Word List 50

Question 1

Vivacious (adj)

Answer 1

lively or animated; sprightly

A very bubbly and vivacious woman, with a radiant smile, Julie never had any difficulty making new friends

Question 2

Vociferous (adj)

Answer 2

clamorous; noisy

The crowd grew vociferous in its anger and threatened to take the law into its own hands

Question 3

Voracious (adj)

Answer 3

ravenous

Question 4

Vouchsafe (v)

Answer 4

grant condescendingly; guarantee

Maintaining that power was only vouchsafed to the man who dared to stoop and pick it up

Question 5

Waffle (v)

Answer 5

speak equivocally about an issue

Question 6

Wanderlust (n)

Answer 6

strong longing to travel

Don’t set your heart on a traveling man. He’s got too much wanderlust to settle down.

Question 7

Wangle (v)

Answer 7

wiggle out; fake

She tried to wangle an invitation to the party

Question 8

Wanton (adj)

Answer 8

unrestrained; wilfully malicious; unchaste

Pointing to the stack of bills, Sheldon criticised Sarah for her wanton expenditures

Question 9

Waylay (v)

Answer 9

ambush; lie in wait

They agreed to waylay their victim as he passed through the dark alley going home

Question 10

Welter (v)

Answer 10

wallow
At the height of the battle, the casualties were so numerous that the victims weltered in their blood while waiting for medical attention

Question 11

Wheedle (v)

Answer 11

cajole; coax; deceive by flattery

She knows she can wheedle almost anything she wants from the father

Question 12

Whet (v)

Answer 12

sharpen; stimulate

The doors from the kitchen are whetting my appetite

Question 13

Whiff (n)

Answer 13

puff or gust (of air,scent etc); hint

The slightest whiff of Old Spice cologne brought memories of George to her mind

Question 14

Wily (adj)

Answer 14

cunning; artful

She is as willy as a fox in avoiding trouble

Question 15

Witticism (n)

Answer 15

witty saying; wisecrack

Question 16

Writhe (v)

Answer 16

twist in coils; contort in pain

In Dances with Snakes, the snake dancer wriggled sinuously as her boa constrictor writhed around her torso

Question 17

Xenophobia (n)

Answer 17

fear or hatred of foreigners

When the refugees arrived in America, he was unprepared for the xenophobia he found there

Question 18

Yen (n)

Answer 18

longing; urge

She had a yen to get away and live on her own for a while

Question 19

Yoke (v)

Answer 19

join together, unite

I don’t wish to be yoked to him in a marriage, as if we were cattle pulling a plow

Question 20

Zany (adj)

Answer 20

crazy; comic

I can watch the Marx brothers’ zany antics for hours

Question 21

Zealot (n)

Answer 21

fanatic; person who shows excessive zeal

Question 22

Zenith (n)

Answer 22

point directly overhead in the sky; summit

When the sun was at its zenith, the glare was not as strong as the sunrise and sunset