Units 11-15

Question 1

bucolic, adj.

Answer 1

characteristic of the countryside; rustic; pastoral

Question 2

*burgeon, v.

Answer 2

to flourish

Question 3

*burnish, v.

Answer 3

to polish

Question 4

*buttress, v.

Answer 4

to reinforce; support

Question 5

*cacophonous, adj.

Answer 5

unpleasant or harsh-sounding

Question 6

cadge, v.

Answer 6

to beg; sponge (obtain or accept money or food from other people without doing or intending to do anything in return).

Question 7

callous, adj.

Answer 7

thick-skinned; insensitive

Question 8

calumny, n.

Answer 8

false and malicious accusation; slander

Question 9

canard, n.

Answer 9

false, deliberately misleading story

Question 10

canon, n.

Answer 10

an established principle; a basis or standard for judgment; a group of literary works

Question 11

*cant, n.

Answer 11

insincere talk; language of a particular group

Question 12

cantankerous, adj.

Answer 12

irritable; ill-humored

Question 13

*capricious, adj.

Answer 13

fickle, given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior

Question 14

captious, adj.

Answer 14

faultfinding; intended to entrap, as in an argument

Question 15

cardinal, adj.

Answer 15

of foremost importance

Question 16

carnal, adj.

Answer 16

of the flesh or body; related to physical appetites

Question 17

carping, v.

Answer 17

to find fault; complain

Question 18

cartography, n.

Answer 18

science of making maps

Question 19

caste, n.

Answer 19

any of the hereditary social classes of Hindu society; social stratification

Question 20

*castigation, n.

Answer 20

punishment; chastisement; criticism

Question 21

cataclysm, n.

Answer 21

a violent upheaval that causes great destruction and change

Question 22

*catalyst, n.

Answer 22

something causing change

Question 23

categorical, adj.

Answer 23

absolute; without exception

Question 24

caucus, n.

Answer 24

smaller group within an organization

Question 25

causal, adj.

Answer 25

involving a cause

Question 26

caustic, adj.

Answer 26

sarcastically biting; burning

Question 27

celestial, adj.

Answer 27

concerning the sky or heavens; sublime

Question 28

centrifugal, adj.

Answer 28

moving away from a center

Question 29

centripetal, adj.

Answer 29

moving or directed toward a center

Question 30

champion, v.

Answer 30

to defend or support

Question 31

chasten, v.

Answer 31

to correct by punishment or reproof; to restrain or subdue

Question 32

*chicanery, n.

Answer 32

trickery; fraud

Question 33

chivalry, n.

Answer 33

the qualities idealized by knighthood such as bravery and gallantry toward women

Question 34

churlish, adj.

Answer 34

rude; boorish

Question 35

circuitous, adj.

Answer 35

roundabout

Question 36

clairvoyant, n.

Answer 36

one who can predict the future; psychic

Question 37

clamor, n.

Answer 37

noisy outcry

Question 38

clique, n.

Answer 38

a small, exclusive group

Question 39

cloister, v.

Answer 39

to confine; seclude

Question 40

*coagulate, v.

Answer 40

thicken; congeal

Question 41

coalesce, v.

Answer 41

to cause to become one

Question 42

coda, n.

Answer 42

concluding part of a literary or musical composition; something that summarizes or concludes

Question 43

codify, v.

Answer 43

to systematize

Question 44

cognizant, adj.

Answer 44

informed; conscious; aware

Question 45

collage, n.

Answer 45

artistic composition of materials pasted over a surface; an assemblage of diverse elements

Question 46

*commensurate, adj.

Answer 46

proportional

Question 47

*compendium, adj.

Answer 47

brief, comprehensive summary

Question 48

complacent, adj.

Answer 48

self-satisfied; showing smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievements

Question 49

*complaisant, adj.

Answer 49

overly polite; willing to please; obliging

Question 50

complement, n.

Answer 50

something that completes or makes up a whole