majortests_gre_-_vocab_20141126180426-1

Question 1

Metaphorically

Answer 1

Metaphoricallysymbolically; figuratively

Question 2

Conventional

Answer 2

Conventionalusual; customary; commonConventional is an adjective for things that are normal, ordinary, and following the accepted way. Ho-hum.This word describes what is typical and ordinary and that which follows accepted standards of behavior or taste. This is a word that’s current definition is still very similar to its Latin root, conventionalis, which is “pertaining to an agreement.” One way this word is used is with respect to conventional weapons, as in those “not using, making, or involving nuclear weapons or energy; nonnuclear.”

Question 3

Titter

Answer 3

Tittergiggle quietlyA titter is an awkward laugh at something that you shouldn’t be laughing at, like during dinner when Uncle Marvin makes a joke about your mother’s new hairstyle. If you try to hide your laugh, it’s probably a titter.A laugh that you can’t keep in but also can’t let out, that’s a titter. It usually happens in situations where you shouldn’t be laughing, like listening to your English teacher talk about a date he went on the night before, or when someone tells you a joke in a library. A titter is kinder than a snicker, less noticeable than a giggle, quieter than a chuckle, and way less fun than a chortle. Life’s a joke, laugh it up!

Question 4

Instigate

Answer 4

Instigateto start; provokeWhen you instigate something, you start it, but the word carries conflict with it. If you are suspended for wearing a political t-shirt, the incident might instigate days of protest by students and faculty.Instigate comes from the Latin word instigare “to incite.” People who are instigators often begin trouble but then back off and let others break the rules. If you instigate a food fight in the cafeteria, you might throw the first spoonful of mashed potatoes, but then you stop and let all the other students carry on the chaos. When something is instigated, the outcome tends to be unknown. The plan you instigate might not lead to the desired result.

Question 5

Whet

Answer 5

WhetsharpenTo whet is to sharpen. You could whet a knife’s blade with a whetting stone, or you could whet your appetite by having some Doritos.The verb whet can mean “to stimulate or make more acute,” and the word is often used in the phrase “whet [your] appetite,” which can be used literally or figuratively. You could serve light appetizers to whet everyone’s appetite for dinner or you could whet an actor’s appetite by giving him a small role that inspires him for greater roles. You can whet other things in this sense as well — such as curiosity, fear, or pleasure.

Question 6

Ambiguity

Answer 6

Ambiguityuncertainty; vaguenessSomething with ambiguity is unclear. Think about the sentence, “Jill saw the man with binoculars.” If you are wondering whether Jill or the man had the binoculars, you are noticing the ambiguity, or the double meaning, of this sentence.Lawyers word contracts to avoid ambiguity, but in doing so prevent anyone who is not a lawyer from understanding what they have written! If you can’t choose between two decisions because both seem somehow wrong, you are dealing with moral ambiguity. Imagine if a friend who has helped you out many times asks you to cheat. It’s wrong to cheat but it also seems wrong not to help someone who has been there for you.

Question 7

Mire

Answer 7

Mireswamp; muddy groundA mire is mushy ground like quicksand, so if you feel yourself trapped in a sticky situation, consider yourself mired. One gets mired IN something — like in a dispute or in a love triangle.Mire still has its original, though less-used, sense of a slushy, muddy bit of land that gives way underfoot, also known as a quagmire. One of the most famous mires in literary history was the one haunted by the Hound of the Baskervilles in Conan Doyle’s classic. Have the fibs you told your beloved come back to haunt you? You’re stuck in a mire then, a treacherous situation it’s going to be pretty hard to squirm out of.

Question 8

Anecdote

Answer 8

Anecdotea brief amusing storyA short, amusing true story is an anecdote. You might come back from a crazy spring break with a lot of anecdotes to tell.The roots of anecdote lie in the Greek word anekdota, meaning “unpublished.” The word’s original sense in English was “secret or private stories” — tales not fit for print, so to speak. It can still have connotations of unreliability, as in the phrase “anecdotal information.” But the most common sense today is that of “a funny story about something that happened.”

Question 9

Clairvoyant

Answer 9

Clairvoyantpsychic; mysticIf you can predict the future, you may want to keep your clairvoyant powers to yourself. Otherwise everyone will be knocking down your door asking for the next winning lotto numbers.A clairvoyant individual is believed to possess psychic abilities or a higher level of insight than other humans who can only use the regular old five senses. Through dreams, visions, Ouija boards and crystal balls, they can see what happens in the future. But before 1851, clairvoyant didn’t have the same mystical meaning that it does today — it merely meant a “clear-sighted person.”

Question 10

Conspicuous

Answer 10

Conspicuouseasily seen; prominentKeep your eye on the adjective conspicuous for something that stands out so much you notice it right away — like that zit in the center of your friend’s forehead.Conspicuous is the adjectival form of the Latin verb, conspicere, meaning “to look at.” Conspicuous can mean either very obvious to the eye (like something that is conspicuous from a distance) or attracting attention (like conspicuous consumption). If you are doing something wrong, it’s wise not to be conspicuous about it!

Question 11

Circumvent

Answer 11

CircumventavoidTo circumvent is to avoid. Someone who trains elephants but somehow gets out of picking up after them has found a way to circumvent the cleaning of the circus tent.Circum in Latin means “around” or “round about,” and vent- comes from venire, “to come,” but painting a picture from these two parts of the word helps. Picture someone circling around a barrier instead of climbing over it. That’s what you do when you circumvent. You find a smart way around rules or barriers, or avoid doing something unpleasant altogether.

Question 12

Strut

Answer 12

Strutswagger; show offWhen you strut, you walk with a proud swagger that has a little arrogance thrown in, like the prance of a running back who has just flown past the 250-pound linebackers and planted the ball in the end zone.You can’t strut and be shy about it — when you strut, you know people are watching you. The big boss in a gangster film, a model on the runway, and the rap artist whose album has just gone platinum all know how to strut. The noun form of strut has a little less flash and refers to a vertical or horizontal support that holds something up, like the long steel bars holding up a building.

Question 13

Regale

Answer 13

RegaleentertainYou may have heard it said that the fastest way to a person’s heart is through his stomach. So, if you need to please or impress someone, regale them — that is, treat them to lavish food and drink.While food is reliable way to regale someone, regale can also involve providing forms of entertainment such as music or storytelling. Regale is akin to the word gala, meaning “a festive party,” and gallant, which can mean “spirited and adventurous” (though gallant can also mean “noble and brave”). If you regale someone with a gala attended by partygoers who are gallant, in either sense of the word, everyone should have a pretty good time.

Question 14

Novel

Answer 14

Novelnew; unusualIf something is so new and original that it’s never been seen, used or even thought of before, call it novel.New and novel come from the same Indo-European source but by different paths. Whereas new is a Germanic word coming from Old English, novel is based on Latin novellus “new, young, fresh.” If something is novel, it is new but also original, fresh and unique. Companies are always looking for that novel idea that will earn them millions and skydiving is a novel experience, especially if you’re not adventurous.

Question 15

Hallowed

Answer 15

Hallowedworshipped; consecratedThe adjective hallowed is used to describe something that is sacred and revered, usually something old and steeped in tradition.The word hallowed often has a religious connotation, but it can also be used playfully to convey a sense of reverence about something that isn’t religious in nature but that nonetheless inspires worship. A football fan, for example, may talk about the hallowed tradition of tailgating on a game day Saturday, or an avid shopper may describe the hallowed grounds of the Macy’s shoe department. In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln used the word with its more traditional sense to ponder man’s inability to show the proper reverence to those men who died in battle: “But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate…we cannot consecrate…we cannot hallow…this ground.”

Question 16

Precedent

Answer 16

Precedenta previous occurrence used as a guideA precedent is something that sets a standard for future events. It’s hard to say what the legal community would do without the word precedent, since so many legal judgments and decisions are based on what came before.Lawyers and judges often look for a precedent can be used as a guide for a similar case. This word is used elsewhere too. Your mom might not let you stay up late because it would set a bad precedent for future bedtimes. A teacher who lets kids chew gum is setting a precedent that gum-chewing will be OK in the future. People often refer to a precedent later on as a reference point for how things should be.

Question 17

Furrow

Answer 17

FurrowgrooveA furrow is a groove or a depression. Originally, furrows were created in soil for water to flow. Now, its most common meaning is of a deep line or wrinkle on the face, as in a “furrowed brow.”Furrow is related to the old English word farrow, meaning “to root like a swine,” which makes sense, seeing as both acts create trenches in the earth. Sometimes a furrow simply means the impression left by a cart wheel or tire track in the mud. In a non-agricultural sense, a furrow is also simply a slight groove or depression or series of indentations in the surface of any object.

Question 18

Pious

Answer 18

Piousvery religiousIf someone is deeply religious and visibly follows all the moral and ethical codes of his religion, he is pious. Don’t become a priest if you’re not prepared to live a pious life.Pious comes from the Latin pius, which means dutiful. It doesn’t always have to be used to talk about organized religion. If someone believes deeply in something, and lets everyone see it through their behavior, then they are pious, whether they’re pious Christians or pious environmentalists. It differs from its synonym devout, which implies deep religious sentiment, whereas pious emphasizes the public display of feeling.

Question 19

Serrated

Answer 19

Serratedjagged; saw-likeA serrated edge is jagged. When a knife is described as having a serrated blade, its edge is lined with small teeth, similar to a saw’s. It will cut tomatoes, bread, and meat more effectively than a smooth-edged blade.The adjective serrated comes from the Latin word serratus, meaning “notched like a saw.” Most often, it is swords and knives that are described as serrated, but some leaves, like those of the Ash and Maple trees, as well as certain flower petals, like carnations and some tulips, also have serrated edges. Great White sharks have serrated teeth so they can more easily rip the flesh of their prey. Yum.

Question 20

Commandeer

Answer 20

Commandeertake possession ofWhat is that person doing, interrupting everyone and changing the subject every minute? He is trying to commandeer, or take control, of the conversation.You can probably tell from the look of the word that commandeer is somehow related to commander in meaning. A commander is someone who is officially in charge, giving orders and making decisions for a group such as a nation or a military. Many groups don’t have a commander, but this doesn’t stop some people from trying to take charge. If you commandeer something — whether it’s a car or a conversation — you use force to try to take over.

Question 21

Virulent

Answer 21

Virulentdangerous; harmfulA virulent disease is one that’s infectious, spreading and making lots of people sick, while a virulent rant is just a verbal attack, causing sickness of the emotional kind. Either way, something virulent puts a strain on the people who get it.Two meanings come out of the roots for virulent: one being “poisonous” and the other, “spiteful.” The virus-carrying meaning of virulent often gets combined with strain, such as in a “virulent strain of the flu.” Those who aren’t carrying disease but are still considered virulent most likely lash out at others with a biting tone. Unleashing acid-tongued words on someone would be considered a virulent attack.

Question 22

Bombast

Answer 22

Bombast”arrogant, pompous language”Bombast is a noun meaning pretentious or boastful talk. If your football coach is known for his bombast, he probably gives a pompous speech before each game about the greatness of the team and, of course, his coaching.Originally, bombast was cotton padding used to stuff or pad things like seat cushions. The meaning was extended to include padded and overstuffed speaking or writing, especially speech that’s pretentious and showy. Other words with bombast at their roots include the adjective bombastic and the adverb bombastically. For all your coach’s bluster and bombast, he’s a pretty nice guy — too bad his overblown rhetoric turns people off before they get to know him.

Question 23

Blighted

Answer 23

Blighteddamaged; destroyed; ruinedUse the adjective blighted to describe something that has a condition that makes it weak or unable to grow, like a blighted lawn with more brown patches than green.Language experts can’t agree on the exact origins of the word blighted, but when it entered English in the sixteenth century it was used to describe a skin condition. Today, you’ll hear the word applied to plants that are affected by a condition that causes them to wither and die, like a blighted tomato crop, or to describe the neglect and decay of places, such as blighted buildings that pose safety hazards.

Question 24

Obsolete

Answer 24

Obsoleteno longer validUse the adjective obsolete for something that is out of date. As the Rolling Stones song “Out of Time” goes, “You’re obsolete, my baby, my poor old-fashioned baby.”Obsolete is from the Latin obsolescere “to fall into disuse,” and it is a very handy adjective for anything that is no longer used, from words to factories to computer software to ways of thinking. Something that is obsolete has usually been displaced by a newer, shinier innovation. Compact discs made records and cassettes obsolete, and then downloadable digital music files made compact discs obsolete.

Question 25

Stereotype

Answer 25

Stereotypefixed imageA stereotype is a preconceived notion, especially about a group of people. Many stereotypes are racist, sexist, or homophobic.Have you ever heard someone say Irish people are all drunks, or African-American people are always late, or women are bad drivers? Those are stereotypes: commonly held ideas about specific groups. You most often hear about negative stereotypes, but some are positive. For example, there's a stereotype that Asian people do better in school. One of many problems with any stereotype is that even if it's true in some cases, it's certainly not true in all cases.

Question 26

Myriad

Answer 26

Myriadin large numbersIf you've got myriad problems it doesn't mean you should call a myriad exterminator, it means you've got countless problems; loads of them; too many to count. Welcome to the club.Myriad is one of those words rarely used in speech but only in written form. You would usually use a phrase like "lots of" or "loads of" instead. I mean, you could say "I've got myriad problems," but everyone would probably just laugh at you, and rightly so. Originally from ancient Latin and Greek words meaning "ten thousand" — so perhaps you can put a number on myriad, after all.

Question 27

Maelstrom

Answer 27

Maelstromwhirlpool; storm in the oceanA maelstrom is a powerful whirlpool. A luckless ship might go down in one, conflicting ocean currents might cause one. You hear it more often metaphorically, to describe disasters where many competing forces are at play.When an economy or a government fails, the situation is often described as a maelstrom. Following some precipitous event, all the forces at play––banks, governments, consumers––are trying as hard as they can to protect themselves. This creates a maelstrom — a perfect storm, so to speak — that drags any potential for rescue down with it. Maelstrom comes from an obsolete Dutch phrase meaning "whirling stream."

Question 28

Pejorative

Answer 28

PejorativederogatoryCall a word or phrase pejorative if it is used as a disapproving expression or a term of abuse. Tree-hugger is a pejorative term for an environmentalist.Coming from the Latin word for "worse," pejorative is both an adjective and a noun. As an adjective, it means disapproving or disparaging. Hack is a pejorative term for a bad writer. If you call someone a politician in the pejorative sense, you mean that they are scheming and out for personal gain. Terms of abuse such as jerk and negative euphemisms such as bottom feeder are pejoratives, words you use when you want to call someone a bad name.

Question 29

Confound

Answer 29

ConfoundconfuseIf you have an identical twin, you've probably tried dressing alike so that people confound you with, or mistake you for, one another. You've also probably learned that, unfortunately, this trick doesn’t work on your mom.The verb confound means both "to mistake" and "to confuse." If you decide to treat yourself to a delicious dessert, you might find yourself confounded by the overwhelming number of choices. If you end up ordering the chocolate cake but the waiter brings you chocolate mousse, the waiter has somehow confounded those two options. Another meaning you may come across in literature is "to damn," as in "Confound it! You are the most exasperating person on the planet."

Question 30

Innovate

Answer 30

Innovatecreate; introduce something newInnovate means to bring something new to something. If you love cranberry seltzers, you might innovate by adding limeade or by making the drink with cran-raspberry juice instead.In our culture obsessed with finding the next new thing, the word innovate is very popular––behind every "new and improved" label slapped onto the packaging of some perfectly useful product is some eager beaver buried in the ranks of a company, scheming ways to innovate.

Question 31

Nefarious

Answer 31

Nefariouswicked; immoral; disreputableDescribe a person's actions as nefarious if they are evil or wicked. Batman and Superman are always fighting evildoers and stopping their nefarious plots.Nefarious comes from the Latin nefas "crime, impiety." If something is nefarious, it is criminal, evil, malicious and wicked. Thinking of superheroes can help you remember the meaning of the word, but it is often used in much less exciting circumstances. News reporters investigate corrupt politicians in order to uncover the nefarious activities. And, if you don't pay for your downloaded music, you have gotten it by nefarious means.

Question 32

Exacerbate

Answer 32

Exacerbatemake worseFor a formal-sounding verb that means to make worse, try exacerbate. If you're in trouble, complaining about it will only exacerbate the problem.Exacerbate is related to the adjective acrid, often used to describe sharp-smelling smoke. Think of exacerbate then as a sharp or bitter thing that makes something worse. A drought will exacerbate a country's food shortage. Worsen, intensify, aggravate and compound are similar, but exacerbate has the sense of an irritant being added in to make something bad even worse.

Question 33

Tangible

Answer 33

Tangiblecan be touchedWhen you can touch something, it's tangible: "I need tangible proof that aliens exist — I want to shake their little green hands!"Tangible is from Latin tangere "to touch," and it simply means something that can be touched or felt, though it can be used in metaphorical senses: "tangible assets" have a value that can be precisely measured, and "tangible grief" can be clearly sensed by an onlooker. So you might not need to physically touch something for it to be tangible, but it has to be grounded in the real world of facts: "Has the teen pop star demonstrated any tangible ability to sing?"

Question 34

Anthropocentrism

Answer 34

Anthropocentrismputting man at the center of one's philosophy

Question 35

Soporific

Answer 35

Soporificinducing sleepSomething that is soporific is sleep-inducing. Certain medicines, but also extreme coziness, can have a soporific effect.In the 1680’s, soporific, which doubles as both adjective and noun, was formed from the French soporifique. That word, in turn, came from the Latin sopor "deep sleep." Beloved Peter Rabbit author Beatrix Potter once noted that, "It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is 'soporific'."

Question 36

Receptacle

Answer 36

Receptaclecontainer; vessel; holderA receptacle is a container that's used for holding or storing things. If you are having a party on a rainy day, you can put a receptacle outside your door for your guests' umbrellas.The noun receptacle means any kind of container. For example, a trash receptacle holds your garbage and a receptacle for loose change can keep you from scattering coins all over your house. In botany, receptacle refers to the part of a stem that holds a plant's organs. The word receptacle comes from the Latin root word receptaculum, which describes a place to receive and store things.

Question 37

Hinder

Answer 37

HinderobstructThe verb hinder means to block or put something in the way of, so if you’re in a high-speed car chase with the police, they might put up a blockade to hinder your progress.The word hinder came from the Old English hindrian, which means to "injure or damage." That's a little more extreme than what it means today, because, now it just means to get in the way of something or someone. People might not like you too much if you make it a practice to hinder their progress or get in the way of things they want, even it's a small hindrance like blocking someone from getting to the cookie jar.

Question 38

Dubious

Answer 38

DubiousdoubtfulChoose the adjective dubious for something you have doubts about or you suspect is not true. That bridge you just "bought" might be of dubious value.Dubious stems from Latin dubiosus "doubtful" or "uncertain" and contains the Latin root duo in this case meaning "of two minds." This is apparent in that dubious generally describes something that appears one way but is truly another. A dubious claim is probably not true, whereas a dubious website or character is of questionable quality. Dubious can also be synonymous with doubtful when referring to a person as in "she was dubious about the idea."

Question 39

Malady

Answer 39

MaladyillnessA malady is an illness, like a malady that keeps you home, sick in bed for days, or something that causes you to have trouble or to suffer, like jet lag — a malady that affects travelers.Malady, pronounced "MAL-uh-dee," comes from the Latin words male, meaning "bad or ill" and habitus for "have, hold." When you have a malady, it is like something bad is holding you, such as an illness — the common cold: a malady of winter. Some bad habits cause maladies, such as never having any money — the malady of people who spend freely, not thinking of the future.

Question 40

Incipient

Answer 40

Incipientjust beginningIncipient means something is in an early stage of existence. In its incipient form, basketball was played with a soccer ball and peach baskets for goals. Bouncy orange balls and nets came later.Incipient comes from the Latin incipere "to begin." The related, and more commonly used, word inception means the beginning or the start. It is important to note that when something is in an incipient stage, there is a chance it will never come to completion. So be on the lookout for incipient trouble or an incipient crisis — you might be able to prevent it from happening.

Question 41

Equivocate

Answer 41

Equivocatespeak ambiguously; avoid telling the truthWhen you are unwilling to make a decision and almost intentionally go back and forth between two choices, you are equivocating. When politicians equivocate, they are often afraid of upsetting, and thus alienating, voters with their decisions.A key part of equivocate is the root vocate which come from the Latin vocare or "voice." When you give your voice to two opposing views in order to mislead or keep your options open, you're equivocating. Think of the expression, to talk out of both sides of your mouth. If you want to go to a party and your parents keep saying "maybe, it depends," tell them to stop equivocating and give you a straight answer.

Question 42

Impecunious

Answer 42

Impecunioushaving no moneyIf you are hard up, broke, penniless, or strapped for cash, you could describe yourself as impecunious. Then maybe you could make some money teaching vocabulary words.Impecunious comes from the old Latin word for money, pecunia, combined with the prefix im, meaning not or without. But impecunious doesn’t just mean having no money. It means that you almost never have any money. If you go into the arts, you are most likely facing an impecunious future. If you gamble away your cash instead of saving it for rent, your landlord might throw you out for being impecunious.

Question 43

Lamentation

Answer 43

Lamentationexpression of regret or sorrowLamentation usually occurs when someone dies or a tragedy occurs. At the funeral, you could hardly hear the speaker above the wails of lamentation.From the Latin lamenta, meaning "weeping" or "wailing," lamentation means more than just shedding a few tears. Lamentation is when grief pours out. If you lose a nice pencil that's no cause for lamentation, but if you lose all your money in a stock market crash, that might be. If someone tells you you'll be late to your own funeral, you can always say: "At least I'll get to enjoy the lamentation!"

Question 44

Lavish

Answer 44

Lavishon a grand scale; wastefulLavish means generous and extravagant as an adjective and to give generously as a verb. If you don't like it when people lavish you with attention, you might appreciate a lavish spread of excellent food instead.Lavish comes from the Old French lavache meaning "deluge, torrent" referring to rain. When you see it, think of a shower of good things coming down on you as you never use lavish with something bad. Didn't your parents lavish you with praise and love when you were small? With lavish as an adjective, you can rephrase that question like this: Didn't your parents offer you lavish praise and love when you were little?

Question 45

Merge

Answer 45

Mergecome togetherThe verb merge means to seamlessly join something. For example, when you merge onto the highway, you need to smoothly join the traffic, forgetting everything you learned riding the bumper cars at the fair.If two or more things become one, they merge. If your favorite deli, The Cheese Stop, merges with a sandwich shop called Chez Lui, the two restaurants might also merge their names, becoming Chez Cheese. You can also use merge when things only appear to blend. You know it's time to go to sleep when the words in your book begin to merge together.

Question 46

Proscribe

Answer 46

ProscribeforbidTo proscribe something is to forbid or prohibit it, as a school principal might proscribe the use of cell phones in class.Proscribe sounds similar to the word prescribe, but be careful: these words are essentially opposite in meaning. While proscribe means forbid, prescribe is used when a doctor recommends a medicine or remedy. Of course, if you want an excuse for not following your doctor’s orders, you could say you were confused about the meaning of these two words — but that would be lying, which is proscribed by most people’s value systems. And it would also be bad for your health.

Question 47

Obscured

Answer 47

Obscuredhidden; covered; buriedIf something is obscure, it's vague and hard to see. Be careful if you're driving in heavy rain — the painted lines can be obscure.Obscure comes from Latin obscurus, which can mean "dark, dim," "unclear, hard to understand," or "insignificant, humble." We tend to use obscure in the metaphorical senses: an obscure sound is unclear, an obscure village is hidden away in the countryside, and an obscure poet is little known and probably insignificant. Obscure can also be used as a verb. If you get really nervous when you speak during a debate, your embarrassing twitches and shaking hands can obscure your argument.

Question 48

Malingerer

Answer 48

Malingererperson who deliberately tries to avoid workHave you ever pretended to be sick or hurt to get out of taking a test or doing a chore? Then you, my dear, are a malingerer, and should be ashamed of yourself. Shape up!Knowing that the prefix mal is from the Latin for "bad," we can tell right off that being a malingerer is not a good thing. This noun form of the verb malinger comes from the French malingre which means "sickly." (Obviously, it’s bad to pretend to be sick.) In Jack London’s Call of the Wild, the new dog, Pike, is referred to as "a clever malingerer and thief," giving a clear negative context to the word.

Question 49

Libertarian

Answer 49

Libertariansomeone who opposes tyrannySomeone who is a libertarian advocates the importance of the individual over government control — libertarians believe strongly in freedom.A libertarian holds onto the idea of a person's free will and individualism, with the word based on the Latin root liber, meaning "free." In the U.S., libertarians can be to the left or the right of the political spectrum. A libertarian believes that someone should make his or her own decisions rather than rely on a political party line. If you think the government should keep its nose out of your business, then you might be a libertarian.

Question 50

Red tape

Answer 50

Red tapeformalities; paperwork; official procedureUse the phrase red tape when you're talking about something that takes much longer than it should and involves more procedures, forms, or rules than make sense.Applying for a passport or a driver's licence is well known for the amount of red tape involved. In other words, there are lines to stand in, forms to fill out and sign, and various proofs of identity required. Most people complain about the red tape they deal with when they're registering a car or buying a house, working with an impersonal business or government branch. The term comes from the actual red tape that was used to bind documents in colonial America and in Great Britain.

Question 51

Catharsis

Answer 51

Catharsispurging of pent-up emotionsUse the noun, catharsis, to refer to the experience a person can have of releasing emotional tension and feeling refreshed afterwards.Conceived by Aristotle as the cleansing effect of emotional release that tragic drama has on its audience, catharsis stems from a Greek verb meaning "to purify, purge." Today, it can be used to describe any emotional release, including a good long laugh or cry that is followed by a sense of balance and freshness afterwards.

Question 52

Devoured

Answer 52

Devouredgreedily eaten/consumedProper ladies poke at a meal, gentlemen eat a meal, and teenagers devour a meal like ravenous cowhands who haven't seen the inside of a bowl since Christmas, and here it is July. Devour means to eat greedily.The meaning of devour has grown to include the consumption of things other than food. If sit down to start a book, and look up ten hours later having turned the last page, you have devoured that book. If your after school job is devouring all your free time, chances are your grades are going to drop.

Question 53

Atheist

Answer 53

Atheistperson who does not believe in GodAn atheist believes there is no such thing as god, or any other deity.The root -theist means "belief in a god." The prefixes mono-, poly-, and a-, mean "one," "many," and "no," respectively. So a monotheist is someone who believes in a single god, a polytheist is someone who believes in many gods, and an atheist is someone who believes there is no god at all.

Question 54

Irksome

Answer 54

Irksomeannoying; infuriatingIf your little brother keeps saying the same phrase over and over again, you might find it irksome — that is, annoying in a tiresome way.If you are a person who likes to know exactly where words come from, you might find it irksome that the etymology of irksome's 15th century ancestor irken is unknown. If you complain about this to all of your friends, they might start to find you irksome also.

Question 55

Pedestrian

Answer 55

Pedestriancommon; mundane; banalA pedestrian is someone traveling by foot. If you're walking, you might get angry at the drivers who don't stop so you can cross the street. But if you're driving, you might fight the urge to run those annoying pedestrians over!Pedestrian comes from the Latin pedester meaning "going on foot" but also "plain." As a noun, it's someone walking around — sidewalks are for pedestrians. As an adjective it means "lacking wit or imagination." If someone calls your new poem pedestrian, they mean it's dull. If you want to impress your friends while also making them feel worthless, mutter "these people are SO pedestrian," at a party, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Question 56

Aesthetic

Answer 56

Aestheticconcerning art or beautyThe adjective aesthetic comes in handy when the subject at hand is beauty or the arts. A velvet painting of dogs playing poker might have minimal aesthetic appeal.Aesthetic, from a Greek word meaning "perception," comes to us from German philosophers who used it for a theory of the beautiful. From this technical sense, it soon came to refer to good taste and to artistry in general; if something has "aesthetic value," it has value as a work of art (even if nobody will pay much for it). It does not, however, refer to the objects themselves; do not talk about an "aesthetic painting."

Question 57

Tractable

Answer 57

Tractableobedient; dutiful; politeIf your little brother quietly obeys your instructions and waits for you at the food court while you and your friends wander around the mall, he's probably a tractable child, meaning he's obedient, flexible, and responds well to directions.Note the similarity between tractable and tractor. Both come from the Latin word tractare, which originally meant "to drag about." You can think of a tractable person as someone who can be dragged about easily, like a plow being dragged by a tractor.

Question 58

Mettle

Answer 58

Mettlecourage; bravery; valorMettle is the courage to carry on. If someone wants to "test your mettle," they want to see if you have the heart to follow through when the going gets tough.Having the mettle to do something means you have guts. In short, you're a pretty impressive person. If you have the intellectual mettle to enter a political debate, not only do you know a lot about politics, but you have the spunk to show it off. Metal and mettle were used interchangeably meaning a solid material like gold, and the "stuff a person is made of" until everyone got confused and the words went their separate ways.

Question 59

Fervor

Answer 59

Fervorpassion; enthusiasmUse fervor to describe an intensity of emotion or expression. Fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers show so much fervor that they "bleed Dodger blue."This noun comes to us from Latin fervere, meaning "to boil, glow." In the English word fervor, the suffix –or means "a condition or property of something." There is another –or suffix that means "a person or thing that does the thing expressed by the verb." A corresponding adjective is fervent; synonyms of the noun and adjective are ardor and ardent.

Question 60

Sybarite

Answer 60

Sybaritelover of luxuryIf you know someone who's totally addicted to luxurious things and all of life's pleasures, call them a sybarite. Unless she's inviting you over for champagne brunches and showering you with gifts — in which case you should keep your mouth shut.Sybarite was first recorded in the 1600s, meaning a "person devoted to pleasure." The literal translation of this noun is "inhabitant of Sybaris," which was an ancient Greek town full of citizens who loved nice things. Today, the word still has the same two meanings: it's either a person who could be described as addicted to pleasures and luxury (like a hedonist), or an actual person who lives in Sybaris.

