March 5, 2016 Flashcards

Question 1

Q

Vacillate

Answer

A

verb: alternate or waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive.

Because I vacillated between teaching and journalism, my major in college was undeclared.

Question 2

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Contentious

Answer

A

adjective: causing or likely to cause an argument; controversial.

A contentious issue that caused a lot of unrest.

adjective: involving heated argument.

The candidate’s stance on abortion will be a contentious topic among voters.

adjective: (of a person) given to arguing or provoking argument.

While my grandfather was adored by many people, quite a few others found him to be a contentious man for always arguing.

Question 3

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Disputatious

Answer

A

adjective: fond of or causing heated arguments.

Since my disputatious neighbors argue loudly at night, the police are frequent visitors to their home.

Question 4

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Polemical

Answer

A

adjective: of, relating to, or involving strongly critical, controversial, or disputatious writing or speech.

The elderly man wrote a polemical essay that was strongly critical of today’s society and dependence on technology.

Question 5

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Amply

Answer

A

adverb: in an ample manner; sufficiently or abundantly

Upon realizing his mistake, he apologized amply for his error.

Question 6

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Fawning

Answer

A

adjective: displaying exaggerated flattery or affection; obsequious.

Professor Lockhart’s students looked at him with fawning adoration.

Question 7

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Solipsistic

Answer

A

adjective: of or characterized by solipsism, or the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist.

An example of solipsistic is a belief that you can only know what you have personally experienced.

Question 8

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Ineffable

Answer

A

adjective: incapable of being expressed or described in words; inexpressible.

After walking into her own surprise birthday party, she experienced an ineffable joy.

adjective: not to be spoken because of its sacredness; unutterable:

The ineffable name of he-who-must-not-be-named.

Question 9

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Presume

Answer

A

verb: to take for granted, assume, or suppose.

I presume you’re tired after your long drive.

verb: to act or proceed with unwarrantable or impertinent boldness.

Don’t presume on their hospitality.

Question 10

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Plumb

Answer

A

verb: to examine closely in order to discover or understand.

The psychologist plumbed the patient’s thoughts to understand why she was feeling depressed.

Question 11

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Erudite

Answer

A

adjective: characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly.

An erudite professor; an erudite commentary.

Question 12

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Waxing

Answer

A

verb: to increase in extent, quantity, intensity, power, etc.

Her studying became waxing as she became more determined to do well on the GRE.

Question 13

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Byzantine

Answer

A

adjective: complex or intricate.

A deal requiring Byzantine financing.

adjective: characterized by elaborate scheming and intrigue, especially for the gaining of political power or favor.

Trump had many Byzantine methods to gain presidential votes by appealing to racists.

Question 14

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Reclusive

Answer

A

adjective: shut off or apart from the world; living in seclusion, often for religious reasons.

Boo Radley was a reclusive man who stayed in his home and did not interact with others outside.

adjective: characterized by seclusion; solitary.

The couple went to a reclusive island for their honeymoon where they could be alone.

Question 15

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Irascible

Answer

A

adjective: easily provoked to anger; very irritable.

We kept our interactions with Darrell short as to not provoke the irascible man.

adjective: characterized or produced by anger.

He gave an irascible response to whatever innocuous statement we said to him.

Question 16

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Enigma

Answer

A

noun: a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation.

Amelia Earhart’s disappearance is an enigma that has given rise to much speculation.

noun: a person of puzzling or contradictory character.

To me he has always been an enigma, one minute completely insensitive, the next moved to tears.

noun: a saying, question, picture, etc., containing a hidden meaning; riddle.

The most common enigmatic question: which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Question 17

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Demonstrative

Answer

A

adjective: characterized by or given to open exhibition or expression of one’s emotions, attitudes, etc., especially of love or affection.

She wished her fiancé were more demonstrative and showed more affection.

Question 18

Q

Oblique

Answer

A

adjective: neither perpendicular nor parallel to a given line or surface; slanting; sloping.

The Jenga tower became so oblique that it eventually collapsed.

adjective: indirectly stated or expressed; not straightforward.

Sally scored a 1 on her AWA Issue essay because her argument did not have a clear point, making her thesis oblique.

adjective: indirectly aimed at or reached, as ends or results; deviously achieved.

adjective: morally, ethically, or mentally wrong; underhand; perverse.

The gypsies used oblique maneuvers to scam tourists of their money and possessions.

Question 19

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Eviscerate

Answer

A

verb: to remove the entrails from; disembowel:

After he hunted the boar, he eviscerated it of its entrails before roasting it.

verb: to deprive of vital or essential parts.

To de-fund Planned Parenthood clinics eviscerates many women’s access to female healthcare.

Question 20

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Par

Answer

A

noun: an equality in value or standing; a level of equality.

The gains and the losses are on a par.

noun: an average, usual, or normal amount, degree, quality, condition, standard, or the like.

His performance was on par with the standard.

Question 21

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Emend

Answer

A

verb: to edit or change (a text).

Lawmakers had to emend faulty textual areas of the bill so that it was clearer.

verb: to free from faults or errors; correct.

