151-200

Question 1

conscientious

Answer 1

showing care and precision; painstaking
The store’s owners have been delighted with the new employee, praising his punctuality and his conscientious attention to each customer.

Question 2

adroit

Answer 2

naturally skillful, esp. dealing with difficult circumstances
He is an adroit negotiator, able to help parties who appear to have irreconcilable differences come to an agreement.

Question 3

dexterous

Answer 3

skillful with the hands or mind
The card player’s dexterous fingers allowed him to deal from the bottom of the deck without detection.

Question 4

redolent

Answer 4

aromatic; fragrant; suggestive
John loved baking mostly because of the aroma, so the kitchen was frequently redolent of baking cookies.

Question 5

foreboding

Answer 5

a sense of impending evil, esp. one without definite cause
The somber music heard at the opening of the film creates a sense of foreboding, but true disaster does not materialize until the conclusion.

Question 6

denouement

Answer 6

conclusion; resolution; the falling action of a story after its climax
Some have criticized the denouement of the film, claiming that this conclusion does not represent the best possible ending for the two main characters.

Question 7

subsidy

Answer 7

monetary assistance
The government refused to give the project any additional subsidy until the money already spent had been accounted for.

Question 8

prevalent

Answer 8

dominant; widespread
Having dedicated his life to social work, Father Murray is especially annoyed at the prevalent attitude that poor people are lazy.

Question 9

incumbent

Answer 9

necessary or obligatory; a person who currently holds a particular position
Since the police haven’t shown up to defend us, it’s incumbent on us to do what we can for ourselves.

Question 10

mimic

Answer 10

to copy closely, esp. with intent to ridicule
Jake stood at the front of the class and mimicked his teacher’s speech patterns, amusing the students but getting himself in trouble when the teacher came in and saw.

Question 11

crass

Answer 11

dull-witted; unrefined
At the art gallery’s black tie event, the artist stunned everyone by being crass, showing a complete lack of refinement and harsh indifference to everyone else’s sense of decency.

Question 12

beacon

Answer 12

a signaling light; a source of guidance or inspiration
Ravaged with hunger, we were relieved to see the restaurant’s neon sign rising before us, a welcome beacon in the night.

Question 13

supplant

Answer 13

to take the place of
The word processor has largely supplanted the electric typewriter.

Question 14

scythe

Answer 14

a long-handled, bladed instrument used for harvesting crops
On his first day of work at the farm, Josh used his scythe with so much vigor his feet were in constant peril.

Question 15

shard

Answer 15

a fragment of a brittle substance, e.g., glass or pottery; a small piece of something
Although her son had just smashed a valuable vase, the mother only sighed and swept up the shards.

Question 16

wayward

Answer 16

stubbornly going against what is expected or required in order to satisfy one’s own desires
Veronica’s successful bid for a seat in the local assembly came as a surprise to those who remembered the lawless and wayward days of her youth.

Question 17

effrontery

Answer 17

bold and insulting behavior
It was bad enough when the army division accidentally invaded the wrong country, but the commanding officer made it worse when he had the effrontery to say that he thought it was kind of funny.

Question 18

vagary

Answer 18

an erratic notion or action
I am used to some of your bizarre quirks, but this latest vagary has taken me completely off guard.

Question 19

agile

Answer 19

quick and easy in movement; mentally alert
Friends recall that he was a particular delight at parties where he proved to be an informed and agile conversationalist.

Question 20

glut

Answer 20

an oversupply
Wheat farmers always suffer when a glut of grain products on the market forces their prices lower.

Question 21

cursory

Answer 21

superficially done; performed rapidly
I have not checked your work thoroughly yet, but a cursory glance tells me you have the right idea.

Question 22

spurn

Answer 22

to push or drive away contemptuously with or as with the foot
The truly depressed person will usually spurn those trying hardest to help.

Question 23

comply

Answer 23

to yield or act in accordance with requests, conditions, etc.
If you want to earn your parents’ trust you must comply with their rules and come home each night before curfew.

Question 24

peccadillo

Answer 24

a minor sin
Some view a lie as a mere peccadillo, but others view lying as far from a minor sin and, indeed, a sign of a deep character flaw.

