Level 4

Question 1

1.PROVIDENT (PRAH-vi-dint)

Answer 1

Thrifty, economical, saving or providing for future needs. Synonyms: prudent (Level l, Word 47), frugal (Level 2, Word 35). Related word: provide.

Question 2

2. IMPUTE (im-PYOOT)

Answer 2

To charge or attribute, especially with a fault or misconduct, lay the responsibility or blame upon, ascribe, assign. Usage tip: The verb to credit has a favorable connotation. The verbs to assign and to ascribe are neutral. The verb to impute often has a negative connotation: “We usually ascribe good, but impute evil” (Samuel Johnson). Corresponding noun: imputation, a charge or accusation.

Question 3

3. ASTUTE (uh-ST(Y)OOT)

Answer 3

Shrewd, clever, perceptive, discerning, acute, keenly aware, quick-witted. Synonyms: sagacious, perspicacious, sapient (SAY-pee-int).

Question 4

4. NEOPHYTE (NEE-uh-fyt)

Answer 4

A beginner, novice, amateur, tyro; specifically, a new member of or convert to a religion. N.B. This discussion distinguishes the words tyro, amateur, dilettante, novice, and neophyte.

Question 5

5. ENIGMA (i-NIG-muh)

Answer 5

A mystery, puzzle, riddle; perplexing problem; something or someone hard to understand or explain; anything baffling, inexplicable, or inscrutable.

Question 6

6. CREDENCE (KREE-dins)

Answer 6

Belief, acceptance, especially belief in a published report or acceptance of another’s opinion or testimony. Related words: credence, creed, credible, and credulous all come from the Latin credere, to believe. Usage tip: Credence is often used with the verbs to give or lend.

Question 7

7. VENERATE (VEN-uh-rayt)

Answer 7

To respect deeply, revere, regard with awe and adoration. Corresponding adjective: venerable, worthy of veneration, of being venerated. Venerable is often used of something or someone old or long-established.

Question 8

8. GARRULOUS (GAR-uh-lus, also GAR-yuh-lus)

Answer 8

Talkative, especially in a rambling, annoying, pointless, or long-winded way. Synonyms: verbose (Level 2, Word 30), loquacious, voluble (Level 5, Word 1), and prolix (Level 9, Word 1). Antonyms: reserved, reticent, taciturn (Level 3, Word 2), laconic (Level 3, Word 18).

Question 9

9. TRENCHANT (TREN-chent)

Answer 9

Keen, penetrating, vigorously effective, sharp and to the point. Synonyms: forceful, acute, incisive.

Question 10

10. AUTONOMOUS (aw-TAHN-uh-mus)

Answer 10

Independent, self-governing, not under the control of something or someone else. Related words: autocracy, rule by one self or one personhence, dictatorship, tyranny, despotism.

Question 11

11. PANACEA (PAN-uh-SEE-uh)

Answer 11

A cure-all, universal antidote, remedy for all diseases and difficulties. This prefix appears in front of a number of useful English words, including panorama, pantheism, and pantheon.

Question 12

12. EPHEMERAL (e-FEM-ur-ul)

Answer 12

Short-lived, passing, fleeting, lasting for a short time. Synonyms: transitory, evanescent, fugitive, fugacious. For more on these words, review the discussion of transient (Level 2, Word 31). Usage tip: The common expression “daily journal” is redundant, for by derivation journal (from the French jour, day) means something written or published each day.

Question 13

13. ONEROUS (AHN-ur-us)

Answer 13

Burdensome, troublesome, oppressive, hard to bear, difficult to accomplish or endure. Related word: onus (OH-nus, rhymes with bonus), a burden, obligation, especially a disagreeable responsibility.

Question 14

14. LAITY (LAY-i-tee)

Answer 14

Nonprofessionals, laypeople collectively, all the people outside of a given profession or specialized field; specifically, all who do not belong to the clergy, religious worshipers in general. Corresponding adjective: lay, nonprofessional, not belonging to a particular profession; specifically, not a member of the clergy.

Question 15

15. PUNGENT (PUN-jint)

Answer 15

Sharp, penetrating, biting, acrid, caustic. Pungent may refer to that which is sharp to the sense of taste or smell or to that which penetrates the mind or emotions.

Question 16

16. PROSAIC (proh-ZAY-ik)

Answer 16

Dull, ordinary, uninteresting, unimaginative. Synonyms: commonplace, humdrum, tedious, dry, stale, mediocre, matter-of-fact, insipid, pedestrian, vapid, jejune (Level 10, Word 1).

Question 17

17. CHARLATAN (SHAR-luh-tinA)

Answer 17

fake, quack, impostor, fraud, humbug; specifically, a person who pretends to have a special skill or knowledge. N.B. This discussion distinguishes the words charlatan and mountebank, which are close in meaning.

