Word List 1

Question 1

abash

Answer 1

to make embarrassed

e.g. She felt terribly abashed when she walked into the wrong hotel room.

Question 2

embolden

Answer 2

to make (someone) more confident

Question 3

abate

Answer 3

to reduce in degree or intensity; wane

e.g. abate their rancor to win peace

Question 4

abdicate

Answer 4

to cast off; discard
to relinquish (as sovereign power) formally

Question 5

aberrant

Answer 5

deviating from the right, usual, normal way; atypical

Question 6

abet

Answer 6

to actively encourage (as an activity or plan)
to assist or support in the achievement of a purpose

e.g. He abetted the commission of a crime.
She abetted the thief in his getaway.

Question 7

abeyance

Answer 7

temporary inactivity; suspension

e.g. Plans are held in abeyance.

Question 8

abhor

Answer 8

to regard with extreme repugnance

Question 9

abide

Answer 9

to endure without yielding; withstand
to bear patiently; tolerate

e.g. I cannot abide such bigots.

Question 10

abject

Answer 10

miserable; wretched

degraded; base

Question 11

abjure

Answer 11

to give up on oath

Question 12

renounce

Answer 12

to give up by formal declaration

e.g. He renounced his old way of life.

Question 13

recant

Answer 13

to withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly; renounce

e.g. Witnesses threatened to recant their testimony when the court released their names to the paper.

Question 14

ablution

Answer 14

the washing of one’s body or part of it (as in religious ritual)

Question 15

abnegate

Answer 15

deny; renounce
surrender; relinquish

e.g. He abnegated all claims to the deceased lord’s domain.
If the Congress adopted these security measures, it would be abnegating the nation’s fundamental commitment to individual rights.

Question 16

abolish

Answer 16

to officially end or stop

Question 17

abolitionism

Answer 17

principles or measures fostering abolition especially of slavery

Question 18

aboveboard

Answer 18

honest(ly) and open(ly)

e.g. an aboveboard and responsible proposal

Question 19

surreptitious

Answer 19

done, made, or acquired by stealth; clandestine

e.g. a private investigator adept at taking surreptitious pictures of adulterous couples

Question 20

abrade

Answer 20

to scrape or rub off

e.g. The prisoner’s manacles abraded his wrists and ankles until they bled.

Question 21

abrasive

Answer 21

causing irritation; irritating
tending to abrade

e.g. The waves had an abrasive action on the rocks.
an abrasive display of rude behavior

Question 22

abreast

Answer 22

side by side

e.g. keep abreast of current affairs

Question 23

abridge

Answer 23

to reduce in scope or extent
to shorten; condense

e.g. abridge a dictionary by omitting rare words
attempts to abridge the right of free speech

Question 24

abrogate

Answer 24

to repeal by authority; abolish

e.g. The Congress can abrogate old treaties that are unfair to Native Americans.

Question 25

abscission

Answer 25

removal

the natural separation of flowers, fruit, or leaves from plants

Question 26

abscond

Answer 26

to depart secretly and hide oneself

e.g. Several prisoners absconded to Canada.

Question 27

absenteeism

Answer 27

frequent absence from school or work

Question 28

recondite

Answer 28

not understood or known by many people

e.g. Geochemistry is a recondite subject.

Question 29

absolve

Answer 29

to set free from guilt, responsibility
forgive

e.g. No amount of remorse will absolve shoplifters who are caught.

Question 30

inculpate

Answer 30

incriminate; to charge with involvement in a crime or fault

Question 31

abstain

Answer 31

to refrain deliberately and often with an effort of self-denial from an action or practice

e.g. abstain from drinking

Question 32

abstinence

Answer 32

• abstain

Question 33

abstention

Answer 33

the act or practice of abstaining

Question 34

abstemious

Answer 34

marked by restraint especially in the consumption of food or alcohol

e.g. Being abstemious diners, they avoid restaurants with buffets.

Question 35

abstruse

Answer 35

difficult to understand

Question 36

patent

Answer 36

obvious; clear

Question 37

abut

Answer 37

to border upon

e.g. Our land abuts a nature preserve, so we see a lot of wildlife.