Question 61

Laconic

Answer 61

Laconicusing few words; brief; to the pointLaconic is an adjective that describes a style of speaking or writing that uses only a few words, often to express complex thoughts and ideas. A more laconic way to write that last sentence might be this: laconic means brief.There’s a friend of yours who doesn’t talk very much, and when he does, he says maybe three words and then becomes quiet again. You could describe that friend as laconic. The word comes from Laconia, a region in ancient Greece where the local Spartan rulers gave very short speeches. Being laconic can be bad when it sounds rude to be so brief, but it can be good if you’re in a rush to get somewhere.

Question 62

Blunderbuss

Answer 62

Blunderbuss1. ancient weapon (type of gun); 2. a clumsy person

Question 63

Prosaic

Answer 63

Prosaicdull; boring; ordinaryProsaic means ordinary or dull. Most of us lead a prosaic everyday life, sometimes interrupted by some drama or crisis.This adjective is from Latin prosa "prose," which is ordinary writing intended to communicate ideas and information. Prose is often contrasted with poetry, which usually has a more imaginative and original style.

Question 64

Articulate

Answer 64

Articulateclear; lucid; eloquentTo articulate is to say something. And, if you say it well, someone might praise you by saying you are articulate. Confused yet? It's all in the pronunciation.Reach for articulate when you need an adjective meaning "well-spoken" (pronounced ar-TIC-yuh-lit) or a verb (ar-TIC-yuh-late) meaning "to speak or express yourself clearly." The key to understanding articulate's many uses is to think of the related noun article: an articulate person clearly pronounces each article of his or her speech (that is, each word and syllable), and an articulated joint is divided up into distinct articles, or parts.

Question 65

Dynamic

Answer 65

Dynamiclively; vibrant; energeticIf a person, place, or thing is energetic and active, then it's dynamic. When things are dynamic, there's a lot going on.Even the most exciting rural town won't be as dynamic as a big city: there are just more things happening in a city. Someone with a dynamic personality is probably funny, loud, and excitable; a quiet, mousy person isn't dynamic. You can also talk about the dynamic aspect of music, which has to do with how the music uses dynamics, which means "changes in volume." When things are dynamic, changes and energy are in the air.

Question 66

Endurance

Answer 66

Endurancestaying power; patience; staminaEndurance is the power to withstand something challenging. If you decide to run a marathon, you will need lots of endurance to run over 26 miles.The noun endurance contains endure means "suffer or undergo" and the suffix -ance means "the state of." It can be used to describe the physical strength to keep going, as in a marathon or giving birth, but it can also be used when discussing a exhausting mental situation or stressful time — the endurance to bounce back from heartbreak, perhaps.

Question 67

Renown

Answer 67

RenownfameRenown is fame and acclaim — the kind of celebrity that most people only dream about. Renown is not only about celebrity, though, it also means to be highly respected in one's field.Actors, musicians, and artists practice their art, sometimes for many years, to gain the kind of renown, or fame, that will launch their faces onto the covers of magazines and make their name known in every household. Greta Garbo, Luciano Pavarotti, and Salvador Dali all became renowned in their respective fields. They won numerous awards, and who isn't familiar with their names? Even things or places can achieve renown if they offer something worth celebrating. An ice cream parlor can become renowned for its incredible mint chip ice cream, or a bank can be renowned for its excellent customer service.

Question 68

Disapprobation

Answer 68

DisapprobationdisapprovalIf you show up for Thanksgiving dinner an hour late and covered in mud from a tag football game, your parents will give you a look of disapprobation. This means they seriously disapprove of your actions, despite the fact that you scored the winning touchdown.Disapprobation is a noun for the state of total disapproval and condemnation. It is often used in conjunction with a moral or social offense. Acts such as stealing an old lady's purse, defying your teachers or parents, vandalizing, or being a lying sneak are all things that are going to earn you disapprobation. But if you decide to change your evil ways and do something wonderful to earn praise, you'll find yourself back on the side of approbation.

Question 69

Soothsayer

Answer 69

SoothsayerfortunetellerA soothsayer is someone who can foretell the future. If the convincing soothsayer at the state fair tells you you'll soon meet someone tall, dark, and handsome, you'll probably keep your eye out for someone who fits that description.A fortune teller is also known as a soothsayer, or someone who claims to be able to predict the future. Long ago, a soothsayer might have been considered a useful consultant, even for a government, but today soothsayers are more likely to be scoffed at. Still, there are many soothsayers who have successful businesses telling people's fortunes and giving advice. Soothsayer comes from the Old English word for "truth," combined with "say," together meaning "an act of speaking the truth."

Question 70

Bellicose

Answer 70

Bellicosewar-like; aggressiveIf you walk into a high school where you know no one, find the toughest looking girl in the halls and tell her she's ugly, them's fighting words. Or bellicose ones. Bellicose means eager for war.Bellicose is from Latin bellum "war." A near synonym is belligerent, from the same Latin noun. You may wonder if they're connected to the Latin bellus "pretty, handsome," which gives us the names Bella or Isabella, as well as belle "a beautiful woman." They're not. War and beauty are not related, except in the case of Helen of Troy.

Question 71

Plausible

Answer 71

Plausiblecan be believed; reasonableIf something is plausible, it's reasonable or believable. Things that are plausible could easily happen. A woman becoming President is very plausible. A giraffe becoming President is not.Plausible things are not far-fetched at all. Things in fantasy stories — such as wizards, dragons, and unicorns — are not plausible. On the other hand, some things in science fiction stories might be plausible: who knows where spaceships will eventually go? If something really seems like it could happen, then it's plausible. One of the many tricky parts of life is figuring out what's plausible and what's not.

Question 72

Oust

Answer 72

Oustpush out of a positionA teacher may oust you from class if you are being disruptive, or you might oust your class president from her position if you beat her in the election. To oust is to "expel," "kick out," or "remove and replace."When you oust someone, you are "giving them the boot." A sports team is ousted from a tournament if they lose an elimination round. Oust often implies both removal and replacement. The automobile, for instance, ousted the horse as the preferred means of travel. Likewise, when a politician ousts someone from office they are taking that person’s place in office. And if you beat the all-time record in a hot-dog eating tournament, then you oust the previous record holder from their position.

Question 73

Profundity

Answer 73

ProfunditydepthProfundity describes being thoughtful, deep, and wise. Your profundity might inspire friends to come to you for advice.Profundity comes from the word profound and it means a quality of depth or wisdom that is meaningful or even transformational. The profundity of a piece of music might move you to tears, and the profundity of certain philosophies can be deep — and a bit confusing. Profundity can describe something that's intense, like the profundity of the silence in the room following the announcement of bad news.

Question 74

Recluse

Answer 74

Reclusesomeone who cuts himself off from lifeA recluse lives alone, works alone, eats alone, and generally stays away from other people. Anti-social old hermits are recluses, as are a lot of students during exam time.In the early 13th century, a recluse was a person who shut out the world to go meditate on religious issues. But nowadays recluses can think about whatever they want while they're sitting in solitude — they're simply people who shy away from social interaction and live secluded lives. Or think of the Brown Recluse spider, who likes to hide out in dark old boots or undisturbed corners of the basement.

Question 75

Zenith

Answer 75

ZenithsummitZenith means the high point––it comes from astronomy, where it describes the highest point in an arc traveled by a star or a planet or another celestial body. The sun reaches its zenith when it is as high in the sky as it is going to go on that day.Zenith — and it's opposite, "nadir" — have been appropriated by non-astronomers and are used to describe high and low points in non-astronomical contexts. "The party lasted all night, but the zenith was definitely the moment when we climbed up onto the roof deck and watched the fireworks. It was all downhill from there."

Question 76

Cower

Answer 76

Cowerrecoil in fear or servility; shrink away fromTo cower is to shrink in fear. Whether they live in the country or city, any mouse will cower when a huge, hungry cat approaches.When you cower, you're not just afraid. You're so terrified that your whole body cringes, crouches, and shrinks in on itself to hide from the source of your fear. Victims of a school bully cower whenever he comes near. They're in no rush to have their lunch money stolen again, or to get another wedgie, so they cower to avoid being seen. Although a coward might cower in fear, the two words aren't related.

Question 77

Revere

Answer 77

Revereworship

Question 78

Tentative

Answer 78

Tentativenot certainChoose the adjective, tentative to describe something you are unsure or hesitant about. On Monday, you can make tentative plans for the weekend but it's too early to commit to one party or another.Tentative, from the Latin tentātīvus "testing, trying," always describes something that is uncertain. If you make a tentative appointment, write it down in pencil, not pen, because it might have to be changed. Here the opposite of tentative is definite or set. If someone gives you a tentative smile or nod, the person feels hesitant or unsure about something. In this case, its opposite is confident.

Question 79

Collusion

Answer 79

Collusionplotting and planningIf you are making secret agreements with someone, then you are in collusion with them. Every time gas prices jump, consumers suspect the gas station owners of collusion and price fixing.The noun collusion almost always implies that plans are being made because of some nefarious, most likely illegal, purpose. An art thief could be in collusion with a museum director to steal a famous painting from an art museum. Things get sticky when there is collusion between government and business, between union and management, or between your siblings.

Question 80

Smorgasbord

Answer 80

Smorgasborda Swedish buffet of cold dishesA smorgasbord is an assortment of different things — a magazine might feature a smorgasbord of stories on a wide variety of subjects.Use the noun smorgasbord when you're talking about a selection of things, like a fabulous breakfast buffet, a long list of college classes you could take, or a motley group of camping companions. In Swedish, a smörgåsbord is a table full of different sandwich offerings. It literally means "butter goose table," from smörgås, which alternately means "bread and butter," and "bread and goose," plus bord, or "table."

Question 81

Gravity

Answer 81

GravityseriousnessThe noun gravity means being grave or very serious. In physics, gravity is the natural force that causes things to fall toward the earth.Someone who conducts themselves with an air of gravity is someone who takes what they are doing seriously. You might be amused to see a three year old serving her dolls tea with an air of gravity appropriate to the Queen of England. Gravity was borrowed through French from Latin gravitās, from gravis "heavy."

Question 82

Expatriate

Answer 82

Expatriaterefugee; emigrant; someone living away from his own countryAn expatriate is someone who lives in another country by choice. If you leave your split-level ranch in Ohio and move to a writers' commune in Paris for good, you've become an expatriate.Expatriate can also be a verb, so that American in Paris has expatriated. There was a scene of expatriates, or expats, living in Paris in the roaring '20s that included writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein. The word used to mean to get kicked out of your native country — it's from the French word expatrier which means "banish." The prefix ex means "out of" and the Latin patria "one's native country," but the word took a turn and now refers to people who left without getting shoved out.

Question 83

Exposition

Answer 83

Expositionclear explanationAn exposition takes place when you "expose" something — like at a fair or convention for showing off goods, art, or similar wares. An exposition can also be the section of a story that explains the basics of the tale.In classical music, the first part of a piece is often an exposition, in which the composer lets you hear the tunes and themes that will get worked over during the rest of the piece. Most movies spend a lot of time at the beginning on exposition, as well. The director wants you to know where the story is set, who the characters are, and what it is they want. Exposition is important to set the scene, so the rest of the story makes sense. Exposition can also mean a big fair, often called an "expo." ComicCon is a famous exposition.

Question 84

Amiable

Answer 84

AmiablefriendlyA friendly, pleasant person could be described as amiable. Airline flight attendants tend to be amiable. The people monitoring the school's cafeteria? Maybe not.An amiable person is good-natured and easy to get along with. Add one letter and you get amicable, a word with a common ancestor (Latin amicabilis) and a similar meaning. But while amiable refers to friendly people, amicable refers to friendly relations between them; two amiable people who no longer want to be married to one another might have an amicable divorce.

Question 85

Clandestine

Answer 85

Clandestinesecret; covert; stealthyPick the adjective, clandestine, to describe something that is done in secret, like your clandestine attempts to steal your brother's Halloween candy.Clandestine, an adjective imported from Latin, describes a secret, usually illegal activity. Often these things have to do with political and spy organizations. The CIA might run a clandestine operation to infiltrate terrorist organizations. Words with similar meanings include secret; covert, used especially for military matters; undercover, common in espionage; and surreptitious which emphasizes a person's efforts to keep something secret.

Question 86

Parochial

Answer 86

Parochialnarrow-minded; concerned only with local mattersIf an issue or a matter is parochial, it is trivial or only concerns a local area. Likewise, a person with a parochial mentality is narrow-minded, or not open to new ideas.Parochial comes to English from Greek through Latin with the meaning "of a parish." As a parochial school is a school that is affiliated with a particular church, the connection is easy to see. In general though, parochial refers to a narrow or limited point of view — that is, an outlook that extends no further than the limits of the parish. You may feel that there is no room in your life for the parochial attitudes of the older generation. Let's hope you remain open-minded as you age!

Question 87

Discern

Answer 87

Discernto distinguish one thing from anotherIf you can make out, pick out, or distinguish something, you can discern it. This is a word for recognizing and perceiving things.Discerning has to do with being able to see or hear something. In a loud room, it can be hard to discern one person's voice. If there's not much light, you'll have trouble discerning the words on a page well enough to read. If you have sloppy handwriting, then it's hard to discern what you wrote. When you can discern something, you can tell what it is; you can identify it.

Question 88

Stagnant

Answer 88

Stagnantstill; not movingThere is a tone to the word stagnant that sounds like what it is: lacking movement, stale, and inactive, especially with exaggerated pronunciation, "staaaagnant."Stagnant came into use in the 17th century as a description for water or air that wasn't moving or circulating, like in a scum-covered pond or a closed-off room. Often things that are stagnant also have a smell from sitting too long in one place. Not that this happens to everyone, but sitting in front of a TV playing video games without moving more than the fingers can make a person stagnant, sometimes with an accompanying odor.

Question 89

Raucous

Answer 89

Raucousrough and unpleasant (of sounds)Raucous means unpleasantly loud, or behaving in a noisy and disorderly way. It can be hard to give an oral report in the front of a classroom when the kids in the back are being raucous.Raucous is often used to refer to loud laughter, loud voices, or a loud party, all of which can be harsh or unpleasant. Near synonyms are strident and rowdy. This adjective is from Latin raucus "hoarse." Think of raucous as people whose hoarseness can't come on too soon.

Question 90

Hypochondriac

Answer 90

Hypochondriaca person obsessed with health; having imaginary illnessesIf you obsess about your health and imagine you have the symptoms of a disease (or diseases), you may well be a hypochondriac and should seek therapy.The original Greek hypochondriakos referred to the region of the abdomen, an area that ancient doctors believed to be the seat of misery or melancholia. It stands to reason, then, that hypochondriacs are usually unhappy, simply because they always imagine they're sick.

Question 91

Labyrinth

Answer 91

Labyrintha mazeA labyrinth is a structure with many connected paths or passages in which it is hard to find your way. In figurative use, a labyrinth is a complicated situation: our tax code is a labyrinth of rules and regulations.In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was the structure built for King Minos of Crete to confine the Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The word maze is a near synonym for labyrinth, and is also used figuratively, as in, "After war broke out, trying to figure out how to get a visa to leave the country was like navigating a maze, a veritable labyrinth of wrong turns and false hope."

Question 92

Mercenary

Answer 92

Mercenaryconcerned only with moneyYou might not want to call a mercenary a "hireling" to his face, but a mercenary is, after all, a soldier who gets paid to fight where needed, sometimes taking a heroic stand and other times just wanting payment for fighting.The word mercenary comes from the Latin mercēnārius, "hireling," which defines someone who will do anything in exchange for money. In history, a mercenary was often a fighter who followed the next paycheck, but in recent decades it's also been used for fighters who pursue a good cause in areas where soldiers are in short supply. A synonym for mercenary is "soldier of fortune," and this phrase sometimes glorifies the mercenary, turning the meaning of "fortune" from "cash" to "luck in battle."

Question 93

Coalesce

Answer 93

Coalescecome together; mergeWaiting for a plan to come together? You're waiting for it to coalesce. Coalesce is when different elements of something join together and become one.In coalesce, you see co-, which should tell you the word means "together." The other half of the word, alesce, appears in expressions having to do with growth. So if you are trying to start up a photography club at school, once you have an advisor, some interested students and support from the administration, things will be coalescing or growing together. Another way to remember that? An adolescent is one who is growing. A lot!

Question 94

Callow

Answer 94

CallowimmatureIf you're a rookie or new to something, you could be described as callow — like callow freshmen in high school or the callow receptionist who can't figure out how to transfer a call.The word callow comes from the Old English word calu, which meant "bald or featherless." It was used to describe young, fledgling birds. Over time, the meaning expanded to include young, inexperienced people. You'll most often see the adjective paired with the noun youth. Think of the callow youth as people who haven't tested their wings yet.

Question 95

Patron

Answer 95

Patronone who give support (usually financial)A patron supports someone or something. A patron of a business supports the business by being a loyal customer. A patron of the arts helps support starving artists — financially, not with food rations.The word patron comes from the Latin pater or patr- meaning "father." Think of how a father is supposed to financially support his kids. A patron of the arts is someone who shows his appreciation or support for the arts by donating money to arts organizations. And a patron of the Red Lobster is a frequent customer who can be seen in the same corner booth every Sunday night, noshing on cheddar biscuits.

Question 96

Insurgent

Answer 96

Insurgenta rebelAn insurgent is a rebel or a revolutionary, someone who takes up arms against the authorities.Insurgent is from the Latin word "insurgentem," literally meaning "to rise against," so think of an insurgent as a fighter who rises against the people in power. Often insurgents are considered terrorists because they use violence to intimidate people.

Question 97

Larceny

Answer 97

Larcenytheft; robbery; stealingLarceny is the legal term for stealing. Grand larceny is when you take something worth a lot of money, petty larceny when the stolen item is worth relatively little.Larceny is used when talking about stealing someone's property in regards to the law. If you illegally download music or plagiarize a text, that may be theft, but it is not larceny because there was no physical property involved. If you take a friend's yoyo and don't give it back, it's stealing — unless your friend calls the police and has you arrested on charges of larceny.

Question 98

Marred

Answer 98

Marreddamaged; spoiledIf something is marred, it’s damaged due to a flaw. If the big football game on Sunday ends with a fight among fans of the opposing teams, commentators will say that the game was marred by violence.The verb marred can be traced back to the Old English word merran, meaning "to waste or spoil." Marred often carries with it the sense of spoiling perfection. It can be a flaw that makes something outstanding less than perfect, such as a movie star’s face marred by a scar or a career marred by controversy.

Question 99

Debility

Answer 99

Debilityweakness; incapacity

Question 100

Recapitulate

Answer 100

RecapitulatesummarizeTo recapitulate means to go back and summarize. At the end of an oral report, you might say, "So, to recapitulate, I've made three points," and then you name them.Recapitulate is a long, scary-looking word that actually means something simple and easy. It comes from the Latin re- "again" and capitulum "chapter," which comes from the word caput "head." Think of recapitulating––or recapping, for short––as putting nice little caps on all the bottles you've opened up––tightening everything up.

Question 101

Impartial

Answer 101

Impartialunbiased; neutralIf you're in a contest you'd better hope the judges are impartial, that is, that they aren't biased toward one competitor over another.When someone's partial to something they take its part. Impartial means no part has yet been taken. In most high school elections, teachers strive to create an impartial atmosphere, to keep it from appearing to be a popularity contest.

Question 102

Undermined

Answer 102

Undermineddamaged; attackedTo undermine literally means to dig a hole underneath something, making it likely to collapse. But we more often use the word to describe sabotage or the act of weakening someone else's efforts.Originally spelled with a ‘y’ instead of an ‘i’, undermine has Germanic roots and means to weaken, hinder, or impair. Accidentally undermine the foundation of a house by digging a tunnel to China beneath it and you might be forgiven. Undermine your teacher’s authority by speaking out of turn and throwing spitballs and odds are you’ll get in trouble.

Question 103

Maladroit

Answer 103

Maladroitclumsy; unskillfulIf you are clumsy, you are maladroit. But the word can mean all kinds of clumsy. Trip over your words? You are verbally maladroit. Stumble in social situations? You're socially maladroit.When someone is adroit, they are graceful and nimble; they show a lot of dexterity. Maladroit is the opposite of that. It means clumsy, but with a hint of overall incompetence. If someone calls you maladroit, or says that you are a maladroit, they're not being the least bit nice. They mean that you've bungled something up with your fumbling.

Question 104

Disinterested

Answer 104

DisinterestedunbiasedIf you can't decide whether to purchase the shirt with orange polka dots or the purple paisley-patterned one, you might seek input from a disinterested, or unbiased, party (who will probably tell you not to buy either one).Depending on whom you ask, disinterested is either one of the most commonly misused words in the English language, or a perfect example of usage experts and English teachers being way too uptight. While everyone agrees that disinterested can mean "unbiased," the debate rages on as to whether it can also mean "uninterested" or "indifferent." Sticklers are vehemently opposed to this secondary meaning. (Of course, you’ll also find the disinterested — or uninterested? — folks who couldn’t care less.)

Question 105

Contemporary

Answer 105

Contemporaryliving or happening at the same timeThings that are contemporary are either happening at the same time or happening now. Contemporary art is recent art.In history class, if you hear that one famous person was a contemporary of another, that means they lived at the same time. Contemporaries are people and things from the same time period. Contemporary can also describe things happening now or recently. It's common to speak of contemporary music or contemporary furniture, for example. Those things are new, not old. Anything characteristic of the present day can be called contemporary.

Question 106

Corrugated

Answer 106

Corrugatedhighly foldedCorrugated means molded into tight ridges and valleys. You've probably seen corrugated cardboard, or corrugated metal roofs.Materials are put into a corrugated shape to ensure elasticity and strength––cardboard boxes hold their shape because the cardboard is reinforced with a corrugated layer inside the two flat pieces. To remember corrugated, think about corduroy pants––which also have ridges and valleys. If you're lucky enough to have had ribbon candy, that's corrugated as well.

Question 107

Palliative

Answer 107

Palliativea remedy that improves but doesn't cureThat which is palliative relieves and soothes, but isn’t expected to cure. A heating pack is a commonly employed palliative for temporarily reducing the pain of strained muscles.From the French palliatif, which in turn came from the Middle Latin palliates, palliative was first recorded as an adjective in the 1540’s, and then later as a noun in 1724. To palliate is to alleviate without curing, so it makes sense that a palliative is the agent for this type of relief. "Life as we find it, is too hard for us: it brings us too many pains, disappointments and impossible tasks," said the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud. "In order to bear it, we cannot dispense with palliative measures…"

Question 108

Fortitude

Answer 108

FortitudebraveryFortitude refers to strength in the face of adversity or difficulty. Eating fried worms might require a lot of intestinal fortitude.When someone has fortitude it means that they have emotional power or reserves and the ability to withstand adversity. People who have fortitude are described in an admiring way for their courage and this word comes from the Latin word fortitudo, meaning "strength." Jacueline Bisset, someone who knows about beauty, said, "Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades. A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline, fortitude and integrity can do a great deal to make a woman beautiful."

Question 109

Apathetic

Answer 109

Apatheticindifferent; uninterested; lethargicApathetic is an adjective that describes the feeling of being bored with what’s going on around you. If you don’t care one way or another, you’re apathetic.The Greek word pathos describes a type of emotional suffering that afflicts people who are super sensitive to their environment. Pathos is a root word of apathetic, but the prefix a- turns it into the opposite: emotional boredom, insensitivity, and a lack of enthusiasm. Maybe you feel apathetic because nothing around you stirs your interest, or maybe it’s because you need some coffee.

Question 110

Therapeutic

Answer 110

Therapeuticmedicinal; curativeWhether you’re talking about a therapeutic drug or a therapeutic exercise plan, something that is therapeutic helps to heal or to restore health.The adjective therapeutic can be traced all the way back to the Greek word therapeutikos (from therapeuein, meaning "to attend" or "to treat"). Although the word relates to healing or soothing, therapeutic isn’t reserved only for drugs or medical treatments. You’ve probably heard particular activities referred to as therapeutic, which just means that doing that activity makes you feel rejuvenated. You might consider shopping for shoes, for example, to be a therapeutic activity — at least until the credit card bill arrives.

Question 111

Aloof

Answer 111

Aloofdistant; detached; coldThat emotionally cold and detached fellow who keeps to himself, smoking clove cigarettes and reading French philosophy, would best be described as aloof.In Middle English, aloof was originally a nautical term; the loof (now spelled luff) is the windward side of a ship. Smart sailors wanting to avoid a hazard on the leeward side would give the order, "A loof!" From this command we get the idea of steering clear of something (or someone). In modern usage the word has taken on a negative connotation: an aloof person is certainly not one most of us want to associate with.

Question 112

Abrasive

Answer 112

Abrasiverough; coarse; harshWhat does an obnoxious person have in common with sandpaper? Both are abrasive. Anything that grates or irritates — physically or metaphorically — can be described using this adjective.The history of the word abrasive illustrates how a word typically enters the English language and then changes with time. The English verb abrade "to wear down by scraping" entered the language from Latin abradere "to scrape off" in the late 1600s. Some 200 years later, the adjective form of the word — abrasive — came into use to describe a type of grinding tool. By the 1920s, abrasive had acquired the more figurative sense of annoying and infuriating. If you find someone abrasive, he or she grinds away at your nerves.

Question 113

Paragon

Answer 113

Paragona perfect exampleParagon applies to someone who is a model of perfection in some quality or trait. We link paragon with other words that follow it, such as "paragon of virtue" or "paragon of patience."A paragon means someone or something that is the very best. The English noun paragon comes from the Italian word paragone, which is a touchstone, a black stone that is used to tell the quality of gold. You rub the gold on the touchstone and you can find out how good the gold is. You are hoping that it is the paragon of "goldness."

Question 114

Redundant

Answer 114

Redundantunnecessary; superfluousThe word redundant applies to things that are unnecessary or could be left out. Calling a blank sheet of paper empty is redundant.Teachers often tell students to avoid being redundant — meaning avoid saying something twice or more. Have you ever heard someone tell a story and repeat the same thing over and over? The repeated parts are redundant. Sometimes being redundant can make things clear, but it can also be annoying. Redundant can apply to anything that's overflowing or unnecessary. If a business has two stores on the same street, one is redundant. When you hear redundant, think "Too much!"

Question 115

Begrudge

Answer 115

BegrudgeresentTo begrudge someone something is to wish them ill for it or to envy them. Try not to begrudge his getting the promotion over you — he's been at the company longer.An understudy might begrudge the lead her role and even go so far as to put glass in her shoes so she can't perform. An easy way to remember the meaning of this verb is to note the noun grudge lurking inside it. A grudge is ill will that you hold toward someone: to begrudge is to hold that grudge. If you begrudge your friend his happiness because he got the nicer car, your friendship will suffer.

Question 116

Knotty

Answer 116

Knottycomplex; difficult to solveWhether it’s pine or problems, sometimes the word knotty can apply to both. Knotty can describe something that has a lot of knots, either literally or figuratively.The adjective knotty is a way to describe something that’s covered in knots. It can be used in a literal sense to refer to wood that is covered in hard, irregular knots — you’ve probably seen these circular, knobby imperfections that sometime appear on wood. The word can also be used figuratively to describe something that is intricate and difficult to solve, such as a knotty political problem involving two warring nations or a knotty legal issue involving complicated constitutional issues.

Question 117

Lummox

Answer 117

Lummoxclumsy person

Question 118

Coddle

Answer 118

Coddlepamper; fuss over; indulgeWhile it is okay for parents to coddle, spoil, or pamper a young child, it’s a little unnerving when parents coddle, or pamper adult children. And downright weird when adult children wear Pampers.Coddle is an old word. Originally, it meant to cook gently in water that is near boiling, as in coddling an egg. It most likely gained its association with pampering and taking care of someone via a drink made for invalids that was prepared by coddling. "Mollycoddle," a synonym for coddle, originally meant a person who coddles himself, or an effeminate man.

Question 119

Indulgent

Answer 119

Indulgentpampering; satisfying desiresSomeone who is self-indulgent gives themselves a lot of treats. Parents who are indulgent cave to ever desire their child expresses. Indulgent means lenient, or overly generous.Indulgent is a word that, here in Puritanical North America, is hard to know how to take. Is it okay to "indulge yourself" as so many spa advertisements suggest? Or is indulgent always associated with excess? You can indulge fantasies of figuring out the answer, or you can give in to an indulgent shrug and move on to another word.

Question 120

Ogle

Answer 120

Oglestare at; observe in an obvious mannerWhen you ogle someone, you look at them with love or desire in mind. And if you're a cartoon character, you might also be drooling.Though it's most often used to refer to the way people gaze at each other, the verb ogle can also be used when talking about any object of desire — like when you ogle those designer jeans or that red Ferrari. The word comes from the 1680s German word oeglen, meaning "look at." Men are known to ogle women much more frequently than women ogle men. Ever seen a scene in a movie where a pretty lady walks into a bar and all the men turn on their bar stools to watch her pass by? That's classic ogling.

Question 121

Certitude

Answer 121

CertitudecertaintyIf you're absolutely convinced your team is going to the Super Bowl, you state it with certitude or confidence.Your team didn't make it? Oh dear, you were guilty of certitude — an absolute conviction that the outcome of the game did not support. In other words, you were a tad cocky. Certitude is very similar to certainty, and often used interchangeably, but there's a hint of danger about certitude; someone who displays it may well be overconfident. Certainty is more certain.

Question 122

Congenital

Answer 122

Congenitalpresent from birthCongenital refers to something present at birth but not necessarily inherited from the parents. Babies with heart disorders developed in utero can live long and productive lives, in spite of their congenital birth defect.Congenital derives from the Latin genus, to beget. Something that is present at one’s begetting, during fetal development, or at birth is congenital. Fetal alcohol syndrome, which develops in fetuses if their mothers are drinking heavily while pregnant, is a congenital disorder. You might also use congenital to describe something seemingly inborn "a congenital sense of humor," or a "congenital faith."

Question 123

Solace

Answer 123

Solacecomfort for griefIf something eases your disappointment or grief, consider it a solace. If you're sad, you might find solace in music or in talking to your friends.It is no surprise that consolation and solace are similar in meaning as they share a root in the Latin verb sōlārī "to comfort." In fact, solace, consolation and comfort are synonyms meaning relief from grief or disappointment. When you go to sleepover camp, your parents will miss you, but they'll find solace in knowing that you are having fun.

