Word List 6

Question 1

calamity

Answer 1

a state of deep distress or misery caused by major misfortune or loss
a disastrous event marked by great loss and last distress and suffering

e.g. an economic calamity

Question 2

calculated

Answer 2

engaged in, undertaken, or displayed after reckoning or estimating the statistical probability of success of failure
planned or contrived to accomplish a purpose; deliberate, intended

e.g. a calculated risk
a calculated attempt to deceive voters

Question 3

calculating

Answer 3

marked by prudent analysis or by shrewd consideration of self-interest; scheming

Question 4

calculus

Answer 4

a concretion usually of mineral salts around organic material found in especially in hollow organs or ducts

Question 5

cauldron

Answer 5

a large pot

Question 6

calibrate

Answer 6

to ascertain the caliber of; to determine, rectify, or mark the graduations of (as a thermometer tube)
to adjust precisely for a particular function

e.g. carefully calibrate the dosage of a medicine

Question 7

caliper

Answer 7

(oft. pl.) instrument for measuring the diameter or tubes or round objects

Question 8

callous

Answer 8

being hardened and thickened; having calluses
feeling no emotion; feeling or showing no sympathy for others; hard-heartened

e.g. a callous refusal to help the poor

Question 9

callow

Answer 9

lacking adult sophistication; immature

e.g. a story about a callow youth who learns the value of hard work and self-reliance

Question 10

calumniate

Answer 10

to utter maliciously false statements, charges, or imputations about
to injure the reputation of by calumny

e.g. The short-lived Sedition Act of 1798 made it illegal to calumniate the president.

Question 11

calumny

Answer 11

a misrepresentation intended to harm another’s reputation
the act of uttering such misrepresentation

e.g. He was the target of calumny for his unpopular beliefs.

Question 12

cameo

Answer 12

a piece of jewelry that has a carved design shown against a background of different color
a small role in a movie, play, etc., that is performed by a well-known actor

Question 13

canary

Answer 13

a small usually yellow or green tropical bird that is kept as a cage bird and singer

Question 14

candid

Answer 14

free from bias, prejudice, or malice; fair
marked by honest sincere expression

e.g. a candid observer
a candid discussion

Question 15

dissemble

Answer 15

to hide under a false appearance
to put on the appearance of; simulate

e.g. He dissembled happiness at the news that his old girlfriend was getting married - to someone else.

Question 16

candor

Answer 16

freedom from prejudice or malice; fairness
unreserved, honest, or sincere expression; forthrightness

e.g. the candor with which he acknowledged a weakness in his own case

Question 17

canny

Answer 17

clever, shrewd; prudent
careful, steady; restrained
quiet, snug

e.g. a canny player, good at psyching out his opponents
canny investments
warm and canny under the woolen bedcovers

Question 18

canon

Answer 18

an accepted principle or rule

a criterion or standard of judgment

Question 19

canopy

Answer 19

a clothing covering suspended over a bed; a cover (as of cloth) fixed above a person of high rank or a sacred object
protective covering (the uppermost spreading branchy layer of a forest) or (awning, marquee)
an ornamental rooflike structure

Question 20

cant

Answer 20

to give a cant or oblique edge to; bevel
to set at an angle; tilt
inclination, slope
the private language of the underworld; jargon

Question 21

cantankerous

Answer 21

difficult or irritating to deal with

e.g. a cantankerous old woman who insisted that nothing should ever be allowed to change

Question 22

canto

Answer 22

one of the major divisions of a long poem

Question 23

canvass

Answer 23

to examine in detail, specifically to examine (votes) officially for authenticity
discuss, debate
to go through (a district) or go to (persons) in order to solicit orders or political support or to determine opinions or sentiments
also

e.g. He had the audacity to speak, think, and write, as if he were entitled to canvass affairs of State.
canvass the city for the Republican Party
canvass voters for one of the candidates

Question 24

cape

Answer 24

a point or extension of land jutting out into water as a peninsula or as a projecting point

Question 25

capitulate

Answer 25

to surrender often after negotiation of terms to cease resisting; acquiesce e.g. The country still refuses to capitulate despite its weakening army and dwindling resources.

Question 26

caprice

Answer 26

a sudden, impulsive, and seemingly unmotivated notion or action; a sudden usually unpredictable condition, change, or series of changes a disposition to do things impulsively e.g. the caprices of weather Employees have complained of being at the mercy of the manager's every whim and caprice.

Question 27

capricious

Answer 27

- caprice; impulsive, unpredictable | e. g. The court ruled that the punishment was arbitrary and capricious.

