O (I)

Question 1

oaf (n.)

Answer 1

stupid, awkward person

“Watch what you’re doing, you clumsy oaf!” Bill shouted at the waiter who had drenched him with iced coffee.

Question 2

obdurate (adj.)

Answer 2

stubborn

He was obdurate in his refusal to listen to our complaints.

Question 3

obese (adj.)

Answer 3

fat

It is advisable that obese people try to lose weight.

Question 4

obfuscate (v.)

Answer 4

to confuse; to muddle; to cause confusion; to make needlessly complex

Was the president’s spokesman trying to clarify the hidden weapons mystery, or was he trying to obfuscate the issue so the voters would never figure out what had gone on?

Question 5

obituary (adj.)

Answer 5

death notice

I first learned of her death when I read the obituary column in the newspaper.

Question 6

objective (adj.)

Answer 6

not influenced by emotions; fair

Even though he was her son, she tried to be objective about his behavior.

Question 7

objective (n.)

Answer 7

goal; aim

A degree in medicine was her ultimate objective.

Question 8

obligatory (adj.)

Answer 8

binding; required

It is obligatory that books borrowed from the library be returned within two weeks.

Question 9

oblique (adj.)

Answer 9

indirect; slanting (deviating from the perpendicular or from a straight line)

Casting a quick, oblique glance at the reviewing stand, the sergeant ordered the company to march “Oblique Right.”

Question 10

obliterate (v.)

Answer 10

to destroy completely

The tidal wave obliterated several island villages.

Question 11

oblivion (n.)

Answer 11

obscurity; forgetfulness

After a decade of popularity, Hurston’s works had fallen into oblivion; no one bothered to read them anymore.

Question 12

oblivious (adj.)

Answer 12

inattentive or unmindful; wholly absorbed

Deep in her book, Nancy was oblivious to the noisy squabbles of her brother and his friends.

Question 13

obnoxious (adj.)

Answer 13

offensive; objectionable

A sneak and a tattletale, Sid was an obnoxious little brat.

Question 14

obscure (adj.)

Answer 14

dark; vague; unclear

Even after I read the poem a fourth time, its meaning was still obscure.

Question 15

obscure (v.)

Answer 15

to darken; to make unclear

Even after I read the poem a fourth time, its meaning was still obscure.

Question 16

obsequious (adj.)

Answer 16

slavishly attentive; servile; sycophantic

Helen liked to be served by people who behaved as if they respected themselves; nothing irritated her more than an excessively obsequious waiter or a fawning salesclerk.

Question 17

obsessive (adj.)

Answer 17

related to thinking about something constantly; preoccupying

Ballet, which had been a hobby, began to dominate his life: his love of dancing became obsessive.

Question 18

obsolete (adj.)

Answer 18

no longer useful; outmoded; antiquated

The invention of the pocket calculator made the slide rule used by generations of engineers obsolete.

Question 19

obstinate (adj.)

Answer 19

stubborn; hard to control or treat

We tried to persuade him to give up smoking, but he was obstinate and refused to change.
Blackberry stickers are the most obstinate weeds I know: once established in a yard, they’re extremely hard to root out.

Question 20

obstreperous (adj.)

Answer 20

boisterous; noisy

What do you do when an obstreperous horde of drunken policemen goes carousing through your hotel, crashing into potted plants and singing vulgar songs?

Question 21

obtrude (v.)

Answer 21

to push (oneself or one’s ideas) forward or intrude; to butt in; to stick out or extrude

Because Fanny was reluctant to obtrude her opinions about child-raising upon her daughter-in-law, she kept a close watch on her tongue.

Question 22

obtuse (adj.)

Answer 22

blunt; stupid

Because Mr. Collins was too obtuse to take a hint, Elizabeth finally had to tell him that she wouldn’t marry him if he were the last man on earth.

Question 23

obviate (v.)

Answer 23

to prevent; to make unnecessary

In the twentieth century, people believed electronic communications would obviate the need for hard copy; they envisioned a paperless society.

Question 24

odious (adj.)

Answer 24

hateful; vile

Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters had the odious habit of popping their zits in public.

Question 25

odium (n.)

Answer 25

strong dislike or contempt; hatefulness; disrepute Unable to bare the odium attached to their family name, the killer's parents changed their name and moved away from their hometown.

Question 26

odorous (adj.)

Answer 26

having an odor This variety of hybrid tea rose is more odorous than the one you have in your garden.

Question 27

odyssey (n.)

Answer 27

long, eventful journey The refugee's journey from Cambodia was a terrifying odyssey.

Question 28

offensive (adj.)

Answer 28

attacking; insulting; distasteful Getting into street brawls is no minor matter for professional boxers, who are required by law to restrict their offensive impulses to the ring.

Question 29

offhand (adj.)

Answer 29

casual; done without prior thought Expecting to be treated with due propriety by he hosts, Great-Aunt Maud was offended by their offhand manner.

Question 30

officious (adj.)

Answer 30

meddlesome; excessively pushy in offering one's services Judy wanted to look over the new computer models on her own, but the officious salesman kept on butting in with "helpful" advice until she was ready to walk out of the store.

Question 31

ogle (v.)

Answer 31

to look at amorously; to make eyes at At the coffee house, Walters was too shy to ogle the pretty girls openly; instead, he peeked out at them from behind a rubber plant.

Question 32

olfactory (adj.)

Answer 32

concerning the sense of smell A wine taste must have a discriminating palate and a keen olfactory sense, for a good wine appeals both to the taste buds and to the nose.

Question 33

oligarchy (n.)

Answer 33

government by a privileged few One small clique ran the student council: what had been intended as a democratic governing body had turned into an oligarchy.

Question 34

ominous (adj.)