Question 18

18. PERFUNCTORY (pur-FUNGK-tuh-ree)

Answer 18

Mechanical, routine, listless; done merely as a duty; performed in an indifferent, halfhearted, superficial, and often careless way, without interest or enthusiasm.

Question 19

19. MORASS (muh-RAS or maw-RAS)

Answer 19

Literally, a swamp, marsh, bog; figuratively, some-thing that traps, confines, or confuses, a sticky situation or troublesome state of affairs.

Question 20

20. SOPHISTRY (SAH-fis-tree)

Answer 20

Deceptive reasoning, subtle and misleading argument. Related word: sophisticated. Corresponding adjective: sophistic or sophistical

Question 21

Useful word: lexicographer (LEKS-i-KAHG-ruh-fur)

Answer 21

a person who writes or edits a dictionary.

Question 22

21. PROLIFIC (proh-LIF-ik)

Answer 22

Fruitful, fertile, productive. Antonyms: unproductive, barren, sterile, impotent, effete.

Question 23

22. MUNDANE (muhn-DAYN)

Answer 23

Of the world, worldly, earthly, material as distinguished from spiritual. Synonyms: terrestrial, temporal, secular, sublunary (suhb-LOO-nuh-ree). Antonyms: lofty, heavenly, sublime, celestial, ethereal, extraterrestrial. Usage tip: Some usage experts object to the use of mundane as a synonym of ordinary, humdrum, commonplace, banal, unimaginative, and prosaic. In strict usage, mundane is reserved for things that are worldly as opposed to heavenly, material as opposed to spiritual, secular as opposed to religious.

Question 24

23. MYRIAD (MIR-ee-id)

Answer 24

Countless, innumerable, infinite, consisting of a great or indefinite number. Corresponding noun: myriad, a great or indefinite number.

Question 25

24. DISSIDENT (DIS-uh-dint)

Answer 25

Disagreeing, disaffected, dissenting, nonconformist. Corresponding noun: dissident, a person who disagrees with a prevailing opinion, method, or doctrine.

Question 26

25. LAUDABLE (LAW-duh-buul)

Answer 26

Praiseworthy, commendable, worthy of approval or admiration. Synonyms: meritorious, estimable. Antonyms: contemptible, deplorable, ignominious. Corresponding verb: laud, to praise, commend, extol (ek-STOHL).

Question 27

26. INIMITABLE (in-IM-i-tuh-buul)

Answer 27

Unable to be imitated, copied, or reproduced; beyond compare. Synonyms: matchless, unrivaled, peerless, unparalleled, surpassing. Etymology tip: The prefix in- often means "in" or "into," as in the words inhale, to breathe in; ingrain, to rub in, fix in the mind; and ingress, the way in, the entrance.

Question 28

27. JADED (JAY-did)

Answer 28

Worn out, tired, fatigued, weary, exhausted. Related words and usage tip: One meaning of the noun jade is a worn-out or brokendown horse, a nag. The verb to jade means to be or become like a worn-out or brokendown horse. The adjective jaded means like that broken-down horse; specifically, worn out from overwork or overindulgence.

Question 29

28. MYOPIC (my-AHP-ik)

Answer 29

Short-sighted; not able to see the long-range picture; having a narrow or circumscribed view; lacking discernment, foresight, or perspective. Synonyms: narrowminded, purblind, obtuse. N.B. This discussion distinguishes the adjectives purblind, obtuse, and myopic. Antonyms: broadminded, liberal, tolerant, catholic, latitudinarian Corresponding noun: myopia (my-OH-pee-uh), nearsightedness.

Question 30

29. DEMONSTRABLE (di-MAHN-struh-buul)

Answer 30

(1) Capable of being demonstrated, able to be proved. (2) Obvious, apparent, self-evident. Corresponding verb: demonstrate.

Question 31

30. CALLOW (KAL-oh)

Answer 31

Immature, inexperienced, unsophisticated, green, naive, lacking experience in and knowledge of the world. N.B. Callow was formerly used of very young birds to mean without feathers, unfledged. Today callow and the word fledgling are used of persons, behavior, or things that are immature or inexperienced. A fledgling is a young bird that has just acquired its feathers and is learning to fly. From that original sense fledgling has come to refer either to a young and inexperienced person or to some thing that is just getting off the ground, as a fledgling enterprise. Callow suggests an immaturity or inexperience manifested by a lack of sophistication. Because callow means immature, it sometimes also suggests childishness or foolishness. Synonyms of callow in this unfavorable sense include juvenile, sophomoric, and puerile (PYOOR-ul or PYOO-ur-ul).

