Word List 49

Question 1

Valedictory (adj)

Answer 1

pertaining to farewell

I found the valedictory too long; leave-taking should be brief

Question 2

Vapid (adj)

Answer 2

dull and unimaginative; insipid and flavourless

She suffered yet another vapid lecture on history of the poets

Question 3

Veer (v)

Answer 3

change in direction

Question 4

Venal (adj)

Answer 4

capable of being bribed

Question 5

Veneer (n)

Answer 5

thin layer; cover

Casual acquaintances were deceived by his veneer sophistication and failed to recognise his fundamental shallowness

Question 6

Venial (adj)

Answer 6

forgivable; trivial

When Jean Valjean stole a loot to feed his starving sister, he committed a venial offence

Question 7

Venturesome (adj)

Answer 7

bold

A group of venturesome women pooled their resources to push a bill to empower women in congress

Question 8

Veracious (adj)

Answer 8

truthful

Question 9

Verbatim (adv)

Answer 9

word for word

He repeated the message verbatim

Question 10

Verbiage (n)

Answer 10

pompous array of words

After we had waded through all the verbiage, we discovered that the writer had said very little

Question 11

Verbose (adj)

Answer 11

wordy

We had to make some major cuts in Senator Foghorn’s speech because it was far too verbose

Question 12

Verisimilar (adj)

Answer 12

probable or likely; having the appearance of truth

Something verisimilar is very similar to the truth or at least seems to be

Question 13

Verisimilitude (n)

Answer 13

appearance of truth; likelihood

Critics praised for the verisimilitude of her performance as Lady Macbeth. She was completely believable

Question 14

Verity (n)

Answer 14

quality of being true; lasting truth or principle

Question 15

Vernacular (n)

Answer 15

living language; natural style

Question 16

Verve (n)

Answer 16

enthusiasm; liveliness
Shakespeare and Aristophanes characters share a fundamental resemblance, for they possess “the same tremendous energy and verve and vitality”; the same swinging, swashbuckling spirit

Question 17

Vestige (n)

Answer 17

trace; remains

We discovered vestiges of early Indian life in the cave

Question 18

Vicarious (adj)

Answer 18

acting as a substitute; done by a deputy; indirectly; surrogate
Drug dealers live vicariously through me

Question 19

Vicissitude (n)

Answer 19

change of fortune
Humbled by life’s vicissitudes, the last emperor of China worked as a lowly gardener in the palace over which he had once ruled

Question 20

Vie (v)

Answer 20

contend; compete

Politicians vie with one another, competing for donations and votes

Question 21

Vignette (n)

Answer 21

picture; short literary sketch

The new Yorker published her latest vignette

Question 22

Visceral (adj)

Answer 22

felt in one’s inner organs

She disliked the visceral sensations she had whenever she rode the roller coaster

Question 23

Vitiate (v)

Answer 23

spoil the effect of; make inoperative

The state’s interests in effective crime fighting should never vitiate the citizen’s Bill of Rights

Question 24

Vitriolic (adj)

Answer 24

corrosive; sarcastic

Such vitriolic criticism is uncalled for

Question 25

Vituperative (adj)

Answer 25

abusive; scolding

He became more vituperative as he realised that we were not going to grant him his wish