Barron's Vocab

Question 1

Deleterious

Answer 1

harmful often in a subtle or unexpected way

deleteriously adverb
deleteriousness noun

Question 2

Derision

Answer 2

1
a : the use of ridicule or scorn to show contempt b : a state of being laughed at or ridiculed : a state of being derided

2
:  an object of ridicule or scorn

Question 3

Tawdry

Answer 3

cheap and gaudy in appearance or quality; also : ignoble <a></a>

Question 4

Parsimonious

Answer 4

1
: exhibiting or marked by parsimony; especially : frugal to the point of stinginess

2
:  sparing, restrained

Question 5

Profligate

Answer 5

1
: wildly extravagant

2
:  completely given up to dissipation and licentiousness 

profligately adverb

Question 6

pedestrian

Answer 6

1
: commonplace, unimaginative

2
a : going or performed on foot b : of, relating to, or designed for walking <a></a>

Question 7

Precocious

Answer 7

Maturing Early

Question 8

Appropriate

Answer 8

adjective

1.
suitable or proper in the circumstances.
“a measure appropriate to a wartime economy”
synonyms: suitable, proper, fitting, apt, right;

verb

1.
take (something) for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s permission.
“his images have been appropriated by advertisers”
synonyms: seize, commandeer, expropriate, annex, arrogate, sequestrate, sequester, take over, hijack More
2.
devote (money or assets) to a special purpose.
“there can be problems in appropriating funds for legal expenses”
synonyms: allocate, assign, allot, earmark, set aside, devote, apportion
“we are appropriating funds for these expenses”

Question 9

Heretical

Answer 9

Unorthodox

Question 10

Synoptic

Answer 10

of or forming a general summary or synopsis.
“a synoptic outline of the contents”
2.
of or relating to the Synoptic Gospels.

Question 11

Decry

Answer 11

Disparage
- publicly denounce.
“they decried human rights abuses”

Question 12

Sanguine

Answer 12

Hopeful or Cloying

Question 13

Acerbic

Answer 13

Bitter

Question 14

Vacillate

Answer 14

verb
alternate or waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive.
“I had for a time vacillated between teaching and journalism”
synonyms: dither, waver, be indecisive, be undecided, be ambivalent, hesitate, be of two minds, blow hot and cold, keep changing one’s mind, be conflicted;

Question 15

Wane

Answer 15

verb
(of the moon) have a progressively smaller part of its visible surface illuminated, so that it appears to decrease in size.
synonyms: decline, diminish, decrease, dwindle, shrink, tail off, ebb, fade (away), lessen, peter out, fall off, recede, slump, flag, weaken, give way, wither, crumble, evaporate, disintegrate, die out; literaryevanesce
“time-lapse photography shows the moon waning”
(especially of a condition or feeling) decrease in vigor, power, or extent; become weaker.
“confidence in the dollar waned”
synonyms: decline, diminish, decrease, dwindle, shrink, tail off, ebb, fade (away), lessen, peter out, fall off, recede, slump, flag, weaken, give way, wither, crumble, evaporate, disintegrate, die out; literaryevanesce
“time-lapse photography shows the moon waning”

Question 16

Wariness

Answer 16

caution about possible dangers or problems.
“her mother’s wariness of computers”
lack of trust; suspicion.
“they had all regarded her with wariness”

Question 17

Veneration

Answer 17

great respect; reverence.

“the traditional veneration of saints”

Question 18

Pertinacious

Answer 18

adjectiveformal
holding firmly to an opinion or a course of action.
“he worked with a pertinacious resistance to interruptions”
synonyms: determined, tenacious, persistent, persevering, purposeful, resolute, dogged, indefatigable, insistent, single-minded, unrelenting, relentless, tireless, unshakable;

Question 19

Credulous

Answer 19

cred·u·lous

adjective
having or showing too great a readiness to believe things.
synonyms: gullible, naive, too trusting, easily taken in, impressionable, unsuspecting, unsuspicious, unwary, unquestioning; More

Question 20

Rapacious

Answer 20

adjective
aggressively greedy or grasping.
“rapacious landlords”
synonyms: grasping, greedy, avaricious, acquisitive, covetous;

Question 21

Astute

Answer 21

having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people and turn this to one’s advantage.
“an astute businessman”
synonyms: shrewd, sharp, acute, adroit, quick, clever, crafty, intelligent, bright, smart, canny, intuitive, perceptive, insightful, incisive, sagacious, wise;

Question 22

Scrupulous

Answer 22

(of a person or process) diligent, thorough, and extremely attentive to details.
“the research has been carried out with scrupulous attention to detail”
synonyms: careful, meticulous, painstaking, thorough, assiduous, sedulous, attentive, conscientious, punctilious, searching, close, minute, rigorous, particular, strict
“scrupulous attention to detail”
very concerned to avoid doing wrong.
“she’s too scrupulous to have an affair with a married man”
synonyms: honest, honorable, upright, upstanding, high-minded, right-minded, moral, ethical, good, virtuous, principled, incorruptible
“a scrupulous man”

Question 23

Specious

Answer 23

superficially plausible, but actually wrong.
“a specious argument”
misleading in appearance, especially misleadingly attractive.
“the music trade gives Golden Oldies a specious appearance of novelty”
synonyms: misleading, deceptive, false, fallacious, unsound, spurious, casuistic, sophistic
“specious reasoning”

Question 24

Unsound

Answer 24

not safe or robust; in poor condition.
“the tower is structurally unsound”
synonyms: weak, rickety, flimsy, wobbly, unstable, crumbling, damaged, rotten, ramshackle, shoddy, insubstantial, unsafe, dangerous
“structurally unsound”
not based on sound evidence or reasoning and therefore unreliable or unacceptable.
“unsafe and unsound banking practices”
synonyms: untenable, flawed, defective, faulty, ill-founded, flimsy, unreliable, questionable, dubious, tenuous, suspect, fallacious, fallible; informaliffy
“this plan appears unsound”
(of a person) not competent, reliable, or holding acceptable views.