Vocab 8

Question 1

obsequious

Answer 1

: (adj.) excessively compliant or submissive (Ethan acted like Janet’s servant, obeying her every request in an obsequious manner.)

Question 2

parsimony

Answer 2

(n.) frugality, stinginess (Many relatives believed that my aunt’s wealth resulted from
her parsimony.)

Question 3

platitude

Answer 3

(n.) an uninspired remark, cliché (After reading over her paper, Helene concluded that what she thought were profound insights were actually just platitudes.)

Question 4

protean

Answer 4

(adj.) able to change shape; displaying great variety (Because of Nigel’s protean mood
swings, his doctor is evaluating him for bipolar disorder.)

Question 5

reprobate

Answer 5

(adj.) evil, unprincipled (The reprobate criminal sat sneering in the cell.)

Question 6

sanguine

Answer 6

(adj.) optimistic, cheery (Polly reacted to any bad news with a sanguine smile and the chirpy cry, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!”)

Question 7

surmise

Answer 7

(v.) to infer with little evidence (After speaking to only one of the students, the teacher was able to surmise what had caused the fight.)

Question 8

transient

Answer 8

(adj.) passing through briefly; passing into and out of existence (Because virtually everyone in Palm Beach is a tourist, the population of the town is quite transient.)

Question 9

usurp

Answer 9

(v.) to seize by force, take possession of without right (The rogue army general tried to usurp control of the government, but he failed because most of the army backed the legally
elected president.)

Question 10

vicissitude

Answer 10

(n.) event that occurs by chance (The vicissitudes of daily life prevent us from predicting what might happen from one day to the next.)