Question 124

Collage

Answer 124

Collagepicture made from fragments of other picturesHave you ever cut out a bunch of pictures from magazines and pasted them together to make a big picture? If you have, you have made a collage.Collage came to English through French from the Greek word for glue, kolla, about 100 years ago. A collage is not only made from magazine pictures. In the world of fine art, it refers to a work made with various small objects sometimes with paint sometimes without. The word can also be used to mean a collection of different things. If it's very loud in your house, you might come home to a collage of sounds from the dog, the TV, your mom on the phone and your brother on the guitar. Years after you graduate, high school might just seem like a collage of memories.

Question 125

Adulation

Answer 125

Adulationstrong admiration; worshipIf you've ever been to a pop concert filled with screaming fans you've probably been exposed to adulation — praise so over-the-top it's almost embarrassing.The Latin word adulatio means "flattery." It's made up of the roots ad ("to") and ulos ("tail"), and if you're thinking of a dog wagging its tail to and fro to get a treat from its owner, you're on the right track. As anyone who's seen a crazed fan drooling over a celebrity knows, adulation is one of the more doglike of human behaviors.

Question 126

Bulwark

Answer 126

Bulwarkfortification; barricade; wallA bulwark is a wall built for protection or defense. If you and your pals build a secret fort for girls only, you might want to build a bulwark to surround it — with a "No Boys Allowed" sign posted prominently.A seawall that runs perpendicular to the shore is sometimes called a bulwark, because it defends the beach, not against invaders, but against beach erosion. Although the noun bulwark can refer to any fortified wall, it often specifically refers to an earthen wall, like a rampart. As a verb, bulwark means to fortify with a wall or to provide protection: "The volunteers used sandbags to bulwark the levee in an attempt to prevent the flooded river from overflowing its banks."

Question 127

Puerile

Answer 127

PuerilechildishSome people like their movies to have sophisticated humor and others prefer the more puerile humor of pratfalls or jokes about smelly underwear, inappropriate belching, and passing gas.Although the adjective, puerile can be used to describe anything related to childhood, more often than not, it is used in a derisive manner to comment on the immaturity, silliness, or juvenile nature of something or someone. So if you hear someone talk about puerile toys, they may merely be remarking on the toys of childhood, but it is more likely they are discussing whoopee cushions, fake dog poo, and the like.

Question 128

Kindle

Answer 128

Kindleto start a fireWhen you start a fire burning, you can say you kindle the fire. Knowing how to kindle a campfire is an important survival skill. It can help keep you warm at night, and keep you from eating cold beans for dinner.The verb kindle not only means to start a fire, but also to catch fire. Another meaning for kindle is to arouse interest or passion. A dynamic music teacher could kindle the students' interest in learning an instrument. Or, romance can also be kindled: "As they danced together, a spark of romance kindled between them."

Question 129

Lithe

Answer 129

Litheflexible; suppleHave you ever seen people who can bend so easily, they can touch their heels to the back of their heads? That person is, in a word, lithe.Lithe comes to us from Old English and originally meant "mild, meek." As a meek person bends to the will of others, the meaning of lithe has broadened to flexible and even graceful. Think of a dancer or the ease of a sleek cat when you think of lithe. You can use it to describe a person or the way someone moves.

Question 130

Hasten

Answer 130

Hastenhurry; accelerate; rushThe verb hasten means to move at a high speed. If you hasten to your room, no one will know that you came in late.Hasten comes from the word haste, which means "excessive speed or urgency." The words hurry and hasten are synonyms. Hasten can also mean "to make happen quickly," like when you open a window in the kitchen when you are cooking to hasten the room's cooling down. Hasten also means "to be quick," like when you hasten to tell everyone that the rumor going around about you isn't true.

Question 131

Deprecate

Answer 131

Deprecate criticize; denounce; opposite of appreciate To deprecate is to show disapproval or to make someone feel unimportant by speaking to them disrespectfully, like seniors who deprecate younger students just for fun. To deprecate is to diminish, or to oppose, like when someone deprecates your dream of climbing Mt. Everest by calling it "a little walk up a hill." Some people deprecate themselves, which is called being self-deprecating. People who do are self-deprecating play down their abilities because they are humble — or want to appear that way. So if you do climb Everest and you are self-deprecating, you'll say it wasn't such a big deal, even if it was the proudest moment of your life.

Question 132

Fatuous

Answer 132

Fatuoussilly; foolishFatuous means lacking intelligence. When your mother outlaws calling your brother stupid, use fatuous instead.Fatuous derives from the Latin fatuus meaning "foolish." It sounds like it should have something to do with being fat, but it actually has no relation to size. Back in Old English times, when the word fat was emerging, food was a lot more scarce than it is today, and the word fat meant simply plump or well-fed. Times have changed, and now that we have more food than we know what to do with, fat people are thought to lack self control, which makes them seem foolish, or even fatuous, which is hardly the case.

Question 133

Galleon

Answer 133

Galleonancient type of sailing shipThough a galleon was a large ship with multiple decks, it was no cruise liner and probably didn’t offer round-the-clock buffets.A galleon refers to a type of sailboat used in the 15th to 18th centuries mostly for battles and carrying consumer goods. Galleons had big square sails rigged onto several masts. They were built and sailed by many Europeans, but they are most commonly associated with the Spanish. In fact, this word is derived from the Spanish word galeón, which means "armed merchant ship."

Question 134

Indelible

Answer 134

Indeliblecannot be wiped outIf something is indelible, you better hope you never regret it, like the indelible tattoo of the name of your favorite band or the indelible first impression it might give people you meet years from now, especially if your taste in music changes.The adjective indelible describes something that can't be erased or removed, like marks made by an indelible marker, or an indelible moment you will never forget, like your first day of kindergarten or the first time you visit a new, exotic place. It comes from the Latin word indelebilis, meaning "not able to be destroyed."

Question 135

Quarantine

Answer 135

Quarantineisolation to prevent the spread of diseaseIf you contract something highly infectious, such as pinkeye, please quarantine yourself so that you don’t infect others with it. This means you’ll have to stay in isolation and avoid contact with other people.Starting in the 16th century, a quarantine lasted specifically 40 days. The word is in fact derived from the Latin quadraginta, which means "forty." Originally, this referred to the amount of time a widow could remain in her deceased husband’s house, then referred to the period of time a ship had to wait off a country’s port if its passengers were disease-stricken. Now, it can mean a period of isolation of any length, and can be used as both a verb and a noun.

Question 136

Incessant

Answer 136

Incessantwithout stoppingSomething incessant continues without interruption. When you're on a cross country flight, it's tough to tolerate the incessant crying of a baby.In Latin, cessare means 'to stop,' so when you add the negative prefix in- you get a word meaning never stopping. A near synonym is continual, but something incessant is more relentless; ceaseless is a closer synonym. It's rare to find incessant used in a positive way. Even incessant sunshine would grow boring.

Question 137

Peripheral

Answer 137

Peripheralon the edge; not importantScanners, printers, and speakers are peripheral devices for a computer because they aren't central to the working of the computer itself. Anything peripheral is on the margin, or outside, while main things, like a computer's processor, are not peripheral.Outside of computer jargon, peripheral is a common term in eye exams, which measure peripheral vision to see how far toward the outer right and left edges you can see. Peripheral also describes nerves from the body's peripheral system, which are secondary to the main system but branch off of it — like the wires between peripheral devices and a computer.

Question 138

Overt

Answer 138

Overtobvious; not hiddenOvert means open and done in plain sight. An overt attempt to get your teacher off-track might fail. Instead, try asking subtle questions about her kids, and she'll stay off topic all class.If you speak French, remember that overt is the same as the French ouvert "open." If you don't speak French, give up all hope of ever learning this word. Just kidding –– forgive the overt attempt at humor. English speakers, here's your trick for remembering the difference between overt and covert: overt = "open," covert = "covered."

Question 139

Clientele

Answer 139

ClientelecustomersYour customers are your clientele. If you own a pet food store, your clientele might be two-footed and four-pawed.The noun clientele is often preceded by an adjective to describe the exact type of customer. Little boutiques in upscale neighborhoods probably cater to an exclusive clientele, while the kids' hair salon might have Barney on video to keep the young clientele motionless in their chairs. Regardless of business type, you are always trying to please the clientele.

Question 140

Discordancy

Answer 140

Discordancycacophony; harshness; jarring

Question 141

Pyromania

Answer 141

Pyromaniacompulsion to start firesIt is never a good idea to leave a person who suffers from pyromania alone with a box of matches, since pyromania is a strong urge to start fires.Manias, compulsions or obsessions, are rarely good things, and this one is especially undesirable: an uncontrollable impulse to set fires. The pyr- part, from Greek for "fire," appears in pyramid, pyrotechnic, and empyreal; the English word fire is also distantly related. The mania part means "madness" in Greek, and "fire madness" is a good way to think of pyromania.

Question 142

Drone

Answer 142

Drone1. monotonous noise?(n); 2. to speak with no emotion?(v); 3.male beeA drone is a male bee whose only job — and only purpose in life — is to fertilize the queen bee's eggs. That's why some workers who do their jobs robotically, not trying to innovate but just get through each day, are sometimes, and negatively, called drones.Drone can be a noun and a verb: it is both a low, monotonous sound, like the drone of a boring teacher that makes students struggle to stay awake, and the act of making that sound — that teacher drones on and on, never noticing that everyone is staring out the window. Drone can also refer to a worker whose low level of ambition suggests he or she will never rise through the ranks to become a top decision-maker at the company.

Question 143

Malediction

Answer 143

Maledictiona curse"Darn you!" "Go bury your head in the sand." "You ugly nincompoop!" Each of those nasty curses is a malediction (and, I’m sure, nothing you would ever say to another human being).A malediction is a curse. Not like the kind a witch puts on someone, but close. More like what the schoolyard bully says to hurt someone’s feelings. On purpose. Malediction has male in it, but it’s not a slur against men or boys. Mal comes from the Latin for "evil" and "diction," and as you may remember, has to do with what we say. So a malediction is an evil statement directed at someone else. Pretty nasty, if you ask me.

Question 144

Drivel

Answer 144

DrivelnonsenseDrivel is useless, boring information. If you drivel, you talk stupidly or actually drool. Your parent might think the articles in your favorite fashion magazine are drivel.Etymologists suspect drivel comes to us from the Old Norse word draf, meaning "malt dregs." This would make sense, given that drivel is usually talk or writing about as useless as dregs. If you don't prepare for an oral report, the unfortunate result may be that your teacher finds your disorganized ramblings to be pure drivel. Drivel also means to dribble saliva. If a friendly dog licks your hand, leaving it wet and gooey, you can assume he driveled on it.

Question 145

Gibbering

Answer 145

Gibberingmaking meaningless noises

Question 146

Diffident

Answer 146

Diffidentlacking confidenceThe adjective diffident describes someone who is shy and lacking in self-confidence. If you are shy and have a diffident manner, you should probably not choose one of these professions: substitute teacher, stand-up comic, or lion-tamer.Diffident can describe someone who is reserved and restrained. Some may mistake your diffident manner for coolness or aloofness. Although it may be in your nature to be diffident, you will find it impossible to remain so when you visit my family. They are a big, noisy, outgoing bunch and they will make you join in the fun until you let loose and open up. Don't say you weren't warned!

Question 147

Infallible

Answer 147

Infallibleperfect; flawless; cannot make mistakes"Fallible" means capable of making mistakes — or, easier to remember — capable of failing. Infallible means exactly the opposite — incapable of failing.This word is often used to describe human capacity for error — no one is infallible. And yet, we are able to be infallible in certain ways: children are infallibly curious, teenagers infallibly hungry. Interestingly, infallible derives from the Latin in- "not" + fallere "deceive." When did making a mistake and deception become the same thing?

Question 148

Hidebound

Answer 148

Hideboundrigid in opinions

Question 149

Pernicious

Answer 149

Perniciousdestructive; harmfulPernicious means harmful and subtle, such as a poison gas that causes cancer in those exposed to it over the course of years.Pernicious comes from the Latin perniciosus, for destructive, which in turn comes from pernicies, for death or ruin. You might have heard your parents and teachers talk about the pernicious effects of watching too much TV and playing video games all day––they'll turn your brain to mush.

Question 150

Paradox

Answer 150

Paradoxapparently contradictory statementHere's a mind-bender: "This statement is false." If you think it's true, then it must be false, but if you think it's false, it must be true. Now, that's a paradox!A paradox is a logical puzzler that contradicts itself in a baffling way. "This statement is false" is a classic example, known to logicians as "the liar's paradox." Paradoxical statements may seem completely self-contradictory, but they can be used to reveal deeper truths. When Oscar Wilde said, "I can resist anything except temptation," he used a paradox to point to our fundamental weakness to give in to tempting things (like chocolate or a pretty smile), all the while imagining that we can hold firm and resist them.

Question 151

Mallet

Answer 151

Mallet1. wooden hammer; 2. stick used for poloA mallet is a tool with a large, barrel-shaped, head — used to pound on something. You might use a mallet to strike an instrument or in playing croquet. Yeah, right.A mallet is a long-handled implement with a barrel-shaped head used in games like croquet or polo. In music, a mallet is a stick with a rounded end that is sometimes padded, used to strike percussion instruments like timpani, bells, or a marimba. Use your yarn or rubber mallets to play the marimba, and use your wooden mallets to play the xylophone.

Question 152

Austere

Answer 152

Austereseverely plainThe adjective austere is used to describe something or someone stern or without any decoration. You wouldn't want someone to describe you or your home as austere.Austere is not usually a positive word because it means that a person or a thing isn't pleasurable. For example, if you go on an austere diet, it's likely you wouldn't ever get to have candy. The adjective comes into English by way of French, Latin, and Greek, meaning "harsh" and "dry." It's pronounced as "o-stir," with an emphasis on the second syllable.

Question 153

Vapid

Answer 153

Vapiddull; uninspiringReserve the adjective vapid for the airhead in your office that brings nothing to the table, except maybe the doughnuts. Vapid is an adjective to describe someone or something that is dull or uninspiring."We prefer not to consider the shockingly vapid and primitive comments uttered by athletes in postcontest interviews," David Foster Wallace wrote. The word was originally used in English in a much more literal sense, describing beverages that lacked flavor. It comes from the Latin word vapidus, literally "having exhaled its vapor."

Question 154

Usurp

Answer 154

Usurptake someone's position (usually by force)If you take over your neighbor's backyard and claim his in-ground swimming pool as your own, you might seize control of, or usurp his yard, but he'll probably call the cops on you.Leaders who usurp power don't ask for permission to take control of their country. They seize power, often with the help of a large army of followers. A usurper doesn't have to be human. A brand-new radio station can usurp the most popular station in town by playing a better mix of music.

Question 155

Fitful

Answer 155

Fitfulnot continuous; stopping and startingAn adjective that sounds a little like what it means, fitful means stopping and starting, on-again off-again, switching suddenly. I had a fitful night's sleep: I woke up several times throughout the night.A fit is a disturbance that happens without warning, like a tantrum, tremor, or spasm. If something is fitful, it's "full of fits." A night at the opera is a night of fitful pleasures: the arias are cool, but the rest of the show is boring. I've made only fitful progress trying to lose weight, because I lose only a few pounds at a time, and they almost always come right back: my progress is fitful because it comes in "fits and starts."

Question 156

Parsimony

Answer 156

Parsimonystinginess; frugality; cost-cuttingParsimony is a noun to use when you are watching your money very carefully. So you're not just saving your pennies for a rainy day — you're clipping coupons, re-using dryer sheets, and refusing to pay full price for anything.It's not a bad thing to engage in a little parsimony. Related to an ancient Latin word meaning "to spare," parsimony keeps your checking account in the black and your retirement plan well funded. But get a little too parsimonious and you might start to look like Uncle Scrooge — an old miser who learned the hard way that practicing extreme parsimony doesn't win you love and admiration.

Question 157

Contrite

Answer 157

ContritesorryWe are sorry to inform you that the adjective contrite means to feel regret, remorse, or even guilt.Someone who feels remorse or guilt is contrite and in addition to feeling sorry, part of the definition includes wanting to atone for a having done something wrong. The word comes from the Latin roots com- meaning "together" and terere which means "to rub." It's also related to the Latin word conterere and is defined as "to bruise." In the field of theology being contrite is "being remorseful for past sin and resolved to avoid future sin."

Question 158

Timorous

Answer 158

Timorouscowardly; fearfulA timorous person is timid or shy, like your timorous friend who likes to hang out with close pals but gets nervous around big groups of new people.The adjective timorous is actually the Latin word for "fearful." But timorous is a specific kind of fearfulness — the kind that strikes people before giving a speech, or walking into a crowded place where people are socializing. Also called "shy" or "timid," timorous people often become more comfortable when they see a familiar face in the crowd.

Question 159

Eccentric

Answer 159

Eccentricunusual; quirky; oddYou're most likely to encounter the adjective eccentric in a description of an unusual or quirky person — like a scatter-brained aunt who leaves her life savings to her cat.From the Greek ekkentros, "out of the center," this word originally had to do with the orbits of planets that were observed to be slightly out of whack. Eventually it came to describe people who were a little kooky, both as an adjective and as a noun, too: an eccentric is an unconventional, odd person. Think of them as following a slightly different orbit from the rest of society.

Question 160

Acuity

Answer 160

Acuitysharpness (mental or visual)Acuity has to do with sharpness and smartness. Do you always get A's in math? Then you have an acuity for numbers.People often talk about "mental acuity," which is a fancy way of saying intelligence, brains, or smartness. There are specific kinds of acuity, too. As people become very old, they tend to lose their acuity in many areas, including their vision, which is one reason very old people don't drive as well. A 40-year-old quarterback isn't going to have the same acuity for seeing receivers and throwing the ball as a 25-year-old quarterback.

Question 161

Ominous

Answer 161

OminousthreateningIf something looks or sounds ominous, be careful, a threat or an unpleasant event is at hand. If you see an ominous frown on your boss's face, you're in trouble!Ominous, and the related word omen both come from the 16th century Latin word ōmen "foreboding." However, unlike omen, which is a sign of something good or bad to come, ominous always describes something unpleasant or threatening. If the future looks ominous, you've got nothing to look forward to. Figuratively, an ominous sky or ominous clouds promise rain or a storm.

Question 162

Anarchy

Answer 162

Anarchychaos; lack of governmentUse the noun anarchy to describe a complete lack of government — or the chaotic state of affairs created by such an absence. A substitute teacher might worry that an unruly classroom will descend into anarchy.From the Greek for "without a ruler" we get this word for the political philosophy that the best government is no government at all — a movement that enjoyed surprising success worldwide in the early and middle parts of the twentieth century. Today, the word is more commonly used to describe not a political ideal but a state of total disorder, chaos and even violence: "A type of bloody anarchy is beginning to reign." A good synonym would be "lawlessness."

Question 163

Perpetuity

Answer 163

PerpetuityeternityThe word perpetuity means the property of being perpetual, or lasting forever. The perpetuity of an eternal flame means that it will burn forever, while an ordinary candle flame will eventually extinguish.First appearing in the 15th century, the noun perpetuity derives from the Latin word perpetuus meaning "continuing throughout." It can mean the quality of being perpetual, continuing forever, or everlasting. If a person sent into exile from their native country is never allowed to return, they have been banished "in perpetuity."

Question 164

Lynch

Answer 164

Lynchassassinate; kill; illegal hanging

Question 165

Nondescript

Answer 165

Nondescripthaving no special features; dull and ordinaryNondescript is a word used to describe something that isn't special or unusual in any way. You might have trouble finding a nondescript apartment building because it looks exactly like every other apartment building around it.You could use the word nondescript to describe your blind date if she was completely uninteresting and dull, both in looks and personality. Some houses are so nondescript that you have to drive by several times just to make sure it's the right one.

Question 166

Byline

Answer 166

Bylinethe line that tells you who wrote an article

Question 167

Eclectic

Answer 167

Eclectictaking things from different sourcesShe listens to hip-hop, Gregorian chant, and folk music from the '60s. He's been seen wearing a handmade tuxedo jacket over a thrift-store flannel shirt. They both have eclectic tastes.The English word eclectic first appeared in the seventeenth century to describe philosophers who did not belong to a particular school of thought, but instead assembled their doctrines by picking and choosing from a variety of philosophical systems. Today, the word can refer to any assemblage of varied parts. You can have an eclectic group of friends (friends from diverse groups), eclectic taste in furniture (a mixture of 18th-century French chairs, Andy Warhol paintings, and Persian rugs), or enjoy eclectic cuisine (fusion cooking that uses ingredients from different national cuisines).

Question 168

Discord

Answer 168

DiscorddisagreementDiscord is the strife and tension that arises when two sides disagree on something, like the high pitched screaming of two kids fighting over the front seat of the car.Discord can be broken down into the prefix dis, meaning "different," and cord, which stems from an old word for "heart." So that leaves us with "different hearts." So if we're talking about music, discord means a lack of harmony — tones that clash so badly your ears bleed. But when there's discord between people, their hearts are in different places — which usually results in more than a few raised voices clashing disharmoniously.

Question 169

Quirk

Answer 169

QuirkoddityA quirk is a unique, odd, and sometimes charming trait that makes a person stand out from the crowd. Country comedian Minnie Pearl was known for her quirk of wearing a $1.98 price tag dangling from her hat.A quirk can be an adorable little habit, like wearing flowery dresses and big sun bonnets or bow ties every day. Someone who has one or many quirks is said to be quirky — a little odd, but usually in a fun way. When it's not being used to describe people's unusual traits, quirk can mean a quick curve, or a groove, that runs along or separates the molding in a building.

Question 170

Gullibility

Answer 170

Gullibilityunwariness; trustfulness; being easily fooledGullibility is the quality of believing in things too quickly. Someone with a lot of gullibility can be easily tricked.There's an old joke: "Did you know gullible isn't in the dictionary?" If you say "Really?" in response, then you are proving to be gullible: a little too ready to believe what you hear. The word for this quality or tendency is gullibility. Being superstitious shows gullibility. Believing tabloid newspapers shows gullibility. Falling easily for jokes and pranks shows gullibility. People with high gullibility are a little too trusting: they’re not suspicious of anyone.

Question 171

Pristine

Answer 171

PristineunspoiledIf something is pristine it's immaculately clean or has never been used. So please check your shoes before walking on a pristine white carpet.A long, long time ago pristine was used to describe primitive or ancient things. It wasn’t until 1899 that the word grew to mean "unspoiled" or "pure." Ecologists strive to preserve pristine rain forests, just as vacationers are always looking for a pristine strip of beach to lounge on. A new car should arrive to you in pristine condition, and hopefully you'll do your best to keep it that way.

Question 172

Objective

Answer 172

Objectiveunbiased; not subjectiveIf a police officer falls in love with a witness in a case, it might be hard for him to stay objective — that is, looking at things in a detached, impartial, fact-based way.The opposite of objective is subjective, "influenced by personal feelings or opinions." Of course, an objective view isn't always preferable to a subjective one; it would be hard to imagine an art critic who stayed objective. The word comes from the Latin ob "against" + jacere "to throw"; an objective view is one that considers only things that have been "thrown against" your eyes, so to speak. Objective has also been used as a noun meaning "a goal," as in "military objectives."

Question 173

Trinket

Answer 173

Trinketsomething of little value; knick-knackThe word trinket refers to an inexpensive, flashy ornament or piece of jewelry. A rhinestone brooch to pin to your jacket is a showy trinket that won't break the bank.Trinkets aren't always made to be worn like jewelry. The word trinket can also refer to novelty items such as silly magnets with sayings on them or keepsake spoons. If you've ever stopped into a store at the airport that sells goods like keychains, mugs, and buttons, then you've seen trinkets. Trinkets are often purchased on a vacation — they're small enough to stick into your pockets before you board the plane home.

Question 174

Tyro

Answer 174

Tyronovice; beginnerA tyro is a beginner, a new recruit, or someone who is just learning something. If you are the new guy at the job and you're wearing a big dorky badge that says "Trainee" on it, you are a tyro.Tyro isn't used much these days but it's similar to newbie, novice, or recruit. We have all been tyros at some point, but it doesn't necessarily prevent us from hazing the new kid, the next-generation tyro. Tyro can also be used as an adjective to describe someone new to a particular scene — such as "the tyro congressman" or "the tyro quarterback."

Question 175

Profound

Answer 175

Profoundhaving deep meaningWhen you need a word that's deeper than "deep," consider profound.Profundus meant literally "deep" in Latin, and profound had the same meaning when it entered English in the 14th century. But even then, it also meant "figuratively deep" — that is, very great or intense: "The new laws have had a profound impact." Of people, it means "very knowledgeable or insightful," but sometimes if a person tries to sound profound they're really just giving you superficial knowledge dressed up with big words.

Question 176

Vehement

Answer 176

VehementforcefulYou can use the adjective vehement to describe an extremely strong, powerful, or intense emotion or force. The teenager argued for a much later curfew in a vehement speech to her parents; her parents responded with an equally vehement "No way!"Vehement is from Latin and was originally applied to intense natural phenomena: pain, heat, wind, etc. It is now more commonly used for intense emotions or beliefs. With the adverb form, people can be vehemently in favor of something, but the more common usage is for people to be vehemently opposed to something. Many people, for example, are vehemently opposed to politicians they didn't vote for, other people spoiling the endings of movies or books, or someone else taking the last piece of chocolate. The stress is on the first syllable (VEE-uh-ment).

Question 177

Garrulous

Answer 177

GarruloustalkativeA garrulous person just won’t stop talking (and talking, and talking, and talking...).Garrulous comes from the Latin word garrire for "chattering or prattling." If someone is garrulous, he doesn't just like to talk; he indulges in talking for talking’s sake — whether or not there’s a real conversation going on. If you discover that you have a garrulous neighbor sitting next to you on the plane, you might just want to feign sleep, unless you really want to hear everything going through his mind for the entire trip.

Question 178

Underscore

Answer 178

UnderscoreemphasizeTo underscore is to draw special attention to a fact, idea, or situation. When you're involved in a debate, it’s wise to underscore the points that best support your argument.Literally, underscore means "to underline," or draw a line beneath a word to emphasize it. In common speech, to underscore something is to call attention to it. If a worker sustained an injury on the job, for instance, the event would underscore the need for workplace safety. Underscore is also used to mean "emphasize." During a job interview, you want to underscore any experience that relates to the job you are applying for.

Question 179

Annex

Answer 179

Annextake possession of; seize; captureAn annex is an extension of, or an addition to a building. A small room off of a main room is an annex, and attics are another type of annex.As a noun, an annex is part of a building or an addition to a main structure, or it can be an attachment, as in "an annex to the current plans." When used as a verb, the word means something a little different. Sometimes annex is used as a nice word for "take" or "grab," as when Nazi Germany took the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia in 1938 and added it to their own territory. In order to annex something to what is yours, you have to take it away from someone else.

Question 180

Counterfeit

Answer 180

Counterfeitfake; falseA counterfeit is a fake or a forgery. If you painted an uncanny copy of the "Mona Lisa" and tried to pass it off as the original, you'd have a counterfeit on your hands.An exact imitation of anything — a work of art, a ten dollar bill — is a counterfeit, and the act of creating the fake copy is the verb to counterfeit. You can also describe the forgery using the adjective form of counterfeit: a counterfeit Rolex watch. In Old French, the word contre, "counter or against", together with the word faire, "to make," joined together to mean "to make in imitation," which led to our counterfeit.

Question 181

Exemplify

Answer 181

Exemplifyto serve as a good exampleIf you exemplify something, you're the perfect example of it. Say you wear frilly shirts, knee-high boots, and black eye-make-up — you exemplify the fashion world's obsession with pirates.Exemplifying something can also mean make it clearer by offering an illustration or an example. If you want to exemplify your argument that, say, pirate gear is fashionable, you might want to show your friends some pictures of celebrities wearing eye patches.

Question 182

Largess

Answer 182

Largessgenerosity

Question 183

Effigy

Answer 183

Effigya model of a personIn modern usage, effigy most often refers to a likeness, such as a dummy, that is hanged, burned, or otherwise abused when protesting the despised person's actions.If you've encountered the phrase "in effigy," it's probably been in a news report about protesters burning a stuffed figure made to look like a loathed corporate leader or head of state. Since the 18th century or longer, effigies have been destroyed in place of individuals who, as far as the angry crowd is concerned, have escaped justice. Effigy can also refer to a sculptural portrait of the deceased reclining upon a burial monument.

Question 184

Wily

Answer 184

WilycunningDid you fall for that wily door to door salesman's pitch? He must be very slick and tricky to have convinced you to buy a set of new tires, considering you don't have a car.How can you remember the meaning of the adjective wily? Just think about the old Warner Brothers Looney Tunes cartoons. Their aptly named cartoon character, Wile E. Coyote, got his name from a clever play on words. Wile E. is supposed to be cunning, crafty, and clever — in other words, wily. Wile E. is all those things, but unfortunately he was usually bested by that pesky roadrunner anyway. Meep. Meep.

Question 185

Saccharin

Answer 185

Saccharinfalsely sweet

Question 186

Scrupulous

Answer 186

Scrupulouscareful; diligent; painstakingScrupulous means very careful to do things properly and correctly, such as paying friends back for money borrowed right away, or not returning a pair of shoes after they've been worn outdoors.A scrupulous person is full of scruples, which are concerns about doing things that are morally right. Such a person is hesitant or doubtful, and might have trouble deciding what is morally right or wrong. The adjective scrupulous is from Latin scrūpulōsus, from scrūpulus "scruple." A near synonym is punctilious.

Question 187

Itinerant

Answer 187

Itinerantnomadic; wandering from place to placeAn itinerant is a person who moves from place to place, typically for work, like the itinerant preacher who moves to a new community every few years.Itinerant is pronounced "eye-TIN-er-ant." It might remind you of itinerary, the traveler's schedule that lists flights, hotel check-in times, and other plans. It's no surprise that both words come from the Latin word itinerare, meaning "to travel." Itinerant was first used in the 16th century to describe circuit judges who traveled to faraway courtrooms. Today, almost anyone can be an itinerant.

