it clear that it rejects all international oversight or advice.

Question 12

chauvinist

Answer 12

noun: a person who believes in the superiority of their group

The chauvinist lives on both sides of the political spectrum, outright shunning anybody whose ideas are not consistent with his own.

Question 13

beatific

Answer 13

adjective: blissfully happy

Often we imagine all monks to wear the beatific smile of the Buddha, but, like any of us, a monk can have a bad day and not look very happy.

Question 13

heyday

Answer 13

noun: the pinnacle or top of a time period or career

During the heyday of Prohibition, bootlegging had become such a lucrative business that many who had been opposed to the 18th Amendment began to fear it would be repealed.

Question 13

hodgepodge

Answer 13

noun: a confusing mixture or jumble

Those in attendance represented a hodgepodge of the city’s denizens: chimney sweepers could be seen sitting elbow to elbow with stockbrokers.

Question 13

pugnacious

Answer 13

adjective: eager to fight or argue; verbally combative

The comedian told one flat joke after another, and when the audience started booing, he pugnaciously spat back at them, “Hey, you think this is easy – why don’t you buffoons give it a shot?”

Question 13

vicarious

Answer 13

adjective: felt or undergone as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another

The advent of twitter is a celebrity stalker’s dream, as he or she can experience—through hundreds of intimate “tweets”—the vicarious thrill of living the day-to-day life of a famous person.

Question 14

amok

Answer 14

adverb: frenzied or uncontrolled state

Wherever the bowl haircut teen-idol went, his legions of screaming fans ran through the streets amok, hoping for a glance at his boyish face.

Question 15

scintillating

Answer 15

adjective: describes someone who is brilliant and lively

Richard Feynman was renowned for his scintillating lectures—the arcana of quantum physics was made lucid as he wrote animatedly on the chalkboard.

Question 15

check

Answer 15

verb: to limit (usually modifying the growth of something)

Deserted for six months, the property began to look more like a jungle and less like a residence—weeds grew unchecked in the front yard

noun: the condition of being held back or limited

When government abuses are not kept in check, that government is likely to become autocratic.
This word has other definitions, but these are the most important ones to study

Question 15

imponderable

Answer 15

adjective: impossible to estimate or figure out

According to many lawmakers, the huge variety of factors affecting society make devising an efficient healthcare system an imponderable task.

Question 15

bellicose

Answer 15

adjective: warlike; inclined to quarrel

Known for their bellicose ways, the Spartans were once the most feared people from Peloponnesus to Persia.

Question 16

misanthrope

Answer 16

noun: a hater of mankind

Kevin is such a misanthrope that he refused to attend the Christmas party, claiming that everyone’s happiness was “fake” and “annoying.”

Question 16

fleece

Answer 16

verb: to deceive

Many people have been fleeced by Internet scams and never received their money back.
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 16

cardinal

Answer 16

adjective: of primary importance; fundamental

Most cultures consider gambling a cardinal sin and thus have outlawed its practice.
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 17

checkered

Answer 17

adjective: having had both successful and unsuccessful periods in your past:

One by one, the presidential candidates dropped out of the race, their respective checkered pasts— from embezzlement to infidelity—sabotaging their campaigns.

Question 18

contrite

Answer 18

adjective: to be remorseful

Though he stole his little sister’s licorice stick with malevolent glee, Chucky soon became contrite when his sister wouldn’t stop crying.

Question 19

unconscionable

Answer 19

adjective: unreasonable; unscrupulous; excessive

The lawyer’s demands were so unconscionable that rather than pay an exorbitant sum or submit himself to any other inconveniences, the defendant decided to find a new lawyer.

Question 20

exhort

Answer 20

verb: to strongly urge on; encourage

• She exhorted all of us to do our very best.

Question 21

apex

Answer 21

noun: the highest point

The Ivy League is considered the apex of the higher education system.