vocab 3

Question 1

assail

Answer 1

(vb) to attack
Asa was determined to master the GRE Verbal Reasoning section, so she assailed vocabulary words with
determination.
Word Forms: assailable, assailableness, assailer, assailment, assailant Antonym Form: unassailed

Question 2

assiduous

Answer 2

(adj) constant and attentive
Ashley is an assiduous researcher; she was able to find articles on the poet that even the librarian could not locate.
Word Forms: assiduously, assiduousness, assiduity

Question 3

assuage

Answer 3

(vb) to relieve or ease
The shoplifter assuaged his guilt by confessing to the crime.
Word Forms: assuagement, assuager Antonym Forms: unassuaged, unassuaging

Question 4

attenuate

Answer 4

(vb) to weaken
Atticus’ muscles slowly attenuated when he quit working out at the gym.
Word Forms: attenuation, attenuator, attenuatedly Antonym Forms: unattenuated, unattenuatedly
Related Words: overattenuate, subattenuate, tenuous

Question 5

audacious

Answer 5

(adj) bold and fearless
Audrey asked audacious questions that most people would be scared to ask.
Word Forms: audaciously, audaciousness, audacity Antonym Forms: unaudacious, unaudaciously,
unaudaciousness

Question 6

augment

Answer 6

(vb) to enlarge or increase
In an effort to augment her paper on William Faulkner, Aubrey added three pages about the author’s childhood.
Word Forms: augmentation, augmentable, augmentative, augmentatively, augmenter

Question 7

augury

Answer 7

(n) divine prediction
Augustus believed the groundhog’s shadow was an augury of a delayed springtime.
Word Forms: augural, augurate, auguration, augur

Question 8

august

Answer 8

(adj) noble and dignified
The august king was admired for his good work.
Word Forms: augustly, augustness

Question 9

auspicious

Answer 9

(adj) favorable; fortunate
Austin waited for an auspicious time to ask his father to borrow the car; he finally had his chance on the day that his
dad received a sizable raise at work.
Word Forms: auspiciously, auspiciousness

Question 10

austere

Answer 10

(adj) 1. strict; disciplined; serious 2. simple; undecorated
Mr. Aston is the most austere teacher at school; he does not tolerate any talking nor does he accept late assignments.
Word Forms: austerely, austereness, austerity

Question 11

avarice

Answer 11

extreme greed for material wealth
Avery amassed million-dollar homes, luxury cars, and exquisite jewelry to satisfy her avarice, but still wanted more.
Word Forms: avaricious, avariciously, avariciousness

Question 12

avuncular

Answer 12

(adj) resembling an uncle in kindness or indulgence
Mr. Avery developed an avuncular affection for his neighbor’s children after having spent so many years next door.
Word Forms: avuncularly, avuncularity Related Word: uncle

Question 13

axiom

Answer 13

(n) principle or rule
The golden rule is a good axiom to live by.
Word Forms: axiomatic, axiomatical, axiomatization Antonym Forms: nonaxiomatic, nonaxiomatical,
unaxiomatic

Question 14

banal

Answer 14

(adj) repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
The plot of the movie is banal; everything that takes place in this film has happened in a dozen other movies.
Word Forms: banally, banalize, banality

Question 15

belfry

Answer 15

the part of a bell tower or steeple in which bells are housed.
a bell tower or steeple housing bells.

Question 16

bevy

Answer 16

(n) a large group
The picnic lunch on the beach attracted a bevy of birds.

Question 17

bilk

Answer 17

(vb) to cheat or swindle
Bill was bilked out of $10,000 when he invested in the phony scheme.
Word Form: bilker

Question 18

swindle

Answer 18

verb
use deception to deprive (someone) of money or possessions.
“a businessman swindled investors out of millions of pounds”
noun
a fraudulent scheme or action.
“he is mixed up in a £10 million insurance swindle”

Question 19

blight

Answer 19

noun
1.
a plant disease, typically one caused by fungi such as mildews, rusts, and smuts.
“the vines suffered blight and disease”

2.
a thing that spoils or damages something.
“the vacant properties are a blight on the neighbourhood”

verb
1.
have a severely detrimental effect on.
“the scandal blighted the careers of several leading politicians”

2.
infect (plants) with blight.
“a peach tree blighted by leaf curl”