Question 188

Repudiate

Answer 188

Repudiateshun; eschewTo repudiate something is to reject it, or to refuse to accept or support it. If you grow up religious, but repudiate all organized religion as an adult, you might start spending holidays at the movies, or just going to work.This verb usually refers to rejecting something that has authority, such as a legal contract, doctrine, or claim. In connection with debts or other obligations, repudiate is used in the specialized sense "to refuse to recognize or pay." If referring to a child or a lover, repudiate is used in the sense "to disown, cast off." This verb is derived from Latin repudiare "to put away, divorce."

Question 189

Ephemeral

Answer 189

Ephemeralshort-livedSomething that is fleeting or short-lived is ephemeral, like a fly that lives for one day or text messages flitting from cellphone to cellphone.Ephemeral (ə-FEM-ər-əl) was originally a medical term with the specific meaning "lasting only one day," as a fever or sickness (Hemera means "day" in Greek.) The word became more general, coming to mean "lasting a short time," covering the life spans of plants or insects and then eventually anything that is fleeting or transitory. A related word is the plural noun ephemera, meaning "things that are meant to last for only a short time." Posters for a rock concert are often ephemera, unless the band is so famous that they get saved and sold on eBay.

Question 190

Quaint

Answer 190

QuaintpicturesqueQuaint means strange and unusual in an old-fashioned and charming way. It's a word you'd use to describe a little store that sells tea cozies and antique tea services, or your grandmother's habit of calling the radio the "wireless."There is a commonly used sarcastic sense of quaint––when something is run down or shabby and you're trying to say something positive, you might substitute "How...quaint" for "How...interesting." In Middle English, this adjective meant clever or cunning. Its origin is Old French queinte, cointe, from Latin cognitus "known," from cognōscere "to learn."

Question 191

Vehemence

Answer 191

Vehemenceviolence; fervor; forcefulnessSomething with vehemence is forceful and energetic. If you passionately believe that your neighbor is mistreating his dog, speak to him with vehemence.Vehemence is the quality of being vehement, or powerful. We often describe passionate speeches as having vehemence. You could also describe a violent natural event as vehement. A hurricane sweeps onto coastal land with destructive vehemence. If your dancing style is wild and involves throwing your limbs every which way as fast as possible, then you dance with vehemence.

Question 192

Extrapolate

Answer 192

Extrapolateextend; predict on the basis of known dataWhen you extrapolate, you use specific details to make a general comment. For example, if you travel to Canada and encounter only friendly, kind natives, you might extrapolate that all Canadians are friendly.The verb extrapolate can mean "to predict future outcomes based on known facts." For example, looking at your current grade report for math and how you are doing in class now, you could extrapolate that you'll likely earn a solid B for the year. Another meaning of extrapolate is "estimate the value of." You could extrapolate how much your antique watch is worth by finding how much similar watches sold for at recent auctions.

Question 193

Preclude

Answer 193

Precludeprevent or make impossibleTo preclude something is to prevent it from happening. A muzzle precludes a dog from biting.This is a very formal word, but it has a simple meaning: when something is precluded, it can't happen. See the prefix pre in preclude and in prevent? It is signaling that these words are all about things done before another action would happen — to make it impossible. Staying away from water precludes the possibility of drowning, though it also precludes any chance of having fun swimming.

Question 194

Epistolary

Answer 194

Epistolaryconcerned with letters; through correspondenceAny correspondence or communication written in the form of a letter or series of letters is said to be epistolary.They've gone out of fashion now, but in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the "epistolary novel," written in the form of fictional letters to and from various corespondents, was all the rage. One of the most famous such novels (or at least part epistolary) is Bram Stoker's "Dracula." Epistolary is related to the word epistle, a fancy term for "letter."

Question 195

Cacophony

Answer 195

Cacophonydiscordant loud noisesA cacophony is a mishmash of unpleasant sounds, often at loud volume. It's what you'd hear if you gave instruments to a group of four-year olds and asked them to play one of Beethoven's symphonies.A cacophony is a jarring, discordant mix of sounds that have no business being played together. When the orchestra tunes up before a show, it sounds like a cacophony because each musician is playing a completely different tune, at different times, and at different volumes. Once the show begins, that cacophony had better turn into a melody, or audiences will demand a refund. This allegedly occurred during the first time Igor Stravinsky's score for the ballet "The Rite of Spring" was performed because its difficult composition and discordant tone was shocking.

Question 196

Prot�g�

Answer 196

Prot�g�"person under protection of, or guided by another"

Question 197

Tactile

Answer 197

Tactileconcerned with the sense of touchTactile has to do with the sense of touch. There's a huge tactile difference between smooth glass and rough sandpaper.Anything to do with touch can be described as tactile. Even notice how a dog would rather sleep on a soft blanket than a rubbery leather couch? That's because dogs have tactile preferences: the softer the better. Different textures of food are tactile — they feel different in your mouth, aside from how they taste. You deal with the world of tactile things every day — you use your tactile sense whenever you touch anything.

Question 198

Digress

Answer 198

Digresswander off the subjectIf we're talking about science fiction, and you suddenly go off on a long tangent about the cost of grape soda, you digress. When a person digresses, they stray from the topic.It's easy to understand why you digressed from the main topic. You were incredibly excited, speeding on caffeine, and, let's face it, you've never been at a loss for words. Don't get me wrong: I love your wanderings — how you drift from one topic to the next, letting your mind explore. The problem was that the meeting was running late and there was no time to let you digress. I had to pull you back to the main topic. I didn't want our potential new partners to get the idea that these digressions were typical.

Question 199

Benignity

Answer 199

Benignitycompassion; gentleness; fondness

Question 200

Castigate

Answer 200

Castigatescold stronglyUse castigate when you mean reprimand but in an especially harsh way. If you take a mean teacher's books, even accidently, you might worry that she's going to castigate you as soon as she finds out.Castigate means punish, and punish harshly, but the punishment is always a severe scolding. Sometimes it means criticize severely. Politicians in the Senate are always castigating each other for their alliances and opinions. Castigate and chasten, which also means "to reprimand" but is less severe, share the Latin root castus which means "pure." Ideally, if you castigate someone, you mean to guide someone away from the wrong path and toward a more pure one. But it sure doesn't feel like that when you're being castigated!

Question 201

Redress

Answer 201

Redressput right something that was wrongThe verb redress is used when you are supposed to fix a problem and make amends. You want your parents to redress the fact that you don't have a pet. Your parents offer to get a hamster, but instead, you say you want a monkey.Redress can be used as both a noun and a verb. In the noun form, it is the compensation for setting something right. As a verb it means to correct, right a wrong, or make restitution for something. The union organizers wanted the company to redress the fact that workers weren't getting lunch breaks.

Question 202

Quaff

Answer 202

Quaffdrink down quicklyTo quaff is to gulp. You’re in a desert; you haven’t had water in days; you’re wicked thirsty. Then you find an oasis! You lean over and quaff the water.If you’re in a room with your favorite foods, you might stuff the food into your mouth. Quaffing is the same fun, but with beverages instead of foods. But just like with stuffing food, quaffing means you drink a little too much. Often, quaffing refers to alcoholic drinks, but it can mean any beverage in general, like milkshakes. Quaff a milkshake and you’ll get a headache, but you’ll have fun doing it.

Question 203

Enshroud

Answer 203

Enshroudcover

Question 204

Protagonist

Answer 204

Protagonist"main character in film, book, play etc."A protagonist is the central character in a story: the protagonist of Huckleberry Finn is — guess who? — Huckleberry Finn.A novel, movie, or play might have many main characters, but it can really only have one protagonist — or maybe two in the case of, say, Romeo and Juliet. That's because protos means "first" in Greek, and agonistes means "competitor" or "actor." It can also mean a leading figure in a real-life situation: "Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were the protagonists of the U.S. Civil War." Don't use it to mean "a supporter of an idea or cause"; the word you're looking for in that situation is proponent.

Question 205

Egalitarianism

Answer 205

Egalitarianismbelief in equalityEgalitarianism is the belief that all people are created equal. Remember the Reverend Martin Luther King? He was a fervent believer in egalitarianism.Egalitarianism is a set of beliefs that generally promote equality for all mankind — regardless of gender, race, religious orientation, etc. An egalitarian is someone who practices egalitarianism, perhaps by promoting laws giving equal protection to women in the workplace or by advocating for illegal immigrants to have the same rights as citizens. The opposite of egalitarianism is elitism, which is the belief that certain people have a right to have their opinions heard more than others.

Question 206

Jocular

Answer 206

Jocularin a joking mannerDo you like to make a lot of jokes? Are you often silly? Are you usually happy? If so, then you are a jocular person.Being jocular has to do with being both jokey and fun. A jocular suggestion is not a serious suggestion — it's a joke. Some people are more jocular than others: anyone who is ultra-serious and always frowning is not jocular. A comedian makes a job of being jocular. Class clowns can't stop being jocular, though the teacher might just see them as obnoxious. Being jocular is usually considered a good thing: it's not just about making a lot of jokes; it's about being happy and pleasant to be around.

Question 207

Subtle

Answer 207

Subtlenot obviousSomething that is subtle is not obvious: a professional food taster might be able to perceive subtle differences of flavor that most people don't notice.Subtle is used for things that are hard to describe because of their complexity or delicacy: a way of thinking, arguing, or creating a work of art. The word is pronounced like "suttle" and it was originally spelled that way when it was borrowed from Old French, but the b got imported to make the word look more like its ultimate source, the Latin adjective subtilis. If you try to pronounce the b, your ignorance of how to say the word properly won't be very subtle!

Question 208

Ruse

Answer 208

Rusetrick; stratagemMovie bank robbers always seem to pull some kind of ruse, a deceptive trick or tactic like hiding the money underneath the bank while they drive off in the getaway car to avoid capture by the police.You'd use a ruse if you were up to something sneaky and were trying to get away with it without being discovered. The wife planning a surprise birthday party for her husband could send him out to the supermarket as a ruse, a trick so she could sneak one hundred of his closest friends into the house without him noticing.

Question 209

Inertia

Answer 209

Inertiainactivity; lethargyInertia is resistance to change. You hate looking at people's feet and yet you stay in your job as a shoe salesman year after year. Why? Inertia.Inertia is a physics term. Isaac Newtown discovered that a body at rest would stay at rest and a body moving through space would continue moving through space unless an external force (like friction or gravity) caused it to slow down or stop. Sometimes we need an external force to help us get going or to change direction, too, like a friend to tell us to get off the couch or to quit that job at the shoe store.

Question 210

Verbosity

Answer 210

Verbosityusing too many wordsVerbosity is a quality possessed by people who talk a lot while saying very little at all.The root verb — also seen in verbal — is a clue this word has to do with talking. Specifically, verbosity is the quality of gabbing and blabbing at length. That might sound like a talent, and it sort of is, but usually the words are a bit empty. You could be accused of verbosity if you like to exaggerate or wax poetic. Most of the time, verbosity is empty talk — a whole lot of nothing dressed up in too many words.

Question 211

Furtive

Answer 211

Furtivehidden and secretIf you're looking for a formal adjective to describe something sly or secret, sneak in furtive. Let's hope the teacher doesn't see your furtive attempts to pass notes in class!The adjective, furtive, is related to fūrtum, the Latin word for theft or robbery. This is apparent as the expressions "to give someone a furtive glance" and "to steal a glance at someone" mean the same thing. If a person's manner is furtive, he or she is acting suspiciously. Secret, stealthy and sly are all similar in meaning, but they lack this image of a thief's actions.

Question 212

Pivotal

Answer 212

Pivotalof central importanceHigh school graduation is a pivotal moment in most people's lives — an important point that signifies a shift in direction.You see the word pivot in pivotal. That is because when something is pivotal, it is central, and everything related to the topic turns or depends on it. An election can be a pivotal moment in a nation's history if the direction the country takes depends on it. Your belief in reincarnation may be pivotal to how you treat animals. Pivotal means important, but it has the sense of centrality and turning.

Question 213

Lofty

Answer 213

Loftysnooty; arrogant; haughtyLofty is a good word for describing something that's high above the ground, or someone who acts like she's high above everyone else.Dating from the 15th century, lofty originally meant "exalted," or spiritually high, but soon came to mean physically high as well. A towering mountain can be called "lofty." So can someone who walks around with her nose in the air and speaks in a fake English accent. Even if she's only five-foot-two.

Question 214

Deplete

Answer 214

Depleteuse up; lessenTo deplete is to use up or consume a limited resource. Visiting relatives might deplete your refrigerator of food, or a pestering friend might deplete your patience.The verb deplete is used like "to drain." A long, exhausting day can deplete your body of energy and a summer drought can deplete a region’s water supply. If you deplete your body of hydration after a lot of exercise, be sure to replete yourself with a nice glass of water.

Question 215

Maverick

Answer 215

Mavericka lonerA maverick is a rebel, someone who shows a lot of independence. A maverick on a motorcycle might blaze his own trail, or show a maverick touch in a rough sport by wearing a helmet with the word "Mom" inside a heart.Samuel A. Maverick owned a lot of cattle, and he let them roam around Texas without a brand, or identification mark, seared into their skins. Samuel was a maverick for going against the common practice of tracking his animals, and his last name became part of the English language as both an adjective and a noun in the 19th century. Someone who acts very independently is a maverick, and individual actions that stand out are maverick, as in "her maverick jumping style on the ice was both wild and delicate."

Question 216

Intermittent

Answer 216

Intermittentsporadic; irregularReach for the adjective intermittent to describe periodic movement and stopping and starting over a period of time.The adjective intermittent modifies things that work or stop and start at periodic intervals. An interesting use of something intermittent is a metronome, a device that marks off time in music by making a sound in a regular pattern. It provides structure for musicians, especially when there are several instruments all playing different melodies at the same time. Other intermittent things are the windshield wipers on your car and thank goodness for them when it rains!

Question 217

Deteriorate

Answer 217

Deteriorateworsen; declineWhen something gets worse due to neglect or an unfortunate health problem, stuff starts to deteriorate — or fall apart.The word deteriorate describes anytime something gets worse. Due to neglect, a relationship can deteriorate but so can the American highway system. Sadly, there seems to be no end to applications for the word deteriorate. And, the truth is at a certain age we all start deteriorating too.

Question 218

Relegate

Answer 218

Relegatedismiss to a lower positionRelegate means assign to a lower position. If the quarterback of the football team stops making decent throws he might be relegated to the position of benchwarmer, while another kid is given the chance to play.Relegate rhymes with delegate––both words derive from the Latin legare "send." Relegate means to send someone down in rank. Delegate means to send someone in your place to complete a task. In the workplace, managers who can't figure out how to delegate may get relegated to a lesser rank.

Question 219

Lukewarm

Answer 219

Lukewarm1. unenthusiastic; 2. neither hot nor coldSomething lukewarm is just a teeny bit warm. Lukewarm feelings are also not very strong.Lukewarm is a word for things that are warm, but only barely. A forgotten cup of hot coffee will get lukewarm before it eventually gets cold. It's disappointing when food at a restaurant is served lukewarm; most people like their food hot. Also, people can have lukewarm feelings and reactions. If someone asks you out to lunch and you say, "Well, I guess that would be OK," that's a lukewarm response.

Question 220

Fractious

Answer 220

Fractiousirritable; difficult to controlIf you're prone to picking fights, making snarky comments, and being frustratingly stubborn, you're fractious. And odds are you're not invited to too many parties.Someone who is fractious is cranky, rebellious and inclined to cause problems. Tempers and children are commonly described as such. In To Kill A Mockingbird, author Harper Lee uses the word to describe the trouble-making Calpurnia: "She had always been too hard on me, she had at last seen the error of her fractious ways, she was sorry and too stubborn to say so."

Question 221

Hieroglyphics

Answer 221

Hieroglyphics1. picture writing; 2. writing which is difficult to read or enigmaticIf your written language consists of pictures rather than letters and words, your written communication would be hieroglyphic in nature. Ancient Egyptian writing was hieroglyphic.The pictures that make up hieroglyphic language are called hieroglyphs. The word descended from the Greek hierogluphikos which could be translated to mean "sacred carvings." Back when written communication was literally carved in stone, most of what was written was important, or "sacred." Today if someone describes your handwriting as hieroglyphic, they mean something quite different - your writing is awful and illegible.

Question 222

Servile

Answer 222

Servileoverly submissive; grovelingIf you want to get someone to like you, don't offer to fetch them a Coke, rub their feet, or do their homework. They won't like you any better, and your servile attitude will only cost you their respect.To remember servile, just think of the word servant––they both derive from the Latin servus "slave." In fact, servile also means anything characteristic of a slave. "After winning the lottery, the ex-slave shed first his servile clothes, later his servile manner. The transformation was complete."

Question 223

Cringe

Answer 223

Cringerecoil; flinch; shy awayWhen you cringe, your body language shows you don't like what you see and hear. You close your eyes and grimace. You may even jerk your body away from the offensive sight or sound, like the old picture of you in an "awkward stage" that makes you cringe whenever you see it.Whether it's a song you hate or someone mentioning an embarrassing moment from the past, you cringe at things that are unpleasant. If you think about the way your body involuntarily flinches or bends in those situations, you won’t be surprised to learn that the word cringe can be traced back to the Old English word cringan, meaning "give way, fall (in battle), become bent." That’s exactly what your body does when you cringe!

Question 224

Hedonist

Answer 224

Hedonista pleasure seekerYour parents might want to visit the museum while you want to hike in the forest, but your brother, the hedonist, just wants to lounge by the hotel pool and eat cake. A hedonist values sensual pleasure above all else.Hedonist comes from the Greek word hedone "pleasure" and is related to hedys, which means "sweet." Although this noun did not make its first appearance until 1822, the word was created as a reference to an ancient Greek philosophical system known as the Cyrenaic school. The Cyrenaics taught that pleasure — particularly physical pleasure — is the greatest good. If you need some examples of modern day hedonists, think the many celebrities today who are only famous for going to parties.

Question 225

Arable

Answer 225

Arablecan be cultivatedIf you describe land as arable, it means that something can grow there. If you're looking to raise crops, you better find yourself a patch of arable land.Arable has its Latin roots in the word arare, which means "to plow." Arable soil is ground that can be plowed and cultivated. Chances are — if you are using the word arable, then either the word land or the word soil is following it; however, you might also see the phrase "arable crops" — meaning those crops that are able to be grown on arable land.

Question 226

Philistine

Answer 226

Philistineuncultured person

Question 227

Tirade

Answer 227

Tiradestream of verbal abuseA tirade is a speech, usually consisting of a long string of violent, emotionally charged words. Borrow and lose your roommate’s clothes one too many times, and you can bet you’ll be treated to a heated tirade.The noun tirade is related to the Italian word tirata, which means "volley." So imagine a very angry person lobbing harsh words and strings of profanity in your direction when you want to remember what tirade means. Although, tirades don't necessarily have to include bad words — any long, drawn out speech or epic declaration can be called a tirade.

Question 228

Bureaucracy

Answer 228

BureaucracyofficialdomA bureaucracy is an organization made up of many departments and divisions that are administered by lots of people. If you've ever had to deal with health insurance or financial aid, you're familiar with the dark side of bureaucracy.Bureaucracy has a bad reputation because it has come to mean an organization or government that is chin-deep in red tape and unnecessary procedures. When dealing with a bureaucracy, expect to fill out lots of forms and wait. Bureaucracies are mocked in the hilarious film "Brazil," where people have mind-numbing jobs they do while sitting at desks. Bureaucracy is an organization administered by people behind desks, or bureaus. Bureaus, get it?

Question 229

Pathos

Answer 229

Pathosevoking sadness or pityPathos is a quality that stirs emotions. A song with a lot of pathos hits you right in the heart.You ever notice how some songs or movies appeal to your brains, while others appeal to your feelings? The ones that are all about feeling are full of pathos, an appeal to emotions that originally meant "suffering" in Greek. Often, this word has to do specifically with pity and sympathy: when someone tells a story about people suffering that makes you feel for them, that's pathos.

Question 230

Glacial

Answer 230

Glacialhostile; unfriendly; cold; icyThings that are glacial are super cold. A place can be glacial — like the South Pole — but a person can be glacial, too, like that unfriendly girl who gave you a glacial stare.The word glacial is related to the word glacier, which is a huge piece of ice. If something or someone is glacial, that thing or person is icy. You can give someone you don’t like a glacial look, or you can go skiing on a glacial morning. Glacial comes from the Latin glacies, which sounds like the name of a frozen dessert, but which actually just means "ice."

Question 231

Adamant

Answer 231

Adamantforceful; inflexibleIf you stubbornly refuse to change your mind about something, you are adamant about it.This word's story begins in ancient Greece, where philosophers spoke about a legendary unbreakable stone or metal they called adamos (literally, "invincible"). In English, people began to use the word to refer to something that cannot be altered, and then in the twentieth century — after adamant had been in English for about a thousand years — it came to be used as an adjective to mean "unyielding as stone." If you're adamant about something, no amount of persuasion is going to convince you otherwise.

Question 232

Vivify

Answer 232

VivifyenlivenWhen you vivify something, you bring new excitement or life to it. If you decide to liven up your boring apartment by painting the walls every color of the rainbow, you can say that you're trying to vivify your home.You might vivify your family's meals by experimenting with exotic spices or vivify your school by hiring circus performers to ride unicycles up and down the halls. The Latin root word of vivify is vivus, or "alive," which is also the origin of the closely related word vivid.

Question 233

Inevitable

Answer 233

Inevitablecannot be avoidedIf something is inevitable, it will definitely happen, like death or tax season.Inevitable comes from the Latin word inevitabilis, which means unavoidable. If you say something is inevitable, you give the sense that no matter what scheme you come with to get around it, it's going to happen sooner or later. You can use all the skin products you want, but wrinkles are inevitable.

Question 234

Coercion

Answer 234

CoercionforceCoercion is making something happen by force, like when bullies use coercion to make kids give them their lunch money.Coercion can be a threat, "The shady lawyer uses coercion when he threatens to get the waiter fired if he doesn't rat out his boss," or it can be actual brute force, as when the gangster breaks the messenger's leg to keep her from talking to the police. The police might use coercion, too, to get a confession. The prefix co- is derived from the Latin word for "together." So you can't use coercion on yourself; you need someone else to force into doing something.

Question 235

Modicum

Answer 235

Modicumsmall amountIf you want to describe a small amount of something, try modicum. If you have a modicum of interest in something, you are a little bit interested.Modicum comes from the Latin modicus, for moderate, and modus, for measure. We often use it to mean "any at all," as if "If you had a modicum of sense (i.e. any sense at all), you'd be able to see that the pencil you've spent the last five minutes looking for is tucked behind your ear."

Question 236

Advocate

Answer 236

AdvocatesupportYou can refer to a person who's a public supporter of a cause as an advocate.As a noun, advocate (AD-və-kit) can mean a person who represents someone's interests, such as a lawyer. It can also mean someone who supports or works toward a particular course of action, as in "an advocate for civil rights." The verb advocate (AD-və-kate) means "to argue for" or "to publicly recommend": "I advocate stricter standards of online safety." The word comes from Latin advocare, "to call," as a witness in court.

Question 237

Tranquil

Answer 237

TranquilpeacefulWhen a place or your state of mind is peaceful, quiet and serene, it is tranquil.Like a pond with no ripples, tranquil means calm and placid. A pleasant state of mind, with nothing to agitate or cause anxiety, can also be considered tranquil. As you struggle through your yoga poses, the teacher might annoyingly exclaim how tranquil you should be feeling, and when you and your siblings bicker over every little thing, your parents are wishing the house were more tranquil.

Question 238

Droll

Answer 238

Drolldryly amusingNeed a mental picture for the word droll? Think of one of those cute-homely troll dolls — blend those two words together — "doll" and "troll" — and you get droll, a description of a figure that is adorably strange and whimsically cute.The word droll comes from the archaic French word drolle, referring to a jolly good fellow. The French word comes perhaps from the Middle Dutch drolle, or "imp." The word came into English as both noun ("funny person, buffoon") and adjective ("funny, quaint, strange") in the 17th century.

Question 239

Cerebral

Answer 239

CerebralintellectualIf you are a cerebral person, no one would ever call you a drama queen. You make decisions using your intelligence and cold, hard facts, instead of your emotions.The word cerebral gets its meaning from cerebrum, which is Latin for brain. Cerebral people use their brains instead of their hearts. The cerebrum is a particular section of the brain, and anything related to that part is also cerebral, like in medicine. A cerebral hemorrhage, for example, means a hemorrhage has occurred in the brain — a phrase you'd never want to hear coming from a doctor.

Question 240

Truant

Answer 240

Truantshirker; someone absent without permissionA truant is a student who is out of school without permission. If you skip school to go shopping with your friends, you are a truant.A person can be a truant, and behavior can be described as truant too, since it's both a noun and an adjective. Your teacher might call you a truant if you skip school and if you didn't show up at your donut shop job, you would also be a truant donut slinger. In fact, anyone who's unexpectedly absent can be described as truant. The Old French truant describes a beggar, especially one who lives this way by choice.

Question 241

Intransigence

Answer 241

IntransigencestubbornnessIf you refuse to compromise with your sister about whose turn it is to do the dishes, your mother might accuse you both of intransigence. Intransigence is a stubborn refusal to change your views.Inside of intransigence you see the Latin transigere which means to come to an understanding. People who show intransigence refuse to do this. Nations are often accused of intransigence when they refuse to comply with international standards or will.

Question 242

Trepidation

Answer 242

TrepidationfearWhen plain old "fear" isn't enough to get across a deep feeling of dread about something on the horizon, use the more formal word trepidation."It was with a certain trepidation that I attended an advance screening of Rob Zombie's Halloween in Hollywood last night," wrote a film reviewer. Some dictionaries note that trepidation carries connotations of apprehension about an upcoming threat. In most cases, though, you can get by with the simpler word fear — why use three syllables when you could make do with one? The word comes from the Latin verb trepidare, "to tremble."

Question 243

Impious

Answer 243

Impiouswicked; profaneTo be impious is to be disrespectful of god or duty. When someone is being impious they are doing things that their church, synagogue, temple, mosque, school principal, government or parents would find unacceptable.When you don’t show reverence for religion or god, you are impious. The adjective impious is related to the word piety, which means religious reverence. To be impious is to be without piety. Being impious is similar to being blasphemous, but it’s a little more passive to be impious, while blasphemy is more actively insulting. Also, when you act out against tradition or dutifulness, you could be considered impious. If you dodge a military draft, you will likely be considered impious.

Question 244

Frugal

Answer 244

Frugaleconomical; not wasting anythingA person who lives simply and economically can be called frugal. Buying clothes at a consignment shop would be considered frugal. Not getting your mom a gift for her birthday — that's just cheap.Thrifty, spartan, and prudent are synonyms for frugal, a word that often has positive connotations when used to describe a person who lives a simple life. "The question for retailers is whether shoppers will remain frugal or slowly resume their old spending habits whenever they get more money in their pockets," wrote The Wall Street Journal. You might also speak of "a frugal meal" — a very plain, cheap one. The word is from Latin frux, meaning "fruit" (in the sense of "profit").

Question 245

Gritty

Answer 245

Grittycoarse; granular

Question 246

Subpoena

Answer 246

Subpoenasummons to courtA subpoena is a document that requires its recipient to appear in court as a witness. If you receive a subpoena, it doesn't mean you've done anything wrong; it just means you may have information that's needed by the court.Subpoena can also be a verb: You can subpoena someone by giving them a subpoena. If you receive a subpoena but fail to carry out its instructions, you're in big trouble. This fact is suggested by the Latin roots of this word: the prefix sub- means "under" and poena means "penalty." One nice thing about a subpoena is that it's not a summons; if you get one of those, it means you're being sued.

Question 247

Scale

Answer 247

Scaleto climbHow much do you love pizza? Rate it on a scale of one to ten, with one being blech and ten being amazing. A scale is a series that climbs up or down in a step-wise fashion. To scale something is to climb it, as in "scale a ladder," where you work your way up step by step.Think of a musical scale: do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do, and then think of a scale you weigh yourself on––it counts up the pounds one after another after another. Scale can be a ratio too––when maps are drawn "to scale," that means one mile of real road might translate to one inch of road on the map. Even fish scales can be understood this way––they repeat the same shape row after row after row.

Question 248

Acquiesce

Answer 248

Acquiesceto agree to; give in toTo acquiesce is to agree to something or to give in. If your kid sister is refusing to hand over the television remote, you hope she acquiesces before your favorite show comes on.The verb acquiesce comes from the Latin word acquiescere, meaning "to rest." If you "rest" or become passive in the face of something to which you object, you are giving tacit agreement, you acquiesce. If you want to go hiking with your family and your children are not interested, it will be a very tough day on the trail until they acquiesce.

Question 249

Frivolous

Answer 249

Frivolousnot seriousFrivolous things are silly or unnecessary. If something is frivolous, then you don't need it.Frivolous things are goofy, useless, or just plain dumb. The word is often used to describe lawsuits. A frivolous lawsuit has no value and will be a waste of the court's time, like someone suing McDonald's for making the coffee too hot (which actually happened). If someone is frivolous, that person shouldn't be taken seriously because he's always fooling around and never gets anything done. Frivolous is pretty much the opposite of essential.

Question 250

Plumage

Answer 250

Plumagefeathers of a birdIf you like the looks of the color and pattern formed by a bird’s feathers, then you like its plumage.The word plumage traces back to the French word plume, meaning feather, and it’s a way of referring to all the feathers that form the color and patterns of a particular bird. For example, birdwatchers study illustrations of birds so that they can recognize, say, a golden hawk in flight by its plumage.

Question 251

Profanity

Answer 251

Profanityswearing; cursingProfanity is a type of language that includes dirty words and ideas. Swear words, obscene gestures, and naughty jokes are all considered profanity.You know those four-letter words you're not supposed to say? They're profanity: language that's vulgar and obscene. R-rated movies and cable stations like HBO have a lot of profanity, but you won't hear it on a station like NBC or ABC. Profanity tends to be about off-color subjects, like sex and going to the bathroom. Everyone probably spews some profanity at some point, but you better be careful about who's listening.

