Word List 40

Question 1

abase

Answer 1

to lower in rank, office, prestige, or esteem

e.g. unwilling to abase himself by pleading guilty to a crime that he did not commit

Question 2

abnegation

Answer 2

denial; especially, self-denial

e.g. abnegation of political lawmaking power
people capable of abnegation and unselfishness

Question 3

abortive

Answer 3

fruitless, unsuccessful
imperfectly formed or developed
tending to cut short

e.g. an abortive attempt to recover the sunken pirate ship

Question 4

abound

Answer 4

to be present in large numbers or in great quantity; be prevalent
to be copiously supplied (used with in or with)

e.g. They live in a region where oil abounds.
life abounded in mysteries
a city that abounds with art museums

Question 5

acarpous

Answer 5

not producing fruits; sterile, barren

Question 6

actuate

Answer 6

to put into mechanical action or motion
to move to action

e.g. a pump actuated by windmills
actuated by selfish motives

Question 7

addle

Answer 7

(of an egg) rotten
confused
also

e.g. My brain grew more and more addle as I made my way through the tax instructions.
brains addled with fear

Question 8

adduce

Answer 8

to offer as example, reason, or proof in discussion or analysis

e.g. adduce many instances to corroborate this assertion

Question 9

adjudicate

Answer 9

to settle judicially
to act as judge

e.g. The board will adjudicate claims made against them.

Question 10

ad-lib

Answer 10

to deliver spontaneously
to improvise
also

e.g. Throughout the play, he had to ad-lib (his lines) constantly.
ad-lib remarks to hecklers

Question 11

advert

Answer 11

to turn the mind or attention (used with to)
make reference

e.g. adverted to the speaker
adverted to foreign-language sources

Question 12

agape

Answer 12

wide open; gaping
being in a state of wonder

e.g. with mouth agape

Question 13

alliteration

Answer 13

head rhyme

e.g. wild and woolly; threatening throngs

Question 14

alms

Answer 14

something (as money or food) given freely to relieve the poor

Question 15

ambrosial

Answer 15

extremely pleasing to taste or smell

Question 16

ambulate

Answer 16

walk

e.g a progressive disease that compromises a patient’s ability to ambulate

Question 17

amiss

Answer 17

in the wrong way

e.g. I hope that my suggestion that you might be more comfortable in a larger chair was not taken amiss.
something going amiss

Question 18

amoral

Answer 18

lying outside the sphere to which moral judgments apply
lacking moral sensibility
being outside or beyond the moral order or a particular code of morals

e.g. science as which is completely amoral
amoral infants
amoral customs

Question 19

anodyne

Answer 19

serving to alleviate pain
not likely to offend or arouse tensions; innocuous

e.g. The otherwise anodyne comments sounded quite inflammatory when taken out of context.

Question 20

apothegm

Answer 20

a short, pithy, and instructive saying or formulation; aphorism

Question 21

apotheosis

Answer 21

elevation to divine status; deification
the highest point in the development of something; culmination or climax

e.g. the apotheosis of the picaresque novel

Question 22

aquiline

Answer 22

curving like an eagle’s beak
of, relating to, or resembling an eagle

e.g. an aquiline nose

Question 23

arachnid

Answer 23

the kind of animal that has eight legs and a body formed of two parts (like spiders, scorpions, etc.)

Question 24

arraign

Answer 24

to call (a defendant) before a court to answer to an indictment; charge 
to accuse of wrong, inadequacy, or imperfection 

e.g. arraign him on the score of heartlessness

Question 25

asinine

Answer 25

extremely or utterly foolish
of, relating to, or resembling an ass

e.g. an asinine excuse

Question 26

askance

Answer 26

with a side-glance; obliquely
with disapproval or distrust; scornfully

e.g. We looked askance at the dealer’s assertion that the car had never been in an accident.

Question 27

astigmatic

Answer 27

• astigmatism
  showing incapacity for observation or discrimination

e.g. an astigmatic fanaticism, a disregard for the facts

Question 28

attrition

Answer 28

wearing or grinding down by friction
weakening or exhausting by constant harassment, abuse, or attack
a reduction in numbers usually as a result of resignation, retirement, or death

e.g. Attrition led to the main mechanism’s breaking.
a war of attrition
a company with a high rate of attrtion

Question 29

auger

Answer 29

a sharp tool used chiefly for making holes

Question 30

aureole

Answer 30

a radiant light around the head or body of a representation of a sacred personage
radiance, aura

Question 31

auricular

Answer 31

told privately
understood or recognized by the sense of hearing
of, relating to, or using the ear or the sense of hearing

e.g. an auricular confession
Birds’ beginning chirping is the auricular proof that the sun was up.

Question 32

avuncular

Answer 32

of or relating to an uncle
suggestive of an uncle especially in kindliness or geniality

e.g. a man known for his avuncular charm

Question 33

bacchanal

Answer 33

drunken revelry

excessive indulgence in something especially to satisfy an inordinate appetite or craving

Question 34

backslide

Answer 34

to lapse morally or in the practice of religion
to revert to a worse condition; retrogress

e.g. Smokers who quit often backslide within a year.

