Round 10 - Vocab.com top 1000

Question 1

emboss

Answer 1

raise in a relief

ie an embossed ring

Question 2

proletarian

Answer 2

a member of the working class (not necessarily employed); plebeian; blue collar; not aristocratic

Question 3

careen

Answer 3

pitching dangerously to one side; teetering

Whether it’s an unsteady ship, a speeding bus, or a person who is woozy, use the verb careen to describe something that’s teetering from side to side

Question 4

sycophant

Answer 4

a person who tries to please someone higher up/influential/powerful in order to gain a personal advantage; brown-noser; teacher’s pet

Question 5

archetype

Answer 5

something that serves as a model or a basis for making copies

Question 6

penchant

Answer 6

a strong liking; strong preference or tendency

ie a penchant for pizza

Question 7

bauble

Answer 7

cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing; trinkets or novelty items that cost little and aren’t very important or valuable

Question 8

mountebank

Answer 8

a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes; has a talent for tricking people

Question 9

fawning

Answer 9

attempting to win favor by flattery; over-the-top flattery

Question 10

hummock

Answer 10

a small natural hill; knoll; mound; ridge

Question 11

apotheosis

Answer 11

epitome; perfection; model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal

Question 12

comport

Answer 12

behave in a certain manner (particularly well)

Question 13

checkered

Answer 13

marked by changeable fortune; The author who sells a million copies of her first book, four of the second, wins a prize for the third and dies at the ceremony has had a checkered career: it’s got bright spots and dark ones, like a checkerboard.

Question 14

ambrosia

Answer 14

(classical mythology) the food and drink of the gods; mortals who ate it became immortal

something especially delicious to eat or smell

Question 15

factious

Answer 15

dissenting (especially dissenting with the majority opinion)

Question 16

disgorge

Answer 16

puke; throw up; spew

Question 17

filch

Answer 17

steal; make off with belongings of others; pilfer

Question 18

wraith

Answer 18

a mental representation of some haunting experience

If you have a vision of your grandfather just before he passes away, you have seen a wraith or a ghostly image. Wraith can also mean something thin, wispy, or ghost-like.

Question 19

pertinacious

Answer 19

stubbornly or perversely unyielding

Question 20

emend

Answer 20

make improvements or corrections to; correct or revise

Question 21

venial

Answer 21

easily excused or forgiven; excusable

ie venial sins

Question 22

peon

Answer 22

a laborer who is obliged to do menial work

Pity the poor peon. He exists at the very bottom of the food chain of servitude, beneath wage-slaves, underlings, drudges, or even minions. His boss doesn’t even know he exists.

Question 23

effulgence

Answer 23

the quality of being bright and sending out rays of light

Effulgence is brightness taken to the extreme. You may be dazzled by it, stunned by it, or even overcome by it. If you’re met with the mega-watt effulgence of the most beautiful movie star, take a moment to marvel at the rays of light shooting from her perfect smile.

Question 24

lode

Answer 24

a deposit of valuable ore occurring within definite boundaries separating it from surrounding rocks

Question 25

fanfare

Answer 25

a gaudy outward display

Question 26

dilettante

Answer 26

an amateur who pretends to be very knowledgable; showing frivolous or superficial interest; amateurish

Question 27

pusillanimous

Answer 27

lacking in courage and manly strength and resolution; contemptibly fearful

Question 28

quagmire

Answer 28

a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot

a situation from which extrication is very difficult:
a quagmire of financial indebtedness.

Question 29

reprobation

Answer 29

severe disapproval

Question 30

proclivity

Answer 30

a natural inclination/tendency

Question 31

vapid

Answer 31

dull; uninspiring; lacking significance or liveliness or spirit or zest

Question 32

mercurial

Answer 32

liable to sudden unpredictable change

describes someone whose mood or behavior is changeable and unpredictable, or someone who is clever, lively, and quick.

Question 33

perspicuous

Answer 33

(of language) transparently clear; easily understandable

Question 34

nonplus

v. adj.

Answer 34

be a mystery or bewildering to

confuse; bewilder; perplex to the point a person has nothing to say

Question 35

hackneyed

Answer 35

repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse

Question 36

spate

Answer 36

(often followed by `of’) a large number or amount or extent

Question 37

pedagogue

Answer 37

strict, old-fashioned teacher; someone who educates young people

Question 38

acme

Answer 38

the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development

Near synonyms for high points include zenith, summit, pinnacle, apex, and peak, BUT ACME has a special nuance for an ULTIMATE point of perfection.

A brilliant violinist might reach the acme of her career, but eventually she might become unstrung.

Question 39

masticate

Answer 39

chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth

Question 40

sinecure

adj.

Answer 40

an office that involves minimal duties; a cushy job — one that pays, but involves minimal work

“Because he was the brother of the CEO, he was offered a sinecure in the company: he showed up each day and collected a pay check, but others actually did his work.”

Question 41

indite

Answer 41

compose; put into writing; produce a literary work

indite a journal entry or a first draft of a short story

Question 42

emetic

Answer 42

a medicine that induces nausea and vomiting

Question 43

temporize

Answer 43

stall to prevent or avoid something; draw out a discussion or process in order to gain time

Question 44

unimpeachable

Answer 44

beyond doubt or reproach; totally, completely, without any doubt, innocent and good

Question 45

genesis

Answer 45

come into being

Question 46

mordant

Answer 46

harshly ironic or sinister; grim or dark in nature

If you like Edgar Allan Poe and “The Addams Family,” you have a taste for mordant entertainment

Question 47

smattering

Answer 47

a small number or amount

Question 48

suavity

Answer 48

the quality of being bland and gracious or ingratiating in manner

Question 49

junket

Answer 49

a pleasure trip taken by an official at public expense

Question 50

appurtenance

Answer 50

a supplementary component that improves capability

Something that is an accessory to something but not an integral part of it is an appurtenance. If you buy a car, you may want to purchase a few appurtenances for it, like an ice scraper and fuzzy dice to hang from your rear view mirror.