p14

Question 1

parley

Answer 1

Discussion, negotiation, esp. between enemies (noun); to have such a discussion (verb)

The government refused to parley with the rebels.

Question 2

excruciate

Answer 2

torment (someone) physically or mentally

she has long been excruciated by an undiagnosed pain in her knee

Question 3

parry

Answer 3

Deflect or avoid (esp. a blow or attack); skillfully evade (a question)

The president and his aides are struggling to parry Republican attacks linking his economic agenda to rising inflation, including higher gasoline prices, which are helping to drive down his approval ratings.

Question 4

pastiche

Answer 4

Mix of incongruous parts; artistic work imitating the work of other artists, often satirically

The house is decorated in a pastiche of Asian styles.
His earlier building designs were pastiches based on classical forms.

Question 5

patent

Answer 5

Obvious, apparent, plain to see; open to public inspection (adj); a letter from a government guaranteeing an inventor the rights to his or her invention (noun)

Question 6

patronizing

Answer 6

Condescending, having a superior manner, treating as an inferior

Question 7

paucity

Answer 7

Scarcity, the state of being small in number

The recent paucity of aid had only reinforced a long-standing sentiment of alienation from Kyiv and from the West.

Question 8

peccadillo

Answer 8

Small sin or fault

Still, when measured against her brother’s sins, Tracy’s peccadilloes look pretty trivial.

Question 9

pedant

Answer 9

Person who pays excessive attention to book learning and rules, or who uses his or her learning to show off

All too often, science fiction provokes the pedant in professional scientists, for whom a beautiful story can be ruined by a single petty error.

Question 10

peddle

Answer 10

Travel around while selling; sell illegally; give out or disseminate

He peddled his idea for a new movie to every executive in Hollywood.

Question 11

pejorative

Answer 11

Disparaging, derogatory, belittling (adj); a name or word that is disparaging (noun)

The Romans used the word “barbarian” in the pejorative sense to the people who came to live along the frontier.

Question 12

pellucid

Answer 12

Transparent, translucent; clear, easy to understand

her poetry has a pellucid simplicity that betrays none of the sweat that went into writing it

Question 13

penchant

Answer 13

Liking or inclination (usually penchant for)

He became a style icon, of sorts, for his penchant for wearing short shorts.

Question 14

penitent

Answer 14

Regretful, feeling remorse for one’s sins or misdeeds (adj); a person who feels this way (noun)

Even if absolution is denied, the exchange between penitent and the priest is to remain confidential.

Question 15

penumbra

Answer 15

Outer part of a shadow from an eclipse; any surrounding region, fringe, periphery; any area where something “sort of” exists

a penumbra of despair fell over the doomed city

Question 16

penury

Answer 16

Extreme poverty or scarcity

Like all diseases, COVID-19 feeds on penury, and in the Bronx—which has been hit twice as hard as Manhattan—nearly one in three people lives below the poverty line.

Question 17

peregrinate

Answer 17

Travel from place to place, esp. on foot

… a group of backpacking college students who decided to spend the summer peregrinating around Ireland

Question 18

perennial

Answer 18

Lasting through the years or indefinitely, enduring; recurring

The problem is inherent and perennial in any democracy, but it has been more severe in ours during the past quarter-century because of the near universal denigration of government, politics and politicians.

Question 19

perfidious

Answer 19

Disloyal, treacherous, violating one’s trust

a perfidious campaign worker revealed the senator’s strategy to his leading rival for the nomination

Question 20

perfunctory

Answer 20

Done superficially, without much care, or merely as routine

the violinist delivered a perfunctory performance that displayed none of the passion and warmth he was once known for
The star player sometimes goes several weeks without agreeing to do even the most perfunctory postgame interviews.

Question 21

peripatetic

Answer 21

Journeying from place to place; traveling on foot

Parks grew up in various towns across the South with her peripatetic parents and younger brother, but, like many natives, Louisiana was always home.
The pandemic marked the end of income for musicians who lived in the peripatetic world of being on the road.

Question 22

peripheral

Answer 22

Relating to or making up an outer boundary or region; not of primary importance, fringe

If we focus too much on peripheral issues, we will lose sight of the goal.
All the while, excited chatter enveloped the room and camera flashes sprung in every peripheral.

Question 23

pernicious

Answer 23

Very harmful or destructive, deadly

The more the Catholic Church took part in the temporal conflicts with consistently pernicious result, the more impotent among the monarchs it revealed itself
Because the pernicious effects of these substances often show themselves slowly—and are so widespread—few will be able to prove harm or secure a settlement.

Question 24

perspicacious

Answer 24

Having penetrating insight or good discernment

As some of the nation’s most perspicacious observers have noted, self-regulation is a crucial component of fixing what’s wrong with social media

Question 25

pervasive

Answer 25

Tending to spread through out

Question 26

phalanx

Answer 26

Formation of soldiers carrying shields close together for defense; any very close group of people

If the president is speaking at a local school, there will be a phalanx of law enforcement and bomb-sniffing dogs and a tight security perimeter.

Question 27

philistine

Answer 27

Person deficient in or hostile to culture

Question 28

phlegmatic

Answer 28

pathetic, sluggish, not easily excited or made emotional

… a strangely phlegmatic response to what should have been happy news

Question 29

phony

Answer 29

Fake, counterfeit; insincere, not genuine

The video has been used by pro-Russia social media accounts and others to claim that Ukrainians are faking war deaths and that the mainstream media is broadcasting phony reports about Ukrainian casualties.

Question 30

pith

Answer 30

Core, essence; significance or weight

… finally got to the pith of the discussion

Question 31

placate

Answer 31

Satisfy or calm down (an angry or dissatisfied person), esp. by conciliatory gestures

Although Rumsfeld was later thrown overboard by the Administration in an attempt to placate critics of the Iraq War, his military revolution was here to stay.

Question 32

placid

Answer 32

Peaceful, calm, tranquil

Question 33

plastic

Answer 33

able to be shaped or formed; easily influenced

Question 34

platitude

Answer 34

A shallow, overused statement; cliche

This platitude has come to be a constant refrain on social media, as obnoxious and frequent as a car insurance commercial.

Question 35

plucky

Answer 35

Brave, spirited

Question 36

plutocracy

Answer 36

Rule by the wealthy

In recent decades, as the stock market has soared, the vast fortunes amassed by some members of the plutocracy have largely escaped taxation.

Question 37

polemic

Answer 37

Controversial argument, esp. one attacking a specific idea

But his polemic persona can be polarizing and alienate some voters working to preserve the height limit, particularly Democratic activists who are openly pro-choice
Her book is a fierce polemic against the inequalities in our society.

Question 38

politic

Answer 38

Shrewd, pragmatic; tactful or diplomatic

the actor is politic in discussing the aborted film project, being content to say that there were “creative differences”

Question 39

ponderous

Answer 39

Heavy; bulky and unwieldy; dull, labored

students struggling to stay awake during a ponderous lecture

Question 40

percipient

Answer 40

having a good understanding of things; perceptive (adj); a person who is able to perceive things.

he is a percipient interpreter of the public mood.

Question 41

perspicuous

Answer 41

clearly expressed and easily understood; lucid

it provides simpler and more perspicuous explanations than its rivals