blue book #16

Question 1

grotesque

Answer 1

1.
odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre.

2.
fantastic in the shaping and combination of forms, as in decorative work combining incongruous human and animal figures with scrolls, foliage, etc.

Question 2

grovel

Answer 2

1.
to humble oneself or act in an abject manner, as in great fear or utter servility.

2.
to lie or crawl with the face downward and the body prostrate, especially in abject humility, fear, etc.

3.
to take pleasure in mean or base things.

Question 3

grueling

Answer 3

exhausting; very tiring; arduously severe; trying:

the grueling Boston marathon.

Question 4

gubernatorial

Answer 4

of or relating to a state governor or the office of state governor.

Question 5

guile

Answer 5

insidious cunning in attaining a goal; crafty or artful deception; duplicity.

Question 6

gullible

Answer 6

easily deceived or cheated.

Question 7

gustatory

Answer 7

of or relating to taste or tasting.

Question 8

hack

Answer 8

1.
a person, as an artist or writer, who exploits, for money, his or her creative ability or training in the production of dull, unimaginative, and trite work; one who produces banal and mediocre work in the hope of gaining commercial success in the arts:
As a painter, he was little more than a hack.

2.
a professional who renounces or surrenders individual independence, integrity, belief, etc., in return for money or other reward in the performance of a task normally thought of as involving a strong personal commitment:
a political hack.

Question 9

hackneyed

Answer 9

made commonplace or trite; stale; banal:

the hackneyed images of his poetry.

Question 10

hail

Answer 10

1.
to cheer, salute, or greet; welcome.

2.
to acclaim; approve enthusiastically:
The crowds hailed the conquerors. They hailed the recent advances in medicine.

3.
to call out to in order to stop, attract attention, ask aid, etc.:
to hail a cab.

4. to have as one’s place of birth or residence:
   Nearly everyone here hails from the Midwest.

5.
to fall or shower as hail:
Arrows hailed down on the troops as they advanced.

Question 11

hairsplitting

Answer 11

1.
the making of unnecessarily fine distinctions.

2.
characterized by such distinctions:
the hairsplitting arguments of a political debate.

Question 12

halcyon

Answer 12

1.
calm; peaceful; tranquil:
halcyon weather.

2.
rich; wealthy; prosperous:
halcyon times of peace.

3.
happy; joyful; carefree:
halcyon days of youth.

Question 13

hale

Answer 13

1.
free from disease or infirmity; robust; vigorous:
hale and hearty men in the prime of life.

2.
to compel (someone) to go:
to hale a man into court.

Question 14

hallowed

Answer 14

regarded as holy; venerated; sacred:

the hallowed saints; our hallowed political institutions.

Question 15

halting

Answer 15

1.
faltering or hesitating, especially in speech; starting and stopping.

2.
faulty or imperfect.

3.
limping or lame:
a halting gait.

Question 16

hamlet

Answer 16

a small village.

Question 17

hamper

Answer 17

1.
to hold back; hinder; impede:
A steady rain hampered the progress of the work.

2.
to interfere with; curtail:
The dancers’ movements were hampered by their elaborate costumes.

Question 18

haphazard

Answer 18

characterized by lack of order or planning, by irregularity, or by randomness; determined by or dependent on chance; aimless:
The absence of command means there is only haphazard combat coordination on the ground.

Question 19

hapless

Answer 19

unlucky; luckless; unfortunate.

Question 20

harangue

Answer 20

1.
a scolding or a long or intense verbal attack; diatribe.

2.
a long, passionate, and vehement speech, especially one delivered before a public gathering.

3.
any long, pompous speech or writing of a tediously hortatory or didactic nature; sermonizing lecture or discourse.

4.
to address in a harangue.

5.
to deliver a harangue.

Question 21

harbinger

Answer 21

1.
a person who goes ahead and makes known the approach of another; herald.

2.
something that foreshadows a future event; omen; sign:
Frost is a harbinger of winter.

Question 22

hardy

Answer 22

1.
capable of enduring fatigue, hardship, and exposure; sturdy and strong:
hardy explorers of northern Canada.

2.
requiring great physical courage, vigor, or endurance:
the hardiest sports.

3.
bold or daring; courageous:
hardy soldiers.

