Vocab Capacity

Question 1

askew

Answer 1

slanted to one side

Your picture is askew because the earthquake skewed it from hanging evenly.

Question 2

asperity

Answer 2

bad temper; hardship; rigorousness

I have asperity because I have a spear in me - can you blame me?

Question 3

aspersion

Answer 3

a false claim intended to harm; a disparaging remark
when you cast aspersions on someone, you are questioning their abilities or doubting them.
Her aspersions about what I did last night felt like asp poison.
Krone said that the White House “likes to cast aspersions and point fingers at us.”

Question 4

assail

Answer 4

attack; assault

Come at me, bro: if I assail you, I’ll make your ass sail out the window.

Question 5

assiduous

Answer 5

hardworking; dedicated; diligent; sedulous
Assiduous Sid worked his ass off to assist us.
Good detectives are classically assiduous types.

Question 6

assuage

Answer 6

make less severe; alleviate; palliate; mollify; conciliate

Getting a long massage will assuage those sore muscles.

Question 7

astute

Answer 7

having keen judgment, shrewd

Astute tutors teach better than not-so-bright ones.

Question 8

audacious

Answer 8

fearlessly bold; arrogantly bold; intrepid; daring and unconventional
Walking up to Obama and swiping his pen as he was about to sign the bill was so audacious that it awed us.

Question 9

august

Answer 9

majestic; esteemed

Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor, was so august that they named a month after him.

Question 10

auspicious

Answer 10

favorable; propitious

Dude, the chances she’ll go out with me are auspicious or “awe-spicious” because I’m suspicious that I’m awesome.

Question 11

austere

Answer 11

plain; strict

Operating rooms are austere because they’re all sterile.

Question 12

automaton

Answer 12

one who acts in a robotic way

Working on an assembly line where automation has replaced creativity can make you feel like an automaton.

Question 13

avaricious

Answer 13

greedy

My band and I don’t trust you as an agent - you’re avaricious and just want to have our riches.

Question 14

aver

Answer 14

to state confidently; declare; assert; maintain

After I verify that the blood sample from the crime scene matches your DNA, I’ll aver that you are the killer.

Question 15

avuncular

Answer 15

like an uncle - kind and patient and generally indulgent with people younger than he is
The avuncular professor was like an uncle to him, dispensing well-intentioned advice.
Santa Claus.

Question 16

babel

Answer 16

a jumble of sounds

When all the Kardashians get together and start to babble, it creates a confusing babel of voices.

Question 17

badger

Answer 17

to annoy or pester

Good jerks can get laughs, but a bad jerk will just badger you with his attempts at humor.

Question 18

barbarous

Answer 18

crude; uncivilized; cruel; violent

Are you surprised that the barbarian you’re dating was barbarous enough to try to eat your goldfish?

Question 19

bauble

Answer 19

a small, inexpensive piece of jewelry, toy, trinkets
the small statue of the Eiffel tower your grandparents brought back from Paris; those big glass bulbs you use to decorate a Christmas tree; a computer mouse made to look like a hamburger

Question 20

beatific

Answer 20

extremely happy

If you feel beatific, you probably walk around exclaiming “beautiful! terrific!” all day.

Question 21

beatify

Answer 21

to bless; to make happy

The makeover will beautify your home and beatify your family.

Question 22

becalm

Answer 22

When my 3-year-old is running around causing havoc, I usually whisper “be calm” to becalm him.

Question 23

bedizen

Answer 23

to decorate in a flashy, gaudy way
Bedizen your clothes by bedazzling the butt of your jeans with sparkly rhinestones - it’s tacky, but you’ll get more attention.

Question 24

bedlam

Answer 24

madness, chaos or great confusion

It was complete bedlam when I entered my hotel room and saw that the bed had a lamb sleeping in it.

Question 25

beguile

Answer 25

trick

Be gullible, and you’ll be easy to beguile.

Question 26

behemoth

Answer 26

something huge; colossus

One really large beast was the woolly mammoth, a behemoth that lived during the Ice Age.

Question 27

belie

Answer 27

contradict

The used car salesman’s smooth manner was belied by his sweaty handshake and made me think, “He lied!”.

Question 28

belittle

Answer 28

put down; disparage

When you say “Good boy!” and pat me on head, you belittle me and make me feel as if I be little.

Question 29

bellicose

Answer 29

warlike; inclined to fight

“RRARRGHH” When I heard the beast’s bellow, I knew it was bellicose.

Question 30

bemoan

Answer 30

mourn over; express grief for

I be moaning about the new laws restricting when we can smoke - my friends bemoan the legislation, too.