Vocab week 11

Question 1

Abet

Answer 1

(v.) to aid, help, encourage (The spy succeeded only because he had a friend on the
inside to abet him.)

Question 2

Acerbic

Answer 2

(adj.) biting, bitter in tone or taste (Jill became extremely acerbic and began to
cruelly make fun of all her friends.)

Question 3

Cajole

Answer 3

(v.) to urge, coax (Fred’s buddies cajoled him into attending the bachelor party.)

Question 4

Desiccated

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Exculpate

Answer 5

(v.) to free from guilt or blame, exonerate (My discovery of the ring behind
the dresser exculpated me from the charge of having stolen it.)

Question 6

Magnanimous

Answer 6

(adj.) noble, generous (Although I had already broken most of her
dishes, Jacqueline was magnanimous enough to continue letting me use them.)

Question 7

Fetter

Answer 7

(v.) to chain, restrain (The dog was fettered to the parking meter.)

Question 8

Hegemony

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Idolatrous

Answer 9

idolatrous (adj.) excessively worshipping one object or person (Xena’s idolatrous
fawning over the band—following them on tour, starting their fan club, filming
their documentary—is really beginning to get on my nerves.)

Question 10

Palatable

Answer 10

(adj.) agreeable to the taste or sensibilities (Despite the unpleasant smell, the
exotic cheese was quite palatable.)

Question 11

Parsimony

Answer 11

(n.) frugality, stinginess (Many relatives believed that my aunt’s wealth
resulted from her parsimony.)

Question 12

Quagmire

Answer 12

(n.) a difficult situation (We’d all like to avoid the kind of military quagmire
characterized by the Vietnam War.)

Question 13

Reprobate

Answer 13

(adj.) evil, unprincipled (The reprobate criminal sat sneering in the cell.)

Question 14

Sanctimonious

Answer 14

(adj.) giving a hypocritical appearance of religiousness (The sanctimonious
Bertrand delivered stern lectures on the Ten Commandments to anyone who would
listen, but thought nothing of stealing cars to make some cash on the side.)

Question 15

Scrupulous

Answer 15

(adj.) painstaking, careful (With scrupulouscare, Sam cut a snowflake out of
white paper.)

Question 16

Torrid

Answer 16

(adj.) giving off intense heat, passionate (I didn’t want to witness the neighbor’s
torrid affair through the window.)

Question 17

Vacillate

Answer 17

(v.) to fluctuate, hesitate (I prefer a definite answer, but my boss kept
vacillating between the distinct options available to us.)

Question 18

Nominal

Answer 18

(adj.) trifling, insignificant (Because he was moving the following week and
needed to get rid of his furniture more than he needed money, Jordan sold
everything for a nominal fee.)

Question 19

Obsequious

Answer 19

(adj.) excessively compliant or submissive (Mark acted like Janet’s servant,
obeying her every request in an obsequious manner.)

Question 20

Pernicious

Answer 20

adj.) extremely destructive or harmful (The new government feared that
the Communist sympathizers would have a pernicious influence on the nation’s
stability.)