Word List 45

Question 1

marrow

Answer 1

the inmost, best, or essential part; core

e.g. Personal liberty is the marrow of the American tradition.

Question 2

matador

Answer 2

a bullfighter who has the principal role and who kills the bull in a bullfight

Question 3

maxim

Answer 3

a general truth, fundamental principle, or rule of conduct

a proverbial saying

Question 4

mayhem

Answer 4

needless or willful damage or violence

e.g. movies filled with murder and mayhem

Question 5

megalomania

Answer 5

a mania for great or grandiose performance
a delusional mental disorder that is marked by feelings of personal omnipotence and grandeur

e.g. an arrogance that borders on megalomania

Question 6

mesmerism

Answer 6

hypnotic induction held to involve animal magnetism; broadly, hypnotism
hypnotic appeal

Question 7

miasma

Answer 7

a vaporous exhalation formerly believed to cause disease; also, a heavy vaporous emanation or atmosphere
an influence or atmosphere that tends to deplete or corrupt

e.g. a miasma of tobacco smoke
In the age of monarchy, the king lived surrounded by a miasma of intrigue.

Question 8

mien

Answer 8

air or bearing especially as expressive of attitude or personality; demeanor
appearance, aspect

e.g. of aristocratic mien
the stern mien of the librarian

Question 9

missive

Answer 9

a written communication; letter

e.g. missives filled with good-natured teasing and mock insults

Question 10

mistral

Answer 10

a strong cold dry northerly wind of southern France

Question 11

monograph

Answer 11

a learned treatise on a small area of learning; also, a written account of a single thing

e.g. a series of monographs on music in late medieval and Renaissance cities

Question 12

moor

Answer 12

a broad area of open land that is not good for farming

e.g. a mysterious figure who was said to have haunted the moors of southwest England

Question 13

mope

Answer 13

to give oneself up to brooding; become listless or dejected

to move slowly or aimlessly; dawdle

Question 14

morass

Answer 14

marsh, swamp
a situation that traps, confuses, or impedes

e.g. He advised against becoming involved in that country’s civil war, warning that escape from that morass might prove nigh impossible.

Question 15

mountebank

Answer 15

a person who sells quack medicines from a platform

a boastful unscrupulous pretender; charlatan

Question 16

muggy

Answer 16

being warm, damp, and close

e.g. a muggy day in August

Question 17

mulct

Answer 17

fine, penalty
to punish by a fine
to defraud especially of money; swindle
to obtain by fraud, duress or theft

e.g. The loan shark usually imposed a mulct of an additional 20% on overdue payments.
try to mulct the insurance company for an accident that never happened

Question 18

multifarious

Answer 18

having or occurring in great variety; diverse

e.g. the multifarious interests and activities in which Benjamin Franklin immersed himself

Question 19

muniment

Answer 19

(oft. pl.) the evidence that enables one to defend the title to an estate or a claim to rights and privileges

Question 20

muzzy

Answer 20

deficient in brightness; dull, gloomy
lacking in clarity and precision
muddled or confused in mind

e.g. In an attempt to be all things to all people, the candidate offered to the voters an intentionally muzzy campaign message.

Question 21

natation

Answer 21

the action or art of swimming

Question 22

necessitous

Answer 22

needy, impoverished
urgent, pressing
necessary

e.g. all the dreaded, necessitous decisions that one must make when arranging the funeral of a loved on
Amidst the holiday feasting, merrymaking and spending, it was easy to overlook the necessitous members of the community.

Question 23

necropolis

Answer 23

cemetery; especially, a large elaborate cemetery of an ancient city

e.g. an ancient necropolis that has given archaeologists valuable insights into how people once lived and died

Question 24

nectar

Answer 24

the drink of the Greek and Roman gods
something delicious to drink
a beverage of fruit juice and pulp

Question 25

neonate

Answer 25

a newborn child

Question 26

nestling

Answer 26

a young bird that has not left the nest

Question 27

nethermost

Answer 27

farthest down; lowest

Question 28

niggling

Answer 28

petty; also, bothersome or persistent especially in a petty or tiresome way e.g. niggling injuries only niggling differences between the original Broadway musical and the film version that followed

Question 29

nipping

Answer 29

sharp, chilling e.g. waking up to the nipping air of the morning

Question 30

nonesuch

Answer 30

a person or thing without an equal

Question 31

nonpareil

Answer 31

having no equal also e.g. the nonpareil beauty of Helen of Troy Elvis was the nonpareil of early American Rock and Roll.

Question 32

noose

Answer 32

a loop with a slipknot that binds closer the more it is drawn something that snares like a noose e.g. A confirmed bachelor, he vows never to get caught in the noose of matrimony.