Question 252

Proponents

Answer 252

Proponentspromoters; supportersProponent means someone who is in favor of something. You might be a proponent of longer vacations, but your parents are proponents of a longer school year.If you’re in favor of long school vacations, you’re pro or "for" long vacations. The prefix pro- also carries the meaning of "forward," "ahead," or "before." All of these senses are at work in proponent: someone who suggests (puts forward) an idea or who is in favor of an idea. A proponent proposes an idea or advocates for a proposal or a proposition.

Question 253

Derogatory

Answer 253

DerogatoryuncomplimentarySomething that's derogatory is insulting or disrespectful. If you make derogatory comments, that means you say things that are unflattering, unkind, or demeaning.Derogatory means about the same as insulting. Derogatory language is meant to hurt, and it usually does. If you feel offended or insulted by what someone says, the person probably said something derogatory. Racial, sexist, and homophobic slurs are all derogatory. Insults that mean someone is stupid or crazy are derogatory. Making a joke about someone's mother is derogatory.

Question 254

Emulate

Answer 254

Emulateto imitate something admiredWhen you emulate someone, you imitate them, especially with the idea of matching their success.When someone is impressive because of their great skills, brains, strength, or accomplishments, other will emulate. To emulate is to imitate and model yourself after someone. People emulate role models — people they want to be like. After Michael Jordan retired from the NBA, player after player tried to emulate Jordan's game and success. It's hard to be as good as someone like that, but having a hero to emulate can be helpful in many areas of life.

Question 255

Desecration

Answer 255

Desecrationspoiling something holyDesecration is a type of behavior that disrespects the sacredness or holiness of something. Words and actions that are offensive to a religion could be considered acts of desecration.Swearing is church is a type of desecration. Destroying a tombstone is a type of desecration. Depending on the religion, taking God's name in vain could be considered desecration. This word means something close to blasphemy or sacrilege. Sometimes, desecration is used in non-religious contexts, when an idea people care about is treated disrespectfully.

Question 256

Appease

Answer 256

Appeasepacify; soothe; calm down; make peace withAppease means to make or preserve peace with a nation, group, or person by giving in to their demands, or to relieve a problem, as in "the cold drink appeased his thirst."The word often implies abandoning your moral principles to satisfy the demands of someone who is greedy for power: Think of British Prime Minister Chamberlain's attempt to appease the Nazis at Munich. The cold drink appeased his thirst. Appease is from Middle English apaisen, from apaisier, formed from the prefix a- "to" plus pais "peace," from Latin pax.

Question 257

Gratis

Answer 257

Gratisfree of charge; without paymentWhen there’s a concert you want to go to and your best friend gets tickets and takes you gratis, be grateful: that means you’re going for free.You can use gratis as a synonym for "free" or "without payment" as either an adjective or an adverb. For example, you buy a new smart phone and immediately download several free apps. You get your first bill, and see you’ve been charged for all those apps. When you call the phone company, you can say, "Those apps were labeled as gratis. I downloaded them gratis. Why are you charging me?"

Question 258

Indolence

Answer 258

IndolencelazinessIf your boss catches you sleeping with your head on your desk, she's likely to comment on your indolence. Indolence is another word for laziness.The noun indolence means a habit of laziness, especially when avoiding work. In the 1600s, indolence was mostly used to mean "insensitivity to pain," from the Latin indolentia, "freedom from pain." About 100 years later, indolence came to have its current meaning, possibly because of the phrase "taking pains," which means "being careful." If you are so careful that you never leave the house, people might think of you as lazy.

Question 259

Potable

Answer 259

Potablesuitable for drinkingIf something is potable that means it's safe to drink. In developed countries, tap water is usually potable. Puddle water is not. I know you want to take a sip of that puddle water, but please, restrain yourself.Potable can also be a noun, meaning any drinkable liquid. The word comes from the Latin potare, meaning "to drink." Not only did the Romans come up with that word; they built some of the world's first aqueducts, above-ground channels that brought potable water from the mountains to the cities. Potable water is often in short supply after natural catastrophes like earthquakes and hurricanes, and its availability is often discussed on the news.

Question 260

Omnipotent

Answer 260

Omnipotentall-powerfulIf you want to describe someone who can do absolutely anything, reach for the adjective omnipotent.Omnipotent comes from the Latin words for total (omni) and power (potent). Omnipotent is frequently used for deities, but can apply to any exaggerated description of power. If you think that love rules the world, then to you, love is omnipotent. On the other hand, if you think that brute force wins, then maybe your idea of an omnipotent person is a mob boss. The stress is on the second syllable: om-NIP-uh-tent.

Question 261

Quarry

Answer 261

Quarry1. something that is hunted; 2. mine for stoneBoth meanings of quarry have to do with going after something. An animal being hunted is called quarry, and when you dig a hole in the earth looking for rocks, both the digging and the hole are called quarry as well.Gross fact: Quarry derives from the Latin cor "heart," because hunters used to drape the entrails of their chosen quarry on their dogs' backs. The origin in a word for "heart" can help you remember both quarries: a rock quarry is searching down toward the heart of the earth; a stag's heart is considered a hunter's greatest prize.

Question 262

Rescind

Answer 262

Rescindretract; repealIf get a call saying a company has decided to rescind your job offer, it's back to the classifieds for you. Rescind is an official reversal.Things that are rescinded: policies, court decisions, regulations, and official statements. What all these examples have in common is that they are on the record. Also, rescind usually refers to promises instead of tangible objects. You can't rescind a shirt a friend has borrowed from you, but you can rescind your offer to loan them your jeans.

Question 263

Misogynist

Answer 263

Misogynisthater of womenIf you're someone who believes women belong in the kitchen and shouldn't be accorded the same respect as men, you might be a misogynist. A misogynist is a person who hates or doesn't trust women.Misogynist is from Greek misogynḗs, from the prefix miso- "hatred" plus gynḗ "a woman." The English suffix -ist means "person who does something." The prefix mis-, a variant of miso- before a vowel, appears in the opposite term misandrist, which is a person who hates or doesn't trust men. The corresponding nouns are mysogyny and misandry.

Question 264

Sallow

Answer 264

SallowyellowishSallow means unhealthy in appearance––often yellow in color––and is almost invariably used to describe someone's complexion. His smile was as engaging as ever, but from his sallow complexion, I knew he was sick.Usually we say that when someone is sick they turn "green." You could also say their skin takes on a sallow look, and you'd mean the same thing. Sallow also describes the way someone looks if they have lost blood or are pale from fever.

Question 265

Cogitate

Answer 265

Cogitatethink over something; ponderCogitate is a fancy was of saying think hard on. If you spend a lot of time figuring out exactly how your French teacher does her hair, you are cogitating in order to avoid conjugating.Cogitate can be used both transitively or intransitively, which means you can cogitate on something, like your history project or your why your computer never seems to work the way you want it to. Or you can simply sit in your room and cogitate.

Question 266

Err

Answer 266

Errmake a mistakeErr is just a formal way of saying you've made a mistake or done something wrong. A married man might err by going on a date with another woman, but he will surely feel the repercussions of his wrongdoing when he gets home!By itself, err means to make a mistake. The old proverb "To err is human, to forgive divine," is an old-fashioned way of saying, "Hey, everyone makes mistakes. Why don't you be the bigger person and let it go?" Err can also mean to go in a certain direction, as in another common saying, "Err on the side of caution," which just means, "Play it safe."

Question 267

Lobbyist

Answer 267

Lobbyistperson who tries to persuade someone to support a particular causeA lobbyist is someone hired by a business or a cause to persuade legislators to support that business or cause.Lobbyists get paid to win favor from politicians. For example, oil companies send lobbyists to Washington to try to make life easier for oil companies. Sometimes they do it by making a great case for their cause, but often it involves fancy dinners and golf outings. If that sounds kind of shady, it is. But remember that women's rights groups and cancer research foundations have lobbyists, too — it's just one way to get your voice heard on the Hill.

Question 268

Personable

Answer 268

PersonableattractiveIf you're personable, you're friendly and get along well with other people. Being personable is part of what makes you the star of the sales team — people just seem to like you.Someone who's personable can be outgoing, charming, nice, bubbly, amiable, pleasing, or generous, but he doesn’t have to be all of those things — it just all needs to add up to being pleasant. You may be pleasant but not bubbly, and that’s personable. In fact, if you're too bubbly, you might stop being personable and become annoying, which is not personable.

Question 269

Exasperated

Answer 269

Exasperatedfrustrated; annoyedIt’s understandable if you get exasperated, or really frustrated, if you’re standing in the supermarket's express lane and everyone in front of you has way more than the 10-item maximum.Over the centuries, nothing much has happened to the definition of this word — the Latin original means "irritated to anger." Speaking of which, let's get back to the supermarket, a veritable hotbed of exasperated people pushing wobbly-wheeled shopping carts their children try to fill with cartoon-branded junk food, brushing past unstable store displays that come tumbling down, enduring inoffensive but flavorless supermarket music, and emerging into the cold light of day unable to remember where they parked the car.

Question 270

Ambulatory

Answer 270

Ambulatoryable to walk around (used of hospital patients)An ambulatory surgery is the kind of procedure where the patient walks in and walks out. Ambulatory means able to walk, or related to walking.To remember ambulatory, think of ambulance, which essentially means a walking hospital. (Its meaning derives from the time when it was pulled by horses, which would be walking.) You can also think of the old fashioned word for baby carriage, perambulator (it's been shorted to "pram") which means a carriage you push by walking.

Question 271

Negate

Answer 271

Negatecancel; denyIf something neutralizes the effect of something else, then you can say the effect is negated. Hanging a disco ball from your living room ceiling negates the sleek modern effect created by the contemporary furniture.If something is proved false or untrue, it has been negated. The discovery of one dinosaur jaw negated the conventional wisdom that all dinosaurs were vegetarians, since the tooth structure proved that guy definitely ate meat. The verb negate can also mean to counteract or counterbalance — so a really strong serve can negate your other weaknesses on the tennis court.

Question 272

Bestial

Answer 272

Bestialbehaving like a beast; brutalBestial sounds like beast, and that is precisely what it means, beast-like. When a human acts like an animal, their behavior is called bestial.Bestial is often used to describe behavior that is primitive or uncivilized. If someone living on a desert island took to grunting and crawling on all fours searching for bugs in dirt, you could say she had descended to the bestial.

Question 273

Euphemism

Answer 273

Euphemisma polite phrase to cover something unpleasantPardon me, but when a polite term is substituted for a blunt, offensive one, you should call it a euphemism.Euphemism is from Greek euphemismos, meaning "good speech," and it's a way that we paper over uncomfortable things with more pleasant-sounding words. These days we tend to use euphemisms when talking about anything having to do with elimination of bodily waste: toilet, bathroom, and water closet were all originally euphemisms. The military is also notorious for using euphemisms, like saying "neutralizing the target" instead of "killing someone."

Question 274

Prodigious

Answer 274

Prodigiousvery largeSomething exceptional, substantial, or great is prodigious. A blizzard includes prodigious wind and snow. A prodigious writer is one who can write a lot and do it well.Prodigious is a word for things that are impressive. If you have prodigious strength, you're very strong. If your cat had a prodigious litter of kittens, then you've got a houseful of kittens. This is a strong word that's also kind of formal. Save it for things that really blow you away because of their quality or quantity. A little drizzle isn't a prodigious rain, but a storm that floods a whole city certainly is.

Question 275

Consecrate

Answer 275

ConsecratededicateConsecrate means to make holy or to dedicate to a higher purpose. You need to consecrate a building to turn it into a church, but you can also consecrate a week in New York City to the pursuit of the perfect bagel.The secr part of consecrate comes from the Latin sacer "sacred." Remember that something consecrated is dedicated to God and thus sacred. And then remember that the meanings of words tend to stretch; over time this one moved from "dedicated to God" to "dedicated to whatever": jelly donuts, the perfect tan, finding a solution to Rubik's Cube.

Question 276

Wax

Answer 276

Waxto increase; to growThe verb wax is most often found in the company of its opposite, "wane." To wax is to grow larger or increase, whereas wane means to grow smaller or decrease.As the moon grows towards fullness, it waxes. It wanes, or diminishes in size, as the new moon approaches. This is the most common context for the verb wax, but it is also used to describe other phenomena that grow or increase, particularly those that are cyclical. Figuratively, if you wax eloquent, lyrical or poetic about something, you talk about it at great length and with growing enthusiasm. The noun wax refers to chemical compounds that can be shaped and molded, for example into candles, when warm.

Question 277

Hangar

Answer 277

Hangarstorage area (like garage) for a planeUse the word hangar to describe a structure used to house or a repair an aircraft. Think of it as a hangout for your Learjet.If you need to hang up a shirt, you’ll want to use the word hanger (a device used for hanging clothing). If you want to park your jet plane, the word hangar is more appropriate. The two words are homophones, which means they’re pronounced the same way but have different spellings and meanings.

Question 278

Succinct

Answer 278

SuccinctconciseSomething that is succinct is short and clear. If you're going to be interviewed on television about your new book and only have a five minute slot, you'll need to come up with a succinct version of your story.Succinct, meaning "short and to the point," is from the Latin succingere, "to tuck up." Often after you write a long essay, you realize you probably could have said the same thing in one or two succinct pages. If something is too succinct, we might call it terse. Another synonym is concise, which implies that unnecessary material has been removed. It's the opposite of wordy.

Question 279

Onerous

Answer 279

Onerousburdensome; hard to undertakeIf one teacher gives you three hours of homework a night, that's rough. But if all of your teachers do it, that makes the task of completing your homework an onerous one, to say the least. If something is onerous, it is very difficult to deal with or do.A near synonym is burdensome. In legal usage, onerous describes a contract or lease that has more obligations than advantages. Onerous derives from Middle English, from Old French onereus, from Latin onerōsus, from onus "burden." In English, an onus is a task or duty that is onerous, or very difficult.

Question 280

Fly-by-night

Answer 280

Fly-by-nightunreliable; disreputable

Question 281

Labyrinthine

Answer 281

Labyrinthinecomplicated; highly convolutedLabyrinthine is a good word to describe a place that feels like an enormous maze. A new student at a huge, sprawling high school is likely to find the building labyrinthine as he wanders the halls looking for his math class.If you've ever been lost in a hedge maze, you know what a labyrinth is. The adjective labyrinthine describes something that is as confusing, complex, or maze-like as a labyrinth. This could be an actual maze, a city, or even a convoluted idea. The word comes from the Greek labyrinthos, the structure built to contain the mythological Minotaur. In the story, Daedalus did such a good job making the building labyrinthine that he nearly couldn't find his way out.

Question 282

Voluminous

Answer 282

Voluminousvery large; spaciousConsider that volume is a measure of size. That will help you understand that voluminous refers to something very large in size or extent.Suppose instead of calling a book a book, you called it a volume. Suddenly, it seems to be part of a much bigger thing. And what if it were only Volume I, with 23 more volumes to go? Even bigger, right? In fact, it's more than big; it’s voluminous. Voluminous describes very large things. The flouncy skirt of a wedding dress? Voluminous. Media coverage of some movie star's divorce? Also voluminous. The word voluminous describes something ample, extensive, and just plain huge.

Question 283

Neologism

Answer 283

Neologismnewly coined wordA neologism is a made-up or new word. Neologisms can be fun-ti-ful, but the problem is making sure others understand what you mean.The word neologism was once a neologism itself. It was created by gluing the French prefix neo- onto the Greek logos or "word." People coin neologisms all the time, linguists track which ones stick, and eventually, we all feel they're old friends. Or maybe not: random samples from words coined in 2003 include: adultolescence, pastability, pre-zactly, and neomaxizoomdweebie.

Question 284

Dilatory

Answer 284

Dilatoryslow; falling behind with one's workSomething dilatory creates a delay. If you are a high school student, once in a while you might have used dilatory tactics if you forgot to do your homework.The adjective dilatory comes from the Latin root word dilator, a noun that means someone who puts off things, or a procrastinator. If you are always late to appointments, people may accuse you of being dilatory, especially if they think you don't have a good excuse.

Question 285

Asylum

Answer 285

Asylumplace of refuge or safetyAny mom taking care of the kids day in and day out is probably more than ready to seek asylum, or refuge, at a local spa.You may have heard asylum used to describe an institution where insane people are housed, but did you know that an asylum can also be somewhere you’d happily and willingly go? An asylum offers shelter and protection, like the awning of a building in a downpour. Or a country that takes in refugees in danger of persecution — otherwise known as "political asylum."

Question 286

Stupefying

Answer 286

Stupefyingastonishing; shocking; stunning into silence

Question 287

Deride

Answer 287

Derideridicule; make fun of; mockThe verb deride means to show a low opinion of someone or something. The jerk would deride the other kids on the bus by calling them names or pulling their hair until the driver decided to de-ride him by kicking him off the bus.To "ride" people is to get on their case or give them a hard time, and to deride is to do the same with insulting language or poor treatment. Deride comes from the Latin root dērīdēre, meaning "to ridicule, to scorn," and it's often used to express dislike or even hatred. Criticizing something with words is a common way to deride, and politicians often deride each other in their speeches during election campaigns.

Question 288

Credulous

Answer 288

Credulousgullible; ready to believe anythingPeople who believe things easily without having to be convinced are credulous. Sales people are always hoping that someone credulous picks up the phone during a sales call.Credulous comes from the 16th-century Latin credulus, or "easily believes." A synonym for credulous is gullible, and both terms describe a person who accepts something willingly without a lot of supporting facts. Calling someone credulous can imply that the person is naive and simple. An individual isn't necessarily insulted by being called credulous, though, because some objects of belief, like religions and unicorns, come with a willing leap of faith for believing in what is unseen.

Question 289

Persnickety

Answer 289

Persnicketyfastidious; fussyPersnickety is a lively, fancy word for "fussy." If you've sent your salad back to the kitchen three times, you might be a persnickety eater.The adjective persnickety sounds prickly like a porcupine, and persnickety people can indeed be sharp and prickly when they don't get things precisely as they wish. I don't mean to be persnickety about grammar, but you shouldn't use "ain't" in an academic paper. If you're persnickety about your coffee, you'll probably want to put the cream and sugar in yourself.

Question 290

Flippant

Answer 290

Flippantmaking jokes about serious mattersWhen a parent scolds a teenager for missing a curfew or blowing off a test and the teen snaps back, "Whatever," you could say the teen is being flippant. His reply was casual to the point of sarcasm and disrespect.When it first showed up in the English language around the 17th century, flippant meant glib and talkative. But over the years it has developed a more negative connotation. Today flippant is used to describe a blasé attitude or comment in a situation that calls for seriousness. Make a flippant comment about your friend's mother and the odds are good that they'll be offended.

Question 291

Peripatetic

Answer 291

Peripateticnomadic; moving from place to place

Question 292

Infer

Answer 292

Inferdeduce; concludeWhen you infer something, you read between the lines. To infer is to make a well informed guess — if you see your mom’s bag on the table, you might infer that she’s home.When you infer, you listen closely to someone and guess at things they mean but haven't actually said. It’s like guessing, but not making wild guesses. You're making deductions — guesses based on logic. Another kind of inferring is more scientific, like when a scientist has part of a dinosaur fossil and can infer what the rest of the dinosaur looked like. When you see the word infer, think "educated guess."

Question 293

Ramble

Answer 293

Ramblewander aimlesslyYou ramble when your talking or your walking goes on and on and on. And on. You’re in no hurry to make a point or get to your destination — if there is one at all.The word ramble comes from similar roots as roam. They both mean wander, but they’re often used a little differently. You might roam around on vacation to relax or find adventure. If you’re a shark, you roam the deep sea for food. On the other hand, if the person on the plane next to you chatters nervously and can’t stop, you wish they wouldn’t ramble on like that.

Question 294

Suspect

Answer 294

SuspectdoubtfulA suspect is a person who is believed to be guilty of a crime. If you leave the scene of a murder with blood on your hands and a weapon in your pocket, you’re likely to become a prime suspect.If others believe you have committed a crime, you are a suspect. The word can also be used as a verb and an adjective. To suspect someone of something is to believe that they probably did it. Do you ever suspect your parents of taking some of your Halloween candy? If something such as someone's excuse or motive is suspect, it seems a bit off. That bad-smelling piece of fish is suspect — you'd better not eat it.

Question 295

Astute

Answer 295

Astuteperceptive; sharp-wittedSomeone who is astute is clever and has good judgment. The kid running around with a bucket stuck on his head? Not so astute.Astute (from Latin) is a formal and flattering adjective for someone with a good head on their shoulders. It differs from its synonym shrewd in placing less emphasis on hardheadedness than on sensitivity: we talk about a shrewd bargainer but an astute interpretation. Other synonyms are perceptive (emphasizing insight) and discerning (emphasizing an ability to distinguish).

Question 296

Archives

Answer 296

Archivescollections of old records; place of storage of old documentsArchives, a noun, refers to records or historical documents, or the place where those records are kept, like the famous writer's archives that scholars can see by visiting the library archives.Archives are typically records or documents used when researching an event, a person, or even a building. Use archives to research your family tree, which might include birth, marriage, and death certificates, immigration records, tax files, and so on. The noun is also used to describe where historical documents and records are kept, like the National Archives and Record Administration, which holds important records of the Federal government.

Question 297

Dupe

Answer 297

Dupeto fool someoneA dupe is a furry, ceremonial hat occasionally worn during ancient pagan rituals... or not. Dupe actually means "trick or deceive." We’re sorry we tried to dupe you into believing the wrong definition.Dupe can also refer to the victim of a trick or hoax, and — used in this sense — it sometimes conveys the idea that the victim is easily fooled. Dupe comes from the French word for a type of bird called the hoopoe, which has an extravagant crest and a reputation for being dim-witted. (And no, that's not another attempt to dupe you; it's the truth!)

Question 298

Burgeon

Answer 298

Burgeongrow; flourish; put forth new shootsUse the verb burgeon to describe something that is growing, expanding, and flourishing. If you have a green thumb, in the spring your flower gardens will burgeon in a cacophony of color. If you don't have a green thumb, your collection of plastic plants will burgeon.Although burgeon means to grow and flourish, it doesn't necessarily have to apply only to plants. Your town can have burgeoning downtown development. Your tiny retirement account can burgeon into an excellent emergency fund if you invest even a small amount each month. You may have a burgeoning career as a villain if you overthrow a planet by using your mind-controlling ray gun on the populace.

Question 299

Superlative

Answer 299

Superlativeextremely good; the bestA superlative is the highest attainable level or degree of something. As an adjective superlative means highest in quality.When your history test results are superlative, it means you've gotten a perfect score — you've done as well as can be done, if not better than everyone else. There are times, however, when a superlative is an exaggerated expression of praise, as when a movie reviewer gets carried away with compliments and says in January that this is "the best film of the year."

Question 300

Luscious

Answer 300

Lusciousjuicy; moist; succulentCalling something luscious means it's juicy, delicious and otherwise incredibly pleasing to the senses. That goes for good looking people as well as a fine piece of chocolate cake.An adjective meaning richly appealing or scrumptious, luscious is actually believed to be a shortened version of delicious. Synonyms include succulent, savory and enticing — all words that can also be used to either describe a perfectly cooked steak or your crush's unbelievable, irresistible lips.

Question 301

Skeptical

Answer 301

Skepticaldoubting; not gullibleIf a friend told you that her family was perfect and they never had any problems, would you believe her? If not, you may be skeptical. Skeptical people look at the world with a certain amount of doubt.This word comes from ancient Greece, where a philosopher named Pyrrho taught his followers that we can never really understand the true nature of things, only how they appear to us. (So basically, we should stop searching for the meaning of life and just relax.) In Pyrrho's view, the true sage was someone who realized that it was impossible to be certain about anything. His followers were called Skeptikoi, or Skeptics; the Greek word skeptikos means "given to asking questions."

Question 302

Pliable

Answer 302

Pliableflexible; not stubbornPliable means bendable but not breakable. Wax is pliable, good leather is pliable. If you describe a person as pliable, it usually means that he's easily influenced, like a nightclub owner who takes orders from a crime boss.When Madame barks "Plier!" (rhymes with "okay") in ballet class, all the students obediently bend their knees into a graceful semi-crouch. Plier is French for bend and it's the root of the word pliable. The word pliable itself is quite pliable, an apt description for everything from building materials to a person's character.

Question 303

Unalloyed

Answer 303

Unalloyedundiluted; total

Question 304

Parry

Answer 304

Parryward off; avoidHere comes someone who only ever talks to you when he needs a favor. Quick, parry! When you parry, you avoid doing things. As the needy friend approaches, say, "I wish I had time to catch up!" and hurry off. Or, hide under a table.The word parry is often used to describe blocking or evading a movement, like parrying a punch, but it can also refer to an evasion that is verbal rather than physical. For example, if you are put on the spot and asked about something you’d rather avoid, you can parry to get out of it — change the subject or ask a question in return. When used in this way parry retains its sense of defending yourself through evasion.

Question 305

Dilemma

Answer 305

Dilemmapuzzling situationA dilemma is a tough choice. When you're in a difficult situation and each option looks equally bad, you're in a dilemma.Dilemma is from a Greek for "double proposition." It was originally a technical term of logic, but we use it now for any time you have a problem with no satisfactory solution. If you're at the mall choosing between red or blue socks, that's not really a dilemma. But if you have to choose whether to save your cat or your dog from a burning building, that's an awful dilemma.

Question 306

Vilification

Answer 306

Vilificationblackening someone's name

Question 307

Credible

Answer 307

CrediblebelievableSomeone who's credible is honest and believable. A pathological liar, for example, might not be the most credible witness for your case against the bank robber.Similar to words like reliable and plausible, credible is an adjective that comes to us from the Latin credibilis, meaning "worthy to be believed." A credible reputation is often earned through consistent good behavior and an overall trustworthy personality. Spill a secret you promised to keep, or lie under oath in a courtroom, and you lose all credibility.

Question 308

Insentient

Answer 308

Insentientunfeeling

Question 309

Stoic

Answer 309

Stoicknown for fortitude; indifferent to pleasure or painIn Athens around 300 BC, Zeno of Citium founded a school of philosophy called Stoicism, and a person who followed the idea was called a Stoic. The main goal of a Stoic was to avoid unnecessary emotions.Stoics believed that certain feelings, like joy and sorrow, were destructive to people and should be avoided and that a virtuous life could result in peace and harmony with nature. The adjective Stoic describes something that relates to this particular school of philosophy. Major Stoic philosophers included Marcus Aurelius and Seneca the Younger. Stoic is always capitalized.

Question 310

Odious

Answer 310

OdioushatefulIf something is odious it's hateful. If you become a historian of slavery, you'll learn all the details of that odious trade.Odious is from the Latin noun odium, which means hatred. It is a strong word, so don't call someone odious unless you want to accuse someone of being loathsome or vile. Actions can also be called odious. A typical use is Shakespeare's in Othello: "You told a lie, an odious damned lie." Some synonyms are hateful, contemptible, detestable, and abominable.

Question 311

Sparse

Answer 311

Sparsespare; bare; meagerSomething that’s sparse is thin, not dense. If you’re looking for the perfect place to build a tree house, a sparse forest is probably not your best bet.From the Latin sparsus, meaning "scattered," we get the adjective sparse, which means "few and scattered." Thinning hair is sparse, as is the population of an endangered species. Or a small and scattered crowd for an unpopular band. Synonyms include dispersed, infrequent, and scanty. Antonyms, on the other hand, include full, lush, and plentiful.

Question 312

Extraneous

Answer 312

ExtraneousirrelevantExtraneous means coming from or belonging to the outside—extraneous noise is what you hear when you're in a theater and a train passes by, extraneous wires bring your cable connection into the house.In Latin, extra means outside, as in extraordinary "outside the ordinary," or extraterrestrial 'coming from outside earth.' (Bonus points––ding! ding!––if you knew that terra is Latin for "earth.") The meaning of extraneous also extends to more abstract things that come from the outside: extraneous details are ones that don't matter.

Question 313

Subterfuge

Answer 313

Subterfugea trickIf you want to surprise your mom with a sweatshirt, but don't know her size, it might take an act of subterfuge, like going through her closet, to find it out. Subterfuge is the use of tricky actions to hide, or get something.It's pronounced "SUB-ter-fyooj." As a countable noun, a subterfuge is a tricky action or device: She employed a very clever subterfuge to get the information she needed. Subterfuge is from French, from Old French suterfuge, from Late Latin subterfugium, from Latin subterfugere "to escape," from subter "secretly, under" plus fugere "to flee."

Question 314

Transcribe

Answer 314

TranscribecopyIf someone asks you to transcribe something, they want you to listen to it and write down what was said, word for word. Speeches, interviews, and trials are often transcribed for records.From the Latin transcribere, which means "to copy, write over, or transfer," the verb transcribe means just that: to write out a copy. You might want to transcribe a recording of an interview onto paper, or maybe you need to transcribe all the notes you collected from an important meeting. If you can remember that trans means "over" and that a scribe is a writer, you shouldn’t forget this word. Fun fact: to transcribe poorly is to transcribble.

Question 315

Germane

Answer 315

GermanerelevantGermane means relevant; it fits in. If you are giving a speech on dog training, stick to the germane, canine stuff. Topics that would not be germane? Catnip toys, hamster wheels, and the use of a saddle.You can thank Shakespeare for the modern meaning of the adjective germane. The word originally referred to people who have the same parents. Shakespeare added the word's figurative meaning of objects being closely related or relevant when he used it in the play Hamlet. You might want to bring up all sorts of complaints during an argument with your best friend, but she says the two of you should only discuss issues that are germane to the current fight.

Question 316

Sophomoric

Answer 316

Sophomoricjuvenile; immature

Question 317

Stevedore

Answer 317

StevedoredockworkerYou can call a dock worker who loads cargo onto boats a stevedore.You don't have to be named Steve to be one (the word means docker or longshoreman), but the spelling of the English given name probably influenced the modern appearance of this word, from the Spanish estivar, "to stow cargo." The ultimate root is the Latin word stipare , "pack down or press," and the archaic English verb steeve, or stow, is a relative.

