Word List 50

Question 1

animadversion

Answer 1

a critical and usually censorious remark - often used with on
adverse criticism

e.g. make animadversions on someone’s conduct

Question 2

arrant

Answer 2

being notorious without moderation; extreme

e.g. We are arrant knaves, all; believe none of us
That statement is complete and arrant nonsense.

Question 3

besot

Answer 3

infatuate

to make dull or stupid; especially, to muddle with drunkenness

Question 4

bide

Answer 4

to wait for (usually in bide one’s time)
to continue in a state, condition, or place

e.g. How long are you going to bide in this unhappy marriage?

Question 5

blather

Answer 5

to talk foolishly at length (often used with on)
also
stir, commotion

e.g. retire quietly and without all the blather of a send-off

Question 6

bleary

Answer 6

very tired and unable to see clearly
poorly outlined or defined; dim

e.g. bleary eyes/travelers

Question 7

bullish

Answer 7

marked by, tending to cause, or hopeful or rising prices (as in a stock market)
optimistic about something’s or someone’s prospects

e.g. bullish markets/policies/investors
bullish on/about company’s future

Question 8

bullyrag

Answer 8

to intimidate by bullying

to vex by teasing; badger

Question 9

canorous

Answer 9

pleasantly sounding; melodious

Question 10

chaff

Answer 10

jest, banter

Question 11

cheeky

Answer 11

insolently bold; impudent

Question 12

clamber

Answer 12

to climb awkwardly (as by scrambling)

Question 13

countrified

Answer 13

rural, rustic
unsophisticated

e.g. a restaurant with a countrified atmosphere

Question 14

crib

Answer 14

pilfer, steal; especially, plagiarize

e.g. She cribbed a line or two from her favorite poet.

Question 15

crimp

Answer 15

to cause to become wavy, bent, or pinched
to be an inhibiting or restraining influence on; cramp

e.g. Sales had been crimped by credit controls.

Question 16

cull

Answer 16

to select from a group; choose
to hunt or kill (animals) as a means of population control

e.g. culled the best passages from the poet’s work

Question 17

desist

Answer 17

to cease to proceed or act

e.g. Despite orders from the police, the protesters would not desist.

Question 18

dither

Answer 18

shiver, tremble
to act nervously or indecisively; vacillate

e.g. did not dither about what to do next

Question 19

divers

Answer 19

various

e.g. The state fair offers divers amusement for the whole family.

Question 20

drub

Answer 20

to beat severely; to defeat decisively

to berate critically

Question 21

elysian

Answer 21

blissful, delightful

e.g. the dream of retiring to a tropical isle and enjoying a life of elysian ease

Question 22

fatidic

Answer 22

of or relating to prophecy

Question 23

finagle

Answer 23

to obtain by indirect or involved means
to obtain by trickery

e.g. finagle a ride home
finagle a visit to the museum

Question 24

flatulent

Answer 24

pompously or portentously overblown

e.g. On election night TV’s self-important pundits let loose a fusillade of flatulent pontifications.

Question 25

flimflam

Answer 25

deceptive nonsense deception, fraud e.g. The report is just a lot of corporate flimflam. a flimflam to pique his romantic interest

Question 26

flummox

Answer 26

confuse e.g. an actor who's easily flummoxed by any changes in the script

Question 27

frumpy

Answer 27

dowdy, drab

Question 28

gabby

Answer 28

talkative, garrulous

Question 29

gawky

Answer 29

awkward, clumsy

Question 30

gracile

Answer 30

slender, slight graceful e.g. Gracile as any pair of classically trained dancers, the bride and groom made their way around the dance floor.

Question 31

hanker

Answer 31

yearn (often used with for or after) e.g. hanker for a warm day

Question 32

huffish

Answer 32

arrogant, sulky e.g. huffish wealthy people who expected to receive top priority in the ship's dining room

Question 33

huffy

Answer 33

roused to indignation; irritated easily offended; touchy e.g. a huffy actress who loudly protests every perceived insult

Question 34

hunker

Answer 34

to crouch, squat to settle in or dig in for a sustained period (used with down) e.g. hunker down for a good long wait

Question 35

interlard

Answer 35

to vary by intermixture; intersperse, interlace e.g. interlard one's speech with oaths

Question 36

jounce

Answer 36

to move in an up-and-down manner; bounce e.g. a rickety cart jouncing as it was being pulled over the cobblestoned streets

Question 37

lard

Answer 37

to augment or intersperse especially with something superfluous or excessive e.g. a book larded with subplots

Question 38

leach

Answer 38

to dissolve out by the action of a percolating liquid to draw out or remove by or as if by percolation e.g. leach out alkali from ashes Even a small amount of rain can leach the toxic material from the soil.

