2015.01.09-[SGRE13]-6

Question 0

forebear

noun [C usually pl]
also forbear
/ˈfɔr•beər/
/ˈfoʊr•beər/

Answer 0

› an ancestor:

Your father, grandmother, and great grandfather are all your f-rs.

Question 1

disingenuous

adjective
/ˌdɪs•ɪnˈdʒen•ju•əs/

Answer 1

› slightly dishonest; not speaking the complete truth; sophisticated, artful, trying to deceive, cunning:

a d-s compliment

Question 2

liberality

/ˌlɪb.əˈræl.ə.ti/
noun [U]
formal
----------
liberal

adjective
/ˈlɪb.ər.əl/
/ˈlɪb.ɚ.əl/
formal

Answer 2

› free giving, generosity; the trait of being generous in behavior and temperament:

She is a whirling, bustling cheapskate, the kind who “excels at dictating l-y to others” while jealously hoarding her own income.

› an inclination to favor progress and individual freedom:

› giving or given in a generous way:

He was very l-l with the wine.

Question 3

subpoena

/səˈpi•nə/
[law]
verb [T]
----------
noun [C]

Answer 3

› [social studies] to order someone to go to a court of law to answer questions, or to order the appearance of documents in a court of law:

› written order requiring a person to appear in a low court:

[law] The judge issued a s-a.

Question 4

pied

adjective
[before noun]
/paɪd/
[specialized]

Answer 4

› (used especially in the names of birds) having fur or feathers of two or more colors, usually black and white; of mixed colors:

p-d kingfishers

Question 5

recidivist
 noun [C]
/rɪˈsɪd.ɪ.vɪst/
[specialized]
----------
recidivism

/ rɪˈsɪd.ɪ.vɪ.zəm/
noun [U]

Answer 5

› a criminal who continues to commit crimes even after they have been punished:

Joe is really a r-t, and he was just released from prison yesterday and immediately stole a car on his way home.

› relapse into antisocial or criminal behavior:

They are habitual criminals and have higher rates of r-m.

Question 6

stymie

verb [T]
/ˈstɑɪ•mi/
(present participle stymieing
/ˈstɑɪ•mi•ɪŋ/)

Answer 6

› to prevent someone from achieving a goal or doing something that had been planned; to hinder, obstruct or block:

Students were s-ed by the test.

Question 7

macerate

verb [I or T]
/ˈmæs.ə.reɪt/
specialized

Answer 7

› to leave food in a liquid so that it absorbs the liquid and becomes soft, or to become soft in this way; make or become soft by soaking in water:

Mix together all the ingredients and leave them to m-e in the fridge overnight.

Question 8

aspersion

/əˈspɜːʃən/
Noun

Answer 8

› a disparaging or malicious remark; slanderous accusation (esp in the phrase cast aspersions (on)); slander:

Sure, the a-ns are being cast by cowards and incompetents, but such tactics still help to discourage others from joining the cause.

› the act of defaming

› (Ecclesiastical Terms) the act of sprinkling, esp of water in baptism

Question 9

attenuate

verb [T]
/əˈten.ju.eɪt/
formal

Answer 9

› to make something smaller, thinner, or weaker; make thin; weaken, enervate:

Radiation from the sun is a-ed by the Earth’s atmosphere.

Question 10

castigation

noun

Answer 10

› severe punishment; harsh verbal reprimand:

The coach yelled at his team for sloppy play, and his post-game speech was really a c-n.

Question 11

propinquity

/proʊˈpɪŋ.kwɪ.ti/

noun

Answer 11

› nearness in time or place; proximity or physical closeness.

Your p-y to someone in a conversation will affect whether you can smell his breath or not.

› nearness of relation; kinship.

Question 12

stygian

adjective
/ˈstɪdʒ.i.ən/
literary

Answer 12

› extremely and unpleasantly dark; hence dark; gloomy:

s-n gloom

Your walk home from the bus stop might feel s-n on a foggy, moonless night.

Question 13

extralegal

/ˌɛk.strəˈli.gəl/
adj.

Answer 13

› beyond the province or authority of law; outside the law:

In that sense, it was by definition e-l, if not illegal.

Everyone wins — except the host countries that cede their technology through these e-l processes.

Question 14

craven

adjective
/ˈkreɪ.vən/
formal

Answer 14

› extremely cowardly:

a c-n act of terrorism

Question 15

cloture

/ˈkloʊ tʃər/

Answer 15

› a closing of debate in a legislative body in order to bring the question to a vote; a rule for limiting or ending debate in a deliberative body.

Furious Republicans began forcing time-consuming c-e votes on nominees, reducing confirmations to a trickle.

› to close (a debate) by c-e.

Question 16

complaisance

noun [U]
/kəmˈpleɪ.zəns/
/kəmˈpleɪ.səns/
formal
----------
complaisant

/kəmˈpleɪ.zənt/
/kəmˈpleɪ.sənt/
adjective

Answer 16

› willingness to please others by being polite and fitting in with their plans

The examination proceeded smoothly enough, for the c-t dean confined himself chiefly to the classics.

Question 17

pine

verb
[I always + adv/prep]
/pɑɪn/

Answer 17

› to strongly desire esp. something that is difficult or impossible to obtain:

Bradley p-ed for his wife, who was far away.

If you p-e for someone, you desperately want to see them, be with them, or perhaps smother them with kisses.

› waste away through sorrow or illness

Question 18

vagary

/vəˈgɛər.i/
/ˈveɪ.gə.ri/

Answer 18

› an unpredictable, capricious, or erratic action, occurrence, or course; an unexpected and unpredictable change.

You might know from experience that the v-ries of winter weather make planning a vacation in February a risky proposition.

Many if not most occupiers returned to schools and jobs and semblances of normalcy under the v-ies of late capitalism.

› a whimsical, or unusual idea or notion; strange act or idea.

Question 19

serration

/sɛˈreɪ ʃən/
also serrature
/ˈsɛr.ə.tʃər/
/ˈsɛr.ə.tʃʊər/
noun

Answer 19

› having a toothed edge.

“With this blade-like tooth you can clearly see the s-n - this was a fierce predator,” he explains.

› one of the notches or teeth of such an edge or formation.