Question 23

harrow

Answer 23

1.
an agricultural implement with spikelike teeth or upright disks, drawn chiefly over plowed land to level it, break up clods, root up weeds, etc.

2.
to draw a harrow over land.

3.
to disturb keenly or painfully; distress the mind and feelings of.

Question 24

haughty

Answer 24

disdainfully proud; snobbish; scornfully arrogant; supercilious:
haughty aristocrats; a haughty salesclerk.

Question 25

headstrong

Answer 25

1. determined to have one’s own way; willful; stubborn; obstinate; recklessly insistent: a headstrong young man. 2. proceeding from or exhibiting willfulness: a headstrong course.

Question 26

heathen

Answer 26

1. an irreligious, uncultured, or uncivilized person. 2. of or relating to heathens; pagan.

Question 27

hectic

Answer 27

characterized by intense agitation, excitement, confused and rapid movement, etc.: The week before the trip was hectic and exhausting.

Question 28

hedonism

Answer 28

1. the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the highest good. 2. devotion to pleasure as a way of life: The later Roman emperors were notorious for their hedonism.

Question 29

heed

Answer 29

to give careful attention to; to have regard for: | He did not heed the warning.

Question 30

hegemony

Answer 30

1. leadership or predominant influence exercised by one nation over others, as in a confederation. 2. leadership; predominance. 3. especially among smaller nations, aggression or expansionism by large nations in an effort to achieve world domination.

Question 31

heinous

Answer 31

hateful; wicked; odious; abominable; totally reprehensible: | a heinous offense.

Question 32

heirloom

Answer 32

1. a family possession handed down from generation to generation. 2. being an old variety that is being cultivated again: heirloom vegetables and fruits.

Question 33

helter-skelter

Answer 33

1. in headlong and disorderly haste: The children ran helter-skelter all over the house. 2. in a haphazard manner; without regard for order: Clothes were scattered helter-skelter about the room. 3. carelessly hurried; confused: They ran in a mad, helter-skelter fashion for the exits. 4. disorderly; haphazard: Books and papers were scattered on the desk in a helter-skelter manner. 5. tumultuous disorder; confusion.

Question 34

hemorrhage

Answer 34

1. a profuse discharge of blood, as from a ruptured blood vessel; bleeding. 2. the loss of assets, especially in large amounts. 3. any widespread or uncontrolled loss or diffusion. 4. to bleed profusely. 5. to lose assets, especially in large amounts: a company that was hemorrhaging money.

Question 35

hereditary

Answer 35

1. passing, or capable of passing, naturally from parent to offspring through the genes: Blue eyes are hereditary in our family. 2. of or relating to inheritance; passed down: a hereditary title. 3. existing by reason of feeling, opinions, or prejudices held by predecessors: a hereditary enemy.

Question 36

heretic

Answer 36

1. a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church. 2. anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.

Question 37

hermetic

Answer 37

1. made airtight by fusion or sealing: There is a hermetic seal on the coffin. 2. not affected by outward influence or power; isolated: a hermetic regime; a fraternity of hermetic Benedictine monks.

Question 38

heterodox

Answer 38

1. not in accordance with established or accepted doctrines or opinions, especially in theology; unorthodox. 2. holding unorthodox doctrines or opinions.

Question 39

heterogeneous

Answer 39

1. different in kind; unlike; incongruous. 2. composed of parts of different kinds; having widely dissimilar elements or constituents: The party was attended by a heterogeneous group of artists, politicians, and social climbers. 3. composed of different substances or the same substance in different phases, as solid ice and liquid water.

Question 40

hew

Answer 40

1. to strike forcibly with an ax, sword, or other cutting instrument; chop; hack. 2. to make, shape, smooth, etc., with cutting blows: to hew a passage through the crowd; to hew a statue from marble. 3. to sever a part from a whole by means of cutting blows: to hew branches from the tree. 4. to uphold, follow closely, or conform: to hew to the tenets of one’s political party.

Question 41

hiatus

Answer 41

1. a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc. 2. a missing part; gap or lacuna: Scholars attempted to account for the hiatus in the medieval manuscript. 3. any gap or opening.

Question 42

hidebound

Answer 42

1. narrow and rigid in opinion; inflexible: a hidebound pedant. 2. oriented toward or confined to the past; extremely conservative: a hidebound philosopher. 3. (of a horse, cow, etc.) having the back and ribs bound tightly by the hide.

