Practice Test Unknowns 1

Question 1

Scanty

Answer 1

small or insufficient in quantity or amount

Question 2

Didactic

Answer 2

intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive

Question 3

Panegyrical

Answer 3

a formal eulogistic composition intended as a public compliment, elaborate praise or laudation, an encomium

Question 4

banal

Answer 4

drearily commonplace and often predictable, trite

Question 5

gauche

Answer 5

lacking ease or grace, unsophisticated and socially awkward

Question 6

sublime

Answer 6

of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe

Question 7

unstinting

Answer 7

given or giving without restraint

Question 8

avarice

Answer 8

extreme greed for wealth or material gain

Question 9

fatuous

Answer 9

silly and pointless

Question 10

teratoid

Answer 10

malformed, abnormal in form or development

Question 11

felicitious

Answer 11

well chosen or suited to the circumstances

Question 12

decorous/decorum

Answer 12

in keeping with good taste and propriety, polite and restrained (decorum)

Question 13

capricious

Answer 13

given to sudden and unaccountable changes in mood or behaviour

Question 14

reticence

Answer 14

reserved, restraint, reluctance

Question 15

diffidence

Answer 15

modesty or shyness resulting from a lack of self-confidence

Question 16

propriety

Answer 16

the state or quality of conforming to conventionally accepted standards of behavior or morals

Question 17

facile

Answer 17

appearing neat and comprehensive only by ignoring the true complexities of an issue (superficial, simplistic), effortless easily achieved

Question 18

doughty

Answer 18

brave and persistent

Question 19

tyro

Answer 19

a beginner or novice

Question 20

expiate

Answer 20

atone for (guilt or sin)

Question 21

sedulous

Answer 21

of a person or action showing dedication and diligence

Question 22

coruscating

Answer 22

flashing, sparkling

Question 23

preclude

Answer 23

prevent from happening, make impossible

Question 24

preternatural

Answer 24

beyond what is normal or natural, phenomenal, inexplicable, unusual etc.

Question 25

consonant

Answer 25

in agreement with something

Question 26

edifying

Answer 26

providing moral or intellectual instruction

Question 27

mendicate

Answer 27

to beg

Question 28

allay

Answer 28

diminish or put at rest (fear, suspicion or worry)

Question 29

cadge

Answer 29

ask for or obtain

Question 30

anodyne

Answer 30

not likely to provoke dissent or offense or a painkilling drug or medicine

Question 31

monocoque

Answer 31

type of construction in which the outer skin carries all or a major part of the stress (type of vehicle construction)

Question 32

pavonine

Answer 32

or of like a peacock

Question 33

parietal

Answer 33

of relating to, attached to, or denoting the wall of the body or of a body cavity or hollow structure

Question 34

saturnine

Answer 34

slow and gloomy

Question 35

cauterized

Answer 35

make less sensitive to feelings and emotions

Question 36

inured

Answer 36

accustomed to something (especially unpleasant)

Question 37

ossified

Answer 37

turn into bone or cease developing (turn rigid)

Question 38

noisome

Answer 38

having an extremely offensive smell, disagreeable unpleasant

Question 39

specious

Answer 39

superficially plausible but actually wrong

Question 40

venerable

Answer 40

accorded a great deal of respsect

Question 41

eschew

Answer 41

deliberately avoid using, abstain from

Question 42

reticence

Answer 42

reluctance

Question 43

repudiation

Answer 43

rejection of a proposal or idea

Question 44

tribulation

Answer 44

unhappiness, pain suffering, distress or suffering resulting from oppression or persecution

Question 45

verisimilar

Answer 45

having the appearance of truth, depicting realism

Question 46

quiescent

Answer 46

in a state or period of inactivity or dormancy

Question 47

atavistic

Answer 47

relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral

Question 48

august

Answer 48

respected and impressive

Question 49

mephitic

Answer 49

foul smelling, noxious

Question 50

recondite

Answer 50

little known, abstruse (obscure, arcane)

Question 51

arcane

Answer 51

understood by few, mysterious and secret

Question 52

redolent

Answer 52

strongly reminiscent or suggestive of something (also fragrant or sweet smelling)

Question 53

exscind

Answer 53

to cut off or out

Question 54

droll

Answer 54

curious or unusual in a way that provokes dry amusement

Question 55

obloquy

Answer 55

strong public criticism or verbal abuse (disgrace)

Question 56

obfuscate

Answer 56

render obscure, unclear or unintelligible

Question 57

evince

Answer 57

reveal the presence of (a quality of feeling)

Question 58

venal

Answer 58

showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery

Question 59

adroit

Answer 59

clever or skillful in using the hands or mind

Question 60

burke

Answer 60

to murder by suffocation

Question 61

fete

Answer 61

a celebration or festival - to honor or entertain lavishly

Question 62

beguiling

Answer 62

charm or enchant sometimes in a deceptive way