Vocab 6 AP Lang

Question 1

Amenable

Answer 1

willing, compliant

Ex: my father was amenable when I asked him to drive us to the Starbucks down the street

Question 2

Beguile

Answer 2

to trick, deceive

Ex: The lady beguiled me into spending more money than I needed to.

Question 3

Contrite

Answer 3

penitent, eager to be forgiven

Ex: Blake’s contrite behavior made it impossible to stay angry at him

Question 4

Diatribe

Answer 4

a sharply abusive verbal attack or criticism

Ex: My friend unleashed a lengthy diatribe at me during our argument.

Question 5

Dilettante

Answer 5

one who dabbles in many different activitie

Ex: I would consider my friend a Dilettante because of all the extracurricular activites she does.

Question 6

Ebullient

Answer 6

extremely lively, enthusiastic

Ex: She became ebullient upon receiving an acceptance letter from her first-choice college

Question 7

Esoteric

Answer 7

obscure, known to only a few

Ex: Layla confused her friends a lot with her Esoteric taste in old pop music.

Question 8

Feckless

Answer 8

ineffective, incompetent

Ex: The feckless baseball player was unable to score a single goal for the team

Question 9

Flout

Answer 9

to treat with disdain, scorn, or contempt; scoff at; mock

Ex: Many students flout at the strict teacher

Question 10

Hegemony

Answer 10

domination over others

Ex: it is difficult to challenge the state’s hegemony

Question 11

Iconoclast

Answer 11

one who attacks common beliefs or institutions

Ex: Jane goes to one protest after another, but she seems to be an iconoclast rather than an activist with a progressive agenda

Question 12

Nihilism

Answer 12

destructive attitude channeled towards both the outside world and one’s self

Ex: The young boy’s unchecked nihilism on the playground resulted in both everyone’s sandcastles being knocked over but also a scraped knee for himself.

Question 13

Nominal

Answer 13

very small; far below the real value or cost

Ex: Because he was moving the following week and needed to get rid of his furniture more than he needed money, Jordan sold everything for a nominal fee

Question 14

Pedantic

Answer 14

annoys others by correcting small errors, caring too much about minor details

Ex: At the risk of sounding pedantic, I refrained from correcting my classmates errors

Question 15

Philistine

Answer 15

one who lacks artistic and/or cultural sophistication

Ex: he considered anyone who wasn’t at least somewhat familiar with the works of Taylor Swift to be a philistine and therefore unworthy of her attention

Question 16

Platitude

Answer 16

an uninspired remark, cliché

Ex: After reading over her paper, Helene concluded that what she thought were profound insights were actually just platitudes

Question 17

Proclivity

Answer 17

a strong inclination toward something

Ex: In a sick twist of fate, Harold’s childhood proclivity for torturing small animals grew into a desire to become a surgeon.

Question 18

Pontificate

Answer 18

to speak in a pompous manner

Ex: He could frequently be found at parties pontificating about why popular culture was better a decade ago

Question 19

Sycophant

Answer 19

one who flatters for self-gain

Ex: Some see the people in the cabinet as the president’s closest advisors, but others see them as sycophants.

Question 20

Verisimilitude

Answer 20

the resemblance to reality or truth, particularly of a work of art

Ex: While the abstract painting looked interesting, its lack of verisimilitude turned off a number of observers