Word Skills #22

Question 1

Aberrant

Answer 1

ADJ: Departing from an accepted standard. Deviating from what is normal. Straying from the right or usual course. (The scientist studied the aberrant cells to find a cause and a cure for the disease.)

Question 2

Anachronicistic

Answer 2

ADJ: Belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists; Placed out of its proper time. (Many teenagers who think their parents’ ideas are anachronistic disregard their good advice.)

Question 3

Augment

Answer 3

VERB: To make or become greater; as in size, number, or amount. (He planned to augment his savings for college by investing in the stock market.)

Question 4

Circumlocution

Answer 4

NOUN: The use of many words where fewer would do, especially in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive; Evasion in speaking or writing (We were not surprised by the politician’s circumlocution on questions concerning the issue because he did not want to offend anyone or to lose any votes. )

Question 5

Consecrate

Answer 5

VERB: To regard with great respect; In Christian belief, to change bread and wine into the blood and body of Christ; to dedicate to a special goal or purpose. (After months of anticipation, the congregation gathered to consecrate its new sanctuary.)

Question 6

Discursive

Answer 6

ADJ: Digressing from subject to subject; covering a wide range of subjects. (Many readers found the plot of her latest novel discursive and boring.)

Question 7

Encumbrance

Answer 7

NOUN: a burden or impediment, a lien or claim on property. (Lack of supplies was not the only encumbrance that early settlers faced.)

Question 8

Impecunious

Answer 8

ADJ: Having little or no money (The impecunious man had to depend on the shelter for food and a place to sleep.)

Question 9

Inept

Answer 9

ADJ: Not suitable to the circumstance or occasion; Having or showing no skill; Lacking in judgment, sense, or reason (Inept in handling the hostage crisis, he was quickly replaced by someone more qualified.)

Question 10

Intransigent

Answer 10

ADJ: Refusing to moderate an especially extreme position; Refusing to agree or compromise; unwilling to change one’s views or to agree (Some people are intransigent in their values but very flexible on other issues.)

Question 11

Manifest

Answer 11

Clearly apparent to the sight or understanding (adj); To show or demonstrate plainly (v); a list of cargo or passengers (n) (One manifest strength of this school is the cultural and social diversity of its students.)

Question 12

Non sequitur

Answer 12

NOUN: A statement that does not follow logically from what preceded it; An inference or conclusion that does not follow from the premise or evidence (The prosecutor focused the jury’s attention on the defendant’s non sequitur.)

Question 13

Peripatetic

Answer 13

ADJ: Walking about; moving from place to place; Pertaining to the philosophy or teaching methods of Aristotle (Some families choose the peripatetic lifestyle of the military over settling in one place.)

Question 14

Precept

Answer 14

NOUN: A general rule or principle intended to control behavior or thought. (Do you agree with the idea that “children learn more by example than by precept”?)

Question 15

Propinquity

Answer 15

NOUN: Nearness in place or time; similarity in nature, Kinship (We ambled down the path, unaware of the propinquity of the danger that lay ahead.)

Question 16

Remiss

Answer 16

ADJ: Lax or careless in matters requiring attention; Careless of duty (I am embarrassed that I have been remiss in writing thank you notes for the gifts I received.)

Question 17

Sentient

Answer 17

ADJ: Able to feel or perceive things; Having sense perception (Some people believe that all animals are as sentient as humans.)

Question 18

Supplicate

Answer 18

VERB: To ask for humbly or earnestly; as by praying; To make an earnest request (The peasants groveled and supplicated to the selfish king for grain to make bread.)

Question 19

Verbiage

Answer 19

NOUN: Speech or writing that uses too many words or excessively technical language. (The verbiage of her writing made understanding her ideas very difficult.)

Question 20

Vilify

Answer 20

VERB: To speak or write about in an abusively disparaging (negative) manner (The purpose of the negative campaign advertisements on television was to vilify his opponents before millions of voters.)