Question 39

lymphatic

Answer 39

lacking physical or mental energy; sluggish

Question 40

maunder

Answer 40

to wander slowly and idly to speak indistinctly or disconnectedly e.g. maundered all over town on his day off

Question 41

mull

Answer 41

to grind or mix thoroughly; pulverize to consider at length; ponder (often used with over) meditate, ponder e.g. mull over an idea

Question 42

oleaginous

Answer 42

resembling oil; oily producing or containing oil marked by an offensive ingratiating manner or quality e.g. The office manager greeted the corporate bigwigs with an oleaginous welcome that should have embarrassed him.

Question 43

ornery

Answer 43

cantankerous

Question 44

pavid

Answer 44

timid; afraid; fearful; frightened

Question 45

peckish

Answer 45

hungry irritated or annoyed e.g. a peckish tone of voice

Question 46

pelagic

Answer 46

of, relating to, or living or occurring in the open sea; oceanic e.g. At one time pelagic whaling was the cornerstone of the island's economy.

Question 47

pendulous

Answer 47

suspended so as to swing freely marked by vacillation, indecision, or uncertainty e.g. branches hung with pendulous vines

Question 48

picayunish

Answer 48

of little value or account; small, trifling

Question 49

piteous

Answer 49

deserving or causing feelings of sympathy or pity

Question 50

putter

Answer 50

to move or act aimlessly or idly | to work at random; tinker

Question 51

quicksilver

Answer 51

changing quickly and often; mercurial

Question 52

quondam

Answer 52

former, sometime e.g. a quondam oil baron now living comfortably in retirement

Question 53

raptorial

Answer 53

predatory

Question 54

raven

Answer 54

``` to feed greedily to prowl for food; prey plunder to devour greedily despoil ``` e.g. The rat ravened the poisoned bait just as we had hoped. Men raven the earth, destroying its resources.

Question 55

recusant

Answer 55

one who refuses to accept or obey established authority also e.g. Its object is not the moral education of the recusant individuals.

Question 56

ritzy

Answer 56

snobbish | impressively or ostentatiously fancy or stylish; fashionable, posh

Question 57

saucy

Answer 57

impertinently bold and impudent amusingly forward and flippant; irrepressible smart, trim e.g. irritate his fellow travelers with saucy questions and comments

Question 58

scraggly

Answer 58

irregular in form or growth e.g. a scraggly beard

Question 59

scruffy

Answer 59

unkempt, slovenly, shaggy e.g. The neighborhood is full of dilapidated houses with scruffy backyards.

Question 60

shilly-shally

Answer 60

in an irresolute, undecided, or hesitating manner

Question 61

slog

Answer 61

``` beat to plod (one's way) perseveringly especially against difficulty ``` e.g. slogged through the snow / through her work

Question 62

smite

Answer 62

to strike sharply or heavily captivate, take e.g. He vowed that he would smite his enemy. smitten with her beauty

Question 63

smut

Answer 63

to stain or taint with smut matter that soils or blackens obscene language or matter

Question 64

snivel

Answer 64

to run at the nose | to cry or whine with snuffling

Question 65

soigne

Answer 65

well-groomed, sleek elegantly maintained or designed e.g. a soigne restaurant/black dress

Question 66

stately

Answer 66

marked by lofty or imposing dignity haughty, unapproachable impressive in size or proportions e.g. The governor watched with stately aloofness as his wife charmed the party guests. a stately dowager in an evening gown

Question 67

straiten

Answer 67

to hem in; confine to subject to distress, privation, or deficiency e.g. in straitened circumstances

Question 68

swathe

Answer 68

to bind, wrap, or swaddle with or as if with a bandage envelop e.g. a mountain swathed by clouds

Question 69

tony

Answer 69

marked by an aristocratic or high-toned manner or style e.g. tony private schools

Question 70

trounce

Answer 70

to defeat decisively

Question 71

unbosom

Answer 71

to give expression to; disclose, reveal to disclose the thoughts or feelings of e.g. unbosomed his fear of dying only to his closest friends

Question 72

verboten

Answer 72

forbidden; especially, prohibited by dictate e.g. a college campus on which any form of hate speech was strictly verboten

Question 73

versant

Answer 73

the general slope of a region | having knowledge or experience; conversant

Question 74

wend

Answer 74

to direct one's course; travel to proceed on (one's way); direct e.g. We wended (our way) through the narrow streets.

Question 75

wile

Answer 75

a trick or stratagem intended to ensnare or deceive; also, a beguiling or playful trick skill in outwitting; trickery, guile e.g. use all of her wiles to convince everyone to stay

Question 76

wroth

Answer 76

intensely angry; highly incensed; wrathful

Question 77

yen

Answer 77

a strong desire or propensity; also, urge, craving e.g. a yen for the sea / ice cream

Question 78

yowl

Answer 78

wail e.g. a yowling cat outside the building

Question 79

zany

Answer 79

a slavish follower; toady one who acts the buffoon to amuse others very strange and silly e.g. One of the challenges of hosting a radio call-in program is preventing the zanies from taking over the discussion. a zany plane to drive cross-country on a motorized scooter

Question 80

zoom

Answer 80

to go speedily; zip to increase sharply e.g. cars zooming by on the highway Retail sales zoomed.