Unit 2 Vocabulary

Question 1

Accost

Answer 1

• Verb
• To approach and speak to first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way
• S: Buttonhole, approach
• A: avoid, shun

Question 2

Animadversion

Answer 2

• Noun
• A comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval
• S: Rebuke, reproof
• A: Praise, compliment

Question 3

Avid

Answer 3

• Adjective
• Desirous of something to the point of greed; intensely eager
• S: Keen, enthusiastic, grasping
• A: Reluctant, indifferent, unenthusiastic

Question 4

Brackish

Answer 4

• Adjective
• Having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink
• S: Saline
• A: Clear, sweet

Question 5

Celerity

Answer 5

• Noun
• Swiftness, rapidity of motion or action
• S: Promptness, speed
• A: slowness, sluggishness, dilatoriness

Question 6

Devious

Answer 6

• Adjective
• Straying or wandering from a straight or direct course; done or acting in a shifty or underhanded way
• S: Roundabout, indirect, tricky, sly, artful
• A: Direct, straightforward, open, aboveboard

Question 7

Gambit

Answer 7

• Noun
• 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
• S: Ploy, ruse, maneuver

Question 8

Halcyon

Answer 8

• Noun
• A legendary bird identified with the kingfisher
• Adjective
• of or related to the halcyon; calm, peaceful; happy, golden; prosperous, affluent
• S: tranquil, placid, palmy
• A: turbulent, tumultuous

Question 9

Histrionic

Answer 9

• Adjective
• Pertaining to actors and their techniques; theatrical, artificial; melodramatic
• S: Affected, stagy
• A: Muted, untheatrical, subdued

Question 10

Incendiary

Answer 10

• Adjective
• Deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife or rebellion;
• Noun
• One who deliberately sets fires, arsonist; one who causes strife
• S: Inflammatory, provocative (adj) firebrand (n)
• A: soothing, quieting (adj) peacemaker (n)

Question 11

Maelstrom

Answer 11

• Noun
• A whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction
• S: Chaos, turbulence, tumult

Question 12

Myopic

Answer 12

• Adjective
• Nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation; lacking foresight or discernment
• S: Shortsighted
• A: Farsighted

Question 13

Overt

Answer 13

• Adjective
• Open, not hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized
• S: clear, obvious, manifested, patent
• A: Clandestine, covert, concealed

Question 14

Pejorative

Answer 14

• Adjective
• Tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, belittling
• A: Complimentary, ameliorative

Question 15

Propriety

Answer 15

• Noun
• The state of being proper, appropriateness
• PL
• Standards of what is proper or socially acceptable
• S: Fitness, correctness
• A: Unseemliness, inappropriateness

Question 16

Sacrilege

Answer 16

• Noun
• Improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred
• S: Desecration, profanation, defilement

Question 17

Summarily

Answer 17

• Adverb
• Without delay or formality; briefly, concisely
• S: Promptly, peremptorily

Question 18

Suppliant

Answer 18

• Adjective
• Asking humbly and earnestly
• Noun
• One who makes a request humbly and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor

Question 19

Talisman

Answer 19

• Noun

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

Question 20

Undulate

Answer 20

• Verb
• To move in waves or with a wavelike motion ; to have wavelike appearance or form
• S: Fluctuate, rise and fall