Word List 39

Question 1

Quibble (n)

Answer 1

minor objection or complaint

Question 2

Quiescent (adj)

Answer 2

at rest; dormant

Question 3

Quintessence (n)

Answer 3

purest and highest embodiment

The exhibition Treasures of the Imperial Collections embodies the quintessence of modern Japanese art

Question 4

Quip (n)

Answer 4

taunt

You are too free with your quips and sarcastic comments

Question 5

Quirk (n)

Answer 5

startling wish; caprice

By a quirk of fate, he found himself working for the man whom he had discharged years before

Question 6

Quixotic (adj)

Answer 6

idealistic but impractical

Constantly coming u with quixotic, unworkable schemes to save the world, Simon has his heart in the right place

Question 7

Quotidian (n)

Answer 7

daily; commonplace; customary

Question 8

Ramify (v)

Answer 8

divide into branches or subdivisions

Question 9

Rancor (n)

Answer 9

bitterness; hatred

Thirty years after war, she could not let go of the pas by was still consumed with rancour against the foe

Question 10

Rankle (v)

Answer 10

irritate; fester

The memory of having been jilted rankled him for years

Question 11

Rapacious (adj)

Answer 11

excessively grasping; plundering

Hawks and other rapacious birds prey on a variety of small animals

Question 12

Rapt (adj)

Answer 12

absorbed; enchanted

Question 13

Ratiocination (n)

Answer 13

reasoning; act of drawing conclusions
While Watson was a man of average intelligence, Holmes was a genius, whose gift for ratiocination made him a superb detective

Question 14

Raucous (adj)

Answer 14

harsh and shrill; disorderly and boisterous

The raucous crowd of New Year’s Eve revellers grew progressively noisier as midnight drew near

Question 15

Recalcitrant (adj)

Answer 15

obstinately stubborn; determined to resist authority; unruly

Which animal do you think is more recalcitrant, a pig or a mule?

Question 16

Recant (v)

Answer 16

disclaim or disavow; retract a previous statement; openly confess error

Question 17

Recapitulate (v)

Answer 17

summarise

Let us recapitulate what has been said thus far before going ahead

Question 18

Recidivism (n)

Answer 18

habitual return to crime
Prison reformers in the United States are disturbed by the high rate of recidivism; the number of persons serving second and third terms indicates the failure of prisons to rehabilitate the inmates

Question 19

Recondite (adj)

Answer 19

abstruse; profound; secret

He read many recondite books in order to obtain material for his scholarly thesis

Question 20

Recrimination (n)

Answer 20

countercharges

Question 21

Redoubtable (adj)

Answer 21

formidable; causing fear

Do not preempt them as they could be redoubtable foes