vocab quiz 4

Question 1

anachronistic

Answer 1

(adj): chronologically misplaced
syn: asynchronous

Question 2

avaricious

Answer 2

(adj): immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth
syn: greedy

Question 3

bathos

Answer 3

(n): a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one
syn: anticlimax

(n): mawkishness (overly sentimental)

Question 4

brusque

Answer 4

(adj): marked by rude or peremptory shortness
syn: curt, short, discourteous, brusk

Question 5

contrite

Answer 5

(adj): feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses
syn: remorseful, repentant

Question 6

copious

Answer 6

(adj): large in number or quantity (especially of discourse)
syn: abundant

Question 7

didactic

Answer 7

(adj): instructive (especially excessively)
syn: instructive, informative

Question 8

espouse

Answer 8

(v): choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans
syn: adopt, follow, comply, follow

(v): take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one’s own
synonyms: adopt, embrace

Question 9

flippant

Answer 9

(adj): showing inappropriate levity
syn: light-minded, frivolous

Question 10

grandiloquence

Answer 10

(n): high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation

It’s too grand to be eloquent, so grandiloquence is usually annoying.

Question 11

hackneyed

Answer 11

(adj): repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
syn: banal, unoriginal, tired, well-worn, commonplace

Question 12

harbinger

Answer 12

(n): something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone
syn: predecessor

(v): foreshadow or presage
syn: announce, foretell

Question 13

iconoclast

Answer 13

(n): someone who attacks cherished ideas or traditional institutions

Question 14

jest

Answer 14

(n): activity characterized by good humor
syn: joke

(v): act in a funny or teasing way
syn: joke

Question 15

lurid

Answer 15

(adj): glaringly vivid and graphic; marked by sensationalism
syn: sensational, shocking

(adj): horrible in fierceness or savagery
syn: violent

Question 16

mawkish

Answer 16

(ad)j: effusively or insincerely emotional
syn: emotional, sappy

Question 17

non-sequitur

Answer 17

(n): a reply that has no relevance to what preceded it

(n): (logic) a conclusion that does not follow from the premises

Question 18

obsequious

Answer 18

(adj): attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
syn: bootlicking, insincere

Question 19

pomposity

Answer 19

(n): lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity
syn: inflation

Question 20

quackery

Answer 20

(n): medical practice and advice based on observation and experience in ignorance of scientific findings

Question 21

replete

Answer 21

(adj): filled to satisfaction with food or drink
syn
syn: full, nourished

(v): fill to satisfaction
syn: sate, fill

Question 22

spurious

Answer 22

(adj): plausible but false

(adj): intended to deceive
syn: inauthentic, counterfeit

(adj): born out of wedlock
syn: bastardly, illegitimate

Question 23

torpid

Answer 23

(adj): in a condition of biological rest or suspended animation
syn: dormant, hibernating, asleep

(adj): slow and apathetic
syn: inactive, sluggish

Question 24

unsullied

Answer 24

(adj): (of reputation) free from blemishes
syn: untainted, untarnished, stainless

Question 25

vacillate

Answer 25

(v): be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action
syn: hover, vibrate

(v): move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern
syn: fluctuate, waver