Question 43

hideous

Answer 43

1. horrible or frightful to the senses; repulsive; very ugly: a hideous monster. 2. shocking or revolting to the moral sense: a hideous crime. 3. distressing; appalling: the hideous expense of moving one’s home to another city.

Question 44

hierarchy

Answer 44

1. any system of persons or things ranked one above another. 2. an organized body of ecclesiastical officials in successive ranks or orders: the Roman Catholic hierarchy. 3. government by an elite group.

Question 45

hindsight

Answer 45

recognition of the realities, possibilities, or requirements of a situation, event, decision etc., after its occurrence.

Question 46

hinterland

Answer 46

the remote or less developed parts of a country; back country: The hinterlands are usually much more picturesque than the urban areas.

Question 47

hirsute

Answer 47

1. hairy; shaggy. 2. covered with long, rather stiff hairs. 3. of, relating to, or characteristic of hair.

Question 48

histrionic

Answer 48

1. deliberately affected or self-consciously emotional; overly dramatic, in behavior or speech. 2. of or relating to actors or acting.

Question 49

hoard

Answer 49

1. a supply or accumulation that is hidden or carefully guarded for preservation, future use, etc.: a vast hoard of silver. 2. to accumulate for preservation, future use, etc., in a hidden or carefully guarded place: to hoard food during a shortage.

Question 50

hoary

Answer 50

1. gray or white with age: an old dog with a hoary muzzle. 2. ancient or venerable: hoary myths. 3. tedious from familiarity; stale: Please don’t tell that hoary joke at dinner again tonight.

Question 51

hoax

Answer 51

1. something intended to deceive or defraud: The Piltdown man was a scientific hoax. 2. to deceive by a hoax; hoodwink.

Question 52

hobble

Answer 52

1. to walk lamely; limp. 2. to proceed irregularly and haltingly: His verses hobble with their faulty meters. 3. to cause to limp: His tight shoes hobbled him. 4. to fasten together the legs of (a horse, mule, etc.) by short lengths of rope to prevent free motion. 5. to impede; hamper the progress of.

Question 53

hodgepodge

Answer 53

a heterogeneous mixture; jumble.

Question 54

hoi polloi

Answer 54

(often derogatory) the common people; the masses.

Question 55

hokum

Answer 55

1. out-and-out nonsense. 2. elements of low comedy introduced into a play, novel, etc., for the laughs they may bring. 3. sentimental matter of an elementary or stereotyped kind introduced into a play or the like.

Question 56

holistic

Answer 56

1. incorporating the concept of holism, or the idea that the whole is more than merely the sum of its parts, in theory or practice: holistic psychology. 2. (medicine) identifying with principles of holism in a system of therapeutics, especially one considered outside the mainstream of scientific medicine, as naturopathy or chiropractic, and often involving nutritional measures: holistic medicine.

Question 57

holocaust

Answer 57

1. a great or complete devastation or destruction, especially by fire. 2. a sacrifice completely consumed by fire; burnt offering. 3. (initial capital letter) the systematic mass slaughter of European Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. 4. any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life.

Question 58

homage

Answer 58

1. respect or reverence paid or rendered: In his speech he paid homage to Washington and Jefferson. 2. something done or given in acknowledgment or consideration of the worth of another: a Festschrift presented as an homage to a great teacher.

Question 59

homely

Answer 59

1. lacking in physical attractiveness; not beautiful; unattractive: a homely child. 2. not having elegance, refinement, or cultivation. 3. proper or suited to the home or to ordinary domestic life; plain; unpretentious: homely food. 4. commonly seen or known.

Question 60

homogeneous

Answer 60

1. composed of parts or elements that are all of the same kind; not heterogeneous: a homogeneous population. 2. of the same kind or nature; essentially alike.

Question 61

hone

Answer 61

1. to sharpen: to hone a carving knife. 2. to make more acute or effective; improve; perfect: to hone one’s skills.

Question 62

hoodwink

Answer 62

to deceive or trick.

Question 63

horde

Answer 63

1. a large group, multitude, number, etc.; a mass or crowd: a horde of tourists. 2. any nomadic group. 3. a moving pack or swarm of animals: A horde of mosquitoes invaded the camp. 5. to gather in a horde: The prisoners horded together in the compound.

