Set 26

Question 1

CONSTRUE (kun STROO) v

Answer 1

to interpret

Preston construed his contract as giving him the right to do anything he wanted.

To misconstrue is to misinterpret.

Question 2

CONSUMMATE (kun SUM it) adj

Answer 2

perfect; complete; supremely
skillful

A consummate pianist is an extremely good one. Nothing is lacking in the way he or she plays.

Question 3

CONTENTIOUS (kun TEN shus) adj

Answer 3

argumentative; quarrelsome
Liz figured that her contentious style would make her a perfect litigator; after law school, however, the would-be trial attorney discovered that passing the bar requires more than a will to argue.

A person looking for a fight is contentious.
To be contentious in a discussion is to make a lot of noisy objections.
A contender is a 􀉹fighter. To contend is to fight or argue for something. Someone who breaks the law may have to contend with
the law.

Question 4

CONTIGUOUS (kun TIG yoo us) adj

Answer 4

side by side; adjoining

Two countries that share a border are contiguous; so are two events that happened one right after the other.

Question 5

CONTINGENT (kun TIN junt) adj

Answer 5

dependent; possible

Our agreement to buy their house is contingent upon the sellers’ finding another house to move into. That is, they won’t sell
their house to us unless they can find another house to buy.

A contingency is a possibility or something that may happen but is at
least as likely not to happen.

Question 6

CONTRITE (kun TRYTE) adj

Answer 6

admitting guilt; especially feeling
remorseful To be contrite is to admit whatever terrible thing you did.

Mira was contrite about her mistake, so we forgave her.

Question 7

CONTRIVED (kun TRYVED) adj

Answer 7

artificial; labored

Sam’s acting was contrived: No one in the audience believed his character or enjoyed his performance.

A contrivance is a mechanical device, usually, something rigged up.

Question 8

CONVENTIONAL (kun VEN shun nul) adj

Answer 8

common; customary;
unexceptional

The architect’s conventional designs didn’t win him awards for originality.

Question 9

CONVIVIAL (kun VIV ee ul) adj

Answer 9

fond of partying; festive

A convivial gathering is one in which the people present enjoy eating, drinking, and being together.

To be convivial is to be an eager but generally well-behaved party animal.

A convivial person is the opposite of an antisocial person.

Question 10

COPIOUS (KOH pee us) adj

Answer 10

abundant; plentiful

The champagne at the wedding reception was copious but not very good.