Vocab 1-20

Question 0

Detriment/detrimental

Answer 0

Noun

Injury, damage, or something that causes it, disadvantage

-skipping meals can be a detriment to your health

Question 1

Ameliorate

Answer 1

Verb
To become better; to make better; to improve or enhance

-we expect business conditions to ameliorate but they worsened

Question 2

Exotic

Answer 2

Adjective

1) introduced from another country; foreign
2) strikingly unusual, strange, or different.

1- the chrysanthemum, an exotic plant, was brought from the Far East
2- this wall paper has an exotic charm

Question 3

Folly

Answer 3

Noun

Lack of good sense, a filling action or undertaking, mistake

• it is a folly to begin a long drive. With a nearly empty gas tank

Question 4

Impediment

Answer 4

Noun

Something that hinders or obstructs;an obstacle that gets in the way of something

-a persons lack of education can be an impediment to career advancement

Question 5

Indolent

Answer 5

Adjective

Lazy; idle; lethargic

-I was so comfortable on the couch that I became a indolent and did not study

Question 6

Parsimonious

Answer 6

Adjective

Unusually sparing in the spending of money; stingy; cheap

-the town was generous in its funding of road improvement, but too parsimonious in financing education

Question 7

Raze

Answer 7

Verb

Destroy utterly by tearing down; demolish; level

• the building was so badly damaged by the fire that it has to be razed

Question 8

Reticent

Answer 8

Adjective

Inclined to be silent or secretive; uncommunicative; reserved

• have you ever noticed that people who boast about their successes are reticent about their failures.

Question 9

Retort

Answer 9

Verb

To reply in a quick, witty, or sharp manner

• “giving up?” She asked. “Absolutely not!” I retorted.

Question 10

Subvert

Answer 10

Verb

Overturn or over throw from foundation; undermine or go against (damaging something that took time to build up)(defeating the purpose)

• we we are subverting our fuel conservation efforts when we heat rooms that are not occupied

Question 11

Tractable

Answer 11

Adjective

Easily led, taught, or controlled; yielding; docile; gullible like a child

• a child who misbehaves may be more tractable in a large one

Question 12

Despise/ despicable

Answer 12

Verb
Look down upon with contempt or disgust; loathe; regarded as inferior
Adjective
Worthy of contempt, contemptible

• the world admires heroes and despises cowards

Question 13

Ebullient

Answer 13

Adjective

Overflowing with enthusiasm; exuberant; high spirited; vivacious

• thousands of ebullient fans gathered at the airport to greet the new champions

Question 14

Gall

Answer 14

Verb
To make sore; to irritate; to annoy
Noun
Brazen boldness; nerve

• Charles had the gall to yell at Mama after 30 years of not speaking

Question 15

Inane

Answer 15

Adjective

Lacking significance of sense; pointless; silly

• the useless busy work the teacher gave was the most inane part of my day

Question 16

Indemnify

Answer 16

Verb

Compensate for loss, damage, or injury; reimburse; to repay

• mr. And mrs. White were indemnified for the loss of their house from the fire

Question 17

Peruse

Answer 17

Verb

Read; look at fairly attentively; study

• you should peruse the newspaper each day to stay in touch with current events

Question 18

Spurn

Answer 18

Verb

To thrust aside with hatred or contempt; to reject

• we wanted to assist, but they spurned all offers of aid

Question 19

Tepid

Answer 19

Adjective

Moderately warm, lukewarm

• I always let the shower water run until it reaches a comfortable, tepid temperature

Question 20

“Rub someone the wrong way”

Answer 20

To do something that irritates or annoys

-the quickest way to rub someone the wrong way is to give him or her a dirty look

Question 21

“Straight from the shoulder”

Answer 21

In a direct, open way

-I decided to confront John and told him straight to the shoulder that I thought he was wrong

Question 22

“A pretty kettle of fish”

Answer 22

A messy or difficult situation; a problem

-when Steve backed his truck into a police car, he knew it would be a pretty kettle of fish

Question 23

“Eat humble pie”

Answer 23

To admit your error and apologize

• after his candidate lost the election, the boastful campaign manager had to eat humble pie

Question 24

"A flash in the pan"

Answer 24

Something that is promising at the start, but then disappointing - the rookie hit many home runs during spring training, but turned out to be just a flash in the pan

Question 25

"Build upon sand"

Answer 25

To have poor or insufficient preparation - because the campaign managers failed to plan carefully, the entire campaign was built upon sand and failed miserably

Question 26

" bolt from the blue"

Answer 26

A great surprise - the news of the attack was a bolt from the blue

Question 27

"Wet blanket"

Answer 27

One who spoiled the fun - everyone wanted the party to go on, but Ronnie, was being a wet blanket and decided to go home to bed

Question 28

"Crocodile tears"

Answer 28

Insincere/ false tears When the football player broke his leg, his substitute wept crocodile tears

Question 29

" throw down the gauntlet"

Answer 29

To challenge someone - the principal of our rival school threw down the gauntlet, and we had no choice but to accept the challenge

Question 30

"Worth ones weight in gold"

Answer 30

Extremely valuable; very useful - the coach said that the new star player was worth his weight in gold

Question 31

" on pin and needles"

Answer 31

To be on the edge, jumpy ; nervous; anxious - he was on pins and needles while he was waiting to go into the principals office

Question 32

" through thick and thin"

Answer 32

In spite of all sorts of difficulties -true friends will stay by you through thick and thin

Question 33

"Maintain the status quo"

Answer 33

To keep things as they are - you were right when you said we ought to maintain the status quo and not change things too drastically

Question 34

"Red letter day"

Answer 34

A day of happiness, time for rejoicing - my read letter day came when I was chosen as sophomores class president

Question 35

"Let sleeping dogs lie"

Answer 35

To leave alone; avoid stirring up old hostilities -the lawyer wanted to open up the old case, but his partner advised him to let sleeping dogs lie

Question 36

"Get up on the wrong side of the bed"

Answer 36

To be in a bad mood - when his mother yelled at him about his messy room, he accused her of getting up on the wrong side of bed

Question 37

"By hook or by crook"

Answer 37

Anyway at all; at any cost - because his car gave him nothing but problems, he decided to get rid of it by hook or by crook

Question 38

"Off the beaten path"

Answer 38

Not usual; out of the ordinary - the teachers ideas were sometimes off the beaten path, but seemed to keep the students engaged

Question 39

"In sevenths heaven"

Answer 39

The highest happiness is delight - Amanda was in seventh heaven when her mother let her go to the party