Question 38

abysmal

Answer 38

having immense or fathomless extension
immeasurably great; profound
immeasurably low or wretched

e.g. an abysmal cliff
abysmal ignorance
abysmal living conditions of the poor

Question 39

accede

Answer 39

to agree to a request or a demand
to express approval or give consent

e.g. He finally acceded to their pleas for more time to complete the project.

Question 40

accentuate

Answer 40

to pronounce with an accent or stress

to emphasize

Question 41

accessible

Answer 41

easy to approach
open to influences

e.g. accessible to new ideas

Question 42

acclaim

Answer 42

applaud; praise

e.g. She has long been acclaimed by the critics for her realistic acting.

Question 43

accolade

Answer 43

approval; appreciation
words of praise

e.g. For their exceptional bravery, the firefighters received accolades from both local and national officials.

Question 44

accommodating

Answer 44

willing to please; obliging

e.g. an accommodating waiter who readily honored our request to make substitutions

Question 45

accomplice

Answer 45

partner in crime

Question 46

duplicity

Answer 46

contradictory doubleness of though, speech, or action (especially belying of one’s true intentions by deceptive words or actions)

Question 47

accord

Answer 47

to bring into agreement; reconcile
agreement; conformity

e.g. He claims that the newspaper’s quote does not accord with what he actually said.
The two sides were able to reach an accord.

Question 48

accost

Answer 48

to approach and speak to often in a challenging or aggressive way

e.g. She was so famous that people would accost her on the street and ask for an autograph.

Question 49

accrete

Answer 49

to grow or become attached by accretion
to cause to adhere or become attached

e.g. silt accreting at the mouth of the river over time

Question 50

accrue

Answer 50

to increase in value or amount gradually

e.g. investments that have accrued interest and dividends

Question 51

acerbic

Answer 51

acid in temper, mood, or tone

e.g. acerbic commentary
an acerbic reviewer

Question 52

acme

Answer 52

the highest point; peak; summit

e.g. His fame was at its acme.

Question 53

acolyte

Answer 53

one who follows and admires a leader

someone who helps the person leading a church service

Question 54

acorn

Answer 54

an oak nut

Question 55

acoustic

Answer 55

having to do with hearing or sound

Question 56

acquaint

Answer 56

to cause to know personally
to make familiar

e.g. This class is designed to acquaint students with the region's most important writers.
He was acquainted with the mayor.

Question 57

acquiesce

Answer 57

to accept, comply, or submit tacitly or passively

e.g. He passively acquired the reputation of being a snob, and acquiesced to it.

Question 58

acquisitive

Answer 58

strongly desirous of acquiring and possessing; greedy

e.g. Acquisitive developers are trying to tear down the historic home and build a shopping mall.

Question 59

acquit

Answer 59

to declare (someone) to be not guilty
to discharge completely as from an obligation
to pay off (as a claim or debt)

e.g. The jury acquitted the defendant of the robbery charge.

Question 60

acquittal

Answer 60

a setting free from the charge of an offense

Question 61

acrid

Answer 61

bitterly pungent; sharp
deeply or violently bitter

e.g. acrid smoke
acrid relations between two families

Question 62

acrimony

Answer 62

harsh sharpness especially or words, manner, or disposition

e.g. The dispute began again with increased acrimony.

Question 63

acrophobia

Answer 63

fear or heights

Question 64

acuity

Answer 64

keenness of perception

e.g. a worrisome deterioration in the acuity of his hearing over the years

Question 65

acumen

Answer 65

keenness and depth of perception

e.g. Her political acumen won her the election.

Question 66

acute

Answer 66

sharp and severe;
keen; shrewd; sensitive

e.g. acute pain/disease/hospitals
an acute thinker/sense of humor
a politically acute film that does not oversimplify the issues

Question 67

adage

Answer 67

an old saying accepted as a truth

Question 68

adamant

Answer 68

unshakable or insistent especially in maintaining a position or opinion; determined

e.g. He is adamant about staying there after we tried to talk him into coming with us.