Question 318

Staunch

Answer 318

Staunchloyal; faithful; dependableAs an adjective, staunch means firm. You might want to go to that concert Friday night, but your parents' staunch opposition prevents you.Staunch is sometimes used as a verb to mean "to stop the flow of a liquid," but most usage books will tell you it's better to use the word stanch for the verb. Think of a soldier stopping and standing still, and you will understand the connection between the two meanings. The adjectival form should make you think of "stand," as in "stand firm," or "take a stand." It comes from the French estanche meaning "watertight" and the Latin stanticare, which is probably from stans for "stand."

Question 319

Jurisprudence

Answer 319

Jurisprudencescience or study of lawYou want a word that’s a whole mouthful? Try jurisprudence, the study and philosophy of law. You want to study jurisprudence? Get ready for law school, where you’ll find even longer, more troubling words.The Latin-based word jurisprudence is made up of two parts, juris "of law" and prudence which goes back to mean "knowledge." If you study law, you study jurisprudence. You can modify it to show a specific type of law, so you will find terms such as medical, human rights, Islamic or American jurisprudence. Sometimes the word is used as a collective to mean the legal world. This is a new issue that jurisprudence will have to deal with.

Question 320

Manipulatable

Answer 320

Manipulatableinfluencable; controllable

Question 321

Banality

Answer 321

Banalityordinariness; dullnessA banality is a trite, boring, or overused remark. That includes clichés like "life is short" and your basic small talk about the weather.Banalities are sayings that almost everyone uses, and because they're so well-known, they've lost all their power. These expressions are clichéd and many people find them annoying. "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade" is one good example. When you're writing or speaking, you're much better off trying to find fresh language because one needs to hear the same old banalities again and again.

Question 322

Felicitous

Answer 322

FelicitousaptFelicitous describes something that's really pleasant. If someone behaves in a felicitous manner, she's being agreeable and appropriate. You know, the way you should behave when your great aunt offers you those stale candies.Felicitous also describes something that's happy or lucky. When you plan a trip to the amusement park and it turns out that the sun is shining, that’s felicitous. If you need to mail a package by a certain date and you make it to the post office just in time, that’s also felicitous. Felicitous can also describe something that's well chosen. Planning an outdoor wedding for the dead of winter would not be felicitous.

Question 323

Irrevocable

Answer 323

Irrevocablecannot be cancelled; unchangeableIf you're on a diet but eat one tiny piece of chocolate, it might start an irrevocable slide into bad eating. Describe something as irrevocable if it cannot be undone or taken back.If you break down irrevocable, you wind up with ir "not," re "back" and vocable from the Latin vocare "to call." So if something is irrevocable, you cannot call it back — it is permanent. You must fulfill an irrevocable promise and live with an irrevocable decision. A law is irrevocable if it states within the law that it cannot be nullified. Now that's final!

Question 324

Nonchalance

Answer 324

Nonchalancean appearance of indifference; calm and composedNonchalance is a casual lack of concern, a relaxed state without anxiety or enthusiasm. Like how you'd act if the girl you've had a secret crush on since grade school asks you to the prom. (Or maybe not.)It's hard to achieve nonchalance. If you're like most people, there's always going to be something that will rattle you. And you can forget about behaving with chalance, because chalance isn't a word. Sometimes you hear people say that so-and-so acted with "studied nonchalance," which means to sort of fake it. Oddly, the word's origins go back to the Latin calere, which is the same word as the root of calorie. A calorie is a unit of energy, and to act with nonchalance is to refrain from showing too much energy or excitement, so actually, it makes sense.

Question 325

Exorcism

Answer 325

Exorcismgetting free/rid of; eliminating (especially demons)A kid who's having an hour-long screaming temper tantrum probably needs either an exorcism or a nap. You can use the noun exorcism to describe getting rid of evil spirits.Exorcism, when it's used literally to mean evicting bad spirits, is a religious term. Plenty of horror movies feature a priest performing the ritual of exorcism on a demonically possessed person, and some version of exorcism really does exist in Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, and Jewish traditions. The word can also be used as a metaphor for getting rid of something negative: "Finally telling you the truth felt like an exorcism."

Question 326

Dotard

Answer 326

Dotardfoolish old man

Question 327

Garner

Answer 327

Garnergather; collectTo garner means to gather or earn. If you want to run for office without belonging to a political party, you must garner enough signatures — usually a few thousand — to get onto the ballot.The word garner comes from the Latin granarium which means "store-house," usually for grain. The current use of the word carries with it the sense of something being stored up. It’s not only that you can gather enough yes-votes to overcome the opposition, there is the sense that all the things you have garnered have some weight of their own. In its other use, garner means "earn" or "merit." Think of movie stars garnering Oscar nominations for their excellent work.

Question 328

Voluble

Answer 328

VolubletalkativeVoluble describes someone who talks a lot, like your aunt who can’t stop telling you to cut your hair or a political candidate who makes twenty speeches on the day before the election.Have you ever found it especially hard to interrupt someone who talks a lot when he or she gets on a roll? If so, it won’t surprise you that the adjective voluble traces back to the Latin word volvere, meaning "to roll." The word voluble describes talking continuously, fluently, at great length, in a steady flow. You’ll know it when you meet voluble talkers: they just keep rolling on and on.

Question 329

Conciliate

Answer 329

Conciliateto bring together; end a disputeThe verb conciliate means to placate, appease, or pacify. If you are eating at a restaurant and the waiter accidentally spills a drink on you, the manager may try to conciliate you by picking up the tab for your meal.You may be more familiar with the term conciliation––it can mean the flowers you bring to conciliate your girlfriend after a fight, or a politician's conciliatory offer a new playground to a community that's just lost its school. Conciliate comes from the Latin word conciliare, meaning to unite. Conciliare in turn comes from the Latin word concilium, meaning council. If you remember their common etymology, you can remember that, like council, conciliate is spelled with only has one L.

Question 330

Lucid

Answer 330

LucidclearSomething that's lucid is clear and understandable. Lucid writing is important in journalism, so that readers easily get the point of the article they're reading.When what you write or say is lucid, it's straightforward and its meaning is crystal clear. You can also use the adjective lucid to describe your mind or thoughts when you're thinking in a rational, sensible way: "I was worried about my grandmother's confusion yesterday, but she seems really lucid today." Another meaning is "translucent," or letting light shine through — which makes sense since lucid comes from the Latin lucidus, "light or clear," with its root of lux, "light."

Question 331

Sanguinary

Answer 331

Sanguinarybloodthirsty; bloodyWhen something is sanguinary it involves a lot of blood or, at least, the pursuit of blood. Vampire movies are sanguinary: Romper Room is not.If you're familiar with French, then you'll recognize the French word for "blood," sang, in sanguinary. And if you do, then you'll have no trouble remembering the meaning, "having a bloodthirsty quality." Movies have become increasingly sanguinary. Why all the blood and gore? What happened to good old-fashioned suspense?

Question 332

Sycophant

Answer 332

Sycophantbootlicker; flattererA sycophant is a person who tries to win favor from wealthy or influential people by flattering them. Also known as brown-nosers, teacher's pets or suck-ups.Sycophant is from Latin sycophanta, from Greek sykophantēs, from sykon "fig" and phainein "to show, make known." The original sense was that of an informer, a person who gives information about criminal activities. "Showing the fig" was a vulgar gesture made by sticking the thumb between two fingers. The gesture was used to taunt an opponent or to make an accusation against someone.

Question 333

Mendacious

Answer 333

Mendaciousgiven to lyingA mendacious person is one who tells lies habitually and intentionally. Don't get stuck at the water cooler or bus stop next to someone you consider mendacious!People may tell "white lies" if they forgot your birthday or really don't like your new haircut, but if you catch someone intentionally manipulating you with a falsehood, that person is just plain mendacious. So think of the most deceptive, insincere, perfidious, duplicitous, false person you've ever met, and then add the word mendacious to that list.

Question 334

Matriarchy

Answer 334

Matriarchysociety governed by womenIf you ever heard "Just wait until your mother gets home!" when you did something wrong as a child, you may have grown up in a matriarchy. In a matriarchy, women call the shots.The word matriarchy, pronounced "MAY-tree-ar-kee," derives from the Latin word mater, meaning "mother," and archein, or "to rule." A matriarchy is a social system is which women have more power in the community than men. Matriarchy can also be used more broadly to describe a family that is ruled by a powerful woman. The opposite of matriarchy is patriarchy, a system in which men are the ones holding the power.

Question 335

Elusive

Answer 335

Elusivehard to pin downThings that are elusive hard to find, pin down, or remember. They slip right out of your grasp.Ever try to catch a mouse? It's not easy, because mice are quick and elusive — they're tough to catch. Rabbits are speedy, so they're elusive too. Also, things that are tough to understand or describe are elusive — like the concepts of love and beauty. If you had an idea and then forgot it, the idea is elusive: it slipped away. Anything you can't get hold of, with your hands or with your brain, is elusive.

Question 336

Refute

Answer 336

RefutedisproveThe verb refute is to prove that something is wrong. When the kids you're babysitting swear they brushed their teeth, you can refute their claim by presenting the dry toothbrushes.Evidence and arguments are used to refute something. So are facts. For example, if children who eat chocolate before going to bed go straight to sleep, that refutes the idea that sugar keeps them up. Refute comes from the Latin refutare for "to check, suppress." A near synonym is confute, but save refute as an everyday word for proving something is false.

Question 337

Tardy

Answer 337

Tardyslow; late; overdue; delayedWhen you're tardy, you're late. If you've ever been late for school, you know about tardy, and you may have a stash of notes your teacher has sent home to your parents, informing them of your tardiness.You may be tardy for an appointment because you got stuck in traffic, or maybe you just slept late and you don't have good time management skills. Whatever the excuse, being tardy almost always annoys whoever's waiting for you. As a reality TV star once crooned, "Don't be tardy for the party." The word comes from the Latin tardus, meaning "slow."

Question 338

Banal

Answer 338

Banalcommon; dullIf something is boring and unoriginal, it's banal. Banal things are dull as dishwater.Ever notice how some TV shows, songs, and even phrases are boring and unoriginal? It's like you've seen or heard the same thing a million times. Anything that's unoriginal and dull is banal — a fancy word for things that bore you to tears. When you're writing, try not to be banal. Clichés and dull topics are banal. New ideas, fresh language, and unusual subject matter can keep your writing from being dreary and banal.

Question 339

Predicament

Answer 339

Predicamentdilemma; difficult situationIf you're engaged to get married, but suddenly fall in love with someone else, you have got yourself in quite a predicament. A predicament is a difficult, confusing, and unpleasant situation.The Greek word that predicament originally descends from means "a state of being." Which makes sense considering the words that sound like predicate are all about states of being––predict, or say what's going to happen in the future, and predicate the second part of a sentence that's led by the verb. Think of predicament as an unpleasant state of being.

Question 340

Ornate

Answer 340

Ornatehighly decoratedIf something is ornate — whether it's a ball gown, a set of dishes, or a poem — it seems to be covered in ornaments. It's lavish, flowery, or heavily adorned.Look at the first four letters of ornate, and you'll spot the beginning of its close relative ornament. Ornate most often describes how something looks, but it doesn't have to be visual. The prose in Victorian love letters was more ornate than the email messages people send today. The ornate gilded mirrors and enormous chandeliers in the palace at Versailles were the height of fashion in Marie Antoinette's time, but home decor is simpler today. Now, it seems too ornate.

Question 341

Animosity

Answer 341

Animosityhatred; antagonismAnimosity is hatred. If your (supposed) best buddy embarrasses you in front of a big crowd, your friendship could turn into animosity.Animosity comes from the Latin word animus, meaning "spirit" or "mind." That's also the root of the word animated — literally, "full of spirit." So how did animosity get so negative? Over the centuries, the original meaning of "high spirits" soured into "hatred." Today we most often speak of animosity toward, between, among, or against people. Keeping your animosity in check might make steam come out your ears.

Question 342

Precipice

Answer 342

Precipicesteep slopeCartoon characters often end up on a precipice, the edge of a steep cliff, where their chubby toes curl and cling as they totter and eventually fall, making a hole in the ground below and getting up again. Most real people avoid precipices.Unless you're a skilled climber or mountain-sport enthusiast, a precipice is a scary thing. Some imagine falling off and making the sharp drop, while others get dizzy just thinking about looking down. This makes sense, considering that the 17th-century English word precipice comes, through French, from Latin words meaning "headlong" and even "abrupt descent." In modern use, precipice also describes how it feels to fall, or fail, in areas of life that don't involve mountains, such as being "on the precipice of losing everything."

Question 343

Caucus

Answer 343

Caucustype of private political meetingThe noun caucus is a closed meeting of members from the same political party. The Iowa caucuses get a lot of attention during the presidential primary season.Who knows how we got the noun caucus? One theory is that it comes from an Algonquin word that means an elder or leader of the tribe. Another theory is that the word comes from a social and political club in Boston in the 1700s that was perhaps named for the Greek word for drinking cup. However the word slipped into American English, today it refers to a closed political meeting, often used to choose party leaders.

Question 344

Remorse

Answer 344

Remorseregret; sorrow; contritionRemorse, a noun, is what you feel if you regret your actions or wish for another outcome.The noun remorse has a very vivid origin. It comes from the Latin roots re for "again" and mordere "to bite." So, if you feel remorse, it means that your conscience is working on you, your past actions are biting you back, and making you feel very regretful. Synonyms for this word are "penitence," "rue," and "contrition." If you took a cookie from the cookie jar and ate it you can't return it; all you can feel is remorse for what you did!

Question 345

Fortuitous

Answer 345

Fortuitoushappening by chanceFortuitous means by chance, like a lucky accident. If you and your best friend's families happen to go on vacation to the same place at the same time, that’s a fortuitous coincidence!Something fortuitous is random like an accident, but there’s no downside. A rock falling on your head is an accident, dollar bills falling on your head is fortuitous. The meaning of fortuitous is changing from "happening by chance" to "lucky chance" because people get it mixed up with fortunate. But watch out: If you say fortuitous to mean just plain lucky without the element of chance –– that's a usage error.

Question 346

Brevity

Answer 346

Brevitybeing briefThe noun brevity means shortness or conciseness. If you give a report on agriculture in the northern hemisphere in 3 minutes, you have done it with incredible brevity.Brevity comes from brevis, which means "brief" in Latin. You can use brevity for things that are literally short, like the brevity of an elevator meeting, or the quality of fleetingness, like the brevity of youth. Brevity is also a style of speaking or writing with economy. "Brevity is the soul of wit," remarks Polonius in Shakespeare's "Hamlet," suggesting that witty people know how to make a point without unnecessary words.

Question 347

Cavalcade

Answer 347

Cavalcadeprocession of vehiclesIf you are traveling with a procession of people on horseback, you are part of a cavalcade.The word cavalcade comes from the Latin word for horse, caballus. The word cavalry, which means soldiers on horseback, comes from the same Latin root. So strictly speaking, a cavalcade is group of people on horseback or in horse-drawn carriages, moving together in some kind of ceremony or parade. But cavalcades can include vehicles or people walking, like the motorcycle cavalcades that sometimes accompany a funeral procession.

Question 348

Precipitous

Answer 348

Precipitousdone in a hurryA sharp, steep drop — whether it's in a stock price, a roller coaster, or a star's popularity — could be described as a precipitous one. Put simply, Precipitous means perilously steep.Look closely and you'll spot most of the word precipice (a sheer, almost vertical cliff) in precipitous. Now imagine how you'd feel standing at the edge peering over, and you'll grasp the sense of impending danger that precipitous tends to imply. Precipitous declines in sales lead to bankruptcy. Precipitous mountainside hiking trails are not for the acrophobic. It can describe an ascent, but precipitous is most often used for things going literally or figuratively downhill.

Question 349

Infamous

Answer 349

Infamousfamous for something badSomeone who is infamous has a very bad reputation. If you become a Hollywood star and find yourself on the pages of gossip magazines for your affairs and addictions, you will have succeeded in becoming infamous.Infamous is from Latin infamis, for negative fame. If you're bad but unknown, then you're not infamous — it's reserved for those wicked and well-known people that capture our collective imagination. It is a strong and resonant term. Some synonyms are notorious, disgraceful, and odious. The stress is on the first syllable.

Question 350

Belabor

Answer 350

Belaborexplain in unnecessary detailBelabor means to go at something with everything you've got. When you say, "Don't belabor or agonize over the decision," it means, "Move on."Belabor is made up of the Latin roots be and labor meaning "to exert one's strength upon." You can belabor a point by using excessive detail, or you could belabor the obvious by stating over and over what everyone already knows. Belaboring can be a physical attack as well. A person can belabor or beat the living daylights out of you with a club.

Question 351

Perfunctory

Answer 351

Perfunctorysuperficial; cursoryPerfunctory means done as part of a routine or duty. If you give someone a gift and they look at it like it's roadkill and say nothing about it but a perfunctory "thank you," you might not be giving them another one anytime soon.A person who does something in a perfunctory way shows little enthusiasm or interest in what they are doing. Many of our everyday greetings are perfunctory. For example, when we say hello and how are you, it's usually done out of habit. Perfunctory is from Latin perfunctus, from perfungi "to get through with, perform," formed from the Latin prefix per- "completely" plus fungi "to perform."

Question 352

Totter

Answer 352

Totterwalk unsteadilyIf you spin yourself around until you are dizzy, you will likely totter if you try to step forward. Totter is a verb that means "move unsteadily, as though you are about to fall down."To totter is to move in a wobbly, unsteady manner. When a person totters, they look like they are going to fall down. In a boxing match, a boxer might totter after taking a blow to the head. During an earthquake, buildings may totter, or sway, appearing as though they may fall down. Totter can also imply a rocking motion; a playground seesaw, for instance, is sometimes called "a teeter-totter."

Question 353

Evacuate

Answer 353

Evacuatevacate; empty; abandonTo evacuate is to flee, like how people leave an area when a hurricane is coming. It also means to empty something completely.If you have to evacuate your home, something horrible is probably happening, like a natural disaster. People evacuate when something like a tornado or act of terrorism makes their homes unsafe. To evacuate also means to empty completely, in the bathroom-oriented sense of evacuating (emptying) your bowels. Similarly, if a chemist empties and therefore creates a vacuum in a flask, she has evacuated the flask. When you evacuate, you clear out.

Question 354

Alibi

Answer 354

Alibian excuse that shows someone was not at a crime sceneYour alibi is evidence that proves your innocence. If you were making cookies with your mom when someone raided your sister's piggy bank, your mom is your alibi, since she knows you were with her when the crime was committed.The noun alibi is the same word as its Latin root, alibi, which means "excuse." When you provide an alibi, you are giving proof — a certified excuse — that you could not have committed a crime. Alibi is easy to confuse with alias, which means "an assumed, or false, name."

Question 355

Emaciated

Answer 355

Emaciatedvery thin; witheredSomeone who is dangerously skinny and skeletal-looking can be described as emaciated. It's probably how you'd start to look after a few weeks in the wilderness with only berries and bugs for dinner.The adjective emaciated evolved from the Latin emaciatus, meaning to "make lean, waste away." An emaciated person or animal isn't just thin. They're bony, gaunt, and most likely undernourished, often from illness. So if an emaciated stray cat shows up on your doorstep, give it a bowl of milk and maybe pay a visit to the vet.

Question 356

Flagrant

Answer 356

Flagrantclearly wrongSomething flagrant is bad — so bad you can't ignore it. A flagrant foul in sports might send you to the bench, and a flagrant violation of the law might send you to the slammer.The current meaning of the adjective flagrant — "obviously offensive or disgraceful" — is thought to derive from the Latin legal term in flagrante delicto, which literally meant "with fire still blazing" and is used figuratively to describe a situation in which the criminal is caught red handed. Aside from a flagrant abuse of the law, the word can also be used to describe anything that is obviously bad — like flagrant bad taste or flagrant abuse of the rules of grammar.

Question 357

Surreptitious

Answer 357

Surreptitioussecret; sneaky; stealthyWhen someone behaves in a surreptitious way, they're being secretive. They're doing something that they don't want to be seen doing.While surreptitious means secret, it has the added sense of "sneaky" or "hidden." During the Jewish Passover meal of Seder, an adult will surreptitiously place a piece of matzoh somewhere in the house for the children to hunt for later in the meal. You'll see surreptitious applied mostly to actions, rather than to things or ideas. We do things surreptitiously. The members of the secret society hold surreptitious meetings because, well, they're a secret society. I was very surreptitious in how I organized the surprise party: she never knew!

Question 358

Eloquent

Answer 358

Eloquentfluent and persuasive in speechWhen you're eloquent, you have a way with words. An eloquent speaker expresses herself clearly and powerfully. Even though eloquent usually describes oral speech, it can also be used to describe powerful writing.Being eloquent is about using words well. All the great writers from English class — such as Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, and Virginia Woolf — were eloquent. A great orator or speaker like Martin Luther King was eloquent. When something is beautifully, gorgeously, perfect said (or written), it's eloquent. Being eloquent requires your words to be smooth, clear, powerful, and interesting. To write or speak in an eloquent way takes a lot of work.

Question 359

Peccadillo

Answer 359

Peccadillominor weakness; trivial offenceA peccadillo is a minor offense or sin. Parents recognize that their kids have a few peccadilloes: they don't always remember to say please and thank you, don't put their dirty clothes in the hamper, and worst of all, they keeping finding the chocolate stash!Peccadillo is based on the Spanish word peccado, meaning "sin," with a diminutive added, making peccadillo a small sin. How big a sin is a peccadillo? Well, that depends on who you ask. The person committing the offense is likely to try to pass off any number of transgressions and mistakes as peccadilloes. If you apologize and are forgiven, it's probably a peccadillo. If your transgression could get you fired, it's probably not!

Question 360

Decoy

Answer 360

Decoylure; trap; trickA decoy is a fake version of something used to play a trick or lead you into danger, like the cork duck decoys hunters put on the pond to make the real ducks think it's safe to stop by.Decoy most often refers to bait used for trapping or killing an animal, but it can be any object or plan used to lead someone or something into trouble. Fisherman use worm decoys on their lures to catch fish, just like police use people as undercover decoys to catch criminals. While etymologists aren't positive, they suspect decoy comes from the Dutch kooi, which means "a cage." So think of luring a mouse into a cage with a big slice of decoy cheese.

Question 361

Gullible

Answer 361

Gullibleeasily fooledIf you are gullible, the joke is on you because you are easily fooled.It is thought that gullible might be derived from the verb gull, meaning "to swallow." This would be a funny coincidence as gullible describes an overly trusting person who tends to swallow the stories he hears whole. The related word, gull, can be used as a noun "don't be such a gull!" or as a verb "you can't gull me into believing that!"

Question 362

Peerless

Answer 362

Peerlesswithout equalDo you ever feel like one of a kind? Then maybe you are peerless, a word for someone (or something) unique, excellent, and superior.Peerless is a variation of peer — a word for folks in the same boat as you, or at least the same class. A teacher's peers are other teachers, but if she's a much better teacher than anyone, you could call her a peerless teacher. One of the many compliments given to Michael Jordan is that he was peerless. Amazing, one-of-a-kind people like Picasso, Gandhi, and Shakespeare are considered peerless. The rest of us have a lot of peers.

Question 363

Plethora

Answer 363

Plethoraan excessPlethora means an abundance or excess of something. If you have 15 different people who want to take you on a date, you have a plethora of romantic possibilities.Plethora comes from the Greek for "fullness." Although it was originally used only in old-fashioned medicine to describe the condition of having too much blood, we use it to talk about any excessive supply. If you run a theater and all the seats are taken, that's a full house. But if the seats are full and people are standing in the aisles, you have a plethora of patrons. The stress is on the first syllable: PLETH-uh-ruh.

Question 364

Candor

Answer 364

Candorfrankness; opennessCandor usually means the quality of being open, honest, and sincere. If someone tells you they think you are dumb, you might reply with, "While I appreciate your candor, I don't think we need to be friends anymore."The corresponding adjective is candid, as in "I want you to be candid. Do these pants make me look fat?" Candor is from French candeur, from Latin candor, from candēre "to shine, be white." The color white is associated with purity, which is a now obsolete meaning of candor.

Question 365

Pallid

Answer 365

PallidpaleSanta looks a little pallid, meaning that he has a pale complexion, from spending too much time at the North Pole. A few days in Hawaii might do wonders to add color to his pale, bearded face.Pallid means pale, or lacking color. It's often used together with complexion to describe someone who has a pale face, either due to a lack of sunshine or some kind of emotional distress. A reclusive author could be pallid from spending too much time indoors. His books can also be called pallid if they're lacking in color and excitement.

Question 366

Circumlocution

Answer 366

Circumlocutionusing too many words; long-windednessCircumlocution is a long, complicated word which means a long, complicated way of expressing something. To cut to the chase, circumlocution means to beat around the bush.Circumlocution comes from the Latin words circum, "circle," and loqui, "to speak." So circumlocution is speaking in circles, going round and round in a wordy way without ever getting to the heart of the matter. It's an evasive style of argument, best employed when you really don't want to say what's on your mind.

Question 367

Chimerical

Answer 367

Chimericalchangeable; unstableUse the adjective chimerical to describe something that is wildly fanciful or imaginative — like the chimerical illustrations of unicorns in a children's book.A chimera was a fire-breathing monster from Greek mythology made from three different animals: a lion at its head, a goat in the middle, and a serpent at the end. The first surviving mention of the beast is in Homer's The Iliad. From this fantastical creature, English created the adjective chimerical to describe wild figments of the imagination.

Question 368

Alleviate

Answer 368

Alleviatemake less severeDo all these words make your head ache? If so, take an aspirin to alleviate, or relieve, your pain.The verb, alleviate, stems from the Latin root, levis "light" and is related to modern English words such as elevator and levitate — both words implying a lightening of one's load. Alleviate also has this sense of lightening a burden such as physical pain or emotional duress. You can take medicine to alleviate symptoms or do exercise to alleviate stress. Or if you want a bigger challenge: try alleviating traffic congestion or world hunger.

Question 369

Verbose

Answer 369

Verbosetalkative; long-winded; ramblingVerbose describes a person, speech, or piece of writing that uses many words, usually more words than necessary. If you talk too much, you can be described as verbose, and so can your history paper if you didn't do the research and are just tried to take up space with words.Near synonyms are wordy and prolix. Verbose is from Latin verbosus "full of words," from verbum "word, verb." As you can guess from the spelling, English verb was borrowed from Latin verbum. And English word happens to be related to Latin verbum, though it dates back to Old English and was not borrowed from Latin.

Question 370

Palatable

Answer 370

Palatablegood to eat; agreeableSomething that is palatable is acceptable to one’s sense of taste—literally or figuratively. If it's palatable, then you can put up with it — whether it's leftovers or a mediocre made-for-TV movie.The palate is the roof of the mouth, the combination of structures that separates the mouth from the nose. Early anatomists believed that the sense of taste was located in the palate, and, just as taste is metaphorically expanded to include sensibilities beyond the experience of food and drink, so palatable can be used to describe phenomena beyond the culinary. And, while palatable can mean pleasing or agreeable, it generally means merely tolerable—edible, rather than delicious.

Question 371

Flamboyant

Answer 371

Flamboyantshowy; ornateFlamboyant means elaborate and ostentatious. When you think of flamboyant, think of Las Vegas showgirls: feathers, sequins, three-inch heels, enough make-up to disguise any irregularity.Flamboyant means showy, and though we often roll our eyes at it, it's not a hateful thing. Liberace was flamboyant. So was Elvis. The word comes from the French flamboyer, to flame. Think of passion and pageantry all rolled into one, and you'll have a good idea what flamboyant should mean at its best. If that doesn't do it for you, think of a man playing a shiny white grand piano at a rock concert, wearing a white satin jump suit and 8-foot wide, fully-feathered wings. See? Flamboyant.

Question 372

Enduring

Answer 372

EnduringlastingMany people have an enduring love for ice cream, that is, they have loved it for a long time and will continue to love it into the future. Enduring means long-lasting.Enduring has roots that go back about 1,500 years to the Late Latin period. It is quite an enduring word! The original root meant hard, so your enduring friendship or your enduring interest in sports is solid enough to stand the test of time. Besides meaning long-lasting, enduring sometimes means long-suffering as when someone has an enduring disposition, but this meaning is found in the verb more than in the adjective.

Question 373

Endorse

Answer 373

Endorsegive support or approval toTo endorse is to give support to someone or something. "I endorse this!" means "I think this is a good thing, and so should you."People endorse in many ways. When someone endorses a politician, it means "You should vote for this person, and I'm putting my reputation on the line to say so." When someone endorses a product in a commercial, it means "Go buy this! You'll like it." To endorse is to give support. You can also endorse a check, which means writing your name or someone else's on the back so that you or the other person can cash or deposit it.

Question 374

Specious

Answer 374

SpeciousFALSEUse specious to describe an argument that seems to be good, correct, or logical, but is not so. We live on the earth, therefore the earth must be the center of the universe has been proven to be a specious theory of the solar system.Specious is pronounced "SPEE-shuhs." Something that is specious is attractive in a deceptive way, and if you follow the word's etymology, you'll see why. In Middle English, this adjective meant "attractive," from Latin speciōsus "showy, beautiful," from speciēs "appearance, kind, sort." Latin speciēs is also the source of English species.

Question 375

Obdurate

Answer 375

ObduratestubbornObdurate is a formal word meaning stubborn. If you want to major in English, but your parents are obdurate that you should go premed, they might go so far as to threaten not to pay your tuition.This adjective descends from Latin obdurare "to harden." A near synonym is adamant, from Latin adamas "hard metal, diamond." So both of these synonyms derive from the quality of hardness being associated with a stubborn personality.

Question 376

Ambiguous

Answer 376

Ambiguousunclear in meaning; can be interpreted in different waysLook to the adjective ambiguous when you need to describe something that's open to more than one interpretation, like the headline "Squad helps dog bite victim."Newspaper headlines can be unintentionally funny when they're ambiguous. In "Squad helps dog bite victim," is the squad helping a victim of a dog bite or helping a dog bite a victim? The ambi- prefix means "both ways," while the guous part is from the Latin verb agere, "to lead or drive." Thus an ambiguous sentence or situation drives us in two different directions at once. The accent is on the second syllable, "big," which you can remember since something that's ambiguous can lead to big misunderstandings.

