U1 Vocab

Question 1

Acquisitive

Answer 1

(adj)
- Able to get and retain ideas or information; concerned with acquiring wealth or property
SYN: greedy, grasping, avaricious, retentive
ANT: altruistic, unretentive

Question 2

Arrogate

Answer 2

(v)
- to claim or take without right
SYN: expropriate, usurp, commandeer
ANT: relinquish, renounce, abdicate, abandon

Question 3

Banal

Answer 3

(adj)
- hackneyed, trite, commonplace, boring
SYN: stale, insipid
ANT: fresh, novel, original, new

Question 4

Belabor

Answer 4

(v)
- to work on excessively; to thrash soundly
SYN: overwork

Question 5

Carping

Answer 5

(adj) (n)
- tending to find fault, especially in a petty, nasty or hairsplitting way
- petty, nagging criticism
SYN (adj): nit-picking, caviling
ANT (adj): approving, uncritical

Question 6

Coherent

Answer 6

(adj)
- holding or sticking together; making a logical whole; comprehensible, meaningful
SYN: connected, unified, consistent, cohesive
ANT: muddled, chaotic, disjoint

Question 7

Congeal

Answer 7

(v)
- to change from liquid to solid, thicken; to make inflexible or rigid
SYN: harden, jell, coagulate, solidify
ANT: melt, liquify

Question 8

Emulate

Answer 8

(v)
- to imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing the model
SYN: copy, mimic, rival, match, measure up to

Question 9

Encomium

Answer 9

(n)
a formal expression of praise, lavish tribute
SYN: panegyric, eulogy, commendation
ANT: condemnation, castigation, criticism

Question 10

Eschew

Answer 10

(v)
to avoid, shun, keep away from
SYN: abstain from, steer clear of, forgo
ANT: embrace, adopt

Question 11

Insatiable

Answer 11

(adj)
- so great or demanding as not to be satisfied
SYN: unquenchable, ravenous, voracious

Question 12

Germane

Answer 12

(adj)
- relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting
SYN: pertinent
ANT: irrelevent, extraneous, inappropriate

Question 13

Intransigent

Answer 13

(adj)
- refusing to compromise, irreconcilable
SYN: uncompromising, unyielding, obdurate
ANT: lukewarm, halfhearted, yielding

Question 14

Invidious

Answer 14

(adj)
- offensive, hateful; tending to cause bitterness and resentment
SYN: malicious, spiteful, prejudicial, pejorative
ANT: complimentary, flattering, ameliorative

Question 15

Largesse

Answer 15

(n)
- generosity in giving; lavish or bountiful contributions
SYN: liberality, munificence, bounty
ANT: stinginess, miserliness, niggardliness

Question 16

Reconnaissance

Answer 16

(n)
- a survey made for military purposes; any kind of preliminary inspection or examination
SUN: scouting expedition

Question 17

Substantiate

Answer 17

(v)
- to establish by evidence, prove; to give concrete or substantial form to
SYN: verify, confirm, validate, authenticate
ANT: refute, disprove, invalidate

Question 18

Taciturn

Answer 18

(adj)
- habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little
SYN: tight-lipped, uncommunicative, laconic
ANT: garrulous, loquacious, prolix, verbose

Question 19

Temporize

Answer 19

(v)
- to stall or act evasively in order to gain time, avoid a confrontation, or postpone a decision; to compromise
SYN: hedge, dillydally, procrastinate

Question 20

Tenable

Answer 20

(adj)
- capable of being held or detained
SYN: defensible, justifiable, maintainable
ANT: indefensible, unjustifiable