Word List 1

Question 1

abase

Answer 1

v. lower; degrade; humiliate

Anna expected to have to curtsy to the King of Siam; when told to cast herself down on the fround before him, however, she refused to abase herself.

-> n. abasement

Question 2

abash

Answer 2

v. embarrass

He was not at all abashed by her open admiration.

Question 3

*abate

Answer 3

v. subside or moderate

Rather than leaving immediately, they waited for the storm to abate.

Question 4

abbreviate

Answer 4

v. shorten

Because we were running out of time, the lecturer had to abbreviate her speech.

Question 5

abdicate

Answer 5

v. renounce; give up.

When Edward VIII abdicated the British throne, he surprised the entire world.

Question 6

*aberrant

Answer 6

adj. abnormal or deviant.

Given the aberrant nature of the data, we came to doubt the validity of the entire experiment.

Question 7

aberration

Answer 7

n. abnormality; departure from the norm; mental irregularity or disorder.

It remains the consensus among investors on Wall Street that current high oil prices are a temporary aberration and that we shall soon see a return to cheap oil.

Question 8

abet

Answer 8

v. assist, usually in doing something wrong; encourage.

She was unwilling to abet him in the swindle he had planned.

Question 9

*abeyance

Answer 9

n. suspended action

The deal was held in abeyance until her arrival.

Question 10

abhor

Answer 10

v. detest; hate

She abhorred all forms of bigotry.

-> n. abhorrence

Question 11

abjure

Answer 11

v. renounce upon oath; disavow.

Pressure from university authorities caused the young scholar to abjure his heretical opinions.

-> n. abjuration

Question 12

abolish

Answer 12

v. cancel; put an end to

The president of the college refused to abolish the physical education requirement.

-> n. abolition

Question 13

abominable

Answer 13

adj. detestable; extremely unpleasant; very bad

Mary liked John until she learned he was also dating Susan; then she called him an abominable young man, with abominable taste in women.

Question 14

abortive

Answer 14

adj. unsuccessful; fruitless

Attacked by armed troops, the Chinese students had to abandon their abortive attempt to democratize Beijing peacefully.

-> v. abort

Question 15

abrasive

Answer 15

adj, rubbing away; tending to grind down

Just as abrasive cleaning powders can wear away a shiny finish, abrasive remarks can wear away a listener’s patience.

-> v. abrade

Question 16

abridge

Answer 16

v. condense or shorten.

Because the publishers felt the public wanted a shorter version of War and Peace, they proceeded to abridge the novel.

Question 17

abrogate

Answer 17

v. aboliish

The king intended to abrogate the decree issued by his predecessor.

Question 18

*abscond

Answer 18

v. depart secretly and hide

The teller who absconded with the bonds went uncaptured until someone recognized him from his photograph on America’s Most Wanted.

Question 19

absolute

Answer 19

adj. complete; totally unlimited; certain.

Although the King of Siam was an absolute monarch, he did not want to behead his unfaithful wife without absolute evidence of her infidelity.

Question 20

absolve

Answer 20

v. pardon (an offense)

The father confessor absolved him of his sins.

-> n. absolution

Question 21

abstain

Answer 21

v. refrain; withhold from participation

After considering the effect of alcohol on his athletic performance, he decided to abstain from drinking while he trained for the race.

Question 22

*abstemious

Answer 22

adj. sparing in eating and drinking; temperate

Concerned whether her vegetarian son’s abstemious diet provided him with sufficient protein, the worried mother pressed food on him.

Question 23

abstinence

Answer 23

n. restraint from eating or drinking

The doctor recommended total abstinence from salted foods.

-> v. abstain

Question 24

abstract

Answer 24

adj. theoretical; not concrete; nonrepresentational

To him, hunger was an abstract concept; he had never missed a meal.

Question 25

**abstruse**

Answer 25

**adj. obscure; profound; difficult to understand** Baffled by the ***abstruse*** philosophical texts assigned in class, Dave asked Lexy to explain Kant's *Critique of Pure Reason*.

Question 26

**abysmal**

Answer 26

**adj. bottomless** His arrogance is exceeded only by his ***abysmal*** ignorance.

Question 27

**academic**

Answer 27

**adj. related to a school; not practical or directly useful** The dean's talk about reforming ***academic*** policies was only an ***academic*** discussion: we knew little, if anything, would change.

Question 28

**accede**

Answer 28

**v. agree** If I ***accede*** to this demand for blackmail, I am afraid that I will be the victim of future demands.

Question 29

**acclaim**

Answer 29

**v. applaud; announce with great approval** The sportscasters ***acclaimed*** every American victory in the Olympics and decried every American defeat. -\> n. acclamation

Question 30

**accolade**

Answer 30

**n. award of merit** In Hollywood, an "Oscar" is the highest ***accolade***.

Question 31

**accommodate**

Answer 31

**v. ablige or help someone; adjust or bring into harmony; adapt** Mitch always did everything possible to ***accommodate*** his elderly relatives, from driving them to medical appointments to helping them with paperwork. (Secandary meaning)

Question 32

**accomplice**

Answer 32

**n. partner in crime** Because he had provided the criminal with the lethal weapon, he was arrested as an ***accomplice*** in the murder.

