Vocab

Question 1

to lionize

Answer 1

To treat as important

“The lionization of Vladmir Nabokov as one of North America’s literary giants has thrown the spotlight on his peripheral activities and has thus served to foreground his efforts as an amateur entomologist.”

Question 2

sartorial

Answer 2

Relating to tailoring, clothes, or style of dress

“The novelist devotes so much time to avid descriptions of his characters’ clothes that the reader soon feels that such sartorial concerns, although worthy of attention, have superseded any more directly literary aims.”

Question 3

synoptic

Answer 3

of or forming a general summary or synopsis

“A synoptic outline of the contents”

Matthew, Mark, and Luke (but not John) are the Synoptic Gospels because they summarize the same key events.

Question 4

intransigent

Answer 4

uncompromising

unwilling or refusing to change one’s views or agree about something

“Always circumspect, she was reluctant to make judgments, but once arriving at a conclusion, she was intransigent in its defense.”

Question 5

probity

Answer 5

The quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency

“Financial probity”
“The committee feels that he has demonstrated little probity in this matter and therefore cannot be trusted.”

Question 6

tendentious

Answer 6

biased

expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view, especially a controversial one

“A tendentious reading of history”

Question 7

inimical

Answer 7

antagonistic, contrary

tending to obstruct or harm

“Actions inimical to our interests”

Question 8

pellucid

Answer 8

translucently clear; easily understood

“Mountains reflected in the pellucid waters”

“He writes, as always, in pellucid prose”

Question 9

abscond

Answer 9

to leave secretly

allow the intruder to abscond with the cash

Question 10

adulterate

Answer 10

to make impure

Question 11

amalgamate

Answer 11

to combine, mix together

Question 12

assuage

Answer 12

to make something unpleasant less severe

assuage guilt, fear, concerns

Question 13

attenuate

Answer 13

weaken

to reduce in force or degree; to weaken

attenuate poverty, distress, this response

Question 14

bombastic

Answer 14

pompous in speech and manner

Question 15

castigate

Answer 15

to punish or criticize harshly

an effort to demonize and castigate a whole broad base of human beings

Question 16

cogent

Answer 16

convincing and well-reasoned

cogent or compelling case or argument

Question 17

corroborate

Answer 17

to provide supporting evidence

Question 18

credulous

Answer 18

too trusting; gullible

The con man promised the credulous women a fairy tale ending.

Question 19

desultory

Answer 19

jumping from one thing to another; disconnected, lacking a plan or purpose

desultory existence, conversation, reading

Question 20

dilettante

Answer 20

someone with an amateurish and superficial interest in a topic

Question 21

dirge

Answer 21

a funeral hymn or mournful speech

Question 22

disabuse

Answer 22

to set right; to free from error; persuade someone that an idea or belief is mistaken

Disabuse someone of that notion or theory

Question 23

dissemble

Answer 23

to present a false appearance; to disguise one’s real intentions or character

Question 24

dogma

Answer 24

a firmly held opinion, often a religious belief

Question 25

elegy

Answer 25

a sorrowful poem or speech

Question 26

enervate

Answer 26

to reduce in strength; to feel drained of energy or vitality bleeding might enervate but would not kill him

Question 27

equivocal

Answer 27

open to more than one interpretation; misleading

Question 28

equivocate

Answer 28

to use expressions of double meaning in order to mislead

Question 29

erudite

Answer 29

learned, scholarly, bookish

Question 30

estimable

Answer 30

admirable estimable qualities and talents

Question 31

exculpate

Answer 31

to clear from blame; prove innocent

Question 32

exigent

Answer 32

urgent; requiring immediate attention

Question 33

foment

Answer 33

to arouse or incite

Question 34

iconoclast

Answer 34

one who opposes established beliefs, customs, and institutions

Question 35

inchoate

Answer 35

not fully formed; disorganized an inchoate democracy

Question 36

ingenuous

Answer 36

showing innocence or childlike simplicity

Question 37

inimical

Answer 37

hostile, unfriendly actions inimical to our interests

Question 38

intransigent

Answer 38

uncompromising; refusing to be reconciled

Question 39

laconic

Answer 39

using few words his laconic reply suggested his lack of interest in the topic

Question 40

malinger

Answer 40

to evade responsibility by pretending to be ill

Question 41

misanthrope

Answer 41

a person who dislikes others

Question 42

mitigate

Answer 42

to soften; to lessen

Question 43

mollify

Answer 43

to calm or make less severe

Question 44

obdurate

Answer 44

hardened in feeling; resistant to persuasion

Question 45

obviate

Answer 45

to prevent; to make unnecessary the blinds obviated the need for curtains

Question 46

occlude

Answer 46

to stop up; to prevent the passage of thick makeup can occlude the pores

Question 47

onerous

Answer 47

troublesome and oppressive; burdensome

Question 48

opprobrium

Answer 48

public disgrace the opprobrium of being associated with criminals

Question 49

histronic

Answer 49

overly theatrical or melodramatic in character or style a histrionic outburst

Question 50

scurrilous

Answer 50

slanderous, obscene making or spreading scandalous claims about someone with the intention of damaging their reputation a scurrilous attack on his integrity

Question 51

panned

Answer 51

to criticize severely The movie was panned by the critic.

Question 52

abstruse

Answer 52

difficult to understand; obscure an abstruse philosophical inquiry

Question 53

extirpate

Answer 53

to root out and destroy completely; to eradicate use every legal measure to extirpate the evil from the land

Question 54

recondite

Answer 54

mysterious, obscure a little-known subject, abstruse The book is full of recondite information.

Question 55

punctilious

Answer 55

showing great attention to detail or correct behavior He was punctilious in providing every amenity for his guests.

Question 56

vociferous

Answer 56

vehement or clamorous He was a vociferous opponent of the shutdown.

Question 57

vituperated

Answer 57

to blame or insult someone with strong or violent language

Question 58

orotund

Answer 58

full, round, and imposing (i.e. an orotund voice) pompous, pretentious (of writing, style, expression)

Question 59

obtuse

Answer 59

annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand He wondered if the doctor was being deliberately obtuse.

Question 60

pedant

Answer 60

person excessively concerned with minor details or with displaying academic learning

Question 61

perfidious

Answer 61

deceitful and untrustworthy a perfidious lover

Question 62

precipitate

Answer 62

to bring about an event unexpectedly or prematurely the incident precipitated a political crisis

Question 63

prevaricate

Answer 63

to speak or act in an evasive way he prevaricated when the journalists asked pointed questions

Question 64

propitiate

Answer 64

to regain the favor of someone by doing something that pleases them the pagans propitiated the gods with sacrifices (opposite: provoke)

Question 65

quiescent

Answer 65

inactive, dormant a period of dormancy or inactivity strikes were led by workers who had once been quiescent

Question 66

rarefy

Answer 66

thin (esp. air); distant from the lives and concerns of ordinary people rarefied air in the mountains debates about the nature of knowledge can seem rarefied (esoteric)

Question 67

specious

Answer 67

misleading seemingly plausible, but actually wrong a specious argument

Question 68

tacit

Answer 68

understood or implied without being stated a tacit agreement

Question 69

torpor

Answer 69

a state of physical or mental inactivity; lethargy they veered between apathetic torpor and hysterical fanaticism