The English teacher emended her personal statement after noticing grammatical errors.

Question 22

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Panglossian

Answer

A

adjective: characterized by or given to extreme optimism, especially in the face of unrelieved hardship or adversity.

She held a Panglossian attitude despite being caught in the rain without an umbrella, forgetting her lunch at home, and having her car break down.

Question 23

Q

Mordant

Answer

A

adjective: sharply caustic or sarcastic, as wit or a speaker; biting.

Johanna from District 7 was known for her mordant and difficult-to-like personality. This made it difficult for Katniss to trust her as an ally.

Question 24

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Caustic

Answer

A

adjective: severely critical or sarcastic.

The emotionally abusive boyfriend made a caustic remark about the girl’s worth.

Question 25

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Smolder

Answer

A

verb: to exist or continue in a suppressed state or without outward demonstration.

Though he tried not to show it, his hatred smoldered beneath a forced politeness.

Question 26

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Arcane

Answer

A

adjective: known or understood by very few; mysterious; secret; obscure; esoteric.

She knew a lot about Sanskrit grammar and other arcane matters.

Question 27

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Diminutive

Answer

A

adjective: small; little; tiny.

Derek Zoolander criticized the diminutive building model, exclaiming it was a “center for ants!”

Question 28

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Highfalutin

Answer

A

adjective: pompous; bombastic; haughty; pretentious.

The hipster delivered a highfalutin speech about how he only drinks craft beers over large-scale corporate brews.

Question 29

Q

Esoteric

Answer

A

adjective: understood by or meant for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest; recondite.

It was poetry full of esoteric allusions only understood by poetry enthusiasts.

adjective: private; secret; confidential.

Adele kept her personal, esoteric side away from mass media attention.

Question 30

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Jettison

Answer

A

verb: to throw off (something) as an obstacle or burden; discard.

He jettisoned his love for music by casting aside his passion for music and throwing out his instruments.

Question 31

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Knotty

Answer

A

adjective: involved, intricate, or difficult.

She found thisknotty GRE problem took too much time to solve, she decided to skip it.

Question 32

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Feverish

Answer

A

adjective: excited, restless, or uncontrolled, as if from fever.

Fans exhibited a feverish roar when the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.

Question 33

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Queasy

Answer

A

adjective: uneasy or uncomfortable, as feelings, the conscience, etc.

Brittany felt queasy when she had to roleplay a recruitment script in front of her P.I. on the spot.

Question 34

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Ebb

Answer

A

noun: a flowing backward or away; decline or decay.

Her interest in math began to ebb as she started to become bored.

Question 35

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Staid

Answer

A

adjective: fixed, settled, or permanent.

The phrase “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” may parallel with teaching a staid old man to use Netflix as opposed to using VHS videos.

Question 36

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Colorful

Answer

A

adjective: richly eventful or picturesque.

A colorful historical period.

Question 37

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Insatiable

Answer

A

adjective: not satiable; incapable of being satisfied or appeased.

Her insatiable hunger for knowledge caused her to read every book in the library.

Question 38

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Eminent

Answer

A

adjective: (person or thing) high in station, rank, or repute; prominent; distinguished.

Leonardo’s eminent performance for The Revenant gave him his first Oscars win.

Question 39

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Garrulous

Answer

A

adjective: excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner, especially about trivial matters.

The award-winner delivered a garrulous and boring speech.

Question 40

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Forlorn

Answer

A

adjective: desolate or dreary; unhappy or miserable, as in feeling, condition, or appearance.

She looked forlorn after finding out her twin brother had died.

Question 41

Q

Bumbling

Answer

A

adjective: liable to make awkward blunders.; clumsily incompetent

Lucy was a bumbling housewife who was quick to make blunders and messing up all her tasks.

Question 42

Q

Forsake

Answer

A

verb: to quit or leave entirely; abandon; desert.

She has forsaken her country for an island in the South Pacific.

Question 43

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Equivocation

Answer

A

noun: the use of equivocal or ambiguous expressions, especially in order to mislead or hedge; prevarication.

Question 44

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Discernment

Answer

A

noun: the faculty of discerning; discrimination; acuteness of judgment and understanding.

Question 45

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Scholarship

Answer

A

noun: learning; knowledge acquired by study; the academic attainments of a scholar.

Question 46

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Bravura

Answer

A

noun: a display of daring; brilliant performance.

Leondaro di Caprio’s scene performance in Django where he cut his hand was a bravura of his daring performance.

Question 47

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Virility

Answer

A

noun: the state or quality of being virile; manly character, vigor, or spirit; masculinity.

Question 48

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Unwittingly

Answer

A

adjective: inadvertent; unintentional; accidental.

She unwittingly helped out the people she hated.

Question 49

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Trepidation

Answer

A

noun: trembling or quivering movement; tremor; tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation; perturbation.

You can tell she faced trepidation by seeing her shaking hands as she delivered her public speech.

Question 50

Q

Shrift

Answer

A

noun: absolution or remission of sins granted after confession and penance.

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March 5, 2016 Flashcards

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