Question 377

Meager

Answer 377

Meagerin short supplyMeager means small and often applies to portions. Meager is the serving of chocolate cake your mother will allows you––or the amount of vegetables you actually want to eat before getting to that cake.Meager doesn't mean adequate––it means not enough. People with a limited supply of food may try to subsist on meager portions. People who make a meager amount of money probably have a hard time making rent. Meager and emaciated both derive from the Old French maigre. If you can remember that you will look emaciated if your diet is meager, you’ll use the word correctly.

Question 378

Conundrum

Answer 378

Conundruma puzzleThe tricky word conundrum is used to describe a riddle or puzzle, sometimes including a play on words or pun.One of the most famous conundrums is the riddle of the Sphinx, famously in the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Oedipus encounters the Sphinx, a mythical beast, who asks him, "What walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?" The answer is "A person": crawling as a child, walking as an adult, and using a cane in old age. The scary thing is that if the Sphinx asked you the riddle and you didn't know, she'd eat you!

Question 379

Abstain

Answer 379

Abstaindesist; go without; withdrawIf you abstain from something, you restrain yourself from consuming it. People usually abstain from things that are considered vices — like drinking alcohol or eating chocolate.Roots of the word abstain are from the 14th-century French, "to withhold oneself," and the word often refers to people who abstain or keep themselves from drinking liquor. The noun form abstinence also pops up often in reference to abstinence programs that urge teens to abstain from premarital sex. Abstain can also mean to withhold a vote, and sometimes a difficult decision is held up when government representatives abstain from voting one way or another.

Question 380

Annex

Answer 380

Annexa building which is an addition to an existing buildingAn annex is an extension of, or an addition to a building. A small room off of a main room is an annex, and attics are another type of annex.As a noun, an annex is part of a building or an addition to a main structure, or it can be an attachment, as in "an annex to the current plans." When used as a verb, the word means something a little different. Sometimes annex is used as a nice word for "take" or "grab," as when Nazi Germany took the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia in 1938 and added it to their own territory. In order to annex something to what is yours, you have to take it away from someone else.

Question 381

Abstemious

Answer 381

Abstemiousself denying; refraining from indulgingReserve abstemious for someone who exercises restraint, especially with regard to alcohol. A rock musician may sing about enjoying wine and women, but in his private life he may be abstemious.You might get the idea that abstemious is a relative of abstain with a change of consonant, but in fact the two words only share the abs- prefix, meaning "away." The -temious bit in this adjective is from Latin temetum, "intoxicating drink," so it came to refer to someone who keeps alcohol (or other temptations) at arm's length. This word has the vowels a, e, i, o and u in alphabetical order; the adverb abstemiously adds the y!

Question 382

Cryptic

Answer 382

Crypticpuzzling; enigmatic"White bunny. Moon. Square." Do you understand what that means? Of course not! It's totally cryptic. Cryptic comments or messages are hard to understand because they seem to have a hidden meaning.Cryptic is from Late Latin crypticus, from Greek kryptikos, from kryptos "hidden." This Greek adjective is the source of our English word crypt, referring to a room under a church in which dead people are buried. That might account for why the word cryptic has an eerie tone to it.

Question 383

Rigor

Answer 383

RigorthoroughnessWhen a private school boasts of its academic rigor, it means its students learn a lot and work really hard. Rigor means thoroughness and exhaustiveness––the gold standard for a good teacher.You may have heard of "rigor mortis"––which is a medical term describing the stiffness of a body after death. Rigor used to mean stiffness outside of the corpse context, i.e., sternness. The word changes meaning along with our changing standards for what we want teachers to be.

Question 384

Condone

Answer 384

Condonetacitly support; overlookIf you condone something, you allow it, approve of it, or at least can live with it. Some teachers condone chewing gum, and some don't.Things that are condoned are allowed, even if everyone isn't exactly thrilled about it. People often say, "I don't condone what he did, but I understand it." Condoning is like excusing something. People seem to talk more about things they don't condone than things they do condone. Your mom might say, "I don't condone you staying up till 10, but I know you need to read." That's a way of giving approval and not giving approval at the same time.

Question 385

Adversity

Answer 385

AdversityhardshipWhen circumstances or a situation works against you, you face adversity.Adversity, a noun which has been part of the English language for over 800 years, comes from the Latin adversitatem "opposition" and is related to the preposition, versus, a word common in legal or battle language meaning "against." When things seem against you — circumstances or a stoke of bad luck — you are facing adversity. Sometimes people use a form of the phrase, "turning adversity into opportunity/advantage." This refers to the ability some people or companies have to take a bad situation and make it into a successful one.

Question 386

Caustic

Answer 386

CausticburningUse the adjective caustic to describe any chemical that is able to burn living tissue or other substances, or, figuratively, a statement that has a similarly burning effect. Caustic in this sense means harshly critical.In the chemical sense, a near synonym is corrosive. In the figurative sense, near synonyms are biting, scathing, and sarcastic. The source of the word caustic is Latin causticus, from Greek kaustikos, from kaiein "to burn."

Question 387

Exculpate

Answer 387

Exculpatefree someone from blame; pardon; acquitTo exculpate means to find someone not guilty of criminal charges. If you've been wrongly convicted of robbery, you better hope a judge will exculpate you, unless you want to go to jail because you've heard prison food is amazing.Exculpate comes from two Latin words: ex-, meaning "from," and culpa, meaning "blame." Exculpate is similar in meaning to exonerate. When you exonerate someone, you clear a person of an accusation and any suspicion that goes along with it. Exculpate usually refers more directly to clearing the charges against someone. So if that judge exculpates you from the robbery charge, everyone in town might still think you did it. Get him to exculpate and exonerate you.

Question 388

Cajole

Answer 388

CajolecoaxTo cajole someone is to persuade them by using insincere compliments or promises. If you say "Please, pretty-please, I'll be your best friend," when asking for a stick of gum, you are cajoling the gum holder.The origin of this word is probably a blend of two French words meaning "to chatter like a jaybird" and "to lure into a cage." When you cajole that guy into lending you some money, picture him as the bird going into the cage. In fact, the word cajole may be associated with another French word meaning "to put in jail."

Question 389

Palpable

Answer 389

Palpableeasily felt; easily perceivedWhen something is palpable, you can touch or handle it, even though the word is often used to describe things that usually can't be handled or touched, such as emotions or sensations.You probably won't see palpable used to describe, say, an egg or a doorknob or a motorcycle. Palpable is usually reserved for situations in which something invisible becomes so intense that it feels as though it has substance or weight. When the towers came down, the sense of sadness was so great, it was palpable.

Question 390

Finesse

Answer 390

FinesseskillHaving finesse means you can handle difficult situations with diplomacy and tact, like the finesse it takes to help two friends work out their differences — without taking sides or alienating either one.Finesse is having grace under pressure. It's handling the rantings of an angry customer with a smile and a calm tone. Someone who has finesse says the right thing at the right time — or knows when to say nothing at all. Finesse looks like fineness and in fact comes from the Middle French word that means exactly that — delicate in nature. People with finesse can handle anything — with a delicate approach that really works.

Question 391

Talisman

Answer 391

Talismanlucky charmA talisman is a charm that is supposed to ward off evil or illness. Your rabbit's foot key chain may be your lucky talisman, but it wasn't so lucky for that rabbit, of course.The word talisman has been around in English since the 1630s and it has roots in both Arabic and Greek words. A talisman is usually worn around the neck but could exist in other forms, like a ring or inscribed stone. You can think of a talisman as a good luck charm, but people tend to take talismans more seriously — as if they are empowered with magic to ward off evil spirits.

Question 392

Loquacious

Answer 392

LoquacioustalkativeA loquacious person talks a lot, often about stuff that only they think is interesting. You can also call them chatty or gabby, but either way, they're loquacious.Whenever you see the Latin loqu-, you can be sure that the word has something to do with "talking." So a loquacious person is a person who talks a lot, and often too much. Sitting next to a loquacious person at a dinner party can make dinner a real drag. Of course, if you've got nothing to say, a loquacious person might make a good dinner companion, because they'll do all the talking. All you will have to do is smile and eat.

Question 393

Wane

Answer 393

Wanegrow lessThings that wax and wane grow larger and smaller, like the moon. Things that wane simply grow smaller. "My initial enthusiasm for helping waned when I saw the pile of envelopes that needed licking."You may have heard the expression "on the wane." It means a fad, or a fashion, or a disease, that is on its way out the door. "The face mask fad at school was on the wane as new reports of kids infected with a dreaded new fly virus waned."

Question 394

Robust

Answer 394

Robuststrong; healthy; toughUse robust to describe a person or thing that is healthy and strong, or strongly built. This adjective also commonly describes food or drink: a robust wine has a rich, strong flavor.If your school has a robust sports program, it means they offer lots of different kinds of sports and that a lot of kids participate. If you have a robust speaking voice, it means you have a voice that's deep and loud and strong. Robust is from Latin robustus "of oak, hard, strong," from robur "oak tree, strength."

Question 395

Overwrought

Answer 395

Overwroughtworked up; in an emotional stateHigh on drama and lacking any emotional restraint, overwrought is an adjective that means deeply, excessively agitated or nervous.Say your favorite soap star gets killed off in episode 12. If you sob uncontrollably, tear at your hair, and refuse to leave the couch for a week, most would say your response was overwrought — in other words, a bit much. But it's not just emotions that can go over the top. The gaudy, golden McMansion covered in ornate Italian statuary where your soap star lives in real life? Totally overdone, or overwrought, with details.

Question 396

Penury

Answer 396

PenurypovertyPenury means extreme poverty to the point of homelessness and begging in the streets. Economic downturns, job loss, shopping sprees, and weekends at the high rollers' table in Vegas can lead to penury.Penury comes from the Latin word penuria, which, though it sounds like something contagious, actually means scarcity. It's not a word that turns up often in casual conversation or even on nightly newscasts. You're more apt to spot it in a college textbook or maybe an editorial in The New York Times.

Question 397

Incarceration

Answer 397

Incarcerationputting in prisonIncarceration is the state of being in prison. If you don't fancy incarceration, don't go through with that bank heist.The noun incarceration comes from the Latin word carcer, meaning "jail." There are many different types of incarceration. If you commit a crime and get locked up, that's one form of incarceration. Some people might feel that school is a form of incarceration. Some highly religious people think of the body as an incarceration of the spirit. A great synonym for this word is captivity.

Question 398

Beguile

Answer 398

Beguilemislead; lureTo beguile is to trick someone, either with deception or with irresistible charm and beauty. You could be beguiled by a super model or by a super con artist.Beguile doesn't always mean that the person or thing beguiling is tricking you, but there is a sense with this word of enchantment that takes away the viewer's normal powers of judgment. A beautiful place or idea can beguile as easily as a person. You might be so beguiled by the idea of a picnic on the beach that you forgot there are two feet of snow on the ground.

Question 399

Susceptible

Answer 399

SusceptiblevulnerableIf you are susceptible to something such as infections or earaches, it means you are likely to become sick with these things.Have you ever received something you don't want? Well, with susceptible meaning "likely to be influenced or affected by" that is probably going to be the case. If you're susceptible to flattery, and someone wants something from you, all they have to do is give you a compliment or two and you'll do what they want. Material that's susceptible to cracking won't be in good condition for long.

Question 400

Respite

Answer 400

Respitea break; intermissionA respite is a break from something that's difficult or unpleasant. If you're cramming for exams, take an occasional walk to give yourself a respite from the intensity.Respite may look like it rhymes with despite, but this word has a stress on its first syllable (RES-pit). It comes from the Latin word respectus, meaning refuge, but we almost always use respite to describe a time, not a place, of relief. If you've been fighting with your partner, a visit from a friend might offer a brief respite from the argument, but the fight will pick up again when she leaves.

Question 401

Misanthrope

Answer 401

Misanthropehater of the rest of mankindA misanthrope is a person who hates or mistrusts other people. Your great aunt Edna who lashes out at anyone who approaches, convinced they'll steal the jewelry she keeps in her handbag on her lap? A misanthrope indeed.This is a formal word, derived from Greek misanthrōpos "hating mankind," from misein "to hate" plus anthrōpos "a man." From the same root, we get the English word anthropology "the study of humans." If you make a statement or do something that is particularly hostile or untrusting, you can call that misanthropic.

Question 402

Inductee

Answer 402

Inducteenovice; beginner

Question 403

Plaintiff

Answer 403

Plaintiffpetitioner (in court of law)In a courtroom, the plaintiff is the person or group who is accusing another person or group of some wrongdoing. If you’re the plaintiff, you are claiming that a law was broken, and you’re in court to present your case.The plaintiff accuses, the defendant tries to prove that accusation wrong. You’ve seen this relationship on television shows about lawyers, or maybe you’ve been to court yourself. The Old French root word translates as "complain" and the Latin root is literally "beating of the breast," or explaining your grief in a dramatic way. Plaintiff shares roots with the adjective plaintive, which describes a sorrowful sound. The plaintiff made a plaintive cry when the defendant was declared not guilty.

Question 404

Rebuttal

Answer 404

RebuttaldenialWhen two people debate, one of them makes an argument, and the other follows with a rebuttal, which, plainly put, is the "no, you're wrong and this is why" argument.We often associate rebuttals with arguments made in the courtroom or public debates that occur around election time, but the word can really apply to any situation in which an argument is put forth and someone disagrees, and explains why. Sports fans, for instance, like to argue about the likely winner of an upcoming game and when you make a case for why your friend is wrong, you are offering a rebuttal of his argument.

Question 405

Befuddle

Answer 405

BefuddleconfuseTo befuddle is to confuse. A sticky exam question can befuddle you, or an awkward question about your whereabouts the night before (how can you remember? You were befuddled, after all.)In sixteenth century Britain a popular thing to do (about the only thing to do) after the hogs had been fed and the chickens put away for the night was fuddle — in other words get pretty drunk. Befuddled was simply the confused state too many pots of mead put your poor brain in, and that's still its basic meaning today. Nowadays, befuddle has a more general meaning of confusion and uncertainty not necessarily caused by too much booze.

Question 406

Negligence

Answer 406

NegligencecarelessnessWhen you are careless or reckless and you don’t take care of a person, object or situation like you ought to, you are practicing negligence. "Her negligence of the house resulted in its being condemned by the city."The noun negligence comes from a Latin word that means "carelessness." Negligence can come in many forms: negligence of one's children can lead to foster care, negligence while driving can cause fatal accidents, negligence of work can lead to the loss of a job, and negligence of nutrition can cause health problems. There is culpability in negligence. Negligence is when one neglects to do things that should be done, and there are usually consequences.

Question 407

Scapegoat

Answer 407

Scapegoatperson on whom blame is placed for faults of othersThe Bible depicts a ritual in which a goat is sent out into the desert bearing the faults of the people of Israel. The word scapegoat first occurred in the earliest English translation of the Bible, and it has come to mean any individual punished for the misdeeds of others.When a politician gets caught lying, he or she might use an assistant as a scapegoat. Somehow the lie will wind up being the assistant's fault. Your mom might tell you to use her as a scapegoat if you need to. So if your friends want you to go to a wild party and you don't want to, you should tell them your mom won't let you. That way, they will be mad at her and not at you. A fall guy is similar to a scapegoat, but it is mostly used if your scheme has been found out and one of your group of schemers must take the consequences.

Question 408

Bilk

Answer 408

Bilkcheat; defraudEver paid a restaurant bill only to discover they charged you for stuff you never had? What they did was bilk you — cheat you out of money that was justly yours. Shady companies are forever bilking their investors.To bilk someone is slightly different from plain robbing them, though the effect is the same; it implies a non-violent, subtle and devious method masquerading as legitimate. Bernie Madoff, the Ponzi scheme king, was a classic bilker. On a more enjoyable note, one of the greatest bilkers in TV history was the appropriately named Sergeant Bilko, played by the comedian Phil Silvers. His eternal card games, promotions and get-rich-quick schemes were all designed to part some poor sucker from their cash. Watch and learn from the master.

Question 409

Milieu

Answer 409

MilieuenvironmentWhatever he carried on the inside after more than 25 years in prison, Nelson Mandela reentered society focusing on the milieu, or surrounding culture, of South Africans and not the prison milieu he had left behind.A milieu is both "surroundings" and everything that makes up the surroundings. Your milieu is your world, or the context you come from. Sometimes a milieu shapes a person, as when a "milieu of abuse and poverty," inspires someone to improve things for others. Milieu sounds a lot like "mildew" without the "d," but unless you grew up in a moldy bathtub, mildew probably has little to do with your milieu, or environment.

Question 410

Emerge

Answer 410

Emergecome out; appearTo emerge means to come out into view or come forth. You might hope to emerge from an epic perming session looking like a beauty queen, but chances are it will just look like you got electrocuted.From the Latin emergere, meaning to "rise out or up, bring forth, bring to light," emerge is an intransitive verb that might bring to mind the image of a whale rising up from the depths of the sea, or of a person popping out from a dark corner to spook you. Appear and peep are synonyms, while dip and sink are antonyms.

Question 411

Beleaguer

Answer 411

Beleaguerbesiege; attackBeleaguer means to pester or badger with persistence. A babysitter might find annoying the children who beleaguer her with requests for candy, cookies, games, and piggyback rides all at the same time.Beleaguer originally meant to lay siege to, and originates from a 16th century Dutch term which meant to camp all around. It was not until later that beleaguer came to mean harass or bother in a determined way. Remember that there is a league in the middle of be-league-r and the spelling will be easy.

Question 412

Charlatan

Answer 412

Charlatantrickster who claims knowledge he doesn't haveA charlatan is a quack, a person who is trying to deceive you with false claims. Beware of charlatans who try to sell you access to the fountain of youth or to a Ponzi scheme disguised as an exclusive investment fund.A charlatan is one who pretends to possess knowledge he or she lacks. From the 16th century Italian ciarlatano "a quack," the usage of charlatan has not shifted much. Other words for charlatan are impostor, cheat, or pretender. Charlatans are marked by the elaborate schemes they cook up. Russian playwright Anton Chekhov said, "No psychologist should pretend to understand what he does not understand...Only fools and charlatans know everything and understand nothing."

Question 413

Didactic

Answer 413

Didacticintended to teach; instructiveWhen people are didactic, they're teaching or instructing. This word is often used negatively for when someone is acting too much like a teacher.When you're didactic, you're trying to teach something. Just about everything teachers do is didactic: the same is true of coaches and mentors. Didactic is often used in a negative way. If you heard that a movie is overly didactic, that's probably not good. Most people want to see a story and be entertained when going to the movies, and if it feels like the movie is just telling you what to think, that's didactic in a bad way.

Question 414

Artifice

Answer 414

Artificedeception; trickeryIf a politician pretends to be angry as a way of rousing the anger of the voters and getting more votes, he's guilty of artifice — a subtle and crafty trick.Before taking on its current meaning, artifice meant a skilled piece of workmanship. A beautiful diamond bracelet might have been considered a piece of artifice, for example; now it would only be called artifice if the diamonds were fake.

Question 415

Intransigent

Answer 415

Intransigentstubborn; unyieldingIntransigent means inflexible, stubborn, entrenched. Argue all you like with an intransigent three-year-old. He will never back down from the position that he wants the lollipop NOW.Trans has to do with movement — think transportation, or a package in transit, i.e. "on the way." The in- of intransigent means "not," so something or someone who is intransigent is not moving. If one political party wants to raise funds to improve schools but the other is intransigent on the subject of higher taxes, the debate will get nowhere.

Question 416

Impoverished

Answer 416

Impoverisheddestitute; poorImpoverished describes being really, really poor, either from having no money or being in bad health. A person who lives on the street is impoverished, and a country may become impoverished after a devastating war.Impoverished comes from the Old French word povre, which means "poor," and you can almost see the word poverty inside impoverished. Living an impoverished life means that your finances and health are not in good shape, and in fact you could die because you can’t support yourself. A corrupt and greedy government makes its citizens impoverished, and too much pollution will create impoverished soil that isn’t healthy enough to grow delicious vegetables.

Question 417

Niggardly

Answer 417

Niggardlymiserly; stingyWhile this looks like a certain racial slur, it's really just a way of saying meager, stingy or ungenerous. If you get a niggardly share of cake, it means someone gave you a very small piece.This word is so close to a nasty racial slur that people have gotten in trouble for using it correctly. The words are not related in any way, they just sound alike. If you use the word niggardly, and someone is taken aback or offended, they either misheard you or don't know what they are talking about. In this situation, aim for generosity. Don't be niggardly with patience and understanding of their ignorance.

Question 418

Arbitrary

Answer 418

Arbitraryrandom; for no definite reasonSomething that's arbitrary seems like it's chosen at random instead of following a consistent rule. Team members would dislike their coach using a totally arbitrary method to pick starting players.Even though arbitrary comes from a word meaning "judge" (arbiter), that doesn't mean judges are always fair. Calling a decision-maker arbitrary is usually a negative thing, suggesting the person is making rules based on whim rather than justice. A coach who selects starting players arbitrarily isn't strictly applying a rule; he could just be picking names out of a hat.

Question 419

Detrimental

Answer 419

DetrimentalharmfulDetrimental is a formal way of saying "harmful." Anything detrimental hurts, hinders, or puts a damper on something. Detrimental things do damage.Have you ever heard "Smoking may be detrimental to your health" and wondered what it meant? It means that smoking is bad for your health: it's going to harm you in a bunch of ways. Detrimental is a more official, formal way of talking about things that do harm. A dog who likes digging holes can be detrimental to a garden. If you're writing a paper and want to pick an alternative to harmful that sounds more formal, detrimental is a great choice.

Question 420

Altruism

Answer 420

Altruismputting others first; being self-sacrificingIf you see a stranger getting beat up on the playground and you rush in to rescue them, you have done something unselfish to help another person, otherwise known as an act of altruism.Use the noun altruism to refer to feelings or actions that show an unselfish concern for other people. In science, altruism refers to animal behavior that could be harmful to the animal itself but that contributes to the survival of the animal group. It's related to the adjective altruistic. Someone known for their altruism is an altruist.

Question 421

Acrophobia

Answer 421

Acrophobiafear of heightsWant to go to the top of the Empire State Building? You must not have acrophobia. Someone who is terrified of heights will just wait for you in the gift shop — which is on the ground floor.You can see the word phobia, or extreme fear, in acrophobia. Acro comes from the Greek word akron, which means "summit" or "high point." When you put it all together, you have a word that means "fear of heights." Whoever named Akron, Ohio, must have studied Greek; it is located on a plateau in Summit County.

Question 422

Liniment

Answer 422

Linimentsoothing lotion

Question 423

Epicure

Answer 423

Epicuresomeone who appreciates good food and drinkWe call a person who truly loves food—food at the highest levels—an epicure. Occasionally, you might find the word epicure used for a person who loves something else, but an epicure is usually someone who delights in fine food.Epicurus was the Greek philosopher whom we credit with thinking the most about cooking and food. So any time you see the word epicure, remember that that person follows the philosopher Epicurus and therefore loves food. Being an epicure ain't cheap. Most fine restaurants these days will charge you an arm and a leg for a meal good enough to satisfy a real epicure: a good bottle of wine alone could cost the choosy epicure a couple of Benjamins ($100 bills).

Question 424

Monotonous

Answer 424

Monotonousdull; unvaryingWhen something goes on and on and on and on and on, the same way, for a long time, that's monotonous. Monotonous things are boring and repetitive, like that long story you've heard your brother tell a hundred times before.Ever hear a song that just sounds like the same thing over and over? Ever hear a dog that keeps barking all day? Or a voice that's dull and unchanging in tone? All those things are monotonous: they don't change much, and they're dull as dishwater. Anything tedious or humdrum is probably monotonous. If someone says you're being monotonous, try to vary your tone of voice or the things you're talking about.

Question 425

Vivacity

Answer 425

Vivacityliveliness; animationIf someone says you're full of vivacity, that means you have high spirits and are full of life. Your vivacity makes you a great comedic actor because you attack the stage with endless energy.Vivacity comes from the Latin vīvācitāt-, meaning "life force," and shares a root with the word vital. You may know from medical dramas that if someone's vital signs are not good, that means he's dying. But if he is full of vivacity, that means the opposite: he's totally energetically fully alive! If you don't have much vivacity, don't become a motivational speaker.

Question 426

Edifice

Answer 426

Edificebuilding; structure; constructionEdifice means a building, but it doesn't mean just any building. To merit being called an edifice, a building must be important. A mini temple can be an edifice, or a towering sky scraper.The meaning of edifice has expanded to include a system of ideas––when it is complicated enough to be considered to have walls and a roof, then it is an edifice. You could say that basic facts of addition and subtraction are the foundation on which the edifice of higher math rests.

Question 427

Harangue

Answer 427

Harangue"noisy, attacking speech"A harangue is more than a speech, louder than a discussion, and nastier than a lecture. It is a verbal attack that doesn't let up, delivered as a verb or received as a noun. Either way, it's pretty unpleasant.The word harangue developed its modern spelling around 1530, when the word was recorded as harangue in French. The word, meaning a strong, nasty rant, appears to have evolved from the Old Italian word aringa, probably from the word for a public square or place for public speaking. This in turn appears to have evolved from a Germanic word related to ring, as in "circular gathering," which is clearly similar to the Italian meaning.

Question 428

Plummet

Answer 428

Plummetfall suddenly and steeplyThe verb plummet means "to drop sharply," like eagles that plummet toward earth, seeking prey, or school attendance that plummets when there is a flu outbreak.To correctly pronounce plummet, say "PLUH-met." This verb describes something that drops sharply or quickly, like a roller coaster that plummets down a hill, temperatures that plummet overnight, or sales of roses and candy that plummet after Valentine's Day. If something plummets, this doesn't mean it will stay down or low forever, just that it has experienced a sharp drop.

Question 429

Abhor

Answer 429

AbhorhateIf you abhor something, it gives you a feeling of complete hatred. Chances are you abhor that kid who used to torture the frogs in biology class.Abhor is from Latin abhorrere — "to shrink back in horror." It is the strongest way in English to express hatred, even stronger than loathe. We only use abhor in formal contexts; you might say "I abhor that man," but you would be less likely to say "I abhor spinach" unless you tend to express yourself in highfalutin terms no matter what the occasion.

Question 430

Unwitting

Answer 430

Unwittingnot deliberate; unconsciousUse the adjective unwitting to describe someone who doesn't know certain important information, such as unwitting computer users who don't know that an online shopping site is tracking all their activity.Unwitting can also describe something you do almost automatically, like the unwitting way you double-check that the door is locked when leaving the house. It can also indicate that something is done without intention, like an unwitting arrival at a by-invitation-only event. Wit means "clever," so something that is unwitting is not clever.

Question 431

Concise

Answer 431

Concisestated in few wordsIf something is concise, it's short and gets right to the point. A concise edition of your diary might be 50 pages of the most important entries.Concise comes from the Latin word concidere, which means to cut down. When we use concise, we're talking about words that have been cut down. There are no concise trees, but there are concise works of political philosophy. A concise Italian-English dictionary, is shorter than an unabridged one. If you're good at quick explanations, you have a concise manner. A good synonym is succinct.

Question 432

Resplendent

Answer 432

Resplendentshining; glowingSomeone or something that is resplendent has great beauty and is a pleasure to behold. "She was there, at the base of the stairs, resplendent in her flowing gown and jewels."When people or things are resplendent, they are dazzling, splendiferous, glorious, or lovely. The adjective resplendent comes from a Latin word that means "to shine brightly." The gilded entranceway was resplendent in the golden glow of the afternoon light. When he flashed his resplendent smile, she was helpless against his charms.

Question 433

Arcane

Answer 433

Arcaneobscure; known only to a few peopleSomething arcane is understood or known by only a few people. Almost everyone knows the basics of baseball, but only an elite few possess the arcane knowledge of its history that marks the true fan.A near synonym is esoteric, as in remote information or knowledge. Experts in academic fields often show off the depth of their knowledge by mentioning some arcane and esoteric fact as if it was common for everyone to know. The origin of arcane is Latin arcānus "secret, closed," from arca "a chest, box." Arcana (singular arcanum) are pieces of mysterious knowledge or information.

Question 434

Taciturn

Answer 434

Taciturnquiet; saying littleSomeone who is taciturn is reserved, not loud and talkative. The word itself refers to the trait of reticence, of seeming aloof and uncommunicative. A taciturn person might be snobby, naturally quiet, or just shy.Having its origin in the Latin tacitus, "silent," taciturn came to be used in mid-18th-century English in the sense "habitually silent." Taciturnity is often considered a negative trait, as it suggests someone uncommunicative and too quiet. Jane Austen wrote, "We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the éclat of a proverb."

Question 435

Ingrate

Answer 435

Ingrateungrateful personIf your kind act of buying a donut for your friend gets you nothing but a complaint that the chocolate icing looks runny, then it sounds like your pal is an ingrate, someone who is not thankful for others' kindness.The noun ingrate comes for the Latin word ingratus, a combination of in-, meaning "not," and gratus, or "grateful." That pretty much sums up an ingrate: not grateful. It describes someone who tends to act this way in general, rarely acknowledging others' generosity, or even worse, seeming to expect special treatment. You can tell someone is an ingrate but what isn't said: "thank you" and "I appreciate what you've done for me."

Question 436

Deference

Answer 436

DeferencerespectSure you wear ripped jeans to school every day, but you don't wear them to your grandmother's house out of deference to her. When you show deference to someone, you make a gesture of respect.The noun deference goes with the verb defer, which means "to yield to someone's opinions or wishes out of respect for that person." If you and your dad disagree about the best route to the grocery store, you might defer to him, and take his route. You're taking his route out of deference to his opinion and greater experience.

Question 437

Headstrong

Answer 437

Headstrongstubborn; willfulHeadstrong describes something that's disobedient or willful. If you're headstrong, you want to do what you want to do. When you refuse to complete your homework because you want to watch a football game, you're being headstrong.A closer look at the word headstrong can give you a hint to its meaning — the combination of the words head and strong. You're determined to have your own way because you have a strong belief that your view — what you have in your head — is the best one. Being a headstrong person is not always a bad thing. Sometimes headstrong people make history because they fight traditional values or outdated rules that need to be changed.