Question 32

31. ACQUIESCE (ak-wee-ES)

Answer 32

To agree without protest, accept without argument or resistance, give in quietly. Synonyms: consent, comply, submit, assent, accede. N.B. This discussion distinguishes the verbs to assent, accede, and acquiesce. Corresponding noun: acquiescence (AK-wee-ES-ins), passive agreement, quiet acceptance. Usage tip: Acquiesce is sometimes followed by the preposition in, as to acquiesce in a decision.

Question 33

32. PONTIFICATE (pahn-TIF-i-kayt)

Answer 33

To speak in a pompous and overbearing way; make pretentious or categorical statements; express one's opinion as though it were an official, authoritative decree. Corresponding noun: pontification (pahn-TIF-iKAY-shin). Related words: pontiff, the Roman Catholic pope, also known as the Bishop of Rome. The pontiff issues official decrees on church doctrine called papal bulls. To these decrees the pontiff affixes a seal called a bulla (BUUL-uh). Additional useful word: dogmatic (dawg-MATik), means opinionated, dictatorial, expressing an opinion as if it were fact.

Question 34

33. DELETERIOUS (DEL-i-TEER-ee-us)

Answer 34

Harmful, destructive, injurious, detrimental; especially, harmful to health or well-being. Synonyms: ruinous, noxious, pernicious, malignant. Antonyms: healthful, advantageous, wholesome, salutary (SAL-yuh-ter-ee).

Question 35

34. AMBIVALENT

Answer 35

Uncertain, indecisive; having conflicting feelings or desires; simultaneously drawn in opposite directions; attracted to and repulsed by something at the same time. Corresponding noun: ambivalence, a state of uncertainty or indecisiveness. Etymology tip and related words: One meaning of the combining form ambi- is "both," as in the words ambidextrous, skilled with both hands, and ambivert, a person who is both introverted, innerdirected, and extroverted, outer-directed.

Question 36

35. PENSIVE (rhymes with intensive)

Answer 36

Thoughtful, absorbed in thought, especially in a deep, dreamy, or melancholy way. Synonyms: reflective, meditative, wistful, contemplative (kuhn-TEM-pluh-tiv). N.B. This discussion distinguishes the words pensive, contemplative, and wistful. When you are pensive, you are thinking deeply about something, pondering it, weighing it in your mind. Corresponding noun: pensiveness.

Question 37

36. IMPROMPTU (im-PRAHMP-t(y)oo)

Answer 37

Made up or done on the spur of the moment, uttered or performed without preparation, improvised for the occasion. Synonyms: offhand, spontaneous, extemporaneous (see extemporize, Level 3, Word 15). Usage: Impromptu may apply either to spontaneous expression or activity: an impromptu speech; an impromptu party

Question 38

37. CONJECTURE (kuhn-JEK-chur)

Answer 38

To guess; especially, to make an educated guess; to form an opinion or make a judgment based on insufficient evidence. Synonyms: suppose, imagine, suspect, presume. N.B. This discussion distinguishes the verbs to guess, speculate, surmise, and conjecture, all of which mean to form an opinion or reach a conclusion based upon uncertain or insufficient evidence. Corresponding noun: conjecture, an educated guess, an assumption or conclusion based on insufficient evidence.

Question 39

38. SURREPTITIOUS (SUH- or SUR-rip-TISH-us)

Answer 39

Stealthy; characterized by secrecy and caution; done, made, obtained, or enjoyed in a secret and often sly or shifty manner, so as to avoid notice. Synonyms: crafty, furtive, covert, underhand, clandestine (Level 2, Word 6). N.B. This discussion distinguishes the adjectives stealthy, furtive, clandestine, covert, and surreptitious, all of which mean secret, hidden from the knowledge or view of others. Antonyms: evident, unconcealed, overt, aboveboard, manifest. Etymology and usage: Surreptitious comes from the Latin verb surripere, to snatch, pilfer, take away or withdraw secretly.

Question 40

39. EXEMPLARY (eg-ZEM-pluh-ree)

Answer 40

Worthy of imitation, praiseworthy, commendable, serving as a model of excellence, appropriateness, or correctness. Synonyms: ideal, admirable, meritorious, estimable, laudable (Level 4, Word 25). Antonyms: shameful, disreputable, contemptible, deplorable, ignominious, odious, heinous (HAY-nus).