Question 33

**accord**

Answer 33

**n. agreement** She was in complete ***accord*** with the verdict.

Question 34

**accretion**

Answer 34

**n. growth; increase** Over the years Bob put on weight; because of this ***accretion*** of flesh, he went from size M to size XL. -\> v. accrete

Question 35

**acerbic**

Answer 35

**adj. bitter or sour in nature; sharp and cutting** Noted for her ***acerbic*** with and gossiping, Alice Roosevelt Longworth had a pillow in her home embroidered with the legend "If you can't say something good about someone, sit right here by me."

Question 36

**acerbity**

Answer 36

**n. bitterness of speech and temper** The meeting of United Nations Assembly was marked with such ***acerbity*** that observers held little hope of reaching any useful settlement of the problem.

Question 37

**acknowledge**

Answer 37

**v. recognize; admit** Although I ***acknowledge*** that the Beatles' tunes sound pretty dated nowadays, I still prefer them to the gangsta rap songs my brothers play.

Question 38

**acme**

Answer 38

**n. peak; pinnacle; highest point** Welles's success in *Citizen Kane* marked the ***acme*** of his career as an actor; never again did the achieve such popular acclaim.

Question 39

**acquiesce**

Answer 39

**v. assent; agree passively** Although she appeared to ***acquiesce*** to her employer's suggestions, I could tell she had reservations about the changes he wanted made. -\> n. acqiescence; adj. acquiescent

Question 40

**acquittal**

Answer 40

**n. deliverance from a charge** His ***acquittal*** by the jury surprised those who had thought him guilty. -\> v. acquit

Question 41

**acrid**

Answer 41

**adj. sharp; bitterly pungent** The ***acrid*** odor of burnt gunpower filled the room after the pistol had been fired.

Question 42

**acrimonious**

Answer 42

**adj. bitter in words or manner** The candidate attacked his opponent in highly ***acrimonious*** terms. -\> n. acrimony

Question 43

**acuity**

Answer 43

**n. sharpness** In time his youghful ***acuity*** of vision failed him, and he needed glasses.

Question 44

**acumen**

Answer 44

**n. mental keenness** Her business ***acumen*** helped her to succeed where others had failed.

Question 45

**acute**

Answer 45

**adj. quickly perceptive; keen; brief and severe** The ***acute*** young doctor realized immediately that the gradual deterioration of her patient's once-***acute*** hearing was due to a chronic illness, not an ***acute*** one.

Question 46

**adamant**

Answer 46

**adj. hard; inflexible** In this movie Bronson played the part of a revenge-driven man, ***adamant*** in his determination to punish the criminals who destroyed his family. -\> n. adamancy

Question 47

**adapt**

Answer 47

**v. alter; modify** Some species of animals have become extinct because they could not ***adapt*** to a changing environment.

Question 48

**address**

Answer 48

**v. direct a speech to; deal wih or discuss** Due to ***address*** the convention in July, Brown planned to ***address*** the issue of low-income housing in his speech.

Question 49

**adept**

Answer 49

**adj. expert at** She was ***adept*** at the fine art of irritating people. -\> n. adept

Question 50

**adhere**

Answer 50

**v. stick fast** I will ***adhere*** to this opinion until proof that I am wrong is presented. -\> n. adhesion; n. adherence

Question 51

**adherent**

Answer 51

**n. supporter; follower** In the wake of the scandal, the senator's one-time ***adherents*** quietly deserted him.

Question 52

**adjacent**

Answer 52

**adj. adjoining; neighboring; close by** Philip's best friend Jason lived only hour houses down the block, near but not immediately ***adjacent***.

Question 53

**\*admonish**

Answer 53

**v. warn; reprove** When her courtiers questioned her religious beliefs, Mary Stuart ***admonished*** them, declaring that she would worship as she pleased.

Question 54

**adorn**

Answer 54

**v. decorate** Wall paintings and carved statues ***adorned*** the temple. -\> n. adornment

Question 55

**adroit**

Answer 55

**adj. skillful** Her ***adroit*** handling of the delicate situation pleased her employers.

Question 56

**adulation**

Answer 56

**n. flattery; admiration** The rock star thrived on the ***adulation*** of his groupies and yes-man. -\> v. adulate

Question 57

**\*adulterate**

Answer 57

**v. make impure by adding inferior or tainted substances** It is a crime to adulterate foods without informing the buyer; when consumers learned that Beechnut had ***adulterated*** its apple juice by mixing the juice with water, they protested vigorously. -\> n. adulteration

Question 58

**advent**

Answer 58

**n. arrival** Most Americans were unawater of the ***advent*** of the Nublear Age until the news of Hiroshima reached them.

Question 59

**adversary**

Answer 59

**n. opponent; enemy** Batman struggled to save Gotham City from the machinations of his wicked ***adversary***, the Joker.

Question 60

**adverse**

Answer 60

**adj. unfavorable; hostile** The recession had a highly ***adverse*** effect on Father's investment portfolio: he lost so much money that he could no longer afford the butler and the upstairs maid.