Word List 28

Question 1

Jaundiced (adj)

Answer 1

prejudiced (envious, hostile, or resentful); yellowed

Because Sue disliked Carolyn, she looked at Carolyn’s paintings with a jaundiced eye, calling them formless smears

Question 2

Jettison (v)

Answer 2

throw overboard

Question 3

Jocular (adj)

Answer 3

said or done in jest

He couldn’t resist making one jocular remark; his jocularity cost him the job

Question 4

Jovial (adj)

Answer 4

good-natured; merry

A frown seemed out of place on his invariably jovial face

Question 5

Ken (n)

Answer 5

range of knowledge

I cannot answer your question since this matter is beyond my ken

Question 6

Kernel (n)

Answer 6

central or vital part

Within the centre of this crime scene lies the kernel of truth; when i find it, the mystery will be solved

Question 7

Killjoy (n)

Answer 7

grouch; spoilsport
At breakfast we had all been enjoying our bacon and eggs until that killjoy John started talking about how bad animal fats and cholesterol were for our health

Question 8

Kindred (adj)

Answer 8

related; similar in nature or character

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were two kindred spirits

Question 9

Knave (n)

Answer 9

untrustworthy person; rogue; scoundrel

Any politician nicknamed Tricky Dick clearly has the reputation of a knave

Question 10

Knotty (adj)

Answer 10

intricate; difficult; tangled

What to Watson had been a knotty problem to Sherlock was simplicity itself

Question 11

Lachrymose (adj)

Answer 11

producing tears
His voice has a lachrymose quality that is more appropriate at a funeral than a class reunion

Question 12

Lackadaisical (adj)

Answer 12

lacking purpose or zest; halfhearted; languid
Because Gatsby had his mind more on his love life than on his finances, he did a very lackadaisical job of managing his money

Question 13

Laconic (adj)

Answer 13

brief and to the point

Many of the characters portrayed by Clint Eastwood are laconic types; strong men of few words

Question 14

Laggard (adj)

Answer 14

slow; sluggish

The sailor had been taught not to be laggard in carrying out orders

Question 15

Lambaste (v)

Answer 15

beat; thrash verbally or physically

It was painful to watch the champion lambaste his opponent, tearing into him mercilessly

Question 16

Lampoon (v)

Answer 16

ridicule

This article lampoons the pretensions of some movie moguls

Question 17

Languid (adj)

Answer 17

weary; sluggish; listless

Her siege of illness left her languid and pallid

Question 18

Languish (v)

Answer 18

lose animation or strength

Question 19

Languor (n)

Answer 19

lassitude; depression

His friends tried to overcome the languor into which he had fallen by taking him to parties and to the theater

Question 20

Larceny (n)

Answer 20

theft

Because of the prisoner’s record, the district attorney refused to reduce the charge from grand larceny to petty larceny

Question 21

Largess (n)

Answer 21

generous gift

Lady Bountiful distributed largess to the poor

Question 22

Lassitude (n)

Answer 22

languor; weariness

After a massage and a long soak in the hot tub, I surrendered to my growing lassitude and lay down for a nap

Question 23

Lax (adj)

Answer 23

careless

Question 24

Levity (n)

Answer 24

lack of seriousness or steadiness; frivolity

Stop giggling and wriggling around in the pew: such levity is improper in church

Question 25

Lexicon (n)

Answer 25

dictionary

I cannot find this word in any lexicon in the library

Question 26

Libel (n)

Answer 26

defamatory statement; act of writing something that smears a person’s character

Question 27

Lionise (v)

Answer 27

treat as a celebrity

She enjoyed being lionised and adored by the public