Verbal Diagnostic Test Chapter 1

Question 1

despots

Answer 1

a ruler with absolute power and authority

Question 2

malign

Answer 2

adj. evil or harmful

v. to speak negatively about someone or something

Question 3

indignant

Answer 3

feeling or showing anger because of something unjust or unworthy : filled with or marked by indignation

Question 4

munificent

Answer 4

adj. very generous

Question 5

mendacious

Answer 5

given to or characterized by deception or falsehood or divergence from absolute truth

lying

Question 6

nugatory

Answer 6

of little or no consequence : TRIFLING, INCONSEQUENTIAL

no value-useless

Question 7

ersatz

Answer 7

being a usually artificial and inferior substitute or imitation

Question 8

clandestine

Answer 8

marked by, held in, or conducted with secrecy : SURREPTITIOUS

Question 9

solipsism

Answer 9

a theory holding that the self can know nothing but its own modifications and that the self is the only existent thing
also : extreme egocentrism

Question 10

quixotic

Answer 10

exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical.

Question 11

cogent

Answer 11

(of an argument or case) clear, logical, and convincing.

Question 12

ponderous

Answer 12

1: of very great weight
2: unwieldy or clumsy because of weight and size
3: oppressively or unpleasantly dull

Question 13

cabal

Answer 13

1: the contrived schemes of a group of persons secretly united in a plot (as to overturn a government)
also : a group engaged in such schemes
2: CLUB, GROUP
a cabal of artists

Question 14

literati

Answer 14

1: the educated class
also : INTELLIGENTSIA
2: persons interested in literature or the arts

Question 15

hoi-polloi

Answer 15

1: the general populace : MASSES

Question 16

parochial

Answer 16

If an issue or a matter is parochial, it is trivial or only concerns a local area. Likewise, a person with a parochial mentality is narrow-minded, or not open to new ideas. You may feel that there is no room in your life for the parochial attitudes of the older generation.

Question 17

dulcet

Answer 17

1: sweet to the taste
2: pleasing to the ear
dulcet tones
3: generally pleasing or agreeable
a dulcet smile

Question 18

facile

Answer 18

1a(1): easily accomplished or attained
a facile victory
(2): SHALLOW, SIMPLISTIC
I am not concerned … with offering any facile solution for so complex a problem
— T. S. Eliot
b: used or comprehended with ease
c: readily manifested and often lacking sincerity or depth
facile tears

Question 19

urbane

Answer 19

notably polite or polished in manner

Question 20

predilection

Answer 20

an established preference for something

Question 21

noxious

Answer 21

harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant.

Question 22

stolid

Answer 22

(of a person) calm, dependable, and showing little emotion or animation.

Question 23

officious

Answer 23

volunteering one’s services where they are neither asked nor needed

assertive of authority in an annoyingly domineering way, especially with regard to petty or trivial matters.
“the security people were very officious”

offensively intrusive or interfering

Question 24

equivocal

Answer 24

subject to two or more interpretations and usually used to mislead or confuse

not clear or certain

Question 25

paean

Answer 25

a joyous song or hymn of praise, tribute, thanksgiving, or triumph

Question 26

poultice

Answer 26

a soft usually heated and sometimes medicated mass spread on cloth and applied to sores or other lesions

Question 27

foibles

Answer 27

a minor flaw or shortcoming in character or behavior

Question 28

mores

Answer 28

1: the fixed morally binding customs of a particular group have tended to withdraw and develop a self-sufficient society of their own, with distinct and rigid mores — James Stirling 2: moral attitudes the evershifting mores of the moment — Havelock Ellis 3: HABITS, MANNERS organized dancing developed a whole set of mores and practices of its own — R. L. Taylor

Question 29

peccadilloes

Answer 29

slight offense

Question 30

innocuous

Answer 30

1: producing no injury : HARMLESS 2: not likely to give offense or to arouse strong feelings or hostility : INOFFENSIVE, INSIPID

Question 31

arresting

Answer 31

striking; eye-catching-dramatic

Question 32

ape

Answer 32

imitate

Question 33

ran the gamut

Answer 33

idiom, A to Z

Question 34

ran the gauntlet

Answer 34

withstood an attack from all sides