1501-1550

Question 1

stagnant

Answer 1

adj. inactive; not moving

Question 2

foray

Answer 2

n. a sudden raid; an initial, esp. outside one’s usual field

Question 3

obstinate

Answer 3

adj. unreasonably stubborn

Question 4

affliction

Answer 4

n. pain; suffering; anything causing pain

Question 5

confluence

Answer 5

n. joining together of different streams

Question 6

qualm

Answer 6

n. a sudden feeling of sickness; an uneasy feeling about the moral rightness of an action

Question 7

diverge

Answer 7

v. to depart from a set course or opinion

Question 8

reckon

Answer 8

v. to calculate; to regard as

Question 9

elicit

Answer 9

v. to draw out; to invoke

Question 10

caste

Answer 10

n. a rigid and hereditary social class

Question 11

decrepit

Answer 11

adj. weakened, worn out, or broken down by old age or excessive use

Question 12

exculpate

Answer 12

v. to clear from blame or guilt

Question 13

latitude

Answer 13

n. freedom from normal limitations; room for movement or action

Question 14

expedient

Answer 14

adj. suitable for a purpose; convenient but based on self-interest rather than principle

Question 15

demagogue

Answer 15

n. a leader who obtains power by appealing to the emotions and passions of the people

Question 16

sententious

Answer 16

adj. expressing much in few words; given to pompous moralizing

Question 17

reprobate

Answer 17

n. a person who lacks morals

Question 18

baffle

Answer 18

v. to frustrate, as by confusing

Question 19

pragmatic

Answer 19

adj. dealing practically with a situation or a thing; based on experience rather than theory

Question 20

evince

Answer 20

v. to give outward evidence of; to display clearly

Question 21

leverage

Answer 21

n. strategic advantage

Question 22

taciturn

Answer 22

adj. almost always silent; not liking to talk

Question 23

nullify

Answer 23

v. to make void or unimportant

Question 24

deduce

Answer 24

v. to reach a conclusion by reasoning

Question 25

befuddle

Answer 25

v. to confuse

Question 26

innuendo

Answer 26

n. an indirect suggestion about someone or something, esp. of a negative nature

Question 27

exert

Answer 27

v. to put forth or bring to bear

Question 28

impute

Answer 28

v. to assign credit, often of guilt or blame

Question 29

rummage

Answer 29

v. to search thoroughly by handling or disarranging the contents of

Question 30

foment

Answer 30

v. to stir up negative feelings, esp. those that lead to violent action

Question 31

truculent

Answer 31

adj. inclined to fight; expressing violence or hostility

Question 32

liability

Answer 32

n. something for which one is responsible; a debt; a disadvantage

Question 33

insular

Answer 33

adj. narrow in outlook; provincial

Question 34

chicanery

Answer 34

n. deception by trickery

Question 35

naïve

Answer 35

adj. simple; childlike; lacking worldly wisdom

Question 36

mitigate

Answer 36

v. to improve by lessening the severity of

Question 37

haughty

Answer 37

adj. stuck-up; arrogant; snobbish

Question 38

dissipate

Answer 38

v. to scatter; to spend wastefully

Question 39

colloquial

Answer 39

adj. appropriate to spoken, as opposed to written, language; informal

Question 40

tenet

Answer 40

n. a belief

Question 41

exodus

Answer 41

n. the departure of a large number of people

Question 42

forebear

Answer 42

n. a person from whom one is descended; an ancestor (usually plural)

Question 43

keen

Answer 43

adj. having a sharp edge; perceptive

Question 44

inundate

Answer 44

v. to flood

Question 45

belie

Answer 45

v. to picture falsely; to contradict

Question 46

vagary

Answer 46

n. an erratic notion or action

Question 47

bigot

Answer 47

n. one who favors his or her own group and is intolerant of those who differ

Question 48

homeage

Answer 48

n. a sign of respect

Question 49

vendetta

Answer 49

n. a bitter feud or quarrel; fight

Question 50

masquerade

Answer 50

v. to wear a disguise; to put on a false appearance