Question 33

numinous

Answer 33

supernatural, mysterious holy spiritual e.g. poetry filled with a numinous beauty

Question 34

numismatics

Answer 34

the study or collection of coins, tokens, and paper money and sometimes related objects (as medals)

Question 35

nuptial

Answer 35

of or relating to marriage or the marriage ceremony characteristic of or occurring in the breeding season e.g. newlyweds still in a state of nuptial bliss

Question 36

nymph

Answer 36

girl

Question 37

oar

Answer 37

a long pole with a broad blade at one end used for propelling or steeling a boat to progress by or as if by using oars e.g. Since the wind had completely died, they had to oar the sailboat back to shore.

Question 38

oblation

Answer 38

the act of making a religious offering | something offered in worship or devotion

Question 39

observance

Answer 39

a rule governing members of a religious order an act or instance or instance of following a custom, rule, or law e.g. the observance of the family tradition

Question 40

obtrude

Answer 40

to thrust out, extrude to force or impose (as oneself or one's ideas) without warrant or request e.g. The historical details in the movie do not obtrude - they enhance the story by making it more realistic. obtrude in other people's affairs

Question 41

occidental

Answer 41

of, relating to, or situated in the Occident; western

Question 42

ocular

Answer 42

of or relating to the eye e.g. ocular inspection/diseases/muscles ocular testimony

Question 43

oddment

Answer 43

something left over; remnant (pl.) odds and ends something odd; oddity e.g. The fabric store sells oddments left over from cutting. One of those medical oddments has perplexed and intrigued generations of medical historians.

Question 44

odoriferous

Answer 44

yielding an odor; odorous morally offensive e.g. odoriferous legislation

Question 45

onslaught

Answer 45

an especially fierce attack a vigorous onset e.g. The massive onslaught of enemy troops caught the country by surprise. an onslaught of technological changes

Question 46

onus

Answer 46

burden; a disagreeable necessity; obligation blame stigma e.g. hoping to avoid the onus of failure by lowering expectations ahead of time shift the onus for any mistakes onto other members

Question 47

opiate

Answer 47

a drug tending to induce sleep and alleviate pain something that induces rest or inaction or quiets uneasiness e.g. television as an opiate of the masses

Question 48

opus

Answer 48

work; especially, a musical composition or set of compositions usually numbered in the order of its issue e.g. The composer's final opus was performed posthumously to great acclaim.

Question 49

oracular

Answer 49

of an oracle obscure, enigmatic portentous, ominous

Question 50

orotund

Answer 50

marked by fullness, strength, and clarity of sound; sonorous pompous, bombastic e.g. The tenor's orotund voice was just what this soaring aria needs. an orotund speech

Question 51

otiose

Answer 51

producing no useful result; futile being at leisure; idle lacking use or effect; functionless

Question 52

outfox

Answer 52

outsmart

Question 53

overweening

Answer 53

arrogant, presumptuous immoderate, exaggerated e.g. a director with little patience for overweening actors who think they are above taking advice and criticism overweening desire for wealth and fame

Question 54

palaver

Answer 54

``` conference, discussion idle talk persuasive talk; flattery; cajolery to talk profusely or idly parley cajole ``` e.g. the seemingly endless palaver between the negotiating parties mothers palavering while watching the children play I let the salesclerk at the electronics store palaver me into a service contract that I didn't need.

Question 55

parley

Answer 55

to speak with another; confer; specifically, to discuss terms with an enemy e.g. In an effort to win the goodwill of the locals, the developers parleyed with them before finalizing plans for the massive mall.

Question 56

parlous

Answer 56

full of danger or risk e.g. a parlous financial situation

Question 57

parochial

Answer 57

of or relating to a parish confined or restricted as if within the borders of a parish; limited in range or scope; provincial, narrow e.g. voters worried about their own parochial concerns

Question 58

peaky

Answer 58

pale and sick

Question 59

peculate

Answer 59

embezzle e.g. peculate from the public money

Question 60

pecuniary

Answer 60

monetary, financial e.g. make good pecuniary sense The judge recused himself from the case because he had a pecuniary interest in the company that was being sued.

Question 61

peddle

Answer 61

to travel about with wares for sale; broadly, sell to be busy with trifles e.g. They peddled fruits and vegetables out of their truck on the side of the road. He peddled his idea for a new movie. peddle innocence to reporters

Question 62

penumbra

Answer 62

a space of partial illumination something that covers, surrounds, or obscures; shroud e.g. a penumbra of despair fell over the doomed city

Question 63

peptic

Answer 63

relating to or promoting digestion; digestive | - pepsin

Question 64

percolate

Answer 64

to be diffused through; penetrate to ooze or trickle through a permeable substance; seep simmer e.g. allow the sunlight to percolate into our rooms rumors percolating throughout the town The feud had been percolating for a long time

Question 65

perigee

Answer 65

the point nearest the earth's center in the orbit of the moon of a satellite

Question 66

periphrasis

Answer 66

use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter form of expression e.g. Congressional hearings into the Watergate scandal were marked by an orgy of periphrasis.

Question 67

persnickety

Answer 67

fussy about small details; fastidious snobby requiring great precision e.g. a persnickety teacher lacking the patience to deal with such persnickety tasks as hanging wallpaper