Question 69

ineptitude

Answer 69

a lack of skill or ability

e.g. The team’s poor play is being blamed on the ineptitude of the coaching staff.

Question 70

aptitude

Answer 70

a natural ability to do or learn something

e.g. a test to measure the aptitudes of the students
bored teenagers with an aptitude for getting into trouble

Question 71

addendum

Answer 71

a thing added; addition

a supplement to a book

Question 72

adept

Answer 72

thoroughly proficient; expert

e.g. adept in several languages/ at fixing cars

Question 73

equable

Answer 73

tending to remain calm; free from sudden or harsh changes

e.g. equable climate

Question 74

adjourn

Answer 74

to suspend indefinitely or until a later stated time

Question 75

adjunct

Answer 75

something joined or added to another thing but not essentially part of it

e.g. Massage therapy can be used as an adjunct with to the medication.

Question 76

admonish

Answer 76

to express warning or disapproval to especially in a gentle, earnest, or solicitous manner
to give friendly earnest advice or encouragement to

e.g. They were admonished to take the advantage of the opportunity.
My physician is always admonishing me to eat more healthy food.

Question 77

admonitory

Answer 77

• admonish; warning

Question 78

adobe

Answer 78

a brick of sun-dried earth and straw

Question 79

abode

Answer 79

the place where one abides (lives)

Question 80

oration

Answer 80

a formal speech

Question 81

inexorable

Answer 81

not to be persuaded, moved, or stopped; relentless

e.g. inexorable progress

Question 82

adorn

Answer 82

decorate; beautify

e.g. Her paintings adorn the walls.

Question 83

suborn

Answer 83

to induce secretly to do an unlawful thing
to obtain (perjured testimony) from a witness

e.g. He is accused of suborning a witness.

Question 84

adroit

Answer 84

very clever or skillful; expert

e.g. adroit at handling problems
With an adroit flick of the wrist, he flipped the omelet in the air and landed it squarely back in the pan.

Question 85

adulate

Answer 85

to praise or flatter excessively

Question 86

scorn

Answer 86

reject or dismiss as contemptible or unworthy
to show disdain

e.g. Her actions were scorned by many people.
They were scorned as fanatics.

Question 87

adumbrate

Answer 87

to foreshadow vaguely; intimate
to suggest, disclose, or outline partially

e.g. The strife in Bloody Kansas in the 1850s adumbrated the civil war that would follow.
adumbrate a plan

Question 88

advent

Answer 88

a coming into being or use

e.g. the advent of spring/pasteurization/computers

Question 89

adventitious

Answer 89

happening or carried on according to chance rather than design or inherent nature; unplanned
coming from outside; not native

e.g. My adventures were always adventitious, always thrust on me.
He felt that the conversation was not entirely adventitious.

Question 90

adverse

Answer 90

bad or unfavorable
acting against or in a contrary direction

e.g. adverse criticism/drug effects
hindered by adverse winds

Question 91

aegis

Answer 91

shield
protection
sponsorship

e.g. Having no claim to the land under the aegis of the law, the cattle baron decided to claim it by force.
A medical study was questioned by many because it was done under the aegis of a major pharmaceutical company.

Question 92

aerate

Answer 92

to cause air to circulate through

Question 93

aesthete

Answer 93

connoisseur; virtuoso
(aesthetics)

e.g. He regards art critics as a bunch of pretentious aesthetes.

Question 94

philistine

Answer 94

a person guided by materialism and usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values
one uninformed in a special area of knowledge

Question 95

affable

Answer 95

pleasant and easy to approach or talk to; gentle; amiable

Question 96

ineffable

Answer 96

incapable of being expressed in words
unspeakable; not to be uttered

e.g. ineffable joy/disgust
the ineffable name of Jehovah

Question 97

irascible

Answer 97

marked by hot temper and easily provoked anger

Question 98

affectation

Answer 98

artificial behavior meant to impress others

e.g. His French accent is just an affectation.