Vocab Unit 1

Question 1

Acquisitive

Answer 1

(adj.) Able to get and retain ideas or information; concerned with acquiring wealth or property.
(SYN: greedy, avaricious, retentive)
(ANT: altruistic)

Question 2

Arrogate

Answer 2

(v.) To claim or take without right.
(SYN: expropriate, commandeer)
(ANT: renounce, abdicate

Question 3

Banal

Answer 3

(adj.) Hackneyed, trite, commonplace.
(SYN: stale, insipid)
(ANT: fresh, original, new)

Question 4

Belabor

Answer 4

(v.) To work on excessively; to thrash soundly.
(SYN: overwork)

Question 5

Carping

Answer 5

(adj.) Tending to find fault, especially in a petty, nasty, or hairsplitting way; (n.) petty, nagging criticism.
(SYN: nit-picking, caviling)
(ANT: approving, uncritical)

Question 6

Coherent

Answer 6

(adj.) Holding or sticking together; making a logical whole; comprehensible, meaningful.
(SYN: connected, unified, consistent, cohesive)
(ANT: muddled, chaotic, disjointed)

Question 7

Congeal

Answer 7

(v.) To change from liquid to solid, thicken; to make inflexible or rigid.
(SYN: harden, jell, solidify)
(ANT: liquefy)

Question 8

Emulate

Answer 8

(v.) To imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing the model.
(SYN: copy, mimic, rival, match, measure up to)

Question 9

Encomium

Answer 9

(n.) A formal expression of praise, a lavish tribute.
(SYN: panegyric, eulogy)
(ANT: condemnation, castigation, criticism)

Question 10

Eschew

Answer 10

(v.) To avoid, shun, keep away from.
(SYN: abstain from, steer clear of, forgo)
(ANT: embrace, adopt

Question 11

Germane

Answer 11

(adj.) Relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting.
(SYN: pertinent)
(ANT: irrelevant, extraneous, inappropriate)

Question 12

Insatiable

Answer 12

(adj.) So great or demanding as not to be satisfied.
(SYN: unquenchable, ravenous)

Question 13

Intransigent

Answer 13

(adj.) Refusing to compromise, irreconcilable.
(SYN: uncompromising, unyielding, obdurate)
(ANT: lukewarm, halfhearted, yielding)

Question 14

Invidious

Answer 14

(adj.) Offensive, hateful; tending to cause bitterness and resentment.
(SYN: malicious, spiteful, prejudicial, pejorative)
(ANT: flattering, ameliorative)

Question 15

Largesse

Answer 15

(n.) Generosity in giving; lavish or bountiful contributions.
(SYN: liberality, bounty)
(ANT: stinginess, miserliness, niggardliness)

Question 16

Reconnaissance

Answer 16

(n.) A survey made for military purposes; any kind of preliminary inspection or examination.
(SYN: exploration)

Question 17

Substantiate

Answer 17

(v.) To establish by evidence, prove; to give concrete or substantial form to.
(SYN: confirm, validate, authenticate)
(ANT: refute, disprove, invalidate)

Question 18

Taciturn

Answer 18

(adj.) Habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little.
(SYN: tight-lipped, uncommunicative, laconic)
(ANT: garrulous, loquacious, prolix, verbose)

Question 19

Temporize

Answer 19

(v.) To stall or act evasively in order to gain time, avoid a confrontation, or postpone a decision; to compromise.
(SYN: dillydally, procrastinate)

Question 20

Tenable

Answer 20

(adj.) Capable of being held or defended.
(SYN: defensible, justifiable, maintainable)
(ANT: indefensible, unjustifiable)