Set 3

Question 1

abate

Answer 1

(of something unpleasant or severe) become less intense or widespread
e.g. The storms had abated by the time they rounded Cape Horn

Question 2

abjure

Answer 2

solemnly renounce (a belief, cause or claim)
e.g. *He **abjured** the Protestant faith and became King in 1594*

Question 3

anomalous

Answer 3

deviating from what is standard, normal or expected
e.g. For years, this anomalous behavior has baffled scientists

Question 4

antipathy

Answer 4

a deep-seated feeling of aversion
e.g. She’d often spoken of her antipathy towards London

Question 5

arcane

Answer 5

understood by few, mysterious or secret
e.g. Until a few months ago, few people outside the arcane world of contemporary music had heard of the composer

Question 6

arduous

Answer 6

involving or requiring strenuous effort, difficult and tiring
e.g. The task was more arduous than he had calculated

Question 7

artless

Answer 7

without effort or pretentiousness; natural and simple
e.g. She was curiously artless

Question 8

ascetic

Answer 8

characterized by severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons
e.g. She has never been close to her ascetic, workaholic father

Question 9

assuage

Answer 9

make (an unpleasant feeling) less intense
e.g. The announcement appeared designed to assuage concerns at home and abroad

Question 10

betray

Answer 10

unintentionally reveal; be evidence of; expose to danger, by treacherously giving information to an enemy

Question 11

bucolic

Answer 11

relating to pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life
e.g. The economics of a bucolic dream no longer stack up

Question 12

burgeon

Answer 12

begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish
e.g. Plants burgeon from every available space

Question 13

cacophonous

Answer 13

involving or producing a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds
e.g. Then he emits a cacophonous cackle that passes for a laugh

Question 14

canonize

Answer 14

place in regard as belonging to a canon of literary or artistic works;
e.g. They canonized the Song of Solomon after much controversy

officially declare (dead person) to be a saint
e.g. *Joan of Arc was finally **canonized** by Pope Benedict XV in 1920*

Question 15

censure

Answer 15

express severe disapproval of (someone or something), especially in a formal statement
e.g. The ethics committee may take a decision to admonish him or to censure him

Question 16

chicanery

Answer 16

the use of deception or subterfuge to achieve one’s purpose
e.g. He resorted to the worst flattery and chicanery to win the job

Question 17

coalesce

Answer 17

come together to form one mass or whole
e.g. Cities, if unrestricted, tend to coalesce into bigger and bigger conurbations

Question 18

cogent

Answer 18

(of an argument or case) clear, logical and convincing
e.g. There were perfectly cogent reasons why Julian Cavendish should be told of the Majors’ impending return

Question 19

compelling

Answer 19

evoking interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way
e.g. There was no longer any compelling reason to continue this line of investigation

Question 20

contend

Answer 20

compete with others in a struggle to achieve (something);
e.g. .. two main groups contending for power

assert something as a position in an argument
e.g. He contended that the taxes were too high

Question 21

copious

Answer 21

abundant in supply or quantity
e.g. He had worked until early hours of the morning, helped by copious amounts of coffee

Question 22

cosmopolitan

Answer 22

including people from many different countries;
e.g. London has always been a cosmopolitan city

(of a plant or animal) found all over the world
e.g. The more cosmopolitan a sport becomes, the more it changes

Question 23

deference

Answer 23

polite submission and respect
e.g. Out of deference to him, I lowered my head as he prayed

Question 24

desultory

Answer 24

lacking a plan, purpose or enthusiasm
e.g. The constables made a desultory attempt to keep them away from the barn

Question 25

diffident

Answer 25

modest or shy because of a lack of self confidence
e.g. Helen was diffident and reserved

Question 26

dilatory

Answer 26

slow to act; intended to cause delay
e.g. You might expect politicians to smooth things out when civil servants are being dilatory

Question 27

equivocate

Answer 27

use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself
e.g. He is equivocating a lot about what is going to happen if and when there are elections

Question 28

polarize

Answer 28

divide or cause to divide into two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs
e.g. Missile deployment did much to further polarize opinion in Britain

Question 29

prodigal

Answer 29

spending money or using resources freely and recklessly wastefully extravagant;
e.g. Prodigal habits die hard

having or giving something on a lavish scale
e.g. prodigal of compliments

Question 30

verbose

Answer 30

using or expressed in more words than are needed
e.g. His writing is difficult and often verbose