Vocab 7

Question 1

to abuse verbally; to berate

Answer 1

vituperate

Vituperating someone is never a constructive way to effect change.

Question 2

thick and adhesive, like a slow-flowing fluid

Answer 2

viscous

Most viscous liquids, like oil or honey, become even thicker as they are cooled down.

Question 3

vitality and energy

Answer 3

vim

The vim with which she worked so early in the day explained why she was so productive.

Question 4

to grow together to form a single whole

Answer 4

coalesced

The sun and planets eventually coalesced out of a vast could of gas and dust.

Question 5

sickly sweet; excessive

Answer 5

cloying

When Enid and Jay first started dating, their cloying affection toward one another often made their friends ill.

Question 6

cautious; aware of potential consequence

Answer 6

circumspect

She was very circumspect in her language and behavior when first introduced to her fiance’s parents.

Question 7

deception by means of craft or guile

Answer 7

chicanery

Dishonest used-car salesmen often use chicanery to sell their beat-up old cars.

Question 8

someone prejudiced in favor of a group to which he or she belongs

Answer 8

chauvinist

The attitude that men must be obeyed since they are inherently superior to women is common among male chauvinists.

Question 9

great disorder; a confused situation

Answer 9

chaos

Question 10

biting in wit

Answer 10

caustic

Dorothy Parker gained her caustic reputation from her cutting, yet witty, insults.

Question 11

a change or variation

Answer 11

vicissitude

Investors must be prepared for vicissitudes of the stock market.

Question 12

a secret group seeking to overturn something

Answer 12

cabal

The boys on the street formed a cabal to keep girls out of their tree house.

Question 13

to annoy, irritate, puzzle or confuse

Answer 13

vex

The old man who loved his peace and quiet was vexed by his neighbor’s loud music.

Question 14

to polish

Answer 14

burnish

He burnished the silver coffee pot until it shone brightly.

Question 15

to grow and flourish

Answer 15

burgeon

Faulkner neither confirmed nor denied stories about himself, allowing rumor to burgeon where it would.

Question 16

a crude person; one lacking manners or taste

Answer 16

boor

That utter boor ruined by recital with his constant guffawing wailed the pianist.

Question 17

a trace; a remnant

Answer 17

vestige

Vestiges of the former tenant still remained in the apartment, though he hadn’t lived there for years.

Question 18

related to spring; fresh

Answer 18

vernal

Bea basked in the balmy vernal breezes, happy that winter was coming to an end.

Question 19

good-natured geniality; an atmosphere of good cheer

Answer 19

bonhomie

The aspects of her job that Dana loved the most were the flexible hours and the pleasant bonhomie in the office.

Question 20

pompous in speech and manner

Answer 20

bombastic

Mussolini’s speeches were mostly bombastic; his boasting and outrageous claims had no basis in fact.

Question 21

green with vegetation; inexperienced

Answer 21

verdant

He wandered deep into the verdant woods in search of mushrooms.

Question 22

wordy

Answer 22

verbose

The professor’s answer was so verbose that his student forgot what the original question had been.

Question 23

to support; to prop up

Answer 23

bolster

The presence of giant footprints bolstered the argument that Bigfoot was in the area.

Question 24

joyful, cheerful or without appropriate thought

Answer 24

blithe

Summer had finally came, and the blithe students spent their days at the beach.

Question 25

filled with truth and accuracy

Answer 25

veracity

She had a reputation for veracity, so everyone trusted her description of events.

Question 26

response

Answer 26

rejoinder

Patrick tried desperately to think of a clever rejoinder to Marianna’s joke, but he couldn’t.

Question 27

to respect deeply

Answer 27

venerate

In a traditional Confucian society, the young venerate their elders, deferring to the elders’ wisdom and experience.

Question 28

to afflict; to destroy

Answer 28

blight

The farmers feared that the night’s frost would blight the potato crops entirely.

Question 29

respected because of age

Answer 29

venerable

All of the villagers sought the venerable old woman’s advice whenever they had a problem.

Question 30

to cheat; to defraud

Answer 30

bilk

When the greedy salesman realized that his customer spoke poor French, he bilked the tourist out of 20 euros.

Question 31

varied; marked with different colors

Answer 31

variegated

The variegated foliage of the jungle allows it to support thousands of different animal species.

Question 32

relaxation; leisure

Answer 32

repose

After working hard every day in the busy city, Mike finds his repose on the weekends playing golf with friends.

Question 33

to divide into two parts

Answer 33

bifurcate

Question 34

abundantly supplied; complete

Answer 34

replete

The gigantic supermarket was replete with consumer products of every kind.

Question 35

a group

Answer 35

bevy

As predicted, a bevy of teenagers surrounded the rock star’s limousine.

Question 36

meal or mealtime

Answer 36

repast

Ravi prepared a delicious repast of chicken tikka and naan.

Question 37

to reduce in amount, degree, or severity

Answer 37

abate

As the hurricane’s force abated, the winds dropped and the sea became calm.

Question 38

highly self-disciplined; frugal; austere

Answer 38

spartan

When he was in training, the athlete preferred to live in a spartan room, so he could shut out all distractions.

Question 39

a bell tower; the room in which a bell is hung

Answer 39

belfry

Question 40

causing sleep or lethargy

Answer 40

soporific

The movie proved to be so soporific that soon loud snores were heard throughout the cinema.

Question 41

grammatical mistake

Answer 41

solecism

I ain’t going with you she said obviously unaware of her solecism.

Question 42

predictable; cliched; boring

Answer 42

banal

His conversation consisted of banal phrases like Have a nice day or Another day, another dollar.

Question 43

premise; postulate; self-evident truth

Answer 43

axiom

Hallie lived her life based on the axioms her grandmother had passed on to her.

Question 44

nickname

Answer 44

sobriquet

Question 45

to calm down or moderate

Answer 45

slake

In order to slake his curiosity, Bryan finally took a tour backstage at the theater.

Question 46

severe or stern in appearance; undecorated

Answer 46

austere

The lack of decoration makes Zen temples seem austere to the untrained eye.

Question 47

a well-paying job or office that requires little or no work

Answer 47

sinecure

Question 48

extreme dislike

Answer 48

antipathy

Question 49

angelic; sweet

Answer 49

seraphic

Selena’s seraphic appearance belied her nasty, bitter personality.

Question 50

to annoy or provoke to anger

Answer 50

antagonize

The child discovered that he could antagonize the cat by pulling its tail.