Unit 1

Question 1

approbation

Answer 1

(n.) the expression of approval or favorable opinion, praise; official approval

 My broad hint that I had paid for the lessons myself brought smiles of \_\_\_\_\_ from all the judges at the piano recital.

Synonyms: sanction
Antonyms: disapproval, condemnation, censure

Question 2

assuage

Answer 2

(v.) to make easier or milder, relieve; to quiet, calm; to put an end to, appease, satisfy, quench

Her eyes told me that more than a few well-chosen words would be needed to \_\_\_\_ her hurt feelings.

Synonyms: mitigate, slake, allay
Antonyms: intensity, aggravate, exacerbate

Question 3

coalition

Answer 3

(n.) a combination, union, or merger for some specific purpose

The various community organizations formed a ___ to lobby against parking laws.

Synonyms: alliance, league, federation, combine
Antonym: splinter group

Question 4

decadence

Answer 4

(n.) decline, decay, or deterioration; a condition or period of decline or decay; excessive self-indulgence

Some viewed her love of chocolate as \_\_\_\_ because she ate two candy bars a day.

Synonyms: degeneration, corruption
Antonyms: rise, growth maturation

Question 5

elicit

Answer 5

(v.) to draw forth, bring out from some source (such as another person)

My attempt to \_\_\_ information over the phone was met with a barrage of irrelevant recordings.

Synonyms: evoke, extract, educe
Antonyms: repress, quash, squelch, stifle

Question 6

expostulate

Answer 6

(v.) to attempt to dissuade someone from some course or decision by earnest reasoning

  Shakespeare's Hamlet finds it useless to \_\_\_ with his mother for siding with his stepfather.

Synonyms: protest, remonstrate, complain

Question 7

hackneyed

Answer 7

(adj.) used so often as to lack freshness or originality

 The Great Gatsby tells a universal story without being marred by \_\_\_ prose.

Synonyms: banal, trite, commonplace, corny
Antonyms: new, fresh, novel, original

Question 8

hiatus

Answer 8

(n.) a gap, opening, break (in the sense of having an element missing)

 I was awakened not by a sudden sound but by a \_\_\_ in the din of traffic.

Synonyms: pause, lacuna
Antonyms: continuity, continuation

Question 9

innuendo

Answer 9

(n.) a hint, indirect suggestion, or reference (often in a derogatory sense)

Those lacking the facts or afraid of reprisals often tarnish an enemy’s reputation by use of ___.

Synonyms: insinuation, intimation
Antonym: direct statement

Question 10

intercede

Answer 10

(v.) to plead on behalf of someone else; to serve as a third party or go-between in a disagreement

She will \_\_\_ in the dispute between the two children, and soon they will be playing happily again.

Synonyms: intervene, mediate

Question 11

jaded

Answer 11

(adj.) wearied, worn-out, dulled (in the sense of being satiated by excessive indulgence)

The wilted handclasp and the fast-melting smile mark the ___ refugee from too many parties.

Synonyms: sated, surfeited, cloyed
Antonyms: unspoiled, uncloyed

Question 12

lurid

Answer 12

(adj.) causing shock, horror, or revulsion; sensational; pale or sallow in color; terrible or passionate in intensity or lack of restraint

Bright, sensational, and often ___ some old-time movie posters make today’s newspaper ads look tame.

Synonyms: gruesome, gory, grisly, baleful, ghastly
Antonyms: pleasant, attractive, appealing, wholesome

Question 13

meritorious

Answer 13

(adj.) worthy, deserving recognition and praise

Many years of ___ service could not dissuade him from feeling that he had not chosen work that he liked.

Synonyms: praiseworthy, laudable, commendable
Antonyms: blameworthy, reprehensible

Question 14

petulant

Answer 14

(adj.) peevish, annoyed by trifles, easily irritated and upset

An overworked parent may be unlikely to indulge the complaints of a ___ child.

Synonyms: irritable, testy, waspish
Antonyms: perquisite, perk

Question 15

prerogative

Answer 15

(n.) a special right or privilege; a special quality showing excellence

She seemed to feel that a snooze at her desk was not an annoying habit but the ___ of a veteran employee.

Synonyms: perquisite, perk

Question 16

provincial

Answer 16

(adj.) pertaining to an outlaying area; local; narrow in mind or outlook, countrified in the sense of being limited and backward; of a simple, plain design that originated in the countryside; (n.) a person with a narrow point of view; a person from an outlying area; a soldier from a province or colony

The banjo, once thought to be a ___ product of the Southern hills, actually came here from Africa.

At first, a ___ may do well in the city using charm alone, but charm, like novelty, wears thin.

Synonyms: (adj.) narrow-minded, parochial, insular, naive
Antonyms: (adj.) cosmopolitan, broad-minded

Question 17

simulate

Answer 17

(v.) to make a pretense of, imitate; to show the outer signs of

Some skilled actors can ___ emotions they might never have felt in life.

Synonyms: pretend, affect

Question 18

transcend

Answer 18

(v.) to rise above or beyond, exceed

A great work of art may be said to ___ time, and it remembered for decades, or even centuries.

Synonyms: surpass, outstrip

Question 19

umbrage

Answer 19

(n.) shade cast by trees; foliage giving shade; an overshadowing influence or power; offense, resentment; a vague suspicion

She hesitated to offer her opinion, fearing that they would take ___ at her criticism.

Synonyms: irritation, pique
Antonyms: pleasure, delight, satisfaction

Question 20

unctuous

Answer 20

(adj.) excessively smooth or smug; trying too hard to give an impression of earnestness, sincerity, or piety, fatty, oily; pliable

Her constant inquiring about the health of my family at first seemed friendly, later merely ___.

Synonyms: mealymouthed, fawning, greasy
Antonyms: gruff, blunt