Question 438

Magnanimous

Answer 438

Magnanimousgenerous; big-heartedA magnanimous person has a generous spirit. Letting your little sister have the last of the cookies, even though you hadn't eaten since breakfast, would be considered a magnanimous act.Magnanimous comes from Latin magnus "great" and animus "soul," so it literally describes someone who is big-hearted. A person can show that over-sized spirit by being noble or brave, or by easily forgiving others and not showing resentment. It implies superiority, and is something you should say of others rather than of yourself. Being magnanimous doesn't require doling out tons of cash — just being an understanding and tolerant soul will do the trick.

Question 439

Vagrant

Answer 439

Vagrantperson wandering without a homeA vagrant is someone who is homeless and poor and may wander from place to place. In fiction a vagrant often is a criminal, but a real-life vagrant might just be a person who has lost a job and family and lives off the streets with help from charity.Many synonyms for vagrant imply laziness and criminal behavior, such as "bum," "tramp," and "vagabond," and some vagrants do make money through crime. Often, though, a vagrant is a down-on-his-luck person who has lost work, family, or health and lives on the streets. European roots for vagrant point to "wander" or "wander about," and a vagrant is a wanderer — a man or woman without a place to call home.

Question 440

Fanaticism

Answer 440

Fanaticismpassion; excessive devotionFanaticism occurs when someone is unwilling or unable to accept a differing point of view. You can use the word to describe the endless war between fans of the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.Fanaticism come from the Latin word fanaticus, a word with a meaning that includes the word mad — in both senses. If you're mad, you might be angry — or you might be insane. Fanaticism involves both kinds of madness. Anger at those who disagree with you, taken so far that there's a desire to stop or even harm the dissenters? That's madness — and also fanaticism.

Question 441

Tumult

Answer 441

Tumultuproar; noiseIf a principal steps into a classroom and is greeted by a tumult of voices, with the teacher shouting for her kids' attention, he will not be pleased. A tumult is a state of noisy confusion.Very often a crowd of people will cause a tumult. But your mind can also be in tumult, which means that you are very confused by strong emotions. If you want an adjective to describe these types of confused situations, use tumultuous. Tumult is from the Latin tumultus "an uproar," which is related to the Latin verb tumēre "to swell."

Question 442

Dike

Answer 442

Dikedam; embankmentA dike is a structure made of earth or stone that's used to hold back water. If you visit the Netherlands, you can see their elaborate system of dikes, without which much of the country would be underwater.The verb dike means to enclose with a structure, like a wall or embankment, intended to hold back water. The Netherlands diked an inland sea, used pumping and other water control measures, and was able to reclaim flooded areas. The Dutch have used dikes to prevent flooding since the 12th century, and the word itself has the same roots as the Dutch word dijk.

Question 443

Colloquial

Answer 443

Colloquiallocal and informal (used of language)Colloquial language is casual and conversational: it's the difference between "What are you going to do?" and "Whatchagonnado?"The word colloquial comes from the Latin word colloquium, which means "speaking together." The roots are the prefix com-, which means "together," and the suffix -loqu, which means "speak." Some may think that colloquial language is not good, when in fact it may just not be appropriate for the context. While it is OK to be colloquial and chatty with friends, it is not acceptable to be colloquial in an essay for school or work.

Question 444

Indigenous

Answer 444

Indigenousnative to a particular areaUse indigenous to describe a plant, animal or person that is native or original to an area. Though Switzerland is known for its chocolates, chocolate, which comes from the cocoa plant, is indigenous to South America.Indigenous, aboriginal and native all mean the same thing. Aboriginal, however, is commonly used in connection with Australia, and native with North America. The most neutral of the three terms, indigenous comes from the Latin word, indigena meaning "a native." An indigenous ceremony or religion is one traditionally used by a certain group of people.

Question 445

Unfrock

Answer 445

Unfrockto remove a priest from his position

Question 446

Curtail

Answer 446

Curtailcut shortTo curtail something is to slow it down, put restrictions on it, or stop it entirely. If I give up cake, I am curtailing my cake-eating.Curtail is an official-sounding word for stopping or slowing things down. The police try to curtail crime — they want there to be less crime in the world. A company may want to curtail their employees' computer time, so they spend more time working and less time goofing around. Teachers try to curtail whispering and note-passing in class. When something is curtailed, it's either stopped entirely or stopped quite a bit — it's cut short.

Question 447

Veracity

Answer 447

VeracitytruthfulnessVeracity sounds like some kind of disease you don't want to catch, but in fact, it means truthfulness. If you question the veracity of a statement or story, you wonder whether it is truthful or accurate.Veracity is linked to the adjective veracious or "truthful." But don't confuse veracious with voracious. A voracious person eats very large amounts of food. If you were veracious, or "truthful," you'd tell them they look fat.

Question 448

Posterity

Answer 448

Posterityfuture generationsPosterity is a noun meaning "future generations." These people of the future could be your children and great-great grandchildren, or any people who are born after you.If you save something "for posterity," you're hoping that years later people will appreciate it, like a time capsule you bury in the yard. The word comes from the Latin word for "post, after." It's also related to the word posterior, which means "behind, to come after in time." In legal terms, posterity refers to the offspring of a person and it often has to do with inheriting property and who is entitled to do so.

Question 449

Prescient

Answer 449

Prescienthaving fore-knowledgeTo be prescient is to have foresight or foreknowledge. We can use this word to describe people themselves, or what they say or do at a given moment.You probably know that the Latin prefix pre- means "before," so you might be able to figure out that the word prescient, from the verb praescire, means to "know beforehand." People like economists, sports commentators, and political analysts often get tagged with this word, because it's part of their job to sift through the data and make predictions — and sometimes they get it right. And when they're not just lucky, we might say they're prescient.

Question 450

Zeal

Answer 450

ZealenthusiasmZeal is dedication or enthusiasm for something. If you have zeal, you're willing, energized, and motivated.Zeal is often used in a religious sense, meaning devotion to God or another religious cause, like being a missionary. Zeal doesn't have to be religious, though: a feeling of gusto and enthusiasm for anything can be called zeal. People have zeal for sports teams, bands, causes, and (often, but not always) their jobs. If you have passion for something, you have zeal, which is kind of a mix of eagerness and energy and devotion.

Question 451

Irreproachable

Answer 451

Irreproachablecannot be criticized; perfectUse the adjective irreproachable to describe something or someone blameless or not deserving of criticism. It can be annoying, but your parents strive to give you irreproachable advice when they tell you, "Study hard in school," and not "Party on!"The adjective irreproachable comes the Old French word reprocher, which meant "to blame." With the addition of the prefix ir-, meaning "not," and the suffix -able, meaning "capable," we get the English meaning of "not capable of being blamed." It is the rare politician who has an irreproachable reputation. So if your background is not irreproachable and you run for office, be prepared for the press to dig up all the skeletons in your closet.

Question 452

Pillage

Answer 452

PillageplunderTo pillage is a term of war that means to take everything of value from a place that you've conquered, but these days, pillage can be used to talk about anyone who takes what's not theirs.It wasn't enough just to win a battle. A conquering army had to pillage entire cities, taking everything of value that wasn't nailed down. Recently, several European families have won cases in international courts against museums displaying art that was looted by the Nazis during World War II. These families claim that the art was pillaged during the war and that, rather than being displayed on museum walls, it should be returned to its rightful owners.

Question 453

Ruminate

Answer 453

Ruminatethink over something; ponderWhen you ruminate, it means you are thinking very deeply about something. You're likely to be so lost in thought that you stare off into space and don't hear people when they call your name.Another meaning of ruminate is to "chew the cud," which can mean "to turn it over and over in your mind." Or, if you're a cow, to turn food over and over in your stomachs in order to digest it. Whether you're a human or a cow, if you ruminate, it will take a LONG time.

Question 454

Purloin

Answer 454

PurloinstealYou can use the verb purloin to mean "steal" or "take," especially if it's done in a sneaky way. If you sneak a dollar out of your mom's purse, you purloin it.Kids might purloin apples from a neighbor's tree, and a crooked cashier might purloin cash from her boss's convenience store. Originally, purloin meant "put at a distance" in Middle English. The word comes from the Anglo-French purloigner, "put away."

Question 455

Concatenation

Answer 455

Concatenationlinking into chainsConcatenation refers to a series of things — ideas, events, animals — that are somehow interconnected, individual parts that are linked to form a single unit, like the links in a chain.If you think about a chain, you can imagine the individual links — they move separately, yet are linked so they always move together as well. This aptly describes concatenation, the state of several things being bound together. We can see the meaning from the word's source, the Latin concatēnāre. It comes from catēnāre, "to make a chain, to link," which itself comes from catena, "a chain." Add the prefix con-, meaning "together," and we get the meaning "to link together."

Question 456

Parched

Answer 456

Parcheddried upSomething parched is excessively dry and hot, in extreme need of water, like a desert, a neglected plant, or your throat after a five-kilometer run.Some foods, like corn, beans, or grains, may be parched, or toasted, to bring out their flavor and help preserve them. American Indians parched corn to make it keep and remain edible over the winter. They taught this to the new colonists, and parched corn later became a staple of explorers like Lewis and Clark, as well as soldiers during the Civil War. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote of parched corn, "It crackled and crunched, and its taste was sweet and brown."

Question 457

Engender

Answer 457

EngendercauseEngender is a fancy way of saying "to make happen," like when you engender the spirit of teamwork and cooperation by encouraging others and doing your share of the group's work.The verb engender has nothing to do with being male or female, though originally, it did mean "beget, procreate." Today, engender means "to produce or bring about." When students come to class prepared, meaning they've read their assignment, this engenders better class discussions, just as mutual trust and the desire to help each other engenders a meaningful friendship.

Question 458

Noxious

Answer 458

Noxiousharmful; poisonous; lethalSomething noxious is harmful and could be even fatal — whether it is colorless, odorless, and invisible like carbon monoxide, or dark, strong-smelling, and obvious, like black smoke from a fire. People are called noxious too when they hurt others with cruelty or mental anguish.English and Latin roots for noxious are related to the meanings of "harm," "damage," and "injury." While obnoxious might come to mind when seeing the word noxious, obnoxious is a much less damaging adjective to describe someone annoying. Most uses for noxious involve real physical or emotional damage unless the word is used in exaggeration. Examples range from "the noxious gas fumes made the dog pass out" to "his cologne was so noxious I had to exit the elevator and take the stairs."

Question 459

Plaudit

Answer 459

Plauditstatement giving strong praiseAs its sound might suggest, plaudit is indeed related to "applaud" and "applause." In fact it's really just a fancy way of saying "praise" or "acclamation."Plaudit is used more in a literary sense than in spoken English, and particularly applies to the reception of a work of art, most notably a play. In fact, the word comes from the Latin plaudite, loudly uttered by Roman actors at the end of a play and meaning "applaud!" Kind of like cue cards for game show audiences now.

Question 460

Innate

Answer 460

Innateinherited; inbornIf a characteristic or ability is already present in a person or animal when they are born, it is innate. People have the innate ability to speak whereas animals do not.Innate can also be used figuratively for something that comes from the mind rather than from external sources. Do you know someone with an innate sense of style? Some kids seem to have an innate sense of fairness where others seem to be natural bullies. In some contexts, innate means inherent. There is an innate sadness in certain types of ceremonies.

Question 461

Salutary

Answer 461

Salutarysomething which teaches you a lesson; beneficialUse salutary to describe something that's good for your health, like the salutary benefits of exercise, laughter, and getting enough sleep every night.When you look at the word salutary, you might expect it to have something to do with showing respect to military personnel, perhaps by saluting. In fact, salutary and salute do share a Latin root: salus, which means "good health." When you salute someone, or say "Salud!" before clinking glasses and taking a first sip, you're essentially giving your salutary wish — in other words, hoping a person enjoys good health.

Question 462

Serendipity

Answer 462

Serendipityfortunate coincidence; unsought discoveryIf you find good things without looking for them, serendipity — unexpected good luck — has brought them to you.Serendipity does not come from Latin or Greek, but rather was created by a British nobleman in the mid 1700s from an ancient Persian fairy tale. The meaning of the word, good luck in finding valuable things unintentionally, refers to the fairy tale characters who were always making discoveries through chance. You can thank serendipity if you find a pencil at an empty desk just at you walk into an exam and realize that you forgot yours.

Question 463

Falter

Answer 463

Falterhesitate; waverFalter means to hesitate, stumble, or waver, and everything from faith to voices can do it. So if you want to keep your bride or groom happy, it's best not to falter when it's your turn to say "I do."Experts may falter if you ask them where falter came from, because the origins are pretty unclear. But everyone agrees on the current meaning: someone who falters is unsteady, wobbly, or unsure. You might falter while reciting a poem if you forget some of the lines, or falter crossing a rickety rope bridge when fear gets the most of you. But you certainly won't falter when someone asks you the meaning of this word.

Question 464

Elucidate

Answer 464

Elucidatemake clearIf you elucidate something, you explain it very clearly. If you don't understand fractions, a visit to the pie shop may elucidate the subject for you.Elucidate is from Late Latin elucidare, from the Latin prefix e- "thoroughly" plus lucidus "clear, bright." This Latin adjective is the source of English lucid, which describes someone who thinks clearly or something that is clear enough to understand.

Question 465

Placid

Answer 465

Placidcalm; peacefulCall a body of water placid if it has a smooth surface and no waves. Call a person placid if they don't tend to make waves by causing a fuss.Coming from the Latin placidus "pleasing or gentle," placid is most commonly used to describe a person who is not easily irritated or a body of water such as a lake that does not have waves to disturb the surface. Synonyms of placid in both meanings include calm, serene and tranquil. In other uses, placid describes something with little disruption — like "a placid neighborhood."

Question 466

Demur

Answer 466

Demurhesitate; refuseYour mother asks you to pick up your room. You refuse: you demur. Your friend wants to go to the Death Metal Forever concert, but you hesitate: you demur. Whether you strongly object, politely disagree, or hesitate to agree, you demur.If Aunt Tilly offers to knit you a sweater, you might politely demur, being reluctant to accept. When she describes the bunnies she plans for the sweater, you would want to strongly demur, explaining that you plan to move to Texas next week and will no longer need sweaters. And if you find yourself the defendant in a civil suit, you might file a demurrer to object to the plaintiff’s complaint. When you file that demurrer, you demur.

Question 467

Pragmatic

Answer 467

PragmaticpracticalTo describe a person or a solution that takes a realistic approach, consider the adjective pragmatic. The four-year-old who wants a unicorn for her birthday isn't being very pragmatic.The opposite of idealistic is pragmatic, a word that describes a philosophy of "doing what works best." From Greek pragma "deed," the word has historically described philosophers and politicians who were concerned more with real-world application of ideas than with abstract notions. A pragmatic person is sensible, grounded, and practical — and doesn't expect a birthday celebration filled with magical creatures.

Question 468

Lance

Answer 468

Lancespear; spike; javelinA warrior during the Middle Ages most often carried a lance, or a long, pointed spear, as a weapon.Throughout history, soldiers mounted on horseback have often carried some variation of a lance — something long and sharp for jabbing at enemy warriors. Lances were carried as far back as ancient Roman armies and as recently as Plains Indians after they were introduced to horses in the eighteenth century. The Latin root word, lancea , means "light spear" or "Spanish spear."

Question 469

Deter

Answer 469

Deterput off; preventDeter means to discourage. Many believe that the use of capital punishment deters people from committing murder. Others think that is hogwash.From the Latin de meaning "away" and terrere meaning "frighten," deter means to frighten away. "Hopefully the idea of being expelled will deter kids from cheating in school." Teddy Roosevelt's foreign policy dictum "walk softly but carry a big stick" was meant to deter other countries from messing with the United States.

Question 470

Heed

Answer 470

Heedlisten toHeed is an old word, meaning to listen to and follow. It can also be used as a noun: "Take heed of my instructions, little boy," said the old bearded man. "My potion will only work for the one who wears the ring."The most common use of heed is with warnings. The word derives from Old English hēdan and is related to the Dutch hoeden and German hüten––from Germanic cultures where fairy tales with mysterious warnings and magical consequences abound.

Question 471

Marsupial

Answer 471

Marsupialpouched mammal (like a kangaroo)Like primates, marsupials are a type of mammal. One thing all members of this family have in common is a pouch.The most famous marsupial is the kangaroo, but there are many others, such as wallabies, opossums, koalas, and wombats. What makes marsupials different from primates or rodents (who are also mammals) is that the mothers have pouches to hold their young. This is because when marsupial babies are born, they're not quite ready for the world, so the pouch gives them a chance to grow and be safe before having to live on their own. When you think marsupial, think "pouch."

Question 472

Assiduous

Answer 472

Assiduousthorough; diligentIf you call someone assiduous, it's a compliment. It means they're careful, methodical and very persistent. Good detectives are classically assiduous types.Assiduous comes from two Latin words: assiduus, meaning "busy incessant, continual or constant," and assidere, meaning "to sit down to" something. (Funnily enough, we also get the word sedentary, meaning someone who doesn't move around much, a lazy couch potato, from this same last word.) Although we tend to think of sedentary types as being the very opposite of assiduous ones, many assiduous activities (like writing, thinking, or detective work) are best done sitting in a chair.

Question 473

Uproarious

Answer 473

Uproarioushilarious; hysterical; very funnyUproarious situations are very loud, a little out of control, and often hilarious. You might encounter an uproarious crowd at a soccer match, or even in your school cafeteria.Your neighbors might like to throw uproarious dinner parties filled with screams of glee and pounding music, disturbing your sleep. Notice the word roar in there, because whether it’s an uproarious gathering or just one uproarious joke, it’s always an event of stunning and dramatic volume, like a lion’s roar.

Question 474

Surreptitiously

Answer 474

Surreptitiouslysecretly; furtively; stealthilyWhen you're doing things secret and sneakily, you're doing them surreptitiously.This is an adverb that applies to actions that you're trying to do covertly: you don't want anyone to know about them, so you have to be sneaky. Burglars approach a house surreptitiously. If you plan a surprise party for your mother, you have to go about it surreptitiously or she'll find out and the surprise will be ruined. Anything you don't reveal fully or do on the sly is an example of going about it surreptitiously.

Question 475

Inexorable

Answer 475

InexorablerelentlessWhen a person is inexorable, they're stubborn. When a thing or process is inexorable, it can't be stopped.This is a word for people and things that will not change direction. An inexorable person is hard-headed and cannot be convinced to change their mind, no matter what. You can also say that a process, like the progress of a deadly illness, is inexorable because it can't be stopped. A speeding train with no brakes is inexorable; it's not stopping till it crashes. When you see the word inexorable, think "No one's stopping that."

Question 476

Cogent

Answer 476

Cogentlucid; well arguedWhen you make a cogent argument, it means your argument is clear and persuasive. In these days of 24-hour entertainment news and sound-bite sized explanations of complex government policy, it’s hard to find a cogent argument amidst all the emotional outbursts.Cogent comes from a Latin word meaning to drive together, so cogent thinking is well-organized: it hangs together. If you try to convince your mayor to build a new park by saying that playgrounds are good, seeing the sky is nice, and raccoons are cool…well that’s not a cogent argument; it’s just random. But you could cogently argue that parks contribute to civic happiness by providing space for exercise, community, and encounters with nature.

Question 477

Placebo

Answer 477

Placeboharmless medicine with no effect; dummy medicineA patient's symptoms sometimes disappear just because they believe that they are being treated. Even when doctors give them a biologically inactive drug, otherwise known as a placebo, the patients swear they are cured.In clinical drug-trials, to rule out what is called the placebo effect, scientists give half of the trial participants a placebo. If a government replaces food stamps with a coloring book give-away, it might be dismissed by child advocates as nothing more than a placebo. Placēbō is Latin for "I'll please (you)," in other words, I'll keep you happy, even though I'm just giving you a placebo.

Question 478

Efface

Answer 478

Effacewipe out; remove all trace ofIf something is erased or rubbed out, it has been effaced. Teachers get annoyed to find that someone has effaced the blackboard — even the part clearly marked, "Do Not Erase!"You can also efface things that are not physical — like effacing feelings, impressions, or memories. When you efface a memory, you wipe it out as well. Some people believe that their good deeds are able to efface their past wrongs. They'll have to rely on others' opinions to see how well that works.

Question 479

Panacea

Answer 479

Panacearemedy for all ills

Question 480

Extradite

Answer 480

Extraditedeport from one country back to the home country

Question 481

Inveterate

Answer 481

InveteratehabitualIf you're an inveterate doodler, all your notebooks are covered with drawings. If you're an inveterate golf player, you probably get twitchy if you haven't been out on a course in a week.In Middle English inveterate was associated with chronic disease. Now it simply refers to something that is a signature habit with a person. Unless you're an inveterate gambler, drinker or smoker––in which case you're addicted and we're back to talking about being sick.

Question 482

Unctuous

Answer 482

Unctuousoily; using excessive flatteryYou might know the idea of the adjective unctuous by other words like "oily," "smarmy," or overly "flattering." When a person is unctuous, you can't trust their kindness, because they usually want something in return.Interestingly, unctuous is derived from the Latin unctus which means "anointed with oil," which is where the "oily" connotation comes from. Unctuous and "oily" are synonyms that both suggest that someone is trying to butter you up; they're being nice, because they're hoping you'll give them what they want. Talk-show hosts, used-car salesmen, people who want your job: all of these are people we think of (rightly or wrongly) as being unctuous. Being an unctuous jerk, he gave me a gift, hoping I'd give him a record deal.

Question 483

Drawl

Answer 483

Drawlspeak slowly with words running together

Question 484

Moribund

Answer 484

Moribundon the point of deathSomething that is moribund is almost dead, like the moribund plant you didn't water for months, or so without change or growth that it seems dead, like a moribund town that seems trapped in the 1950s.In Latin, mori means "to die." You probably recognize this root in words like mortal, mortician, and mortuary. Moribund means "near death," but it can also mean something that is coming to an end, nearly obsolete, or stagnant. For example, as streaming videos over the Internet becomes a more and more popular way to watch movies and television shows, the DVD has become a moribund medium.

Question 485

Thwart

Answer 485

Thwartprevent; frustrateA villain's worst nightmare is the superhero who always seems to thwart his efforts, preventing him from carrying out his plans to take over the world.Thwart is a word you'll hear in a lot of action movies, and usually it's the hero who is trying to thwart the evil plan of some super-villain. Yet even mere mortals can be thwarted in their efforts; the word simply means to prevent someone from carrying out his or her plans. An aggressive driver can thwart your attempt to snag a parking space at a crowded mall by pulling into the space before you. An aggressive shopper at that same mall can thwart your efforts to buy the last Dancing Snoopy doll by grabbing it off the shelf first.

Question 486

Upshot

Answer 486

UpshotoutcomeThe upshot of an action is the end result, whatever happens last as a consequence of the original action. The upshot of reading this sentence is that you will understand what the word upshot means.In the 16th century, the last arrow launched in an archery competition was called the upshot. Like that final arrow, the upshot is the conclusion, the outcome. Sure, you can eat ice cream really fast, but the upshot is that you’ll have a brain freeze. The upshot of eating ice cream slowly is that it will melt. Decisions, decisions.

Question 487

Ostentatious

Answer 487

OstentatiousshowyReach for the adjective ostentatious when you want a flashy way to say — well, "flashy" or "showy."No one wants to be described as ostentatious, a word whose cousins include pretentious, flamboyant, and gaudy. It originates from the Latin word ostentare, "to display," but in English it's often used for displays of the crass or vulgar sort. A rapper's diamond-encrusted teeth might be an ostentatious display of "bling," and someone wailing especially loudly at a funeral of a distant acquaintance might be making an ostentatious show of sorrow.

Question 488

Brusque

Answer 488

Brusqueblunt; abruptIf you ask a salesperson with help finding something and all you get in response is a brusque "Everything's out on the shelves," you'll probably take your business elsewhere. A brusque manner of speaking is unfriendly, rude, and very brief.Brush and brusque are not related, but they sound similar––when someone is brusque, you often feel that they are trying to give you the "brush off." Near synonyms for brusque are curt, short, and gruff. Brusque (pronounced "brusk") was borrowed from the French word meaning "lively, fierce," from Italian brusco "coarse, rough."

Question 489

Pertinent

Answer 489

PertinentrelevantSomething pertinent is relevant and on-point. If you give your best friend pertinent advice, that means the advice is appropriate for the situation.Something pertinent is related to the current topic or situation — and probably helpful too. If you're in math class and you make a comment about World War I, that's likely not pertinent. If you're in music class and you talk about a cello, that probably is pertinent. Pertinent things are appropriate and logical. In most situations, people like to get comments and questions that are pertinent — anything else can just seem like a distraction.

Question 490

Tenuous

Answer 490

Tenuousflimsy; not solidIf something is tenuous it's thin, either literally or metaphorically. If you try to learn a complicated mathematical concept by cramming for 45 minutes, you will have a tenuous grasp of that concept, at best.Tenuous comes from the Latin word tenuis, for thin, and is related to our word tender. Something can be physically tenuous, like a spiderweb or ice on a pond. We more often use it in a metaphorical sense, to talk about weak ideas. Tenuous arguments won't win any debate tournaments. Synonyms for tenuous, also used physically or metaphorically, are flimsy and shaky.

Question 491

Whimsical

Answer 491

Whimsicalcapricious; changeableWhimsical means full of or characterized by whims, which are odd ideas that usually occur to you very suddenly. If you decide at the last minute to fly to Europe, you could say you went there on a whim.Whimsical can also mean tending toward odd or unpredictable behavior. Both whimsical and whim are derived from an earlier English word whim-wham, which is of unknown origin. Whim-wham had about the same meaning as whim, but could also refer to an odd object or piece of clothing.

Question 492

Contrition

Answer 492

Contritionsorrow and repentanceIn the truest sense, contrition is feeling sorry for committing a religious sin and being scared about the consequences. But anyone can feel general contrition for something they've done wrong.Contrition is a strong, powerful feeling that people get when they've done something wrong. Originally, this feeling came from having sinned and a fear of going to hell for it. But over the years, the idea of contrition has gotten broader. Anyone can feel contrition if they do something wrong, whether it's a tiny thing like littering or a huge thing like murdering. If you did wrong and feel bad about it, you're feeling contrition — you're contrite.

Question 493

Misrepresentation

Answer 493

Misrepresentationdeliberately deceivingA misrepresentation is when you misrepresent, or lie about, something that happened. If you say you were the quarter back of the football team but really you were the mascot, that’s a misrepresentation.A misrepresentation is a misstatement of the facts. It’s more than casting a different light on something; it’s deceptive and untrue. It’s a misrepresentation to tell your parents you went to the principal’s office to talk about books if you really got sent there for talking in class. Misrepresentations are deliberately misleading. They’re lies.

Question 494

Execrable

Answer 494

Execrable"very, very bad"If something's execrable it's really and truly, unbelievably, absolutely the worst.Execrable is often used as a harshly critical term in the arts, when a reviewer really wants to throw the book at something. Not surprisingly, the word comes from a Latin word meaning "to utter a curse; to hate or abhor." Tough words for bad art. Perhaps part of the power and nastiness of execrable lies in the word's similarity to excrement — but that's a vocabulary word we're not touching in this entry!

Question 495

Dispassionate

Answer 495

Dispassionateneutral; objectiveDispassionate describes someone who is not getting carried away by—or maybe not even having—feelings. It's something you'd want to see in a surgeon, who keeps cool under pressure, but not in a romantic partner.Dispassionate is the opposite of passionate, and while passions are said to run "hot," dispassionate people are often described as "cold." A city marshal whose job is it to evict people behind on their rents must conduct their job with dispassionate fairness, but still, no one wants to be their friend.

Question 496

Affable

Answer 496

Affablefriendly; social; easygoingAffable means friendly, pleasant, and easy to talk to. An affable host offers you something to drink and makes you feel at home.The adjective affable entered English by way of the Latin word affābilis, which means "kind, friendly." If you’re stuck on an airplane next to someone affable, the trip won’t be so bad because that person will be easy to chat with but won’t talk your ear off. Synonyms of affable also refer to a pleasant and mild friendliness, such as genial, hospitable, and gracious. Affable people generally seem like they’re in a good mood and are happy to see you.

Question 497

Meander

Answer 497

Meanderwander from side to sideTo meander means to wander aimlessly on a winding roundabout course. If you want some time to yourself after school, you might meander home taking the time to window shop and look around.Meander comes from a river in modern-day Turkey, the Maiandros, which winds and wanders on its course. Today, a stream or a path meanders, as does a person who walks somewhere in a roundabout fashion. If your speech meanders, you don't keep to the point. It's hard to understand what your teacher is trying to impart if he keeps meandering off with anecdotes and digressions. Pronounce meander with three syllables not two — me-AN-der.

Question 498

Virtuoso

Answer 498

Virtuosoan accomplished musicianA virtuoso is an incredibly talented musician. You can also be a virtuoso in non-musical fields.A politician who helps pass a lot of bills might be called a legislative virtuoso. A baseball player who hits a lot of home runs is a slugging virtuoso. Usually, this word applies to music. It's very common for a talented pianist or guitar play to be called a virtuoso. Whatever your talent, it's a huge compliment to be called a virtuoso.

Question 499

Carping

Answer 499

Carpingconstant criticismCarping is petty and unjustified criticism that just won’t stop. People who find fault with you at every turn, who appreciate nothing and complain, complain, complain, are carping. Enough already!Your annoying aunt Mildred who constantly picks on you, listing all the things she thinks are wrong about the way you dress, the style of your hair, who you’re dating, and where you’re working? She’s carping. Carping can also be used as an adjective, to describe someone who is overly critical and impossible to please — like that carping food critic who ruined the debut of your new restaurant.

Question 500

Cartographer

Answer 500

Cartographerperson who makes mapsUnless you’re the one guy in America who actually asks for directions, you’ve probably broken down and used a map at some point in your life. The cartographer is the person you should thank for getting you un-lost — the mapmaker.A cartographer is a person who creates maps, whether they’re of the world, the local bus routes, or buried pirate treasure. It comes to us from the Latin word charta-, which means "tablet or leaf of paper," and the Greek word graphein, meaning to write or draw. These days, a cartographer doesn’t have to work on paper––it's all computers, making electronic maps as part of GPS software. Technically, a cartographer can make charts, too.