Magoosh Basic - VII

Question 1

snub

Answer 1

verb: refuse to acknowledge; reject outright and bluntly

Wheeler was completely qualified for the committee, but the board snubbed him, choosing an obviously lesser qualified candidate instead.

Question 2

debunk

Answer 2

verb: expose as false ideas and claims, especially while ridiculing

Richard Dawkins tries to debunk religious belief, but his ridicule tends to push people away from his points rather than convince them.

Question 2

staid

Answer 2

adjective: serious, boring, and slightly old-fashioned:

Frank came from a staid environment, so he was shocked that his college roommate sold narcotics.

Question 3

constraint

Answer 3

noun: something that limits or restricts

We don’t have many resources, so we’ll have to work with some very tight constraints.

Question 4

besiege

Answer 4

verb: overwhelm or flood

After discovering a priceless artifact in her backyard, Jane was besieged by phone calls, emails, and reporters all trying to buy, hold or see the rare piece of history.

verb: If soldiers besiege a place, they surround it and wait for the people in it to stop fighting or resisting.

The main part of the army moved to Sevastopol to besiege the town.

Question 5

miscreant

Answer 5

noun: a person who breaks the law

“Come back you miscreant!” yelled the woman who just had her purse stolen.

Question 6

malodorous

Answer 6

adjective: having an unpleasant smell

Some thermally active fountains spew sulfur fumes–the air around them is sometimes so malodorous that many have to plug their noses.

Question 6

cumbersome

Answer 6

adjective: difficult to handle or use especially because of size or weight

Only ten years ago, being an avid reader and a traveler meant carrying a cumbersome backpack stuffed with books–these days we need only an e-reader.

Question 6

dilapidated

Answer 6

adjective: in terrible condition

The main house has been restored but the gazebo is still dilapidated and unusable.

Question 6

creditable

Answer 6

adjective: deserving praise, trust, or respect:

They turned out a quite creditable performance.

Question 6

perquisite

Answer 6

noun: perk (an advantage)

Even as the dishwasher at the French restaurant, Josh quickly learned that he had the perquisite of being able to eat terrific food for half the price diners would pay.

Question 7

balk

Answer 7

verb: refuse to comply

The students were willing to clean up the broken glass, but when the teacher asked them to mop the entire floor, they balked, citing reasons why they needed to leave.

Question 7

hamper

Answer 7

verb: prevent the progress or free movement of

As the rain water began to collect in pools on the highway, it began to hamper the flow of traffic.
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 7

enumerate

Answer 7

verb: determine the number or amount of

The survey enumerates the number of happy workers and the number of unhappy workers.

verb: specify individually, one by one

I sat and listened as she enumerated all of the things she did not like about the past three months.

Question 8

amply

Answer 8

adverb: in a way that is more than enough:

Your time and effort on this project will be amply compensated/rewarded.

Question 8

antiquated

Answer 8

adjective: old-fashioned; belonging to an earlier period in time

Aunt Betty had antiquated notions about marriage, believing that a man should court a woman for at least a year before receiving a kiss.

Question 8

obliging

Answer 8

adjective:(approving) willing or eager to help:

He found an obliging doctor who gave him the drugs he needed.

Question 9

inkling

Answer 9

noun: a slight suggestion or vague understanding

• Lynne speaks four Romance languages, but she doesn’t have an inkling about how East Asian languages are structured.
• He must have had some inkling of what was happening.

Question 10

complementary

Answer 10

adjective: useful or attractive together:

The head waiter was careful to tell the amateur diners that red wine was complementary with beef, each bringing out subtle taste notes in the other.

Question 10

carping

Answer 10

noun: the act of complaining all the time about matters that are not important:

example: It can be hard for a new leader to deal with carping from the sidelines.

adjective: A carping person complains all the time about matters that are not important:

example: We just ignore the carping critics and get on with the job.

Question 10

sordid

Answer 10

adjective: dirty and unpleasant:

example: There are lots of really sordid apartments in the city’s poorer areas.

adjective: morally wrong and shocking:

example: He told me he’d had an affair but he spared me the sordid details.

Question 11

laborious

Answer 11

adjective: needing a lot of time and effort:

The most laborious job I’ve had was working 20 hours a day as a fisherman in King Salmon, Alaska.

Question 11

excruciating

Answer 11

adjective: extremely painful

After the boulder rolled a couple of feet, pinning my friend’s arm, he experienced excruciating pain.

Question 12

evasive

Answer 12

adjective: evasive action is done to avoid something bad happening:

Drivers had to make sudden evasive maneuvers.

adjective: beat around the bush

example: he was speaking in evasive way

Question 12

colossal

Answer 12

adjective: so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe In the center of the hall stood a colossal wooden statue, decorated in ivory and gold.

