Unit 2

Question 1

accost

Answer 1

to approach and speak to first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way
SYN: buttonhole, approach, confront
ANT: evade, avoid, shun

Question 2

animadversion

Answer 2

a comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval
SYN: rebuke, reproof
ANT: praise, compliment

Question 3

avid

Answer 3

desirous of something to the point of greed; intensely eager
SYN: keen, enthusiastic, grasping
ANT: reluctant, indifferent, unenthusiastic

Question 4

brackish

Answer 4

having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink
SYN: briny, saline
ANT:fresh, clear, sweet

Question 5

celerity

Answer 5

swiftness, rapidity of motion or action
SYN: promptness, alacrity, speed
ANT: slowness, sluggishness, dilatoriness

Question 6

devious

Answer 6

straying or wandering from a straight or direct course; done or acting in a shifty or underhand way
SYN: roundabout, indirect, tricky, sly, artful
ANT: direct, straightforward, open, aboveboard

Question 7

gambit

Answer 7

in chess, an opening move that involves risk or sacrifice of a minor piece in order to gain a later advantage; any opening move of this type
SYN: ply, stratagem, ruse, maneuver

Question 8

halcyon

Answer 8

legendary bird identified with the kingfisher; of or relating to the halcyon; calm, peaceful; happy, golden; prosperous, affluent
SYN: tranquil, serene, placid, palmy
ANT: turbulent, chaotic, tumultuous

Question 9

histrionic

Answer 9

pertaining to actors and their techniques; theatrical, artificial; melodramatic
SYN: affected, stagy
ANT: low-keyed, muted, untheatrical,subdued

Question 10

incendiary

Answer 10

deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife or rebellion;;one who deliberately sets fires, arsonist; one who causes strife
SYN: inflammatory, provocative;; firebrand
ANT: soothing, quieting;; peacemaker

Question 11

maelstrom

Answer 11

a whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction
SYN: vortex, chaos, turbulence, tumult

Question 12

myopic

Answer 12

nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation; lacking foresight or discernment
SYN: shortsighted
ANT: farsighted

Question 13

overt

Answer 13

open, not hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized
SYN: clear, obvious, manifest, patent
ANT: secret, clandestine, covert, concealed

Question 14

pejorative

Answer 14

tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittling
ANT:complimentary, ameliorative

Question 15

propriety

Answer 15

the state of being poor, appropriateness;; standards of what is proper or socially acceptable
SYN: fitness, correctness, decorum
ANT: unseemliness, inappropriatness

Question 16

sacrilege

Answer 16

improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred

SYN: desecration, profanation, defilement

Question 17

summarily

Answer 17

without delay or formality; briefly, concisely

SYN: promptly, peremptorily, abruptly

Question 18

suppliant

Answer 18

asking humbly and earnestly;; one who makes a request humbly and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor

Question 19

talisman

Answer 19

an object that serves as a charm or is believed to confer magical powers, an amulet, fetish

Question 20

undulate

Answer 20

to move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance and form
SYN: ripple, fluctuate, rise and fall