Question 41

40. IMPECCABLE (im-PEK-uh-buul)

Answer 41

(1) Perfect, faultless, flawless; free from faults or imperfections. (2) Unable to do wrong, incapable of sin. Synonyms: unimpeachable, irreproachable. Antonyms: reprehensible, censurable, culpable. N.B. This discussion distinguishes the words impeccable, immaculate, and infallible. N.B. When the prefix in- is attached to a word beginning with the letter B, P, or M, the N changes to an M: imbalanced means not balanced; impossible means not possible; and immutable means not mutable, not changeable, fixed. When the prefix inappears before a word beginning with L or R, the N changes to an L or an R: illogical means not logical; irreproachable means not reproachable, without fault or blame.

Question 42

Additional useful words: fallible (FAL-i-buul)

Answer 42

capable of error or likely to be wrong; macula (MAK-yuh-luh), a spot or stain, specifically a blemish on the skin or a sunspot; maculate (MAKyuh-lit), stained, blemished, impure, corrupt; peccadillo (PEK-uh-DILoh), a small sin, minor fault or flaw; peccant (PEK-int), guilty, sinful, culpable; and peccable (PEK-uh-buul), liable to sin or do wrong.

Question 43

41. ATTEST (uh-TEST)

Answer 43

(1) To affirm to be true, genuine, or correct; certify or authenticate officially; stand as proof or evidence of. (2) To bear witness to, give testimony.

Question 44

42. COPIOUS (KOH-pee-us)

Answer 44

Abundant, plentiful, large in amount or number. Synonyms: ample, bountiful, profuse. Antonyms: scanty, meager, sparse, paltry.

Question 45

43. FALLACIOUS (fuh-LAY-shus)

Answer 45

False, misleading, deceptive, invalid, based on a fallacy. Synonyms: erroneous, spurious, untenable, illusory, sophistical. Related words: A fallacy is a false or misleading idea or statement, an argument that violates the laws of reasoning. Sophistry (Level 4, Word 20) refers to reasoning that deliberately uses fallacies (misleading arguments) to confuse or deceive.

Question 46

44. STOIC (STOH-ik)

Answer 46

Showing no feelings, unemotional, unaffected by pleasure or pain, bearing pain or suffering without complaint. Synonyms: impassive, dispassionate, indifferent, apathetic, placid, languid, phlegmatic, imperturbable. Antonyms: ardent, vehement, zealous, fervid, fervent (Level 3, Word 24). Corresponding noun: stoicism, indifference to pleasure or pain.

Question 47

45. RECRIMINATION (ri-KRIM-i-NAY-shin)

Answer 47

A countercharge or counter accusation. Corresponding noun: recriminate, to bring a countercharge against, denounce in return. Corresponding adjective: recriminative or recriminatory.

Question 48

46. AFFINITY (uh-FIN-i-tee)

Answer 48

(1) Close resemblance or relationship; a strong likeness, similarity, or connection. Synonyms: kinship, correspondence, compatibility, consanguinity. (2) A natural attraction to, or liking for, a person or thing. Synonyms: penchant (Level 3, Word 9), propensity, proclivity.

Question 49

47. VOLATILE (VAHL-uh-tuul)

Answer 49

(1) Changeable, unstable, inconstant, likely to change or shift rapidly and unpredictably. Synonyms: fickle, flighty, capricious (Level 1, Word 11), erratic, protean, mercurial. Antonyms: stable, fixed, steadfast, invariable, immutable, quiescent (Level 3, Word 22). N.B. The word may also mean: (a) evaporating quickly, easily vaporized; (b) fleeting, vanishing swiftly, transient, ephemeral; (c) lighthearted, lively and carefree, whimsical, prone to flights of fancy; (d) explosive, likely to erupt into violence. Volant means flying, able to fly, or quick, nimble, agile. Corresponding noun: volatility.

Question 50

48. SQUALID (SKWAH-lid)

Answer 50

Dirty and run-down as a result of poverty or neglect, foul or filthy from lack of care, wretched, miserable, degraded. Synonyms: seedy, unkempt, dilapidated, slovenly (see also abject, Level 5, Word 50). Antonyms: unsullied, immaculate, pristine. Corresponding noun: squalor, filthiness, foulness, degradation; a wretched, miserable condition resulting from poverty or neglect. N.B. This discussion distinguishes between the adjectives squalid and sordid.

Question 51

49. EXPEDITE (EKS-puh-dyt)

Answer 51

To speed up, hasten, facilitate, accelerate the progress of, handle or perform quickly and efficiently. Antonyms: delay, postpone, hinder, retard, slacken, protract (Level 3, Word 25).

Question 52

50. ABJECT (AB-jekt or ab-JEKT)

Answer 52

Degraded, brought low in condition or status; hence, lacking self-respect, contemptible, wretched. Synonyms: debased, despicable, ignoble, groveling, servile, squalid (Level 4, Word 48). Antonyms: noble, dignified, lofty, majestic, eminent, illustrious. Corresponding noun: abjection, a degraded, wretched, contemptible state.