Vocabulary for Midterm

Question 1

Assuage

Answer 1

(v.) to make easier or milder, to relieve, to quiet, to calm

Question 2

Coalition

Answer 2

(n.)a combination, a union

Question 3

Decadence

Answer 3

(n.)a decline, a decay, a period of decline

Question 4

Elicit

Answer 4

(v.)to draw forth, to bring out from some source

Question 5

Hackneyed

Answer 5

(adj.)used so often as to lack freshness or originality

Question 6

Hiatus

Answer 6

(n.) a gap, an opening, a break

Question 7

Innuendo

Answer 7

(n.) a hint, an indirect suggestion

Question 8

Jaded

Answer 8

(adj.) wearied, worn-out, dulled

Question 9

Lurid

Answer 9

(adj.) causing shock, horror, or revulsion, sensational, pale in color, terrible in intensity

Question 10

Petulant

Answer 10

(adj.) peevish, annoyed by trifles, easily irritated

Question 11

Provincial

Answer 11

(adj.) pertaining to an outlying area, narrow in mind or outlook
(n.) a person with a narrow point of view, a person from an outlying area

Question 12

Transcend

Answer 12

(v.) to rise above or beyond, exceed

Question 13

Umbrage

Answer 13

(n.) shade cast by trees, offense, resentment

Question 14

Ameliorate

Answer 14

(v.) to improve or make better

Question 15

Aplomb

Answer 15

(n.) poise, assurance, great self-confidence

Question 16

Bombastic

Answer 16

(adj.) pompous or overblown in language, full of fancy words intended to conceal a lack of ideas

Question 17

Callow

Answer 17

(adj.) immature, without experience

Question 18

Drivel

Answer 18

(n.) saliva, drool, aimless talk, nonsense
(v.) to let saliva flow from the mouth, to talk aimlessly about nonsense

Question 19

Epitome

Answer 19

(n.) a summary, condensed account, perfect example

Question 20

Exhort

Answer 20

(v.) to urge strongly, to advise earnestly

Question 21

Ingratiate

Answer 21

(v.) to make oneself agreeable in order to gain favor

Question 22

Inveigh

Answer 22

(v.) to make a violent attack in words, to express strong disapproval

Question 23

Lassitude

Answer 23

(n.) weariness of body or mind, lack of energy

Question 24

Permeate

Answer 24

(v.) to spread through, penetrate, soak through

Question 25

Surmise

Answer 25

(v.) to think or believe without supporting evidence, to guess (n.) a likely idea that lacks definite proof, a guess

Question 26

Adventitious

Answer 26

(adj.) resulting from chance, accidental

Question 27

Ascribe

Answer 27

(v.) to assign, to attribute

Question 28

Circuitous

Answer 28

(adj.) roundabout, not direct

Question 29

Commiserate

Answer 29

(v.) to sympathize with, to have sorrow for

Question 30

Expedite

Answer 30

(v.) to make happen sooner

Question 31

Expiate

Answer 31

(v.)to make amends, to make up for

Question 32

Inadvertent

Answer 32

(adj.) resulting from or marked by lack of attention, accidental

Question 33

Nominal

Answer 33

(adj.) existing in name only, not real, to small to be taken seriously

Question 34

Proclivity

Answer 34

(n.) a natural or habitual inclination or tendency

Question 35

Vitriolic

Answer 35

(adj.) bitter, sarcastic

Question 36

Aggrandize

Answer 36

(v.) to increase in greatness or power, to build up or intensify

Question 37

Amorphous

Answer 37

(adj.) shapeless, without form, no particular type of character

Question 38

Erudite

Answer 38

(adj.) scholarly, learned, bookish, pedantic

Question 39

Gossamer

Answer 39

(adj.) thin, light, delicate (n.) a very thing, light cloth

Question 40

Inscrutable

Answer 40

(adj.) incapable of being understood, impossible to see through physically

Question 41

Insular

Answer 41

(adj.) relating to or situated on an island, narrow in outlook or experience