TPR Practice Test 3

Question 1

impunity

Answer 1

exemption from punishment or freedom from the injurious consequences of an action

Question 2

untenable

Answer 2

not able to be maintained or defended against attack or objection

These untenable explanations are not helping your case.

Question 3

taut

Answer 3

stretched or pulled tight; not slack; (of writing, music, etc.) concise and controlled

The fabric stays taut without adhesive

Question 4

ornery

Answer 4

bad-tempered and combative; stubborn

Some hogs are just mean and ornery.

Question 5

inimical

Answer 5

tending to obstruct or harm; unfriendly, hostile

Question 6

onerous

Answer 6

involving an amount of effort and difficulty that is oppressively burdensome; (of law) involving heavy obligations

He found his duties burdensome and onerous.

Question 7

alchemy

Answer 7

a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or combination

Finding the person who is right for you requires a very subtle alchemy.

Question 8

probity

Answer 8

the quality of having strong moral principles; honestly and decency

Question 9

chary

Answer 9

cautiously or suspiciously reluctant to do something

Most people are chary of allowing themselves to be photographed.

Question 10

compendium

Answer 10

a collection of concise but detailed information about a particular subject, especially in a book or other publication; a collection of things, especially one systematically gathered

The program is a compendium of outtakes from our archives.

Question 11

miscellany

Answer 11

a group or collection of different items; a mixture; a book containing a collection of pieces of writing by different authors

Question 12

surfeit

Answer 12

an excessive amount of something; cause someone to desire no more of something as a result of having consumed or done it to excess

After the huge Thanksgiving meal and dessert, we will be all be surfeited with food.

Question 13

paucity

Answer 13

the presence of something only in small or insufficient quantities or amounts; scarcity

The police cannot act with such a paucity of evidence.

Question 14

spurious

Answer 14

not being what it purports to be; false or fake; (of a line of reasoning) apparently but not actually valid

This spurious reasoning results in nonsense.

Question 15

delectable

Answer 15

to remove, erase, cancel, strike out

Question 16

deleterious

Answer 16

causing harm of damage

Divorce is assumed to have deleterious effects on children.

Question 17

profligacy

Answer 17

wildly extravagant; the act of recklessly wasting money on extravagant luxury

Question 18

pathos

Answer 18

a quality that evokes pity or sadness

Question 19

acrimony

Answer 19

bitterness or ill feeling

Question 20

pariah

Answer 20

an outcast

Question 21

discomfit

Answer 21

to make someone feel uneasy or embarrassed

He was not noticeably discomfited by her bitter tone.

Question 22

pernicious

Answer 22

having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way

Question 23

intrepid

Answer 23

fearless; adventurous

Question 24

facetious

Answer 24

treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant

Question 25

fulminate

Answer 25

express vehement protest

The exhausted students all fulminated against the new curriculum.

Question 26

laconic

Answer 26

using very few words

His laconic reply suggested a lack of interest in the topic.

Question 27

divulge

Answer 27

make known (private or sensitive information)

Question 28

perennial

Answer 28

lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring or continually recurring

Question 29

mollify

Answer 29

appease the anger or anxiety of someone

Nature reserves were set up around the power stations to mollify local conservationists.

Question 30

peeve

Answer 30

to annoy, to irritate

Question 31

torque

Answer 31

a twisting force that tends to cause ratation

Question 32

penury

Answer 32

extreme poverty; destitution

Question 33

lambaste

Answer 33

to criticize harshly

They lambasted the report as a gross distortion of the truth.

Question 34

hedonism

Answer 34

the pursuit of happiness; sensual self-indulgence; the ethical theory that pleasure (in the sense of the satisfaction of desire) is the highest good and proper aim of human life)

Question 35

effrontery

Answer 35

insolent or impertinent behavior; extreme rudeness without an ability to understand that such behavior is unacceptable

One juror had the effrontery of challenge the coroner’s decision.

Question 36

obfuscate

Answer 36

to render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible; to bewilder

The spelling changes will deform some familiar words and obfuscate their etymological origins.

Question 37

dissemble

Answer 37

to conceal one’s true motives, feelings, or believes; to disguise or conceal

She smiled, dissembling her true emotion.

Question 38

revamp

Answer 38

to give new and improved form, structure, or appearance to

Question 39

bolster

Answer 39

to support or strengthen; to prop up

The fall in interest rates is starting to bolster confidence.

Question 40

rancorous

Answer 40

characterized by bitterness or resentment

Question 41

timorous

Answer 41

showing or suffering from nervousness, fear, or a lack of confidence

Question 42

amity

Answer 42

a friendly relationship

Question 43

bile

Answer 43

anger, irritability

Question 44

détente

Answer 44

the easing of hostility or strained relations, especially between countries

Question 45

probity

Answer 45

the quality of having strong moral principle; honesty and decency

Question 46

ebullience

Answer 46

the quality of being cheerful and full of energy; exuberance

Question 47

vitriol

Answer 47

cruel and bitter criticism