Word List 18

Question 1

Eschew (v)

Answer 1

avoid
Hoping to present himself to his girlfriend as a totally reformed character, he tried to eschew all the vices, especially chewing tobacco and drinking bathtub gin

Question 2

Esoteric (adj)

Answer 2

hard to understand; known only to the chosen few

New Yorker short stories often include esoteric allusions to obscure people and events

Question 3

Espouse (v)

Answer 3

adopt; support

She was always ready to espouse a worthy cause

Question 4

Estimable (adj)

Answer 4

worthy of esteem; admirable
Tennis star Andre Agassi survived a near loss in the semifinals to win the seventh Grand Slam tournament title of his uneven yet estimable career

Question 5

Ethos (n)

Answer 5

underlying character of a culture, group etc
Seeing how tenderly Spaniards treated her small daughter made author Barbara Kingsolver aware of how greatly children were valued in the Spanish ethos

Question 6

Etymology (n)

Answer 6

study of word parts
A knowledge of etymology can help you on many English testsL if you know that the roots and prefixes mean, you can determine the meanings of unfamiliar words

Question 7

Eulogy (n)

Answer 7

expression of praise, often on the occasion of someone’s death

Question 8

Euphony (n)

Answer 8

sweet sound
Noted for its euphony even when it is spoken, the Italian language is particularly pleasing to the ear when sang
(euphonious adj)

Question 9

Euphoria (n)

Answer 9

feeling of exaggerated (or unfounded) well-being

Jill’s been on cloud nine ever since Jack asked her out

Question 10

Euthanasia (n)

Answer 10

mercy killing

Many people support euthanasia for terminally ill patients who wish to die

Question 11

Evanescent (adj)

Answer 11

fleeting; vanishing

For a brief moment, the entire skyline was bathed in an orange-red hue in the evanescent rays of the sunset

Question 12

Evince (v)

Answer 12

show clearly

When he tried to answer the questions the evinced his ignorance of the subject matter

Question 13

Exacerbate (v)

Answer 13

worsen; embitter

Question 14

Exacting (adj)

Answer 14

extremely demanding

Cleaning the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was an exacting task

Question 15

Exalt (v)

Answer 15

raise in rank or dignity; praise

Question 16

Excoriate (v)

Answer 16

scold with bitting harshness; strip the skin off

Seeing the rips in Bill’s new pants, his mother furiously excoriated him for ruining his good clothes

Question 17

Exculpate (v)

Answer 17

clear from blame
Fearful of being implicated as a conspirator in the plot to kill Hitler, General Fromm equivocated, prevaricated, and lied outright in an attempt to exculpate himself

Question 18

Execrable (adj)

Answer 18

very bad

The anecdote was in such execrable taste that the audience hissed and booed

Question 19

Execrate (v)

Answer 19

curse; express abhorrence for

The world execrated the memory of Hitler and hoped that genocide would never again the the policy of any notion

Question 20

Exegesis (adj)

Answer 20

explanation; especially of biblical passage

The minister based her sermon on her exegesis of a difficult passage from the book of Job

Question 21

Exhort (v)

Answer 21

urge
The evangelist exhorted all the sinners in the audience to repent
(exhortation n)

Question 22

Exigency (n)

Answer 22

urgent situation; pressing needs or demands; state of requiring immediate attention
The exigencies of war gave impetus and funding to computer research in general and in particular to the development of code-breaking machine

Question 23

Exonerate (v)

Answer 23

acquit; exculpate

The defence team feverishly sought fresh evidence that might exonerate their client

Question 24

Exorbitant (adj)

Answer 24

excessive

Question 25

Expatiate (adj)

Answer 25

talk at length
The dean welcomed the Queen with a Latin oration in which he expatiated on the wonders of Elizabeth’s scholarship program

Question 26

Expedient (adj)

Answer 26

suitable; practical; politic

A pragmatic politician was guided by what was expedient rather than by what was ethical

Question 27

Expiate (v)

Answer 27

make amends for (a sin)

Jean Valjean tried to expiate his crimes by performing acts of charity

Question 28

Expletive (n)

Answer 28

interjection; profane oath

Fred was so foul-mouthed that, if you deleted all the expletives from his comments, very little would have been left

Question 29

Explicate (v)

Answer 29

explain; interpret; clarify
Harry Levin explicated James Joyce’s novels with such clarity that even Finnegan’s Wake seemed comprehensible to his students