Question 35

backwater

Answer 35

water backed up in its course by an obstruction, an opposing current, or the tide
an isolated or backward place or region
an unpopular or unimportant field (as of study or business)

e.g. The once sleepy backwater is now a thriving city.
A distant backwater that didn’t even have electricity at that time.

Question 36

balky

Answer 36

refusing or likely to refuse to proceed, act, or function as directed or expected

e.g. a balky mule/machine

Question 37

bamboozle

Answer 37

to deceive by underhanded methods; dupe, hoodwink
to confuse, frustrate, or throw off thoroughly or completely

e.g. bamboozled by con men into buying worthless land in the desert
bamboozled by the latest changes

Question 38

bandy

Answer 38

to bat (as a tennis ball) to and fro
exchange; especially, to exchange (words) argumentatively
to discuss lightly or banteringly
to use in a glib or offhand manner (oft. used with about)

e.g. to bandy blows / to bandy gossip
bandy these statistics about with considerable bravado

Question 39

barrister

Answer 39

a lawyer in Britain who has the right to argue in higher courts of law

Question 40

bassoon

Answer 40

a large musical instrument that is shaped like a tube, makes low sounds, and is played by blowing into a small, thin tube in its side

Question 41

bauble

Answer 41

trinket

e.g. picked up some cheap baubles at the fair

Question 42

bawl

Answer 42

to cry out loudly and unrestrainedly
to cry loudly; wail

e.g. He bawled for days after his dog died.

Question 43

beatific

Answer 43

of, possessing, or imparting bliss
having a blissful appearance

e.g. a beatific smile

Question 44

beckon

Answer 44

to summon or signal typically with a wave or nod
to appear inviting; attract

e.g. She was beckoning them to come.
The frontier beckons.

Question 45

bedizen

Answer 45

to dress or adorn gaudily

e.g. the elderly actress bedizening herself with makeup and jewelry

Question 46

bedraggled

Answer 46

soiled and stained by or as if by trailing in mud
left wet and limp by or as if by rain
dilapidated

e.g. bedraggled after its bath
bedraggled buildings

Question 47

befuddle

Answer 47

to muddle or stupefy with or as if with drink
confuse, perplex

e.g. Most of the applicants were befuddled by the wording of one of the questions on the driving test.

Question 48

beget

Answer 48

to procreate as the father; sire
to produce especially as an effect or outgrowth

e.g. died without begetting an heir
a belief that power begets power

Question 49

bemuse

Answer 49

to make confused; puzzle, bewilder
to occupy the attention of; distract, absorb

e.g. a public that seemed more bemused by the shenanigans of celebrities than by a war being waged half a world away
A stage mishap momentarily bemused the actress.

Question 50

betoken

Answer 50

to typify beforehand; presage
to give evidence of; show

e.g. The humor in his writing is never cruel, and betokens a warm and compassionate heart.

Question 51

bibulous

Answer 51

highly absorbent
fond of alcoholic beverages
of, relating to, or marked by the consumption of alcoholic beverages

e.g. special drying cloths that are so bibulous that they can absorb 10 times their weight in water
a campaign to make the bibulous fraternity brother a collegiate archetype of the past

Question 52

bilious

Answer 52

of or relating to bile
of or indicative of a peevish ill-natured disposition
sickeningly unpleasant

e.g. a bilious old dog who snaps at everyone
with clapboards painted red and bilious yellow

Question 53

blackball

Answer 53

to vote against
to exclude socially; ostracize
boycott

e.g. The club secretly blackballs applicants who belong to that religion.

Question 54

blase

Answer 54

apathetic to pleasure or excitement as a result of excessive indulgence or enjoyment; world-weary
unconcerned

e.g. People get blase about their hometown.

Question 55

bloated

Answer 55

obnoxiously vain

Question 56

bode

Answer 56

to indicate by signs; presage

e.g. Her natural gift for reading boded well for her future in school.

Question 57

bonhomie

Answer 57

good-natured easy friendliness

e.g. the bonhomie of strangers singing together around a campfire

Question 58

bough

Answer 58

a branch of a tree; especially, a main branch

Question 59

bowdlerize

Answer 59

to expurgate (as a book) by omitting or modifying parts considered vulgar 
to modify by abridging, simplifying, or distorting in style or content 

e.g. bowdlerize a classic novel by removing offensive language

Question 60

bower

Answer 60

an attractive dwelling or retreat
a shelter (as in a garden) made with tree boughs or vines twined together; arbor
embower, enclose

e.g. Bowered by a canopy of grapevines, we enjoyed a serene and very private picnic.

Question 61

brackish

Answer 61

somewhat salty

not appealing to the taste; repulsive

Question 62

bray

Answer 62

to utter or play loudly harshly

Question 63

brindled

Answer 63

having obscure dark streaks or flecks on a usually gray or tawny ground

Question 64

brocade

Answer 64

a rich silk fabric with raised patterns in gold and silver

a fabric characterized by raised designs