Question 13

chivalrous

Answer 13

adjective: A chivalrous man is polite, honest, fair, and kind toward women: Medieval tales are full of stories of chivalry, in which a young knight must commit deeds of heroism to win the hand of a fair maiden.

Question 13

vie

Answer 13

verb: compete for something While the other teams in the division actively vie for the championship, this team seems content simply to go through the motions of playing.

Question 14

decimation

Answer 14

noun: the act of killing a something in large numbers, or reducing something severely: The decimation after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is incomprehensible.

Question 15

discreet

Answer 15

adjective: careful not to cause embarrassment or attract too much attention, especially by keeping something secret: The family made discreet inquiries about his background.

Question 16

inarticulate

Answer 16

adjective: unable to express feelings or ideas clearly, or expressed in a way that is difficult to understand: Although a brilliant economist, Professor Wilson was completely inarticulate, a terrible lecturer.

Question 16

compound

Answer 16

verb: make more intense, stronger, or more marked Her headache was compounded by the construction crew outside, which had six jackhammers going at the same time. This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 17

misogynist

Answer 17

noun: a person who dislikes women in particular Many have accused Hemingway of being a quiet misogynist, but recently unearthed letters argue against this belief.

Question 17

dispatch

Answer 17

noun: the act of sending someone or something somewhere: example: the dispatch of troops verb: to send something, especially goods or a message, somewhere for a particular purpose: example: Two loads of cloth were dispatched to the factory on December 12 .

Question 18

provisional

Answer 18

adjective: for the present time but likely to change: example: These dates are only provisional.

Question 18

vanquish

Answer 18

verb:to defeat an enemy or opponent, especially in war: For years, Argentina would dominate in World Cup qualifying matches, only to be vanquished by one of the European countries during the late stages of the tournament.

Question 19

champion

Answer 19

verb: to fight for a cause Martin Luther King Jr. championed civil rights fiercely throughout his short life. This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 20

boorish

Answer 20

adjective: rude and not considering other people's feelings: The boorish behavior of some tourists is embarrassing.

Question 21

stymie

Answer 21

verb: hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of The engineers found their plans stymied at every turn and were ultimately able to make almost no progress on the project.

Question 22

cosmopolitan

Answer 22

adjective: comprising many cultures; global in reach and outlook There are few cities in the world as diverse and cosmopolitan as New York.

Question 23

relegate

Answer 23

verb: assign to a lower position When Dexter was unable to fulfill his basic duties, instead of firing him, the boss relegated him to kitchen cleanup.

Question 24

resignation

Answer 24

noun: the acceptance of something unpleasant that can't be avoided Since Jack could not think of a convincing reason why he had to miss the seminar, he attended it with a sense of resignation. This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

Question 24

futile

Answer 24

adjective: (of actions) having no effect or achieving nothing: I thought I could repair the car myself, but after two days of work with no success, I have to admit that my efforts were futile.

Question 24

differentiate

Answer 24

verb: be a distinctive feature, attribute, or trait (sometimes in positive sense) Mozart's long melodic lines differentiate his compositions from other works of late 18th century music. verb: to make someone or something different: Animals on Madagascar differentiated from other similar animal species due to many years of isolation on the island.

Question 25

paradoxical

Answer 25

adjective: If something is paradoxical, it involves two facts or qualities which seem to contradict each other. That light could be both a particle and a wave seems paradoxical, but nonetheless, it is true.

Question 25

abysmal

Answer 25

adjective: extremely bad Coach Ramsey took his newest player off the field after watching a few painful minutes of her abysmal performance.

Question 26

convivial

Answer 26

adjective: pleasant and friendly in manner or attitude: The wedding reception was convivial; friends who hadn't seen each other for ages drank and ate together before heading to the dance floor.

Question 26

morph

Answer 26

verb: to gradually change, or change someone or something, from one thing to another: . When someone brings up politics at a party, a casual conversation can quickly morph into an ugly argument.

Question 26

deliberate

Answer 26

adjective: (often of something bad) intentional or planned: example: a deliberate attack/insult/lie adjective: A deliberate movement, action, or thought is done carefully without hurrying: From her slow, deliberate speech I guessed she must be drunk. verb: to think or talk seriously and carefully about something: example: The jury took five days to deliberate on the case.

Question 27

qualm

Answer 27

noun: an uncomfortable feeling when you doubt if you are doing the right thing: She had no qualms about lying to the police.

Question 28

aphorism

Answer 28

noun: a short instructive saying about a general truth Nietzsche was known for using aphorisms, sometimes encapsulating a complex philosophical thought in a mere sentence.