Set 4

Question 1

abstain

Answer 1

restrain oneself from doing or enjoying something
e.g. Do you drink alcohol, smoke, or abstain?

formally decline to vote either for or against a proposal or motion
e.g. Three conservative MPs abstained in the vote

Question 2

approbation

Answer 2

approval or praise
e.g. Teenagers are losing any sense of self until it is shared up by the approbation of their peers

Question 3

corroborate

Answer 3

confirm or give support to ( a statement, a theory or finding)
e.g. I had access to wide range of documents which corroborated the story

Question 4

disparate

Answer 4

essentially different in kind; not being able to be compared
e.g. The nine republics are immensely disparate in size, culture and wealth

Question 5

emulate

Answer 5

match or surpass (a person or achievement) typically by imitation
e.g. But Margaret, though Laura, could never emulate her light-hearted sister-in-law

Question 6

enervate

Answer 6

make (someone) feel drained of energy or vitality
e.g. Its crushed leaves and stems are used to enervate bees while gathering honey

Question 7

ephemeral

Answer 7

lasting for a very short time
e.g. He talked about the country’s ephemeral unity being shattered by defeat

Question 8

fervid

Answer 8

intensely enthusiastic or passionate, especially to an excessive degree
e.g. Librarian delivered a fervid speech defending the classic novel against the would be censors

Question 9

garrulous

Answer 9

excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters
e.g. By his side for most of the time was a bespectacled, softly spoken and garrulous man

Question 10

incendiary

Answer 10

tending to stir up conflict
e.g. Apart from his incendiary rhetoric, there are two reasons

(of a device or attack) designed to cause fires
e.g. Five incendiary devices were found in her house

Question 11

inimical

Answer 11

tending to obstruct or harm
e.g. Nor can human flesh touch it, for its substance is inimical to life

Question 12

intimate

Answer 12

closely acquainted, familiar;
e.g. I discussed with my intimate friends whether I would immediately have a baby

state or make known

e.g. She has intimated that she will resign if she loses the vote

Question 13

invigorate

Answer 13

give strength or energy to
e.g. Take a deep breath in to invigorate yourself

Question 14

mitigate

Answer 14

make (something bad) less severe, serious or painful
e.g. The cost of getting here is mitigated by Sydney’s offer of a subsidy

Question 15

obsolete

Answer 15

no longer produced or used; out of date
e.g. So much equipment becomes obsolete almost as soon as it’s made

Question 16

opaque

Answer 16

not able to be seen through; not transparent
e.g. You can always use opaque glass if you need to block a street view

(especially of language) hard or impossible to understand
e.g. .. the opaque language of the inspector’s reports

Question 17

paradigmatic

Answer 17

serving as a typical example of something;
e.g. Their great academic success was paraded or paradigmatic

of or denoting the relationship between a set of linguistic items that form mutually exclusive choices in particular syntactic roles

Question 18

pedantic

Answer 18

excessively concerned with minor details or rules; overscrupulous
e.g. His lecture was so pedantic and uninteresting

Question 19

placid

Answer 19

not easily upset or excited

calm and peaceful, with little movement or activity
e.g. She was a placid child who rarely cried

Question 20

polemical

Answer 20

of or involving strongly critical or disputatious writing or speech
e.g. Daniels is at his best when he’s cool and direct, rather than combative and polemical

Question 21

precipitate

Answer 21

cause (an event or situation, typically one that is undesirable) to happen suddenly, unexpectedly or prematurely
e.g. The recent killings have precipitated the worst crisis yet

Question 22

profundity

Answer 22

great depth of insight or knowledge
e.g. The profundity of this book is achieved with breathtaking lightness

Question 23

prophetic

Answer 23

accurately predicting what will happen in the future
e.g. The ominous warning soon proved prophetic

Question 24

prudent

Answer 24

acting with or showing care and though for the future
e.g. I believe it is essential that we act prudent

Question 25

punctilious

Answer 25

showing great attention to detail or correct behavior
e.g. He was punctilious about being ready and waiting in the entrance hall exactly on time

Question 26

recondite

Answer 26

(of a subject or knowledge) little known, abstruse
e.g. His poems are modishly experimental in style and recondite in subject-matter

Question 27

scrupulous

Answer 27

careful, thorough and extremely attentive to details
e.g. The streets and parks were scrupulously clean

Question 28

tranquil

Answer 28

free from disturbance; calm
e.g. The place was tranquil and appealing

Question 29

vacillate

Answer 29

waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive
e.g. She vacillates between studying economics and languages