Question 25

incendiary

Answer 25

causing or capable of causing fire; stirring up trouble The unrest and fighting at our high school is not likely to die down soon, given the incendiary nature of your last opinion column.

Question 26

impunity

Answer 26

exemption from punishment or harm Because of his wealth and power, the business executive believed that he could act with impunity, misappropriating the company's funds without fear of punishment.

Question 27

proficient

Answer 27

very skillful, esp. through training It takes a year or more to learn the basics of tapestry-weaving and even longer to become truly proficient.

Question 28

precede

Answer 28

to go before Small earthquakes known as foreshocks sometimes precede a major tremor.

Question 29

benefactor

Answer 29

one who helps and supports others The charity did receive a few small donations but relied primarily on a single benefactor, a millionaire who donated thousands of dollars to the charity.

Question 30

flout

Answer 30

to intentionally and obviously disobey Recent highly publicized blunders have made a few countries think it is okay to flout the demands of the United Nations Security Council.

Question 31

erode

Answer 31

to wear away slowly The combination of heavy storm winds and high waves eroded much of the beach, washing away the sand.

Question 32

spate

Answer 32

a large number or amount of something, esp. in a brief time A spate of broken windows along the usually quiet street prompted the police to increase their patrols in an attempt to catch the vandals.

Question 33

imbue

Answer 33

to inspire; to permeate; to fill with a mood or tone Sports drinks are specially formulated to imbue the athlete with a renewed sense of vigor.

Question 34

credulous

Answer 34

tending to believe too easily My uncle is too credulous to be entrusted with the management of his wife's business; he'd fall for every con artist to come along.

Question 35

bravura

Answer 35

a showy display Dan's bravura has irritated people, but unlike many braggarts, he backs up his big words with real accomplishments.

Question 36

omniscient

Answer 36

all-knowing Children typically believe their parents are omniscient until the children prove otherwise to themselves by learning things their parents do not know.

Question 37

untenable

Answer 37

indefensible, or impossible to maintain Only after the invention and refinement of the microscope was the idea of spontaneous generation rejected as untenable.

Question 38

veneer

Answer 38

an attractive, ultimately misleading outward show; thin layer The diplomats exhibited a veneer of civility, but beneath this outward show, neither trusted the other.

Question 39

legible

Answer 39

capable of being read or deciphered Nate's handwriting is barely legible, so his family has asked him to send emails instead of letters so that they can read his thoughts.

Question 40

recount

Answer 40

to tell in detail Much to her friends' chagrin, Erendira recounted her excruciating experience in the dentist's office for the third time that day, this time in even more detail.

Question 41

prevaricate

Answer 41

to speak or write evasively in order to avoid telling the truth A master at prevarication, the politician often spoke in doublespeak, leading people to believe he had said something significant when all the while he was being evasive and hiding the truth.

Question 42

sedentary

Answer 42

sitting down most of the time Health clubs can thrive only in those areas where most workers lead sedentary lives.

Question 43

veracious

Answer 43

honest; truthful Sheila probably lies occasionally, but in my own dealings with her, she has never spoken a word which was not veracious.

Question 44

venerate

Answer 44

to look upon with respect and honor Veteran's Day is set aside each November as a time to venerate those who fought to defend our country in times of war.

Question 45

raconteur

Answer 45

one who tells stories with skill Ronald Reagan was a brilliant raconteur who could always entertain his audiences, even when his stories were less than truthful.

Question 46

leaning

Answer 46

a preference or inclination Adventurous all her life, Alice has a leaning towards exciting sports like parachuting.

Question 47

premature

Answer 47

happening, done, arriving, or existing before the proper time The warm February weather has led to premature blooming of the flowers around here.

Question 48

impart

Answer 48

to give a portion of; to make known Before his son got married, the proud father tried to impart some advice about how to live harmoniously with a wife.

Question 49

spendthrift

Answer 49

one who spends money wastefully His parents gave Albert every material comfort but never taught him responsibility, so he became a spendthrift and wasted their entire fortune within a few years.

Question 50

tabulate

Answer 50

to count The school election was marred by accusations that there were irregularities in how the results had been tabulated.