Answer 34

threatening Those clouds are ominous; they suggest a severe storm is on the way.

Question 35

omnipotent (adj.)

Answer 35

all-powerful Under Stalin, the Soviet government seemed omnipotent: no one dared defy the all-powerful State.

Question 36

omnipresent (adj.)

Answer 36

universally present; ubiquitous The Beatles are a major musical force, whose influence is omnipresent in all contemporary popular music.

Question 37

omniscient (adj.)

Answer 37

all-knowing I may not be omniscient, but I know a bit more than you do, young manQ

Question 38

omnivorous (adj.)

Answer 38

eating both plant and animal food; devouring everything Some animals, including man, are omnivorous and eat both meat and vegetables; others are either carnivorous or herbivorous.

Question 39

onerous (adj.)

Answer 39

burdensome He asked for an assistant because his work load was too onerous.

Question 40

onset (n.)

Answer 40

beginning; attack Caught unprepared by the sudden onset of the storm, we rushed around the house closing windows and bringing the garden furniture into shelter. Caught unprepared by the enemy onset, the troops scrambled to take shelter.

Question 41

onus (n.)

Answer 41

burden; responsibility The emperor was spared the onus of signing the surrender papers; instead, he relegated the assignment to his generals.

Question 42

opalescent (adj.)

Answer 42

iridescent; lustrous The oil slick on the water had an opalescent, rainbow-like sheen.

Question 43

opaque (adj.)

Answer 43

dark; not transparent The opaque window shade kept the sunlight out of the room.

Question 44

opiate (n.)

Answer 44

medicine to induce sleep or deaden pain; something that relives emotions or causes inaction To say that religious is the opiate of the people is to condemn religion as a drug that keeps the people quiet and submissive to those in power.

Question 45

opportune (adj.)

Answer 45

timely; well-chosen Sally looked at her father struggling to balance his checkbook; clearly this would not be an opportune moment to ask him for a raise in her allowance.

Question 46

opportunist (n.)

Answer 46

individual who sacrifices principles for expediency by taking advantage of circumstances Joe is such an opportunist that he tripled the trice of bottled water at his store as soon as the earthquake struck. Because it can break water pipes, and earthquake is, to most people, a disaster; to Joe, it was an opportunity.

Question 47

optimist (n.)

Answer 47

person who looks on the good side The pessimist says the glass is half-empty; the optimist says it is half-full.

Question 48

optimum (adj.)

Answer 48

most favorable If your wait for the optimum moment to act, you may never begin your project.

Question 49

optional (adj.)

Answer 49

not obligatory; left to one's choice Most colleges require applicants to submit SAT score; at some colleges, however, submitting SAT scores is optional.

Question 50

opulence (n.)

Answer 50

extreme wealth; luxuriousness; abundance The glitter and opulence of the ballroom took Cinderella's breath away.

Question 51

opus (n.)

Answer 51

work Although many critics hailed his Fifth Symphony as his greatest work, he did not regard it as his major opus.

Question 52

oracular (adj.)

Answer 52

prophetic; uttered as if with divine authority; mysterious or ambiguous Like many others who sought divine guidance from the oracle at Delphi, Oedipus could not understand the enigmatic oracular warning he received.

Question 53

orator (n.)

Answer 53

public speaker The abolitionist Frederick Douglass was a brilliant orator whose speeches brought home to his audience the evils of slavery.

Question 54

ordain (v.)

Answer 54

to decree or command; to grant holy orders; to predestine The kind ordained that no foreigner should be allowed to enter the city. The Bishop of Michigan ordained David a deacon in the Episcopal Church. The young lovers felt that fate had ordained their meeting.

Question 55

ordeal (n.)

Answer 55

severe trial or affliction June was so painfully shy that it was an ordeal for her to speak up when the teacher called on her in class.

Question 56

ordinance (n.)

Answer 56

decree (=an official order issued by a legal authority) Passing a red light is a violation of a city ordinance.

Question 57

ordination (n.)

Answer 57

ceremony making someone a minister At the young priest's ordination, the members of the congregation presented him with a set of vestments.

Question 58

orgy (n.)

Answer 58

wild, drunken revelry; unrestrained indulgence in a tendency The Roman emperor's orgies were far wilder than the toga party in the movie Animal House. When her income tax refund check finally arrived, Sally indulged in an orgy of shopping.

Question 59

orient (v.)

Answer 59

to get one's bearings; adjust Philip spent his first day in Denver orienting himself to the city.

Question 60

orientation (n.)

Answer 60

act of finding oneself in society Freshman orientation provides the incoming students with an opportunity to learn about their new environment and their place in it.

Question 61

ornate (adj.)

Answer 61

excessively or elaborately decorated With its elaborately carved, convoluted lines, furniture of the Baroque period was highly ornate.

Question 62

ornithology (n.)

Answer 62

study of birds Audubon's studies of American birds greatly influenced the course of ornithology.

Question 63

orthodox (adj.)

Answer 63

traditional; conservative in belief Faced with a problem, he preferred to take an orthodox approach rather than shock anyone.

Question 64

oscillate (v.)

Answer 64

to vibrate pendulum-like; waver It is interesting to note how public opinion oscillates between the extremes of optimism and pessimism.

Question 65

ossify (v.)

Answer 65

to change or harden into bone When he called his opponent a "bonehead," he implied that his adversary's brain had ossified to the point that he was incapable of clear thinking.

Question 66

ostensible (adj.)

Answer 66

apparent; professed; pretended Although the ostensible purpose of this expedition is to discover new lands, we are really interested in finding new markets for our products.

Question 67

ostentatious (adj.)

Answer 67

showy; pretentious; trying to attract attention Donald Trump's latest casino in Atlantic City is the most ostentatious gambling palace in the East: it easily out glitters its competitors.