Toughest Words II

Question 1

Idiosyncrasy

Answer 1

a train or mannerism that is peculiar to an individual

Question 2

censorious

Answer 2

severely critical of others

Question 3

captious

Answer 3

tending to find fault or raise petty objections

Question 4

consternation

Answer 4

a great sense of dismay or confusion

Question 5

didactic

Answer 5

tending to give instruction or advice, inclined to teach or lecture others; containing an educational or moral lesson

Question 6

elucidate

Answer 6

to make clear or plain, especially by explanation

Question 7

effusive

Answer 7

expressing excessive emotion in an unrestrained manner; gushing

Question 8

furor

Answer 8

general commotion; an uproar

Question 9

marginal, peripheral

Answer 9

of secondary importance; not central, on the perimeter

Question 10

obfuscate

Answer 10

to deliberately confuse; to make something so confusing it is hard to understand

Question 11

Flummoxed

Answer 11

confused or perplexed

Question 12

spate

Answer 12

a large number or amount

Question 13

ineffable

Answer 13

too overwhelming to be put into words, indescribable, inexpressable

Question 14

histrionic

Answer 14

excessively theatrical or melodramatic

Question 15

overwrought

Answer 15

in a state or nervous excitement or anxiety

Question 16

eschew

Answer 16

to avoid, to stay clear of; to shun

Question 17

stopgap

Answer 17

a temporary solution designed to meet an urgent need

Question 18

flotsam; jetsam

Answer 18

debris; part of a ships cargo that is thrown overboard (jettisoned) to decrease weight

Question 19

churlish, sullen, sulky

Answer 19

ill tempered; rude; childish

Question 20

restitution

Answer 20

the act of making good or compensating for a loss, damage, or injury

Question 21

disquieting

Answer 21

disturbing, upsetting, vexing, causing unease, worrisome

Question 22

execrable

Answer 22

extremely bad or unpleasant

Question 23

odious

Answer 23

extremely unpleasant, repulsive

Question 24

perspicacious

Answer 24

insightful

Question 25

prescient

Answer 25

having or showing knowledge of events before they take place

Question 26

discerning

Answer 26

having or showing good judgment

Question 27

hiatus

Answer 27

a pause or a gap in a sequence, series, or process

Question 28

vertiginous

Answer 28

having a feeling of whirling or spinning, having vertigo

Question 29

esoteric

Answer 29

intended for or likely to be understood by a small number of people with specialized knowledge

Question 30

arcane

Answer 30

understood by few, mysterious,secret

Question 31

supercilious

Answer 31

showing haughty disdain or arrogant superiority

Question 32

blithe

Answer 32

joyous; sprightly; mirthful; light; vivacious

Question 33

mirth

Answer 33

amusement, merriment

Question 34

underwrite

Answer 34

to assume financial responsibility for

Question 35

discomfited

Answer 35

uneasy; embarassed

Question 36

taciturn

Answer 36

habitually quiet; uncommunicative

Question 37

sinecure

Answer 37

an office or position that provides an income for little or no work

Question 38

cosmopolitan

Answer 38

worldy; sophisticated; open-minded and aware of the big picture

Question 39

parochial, provincial

Answer 39

having a limited or narrow outlook or scope

Question 40

insular

Answer 40

ignorant of or uninterested in cultures, ideas, or peoples outside one’s own experience.

Question 41

fecund

Answer 41

intellectually productive or inventive, fertile

Question 42

ostentatious

Answer 42

flashy, intended to attract attention and notice, pretentious, gaudy

Question 43

guile

Answer 43

duplicity, cunning, skillful deceit

Question 44

sanguine

Answer 44

cheerfully confident, optimistic

Question 45

scintillating

Answer 45

sparkling; shining; brilliantly clever

Question 46

refractory

Answer 46

stubborn or unmanageable

Question 47

garrulous

Answer 47

excessively talkative (voluble)

Question 48

voluble

Answer 48

excessively talkative (garrulous)

Question 49

convivial

Answer 49

sociable, fond of feasting, drinking and good company, outgoing

Question 50

brusque, curt

Answer 50

abrupt in speech; blunt

Question 51

tepid

Answer 51

lukewarm, mild, halfhearted

Question 52

protean

Answer 52

readily taking on varied forms and meanings

Question 53

solicitous

Answer 53

showing great care and concern, attentive

Question 54

ingenuous

Answer 54

innocent and unsuspecting (disingenuous is insincere, oblique, and not candid)

Question 55

venerate, revere

Answer 55

to regard with great respect, to hold to high esteem

Question 56

contentious

Answer 56

quarrelsome, argumentative, disputatious

Question 57

preclude

Answer 57

to make impossible, to rule out, to prevent

Question 58

compunction, contrition, penitence

Answer 58

feelings of sincere and deep regret

Question 59

bombastic

Answer 59

pompous or pretentious in speech or writing; ostentatiously lofty in style

Question 60

forbearance

Answer 60

abstaining from the enforcement of a right; the act of refraining from acting on a desire or impulse

Question 61

unfettered

Answer 61

free of restraint, free

Question 62

prescribe

Answer 62

to require; to order; to direct

Question 63

proscribe

Answer 63

to forbid; to prohibit; to outlaw

Question 64

puerile

Answer 64

childishly silly and trivial

Question 65

callow

Answer 65

inexperienced and immature

Question 66

sophomoric

Answer 66

juvenile, childish, immature

Question 67

Profundity

Answer 67

Intellectual depth