Question 64

hubris

Answer 64

excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.

Question 65

humane

Answer 65

1. characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals, especially for the suffering or distressed: humane treatment of prisoners; humane capture of stray pets. 2. of or relating to humanistic studies.

Question 66

humble

Answer 66

1. not proud or arrogant; modest: to be humble although successful. 2. having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, or subservience: In the presence of so many world-famous writers I felt very humble. 3. low in rank, importance, or status; lowly: of humble origin; a humble home. 4. courteously respectful: In my humble opinion you are wrong. 5. to lower in condition, importance, or dignity; abase. 6. to destroy the independence, power, or will of. 7. to make meek: to humble one’s heart.

Question 67

humbug

Answer 67

1. something intended to delude or deceive. 2. the quality of falseness or deception. 3. a person who is not what he or she claims or pretends to be; impostor. 4. something devoid of sense or meaning; nonsense: a humbug of technical jargon.

Question 68

humdrum

Answer 68

1. lacking variety; boring; dull: a humdrum existence. 2. humdrum character or routine; monotony. 3. monotonous or tedious talk.

Question 69

humility

Answer 69

the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc.

Question 70

humor

Answer 70

1. mental disposition or temperament. 2. to comply with the humor or mood of in order to soothe or make content or more agreeable: to humor a crying child.

Question 71

husband

Answer 71

1. to manage, especially with prudent economy. 2. to use frugally; conserve: to husband one’s resources.

Question 72

hutch

Answer 72

1. a pen or enclosed coop for small animals: rabbit hutch. 2. a chest, cupboard, bin, etc., for storage.

Question 73

hydrate

Answer 73

``` 1. any of a class of compounds containing chemically combined water. ``` 2. to combine chemically with water; to supply water to.

Question 74

hygiene

Answer 74

1. (a.k.a. hygienics) the science that deals with the preservation of health. 2. a condition or practice conducive to the preservation of health, as cleanliness.

Question 75

hyperbole

Answer 75

1. obvious and intentional exaggeration. 2. an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an eternity.”

Question 76

hyperventilate

Answer 76

to breathe abnormally fast and deep, resulting in decreased carbon dioxide levels and increased oxygen levels that produce faintness, tingling of the fingers and toes, and, if continued, alkalosis and loss of consciousness.

Question 77

hypochondria

Answer 77

1. (psychiatry) chronic abnormal anxiety concerning the state of one’s health, even in the absence of any evidence of disease on medical examination. 2. excessive worry or talk about one’s health.

Question 78

hypothermia

Answer 78

1. subnormal body temperature. 2. (medicine) the artificial reduction of body temperature to slow metabolic processes, as for facilitating heart surgery.

Question 79

hypothetical

Answer 79

1. theoretical; suppositional; speculative. 2. existing only as an idea or concept: a time machine is a hypothetical device.

Question 80

icon

Answer 80

1. a picture, image, or other representation. 2. a representation of some sacred personage, as Christ or a saint or angel, painted usually on a wood surface and venerated itself as sacred. 3. a sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it: an icon of womanhood. 4. a person or thing that is revered or idolized: Elvis Presley is a cultural icon of the 20th century.

Question 81

iconoclast

Answer 81

1. a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition. 2. a breaker or destroyer of images, especially those set up for religious veneration.

Question 82

idealism

Answer 82

the cherishing or pursuit of high or noble principles, purposes, or goals: Idealism about the transformative power of writing is at the heart of the festival.

Question 83

ideologue

Answer 83

a person who zealously advocates an ideology.

Question 84

ideology

Answer 84

1. the body of doctrine, myth, belief, etc., that guides an individual, social movement, institution, class, or large group. 2. such a body of doctrine, myth, etc., with reference to some political and social plan, as that of fascism, along with the devices for putting it into operation. 3. theorizing of a visionary or impractical nature.

Question 85

idiomatic

Answer 85

1. peculiar to or characteristic of a particular language or dialect: idiomatic French. 2. containing or using many idioms. 3. having a distinct style or character, especially in the arts: idiomatic writing; an idiomatic composer.

Question 86

idiosyncrasy

Answer 86

a characteristic, habit, mannerism, or the like, that is peculiar to an individual.