Week 1

Question 1

candid

Answer 1

completely honest, straightforward

Candace’s candidness overwhelmed her business colleagues, who were not used to such honesty.

Question 2

conjecture

Answer 2

inference; guesswork

At this point, Kimaya’s hypothesis about single-cell biorhythms is still conjecture: she doesn’t have conclusive evidence.

Question 3

didactic

Answer 3

instuctive;

The tapes were enteraining and diactic; they both amused and instructed children.

Question 4

effusive

Answer 4

showing excessive emotion; overflowing

Accepting his Oscar for Best Supporting Sound Editor, Ben delivered the most effusive speech in Academy Awards history: he cried, he hugged people, he blew kisses to the audience, and then he cried some more.

Question 5

euphemism

Answer 5

a mild, indirect, or vague term substituting for a harsh, blunt, or offensive term

“To pass away” is a common euphemism for dying

Question 6

extrapolate

Answer 6

to infer or estimate by extending or projecting know information

Seeing the wrecked bike and his daughter’s skinned knees, Heath extrapolated that she had had a biking accident

Question 7

incoherent

Answer 7

lacking cohesion or connection

Maury’s sentences were so incoherent that nobody understood a word

Question 8

insinuate

Answer 8

to introduce or communicate stealthily

Sean insinuated that Grace stole the iPhone, but he never came out and said it.

Question 9

loquacious

Answer 9

very talkative

I’m not eloquent, so I’ll just come out and say it: Bobby is loquacious and will talk, talk, and talk

Question 10

lucid

Answer 10

easily understood; clear

Our teacher provides lucid explanations for even the most difficult concepts so that we can all understand them

Question 11

rhetoric

Answer 11

the art of using laguage effectively and persuasively

Since they are expected to make speeches, most politicians and lawyes are were-versed in the art of rhetoric

Question 12

acumen

Answer 12

quickness, accuracy, and keenness of judgement or insight

Judge Acerman’s legal acumen was so well regarded that he was nicknamed the “Solomon (as in King Solomon) of the South”

Question 13

adroit

Answer 13

dexterous; deft; skilled (think Android, android phones are smartphones, so this word means skilled)

An adroit balloon-animal artist, Adrianna became popular at children’s parties.

Question 14

ascertain

Answer 14

to find out, as throught investigation or experimentation

The private investigator had long suspected my dog; before long, he ascertained that Toto was indeed the murderer

Question 15

astute

Answer 15

shrewd; clever

Stewart is financially astute; he invests wisely and never falls for scams.

Question 16

circumspect

Answer 16

careful; prudent; discreet

Ned’s circumspect manner makes him a wise appointment to the diplomatic corps.

Question 17

disseminate

Answer 17

to scatter widely, as in sowing seed

The news about Dave’s embarrassing moment at the party disseminated quickly through the school; by the end of the day, everyone knew what had happened.

Question 18

erudition

Answer 18

deep, extensive learning

Professor Rudy’s erudition was such that she could answer any question her students put to her

Question 19

pedantic

Answer 19

excessively concerned with book learning and formal rules

Pedro’s pedantic tendencies prompted him to remind us constantly of all the grammatical rules we were breaking.

Question 20

perspicacious

Answer 20

shrewd; clearl-sighted

Persephone’s perspicacious mind had solved so many cases that the popular private investigator was able to retire.

Question 21

pragmatic

Answer 21

practical

Never one for wild and unrealistic schemes, Matt took a pragmatic approach to research.

Question 22

precocious

Answer 22

exhibiting unusually early intellectual aptitude or maturity

Mozart’s precocious intellect made him one of the world’s best composer before he was even 10.

Question 23

prolific

Answer 23

very productive; producing great quantities

Charlie was the world’s most prolific author; it is estimated he wrote the equivalent of 1,000 novels.

Question 24

prospectus

Answer 24

formal proposal

Before writing my thesis, I had to submit a detailed prospectus to the department for approval.

Question 25

rudimentary

Answer 25

basic; elementary; in the earliest stages of development

Josh’s rudimentary golf skills were easily overpowered by Tiger Woods’ amazing performance on the green.

