Vocab Quiz #5

Question 1

acerbic

Answer 1

(adj.) biting, bitter in tone or taste (Jill’s acerbic mockery of all of her friends left her
lonely at lunchtime.)

Question 2

brusque

Answer 2

brusque: (adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (The captain’s brusque manner offended the
passengers.

Question 3

contrite

Answer 3

(adj.) penitent, eager to be forgiven (Blake’s contrite behavior made it impossible to
stay angry at him.)

Question 4

desiccated

Answer 4

(adj.) dried up, dehydrated (The skin of the desiccated mummy looked like old
paper.)

Question 5

evanescent

Answer 5

(adj.) fleeting, momentary (My joy at getting promoted was evanescent because I
discovered that I would have to work much longer hours in a less friendly office.

Question 6

fatuous

Answer 6

(adj.) silly, foolish (James considers himself a serious poet, but in truth, he only writes
fatuous limericks.)

Question 7

hegemony

Answer 7

(n.) domination over others (Britain’s hegemony over its colonies was threatened
once nationalist sentiment began to spread around the world.)

Question 8

ineffable

Answer 8

(adj.) unspeakable, incapable of being expressed through words (It is said that the
experience of playing with a dolphin is ineffable and can only be understood through direct
encounter.

Question 9

languid

Answer 9

(adj.) sluggish from fatigue or weakness (In the summer months, the great heat makes
people languid and lazy.)

Question 10

mercurial

Answer 10

(adj.) characterized by rapid change or temperamentality (Though he was widely
respected for his mathematical proofs, the mercurial genius was impossible to live with.)