Web Vocab

Question 1

browbeat

Answer 1

verb: be bossy towards; discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner

During the interrogation, the suspect was browbeaten into signing a false confession.

Question 2

lascivious

Answer 2

adjective: lecherous; sexually perverted

Lolita is a challenging novel for many, not necessarily because of the elevated prose style but because of the depravity of the main character, Humbert Humbert, who, as an old, lascivious man, falls in love with a girl.

Question 3

apogee

Answer 3

noun: the highest point

The apogee of the Viennese style of music, Mozart’s music continues to mesmerize audiences well into the 21st century.

Question 4

scintillating

Answer 4

adjective: describes someone who is brilliant and lively

Richard Feynman was renowned for his scintillating lectures–the arcana of quantum physics was made lucid as he wrote animatedly on the chalkboard.

Question 5

unassailable

Answer 5

adjective: immune to attack; without flaws

Professor Williams is so self-assured as to seem arrogant, presenting each and every opinion as an unassailable fact.

Question 6

apprehension

Answer 6

noun: fearful expectation

Test day can be one of pure apprehension, as many students worry about their test scores

Question 7

eke

Answer 7

verb: to live off meager resources; to scrape by

Stranded in a cabin over the winter, Terry was able to eke out an existence on canned food.

Question 8

confound

Answer 8

verb: be confusing or perplexing to

Though Harry loved numbers, he found calculus confounding.

Question 9

acrimony

Answer 9

noun: bitterness and ill will

The acrimony between the president and vice-president sent a clear signal to voters: the health of the current administration was imperiled.

Question 10

quixotic

Answer 10

adjective: wildly idealistic; impractical

For every thousand startups with quixotic plans to be the next big name in e-commerce, only a handful ever become profitable.

Question 11

scrupulous

Answer 11

adjective: characterized by extreme care and great effort

Because of his scrupulous nature, Mary put him in charge of numbering and cataloging the entire collection of rare stamps.

Question 12

vituperate

Answer 12

verb: to criticize harshly; to berate

Jason had dealt with disciplinarians before, but nothing prepared him for the first week of boot camp, as drill sergeants vituperated him for petty oversights such as forgetting to double knot the laces on his boots.

Question 13

obdurate

Answer 13

adjective: unable to be persuaded or moved emotionally; stubborn; unyielding

No number of pleas and bribes would get him to change his obdurate attitude.

Question 14

augment

Answer 14

verb: enlarge or increase; improve

Ideally, the restaurants augmented menu will expand its clientele and increase its profits.

Question 15

credulity

Answer 15

noun: tendency to believe readily

Virginia’s wide-eyed credulity as a five-year old was replaced by suspicion after she learned that Santa Claus didn’t really exist.

Question 16

accolade

Answer 16

noun: an award or praise granted as a special honor

Jean Paul-Sartre was not a fan of accolades, and as such, he refused to accept the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964.

Question 17

mawkish

Answer 17

adjective: overly sentimental to the point that it is disgusting

The film was incredibly mawkish, introducing highly likable characters only to have them succumb to a devastating illness by the end of the movie.

Question 18

jargon

Answer 18

noun: a characteristic language of a particular group

To those with little training in medicine, the jargon of doctors can be very difficult to understand.