Question 26

abstruse

Answer 26

difficult to understand

Abby found her professor’s lecture on non-Eulidean geometry abstruse; she doubted anyone else in class understood it either.

Question 27

callous

Answer 27

emotionally hardened; unfeeling

Callie’s callous remark about her friend’s cluttered room really hurt his feelings.

Question 28

convoluted

Answer 28

intricate; complex

The directions were so convoluted that we became hopelessly lost

Question 29

disaffected

Answer 29

having lost faith or loyalty; discontent

The disaffected cat trainer finally quit his job when he realized you just can’t train cats, no matter how much you yell at them.

Question 30

enigma

Answer 30

a puzzle, mystery, or riddle

The emu was an enigma; you could never tell what it was thinking

Question 31

inscrutable

Answer 31

difficult to fathom or understand; impenetrable

The ancient poet’s handwriting was so inscrutable that even the most prominent Latin scholars could not read the manuscript.

Question 32

reticent

Answer 32

inclined to keep silent; reserved

Rosanna’s reticent behavior caused the interviewer to think her incapable of conversing with other students.

Question 33

staid

Answer 33

unemotional; serious

Mr. Estado was well known for his staid demeanor, he STAYED calm even when everyone else celebrated the team’s amazing victory.

Question 34

arcane

Answer 34

known or understood by only a few

The dusty archive includes an arcane treasure trove of nautical charts from the Age of Discovery

Question 35

assimilate

Answer 35

to absorb or become absorbed; to make or become similar

Keisha assimilated so quickly to her new school that she was named head of the social committe a month after enrolling

Question 36

autonomy

Answer 36

independence; self-determination

Candice gained autonomy upon moving out of her parents’ house and into her own apartment.

Question 37

cosmopolitan

Answer 37

worldy; widely sophisticated

Jenny was surprisingly cosmopolitan considering that she had never left her tiny hometown in Norway

Question 38

derivative

Answer 38

something that comes from another source

Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent are derivatives of the original Law and Order drama series.

Question 39

esoteric

Answer 39

intended for or understood by only a small group

Esme’s play is extremely esoteric; someone not raised in Estonia would find it difficult to follow.

Question 40

gaffe

Answer 40

a clumsy social error; a faux pas

Geoff committed the gaffe of telling his date that he’d gone out with her sister the night before

Question 41

idiosyncrasy

Answer 41

chracteristic peculiar to an individual or group

She had many idosyncrasies, one of which was washing her socks in the dishwasher

Question 42

insular

Answer 42

isolated; narrow or provincial

The family was so insular that no one else could get near them.

Question 43

orthodox

Answer 43

adhering to the traditional and established, especially in religion

My father held an orthodox view of baseball; he believed that the field should be outside and made of real grass

Question 44

potentate

Answer 44

one who has thepower and position to rule over others; monarch

An omnipotent potentate is a person to be reckoned with; greate power in the hands of a great leader is a powerful combination

Question 45

castigate

Answer 45

to scold, rebuke, or harshly criticize

Mr. Castile preferred not to castigate student misbehavior publicly; instead, he would quietly send the troublemaker to the principal’s office.

Question 46

censure

Answer 46

to issue offical blame

In recent years the FCC has censured networks for the provocative antics of Super Bowl halftime acts; what goes on during the game, however, usually escapes the organization’s notice.

Question 47

denounce

Answer 47

to condemn openly

In many powerful speeches throughout his lifetime, Martin Luther King Jr denounced racism as immoral

Question 48

reclusive

Answer 48

seeking or preferring seclusion or isolation

Our neighbors were quite reclusive, hardly ever emerging from behind the closed doors of their home

Question 49

relinquish

Answer 49

to retire from; give up or abandon

Ricky relinquished his career in order to search for the source of the world’s best relish

Question 50

renounce

Answer 50

to give up ( a title, for example), especially by formal announcement

Nancy renounced her given name and began selling records under the moniker “Boedicia”

Question 51

vituperative

Answer 51

marked by harshly abusive condemnation

The vituperative speech was so cruel that the members left feeling completely abused.