Question 28

captious

Answer 28

marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections calculated to confuse, entrap, or entangle in argument e.g. a captious and cranky eater who's ever met a vegetable he didn't hate as captious question

Question 29

carafe

Answer 29

a glass container that has a wide mouth and that is used to serve drinks (such as water or wine) during a meal; also the amount in a carafe

Question 30

carapace

Answer 30

a hard shell on the back of some animals a protective, decorative, or disguising shell e.g. the carapace of reserve he built around himself

Question 31

cardinal

Answer 31

a priest of the Roman Catholic Church who ranks immediately below the Pope of basic importance very serious or grave

Question 32

careworn

Answer 32

showing the effect or grief or anxiety; looking sad, tired, or worried e.g. a careworn face

Question 33

carol

Answer 33

a song of joy or mirth | to sing especially in a joyful manner; to sing carols

Question 34

carouse

Answer 34

a drunken revel to drink liquor freely or excessively to take part in a carouse; engage in dissolute behavior

Question 35

carp

Answer 35

to find fault or complain querulously a large variable Asian soft-finned freshwater fish e.g. He is tired of always being carped at by his critics.

Question 36

carrion

Answer 36

dead and putrefying flesh; also flesh unfit for food e.g. Vultures live chiefly on carrion.

Question 37

caste

Answer 37

a division of society based upon differences of wealth, rank, or occupation e.g. a higher/ an upper caste

Question 38

castigate

Answer 38

to subject to severe punishment, reproof, or criticism e.g. The author castigated the prime minister as an ineffective leader.

Question 39

casual

Answer 39

subject to, resulting from, or occurring by change without regularity; occasional e.g. a casual meeting casual employment a casual friend

Question 40

cataclysm

Answer 40

catastrophe a momentous and violent event marked by overwhelming upheaval and demolition; an event that brings great change e.g. The revolution could result in worldwide cataclysm.

Question 41

catacomb

Answer 41

an underground place where people are buried

Question 42

categorical

Answer 42

absolute, unqualified of, relating to, or constituting a category e.g. He issued a categorical denial about his involvement in the deal.

Question 43

chrysalis

Answer 43

a pupa of a butterfly; an insect pupa a protective covering; a sheltered state or stage of being or growth e.g. A budding writer could not emerge from his chrysalis too soon.

Question 44

catharsis

Answer 44

purgation e.g. Acting is a (means of) catharsis for her.

Question 45

catholic

Answer 45

comprehensive, universal, especially broad in sympathies, tastes, or interests e.g. a museum director with catholic tastes in art

Question 46

caucus

Answer 46

a private meeting of leaders of a political party

Question 47

caulk

Answer 47

to stop up and make tight against leakage e.g. He carefully caulked the area around the windows.

Question 48

caustic

Answer 48

capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action; corrosive marked by incisive sarcasm e.g. She wrote a caustic report about the decisions that led to the crisis.

Question 49

causalgia

Answer 49

a constant burning pain resulting from injury to a peripheral nerve

Question 50

cavalier

Answer 50

a gentleman trained in arms and horsemanship a mounted soldier; knight suave, urbane; debonair marked by or given to offhand and often disdainful dismissal of important matters e.g. a cavalier attitude toward money

Question 51

caveat

Answer 51

a warning enjoining one from certain acts or practices e.g. His investment advice comes with a caveat: that the stock market is impossible to predict with absolute accuracy.

Question 52

cavern

Answer 52

a big cave

Question 53

cavil

Answer 53

to raise trivial and frivolous objection e.g. A customer caviled about the price.

Question 54

cavort

Answer 54

to leap or dance about in a lively manner to engage in extravagant behavior e.g. Otters cavorted in the stream. children cavorting on the first sunny day of spring

Question 55

cede

Answer 55

to yield or grant typically by treaty assign, transfer e.g. She reluctantly ceded her position as leader.

Question 56

celebrated

Answer 56

famous, renowned

Question 57

cement

Answer 57

to unite or make firm by or as if by cement e.g. A win would cement her reputation as a strong competitor.

Question 58

censure

Answer 58

a judgment involving condemnation; an official reprimand the act of blaming or condemning sternly to find fault with and criticize as blameworthy e.g. The country faces international censure for its alleged involvement in the assassination. a vote to censure the president for conduct that was unbecoming to his office

Question 59

censorious

Answer 59

marked by or given to censure; critical e.g. The stunt earned her the scorn of her censorious older sister.

Question 60

census

Answer 60

official counting of a country's population

Question 61

centaur

Answer 61

a mythical figure, half man and half horse

Question 62

centurion

Answer 62

ancient Roman officer commanding a unit of 100 soldiers

Question 63

cerebral

Answer 63

of or relating to the brain or the intellect appealing to intellectual appreciation; primary intellectual in nature e.g. a cerebral drama a cerebral jurist who has given much thought to what makes our nation's constitution work

Question 64

certitude

Answer 64

the state of being or feeling certain certainty of act or event e.g. believe with certitude that he is the best candidate

Question 65

cessation

Answer 65

a temporary or final ceasing (as of action); stop e.g. Relapses after cessation of treatment are common.

Question 66

cession

Answer 66

- cede

Question 67

chafe

Answer 67

irritate, vex to warm by rubbing especially with the hands to rub so as to wear away; abrade e.g. The dripping of the faucet chafed his nerves. When the strap is too tight, it chafes the baby's skin.

Question 68

hegemony

Answer 68

preponderant influence or authority over others; domination the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group e.g. the government's hegemony over the tribal community European intellectuals have long debated the consequences of the hegemony of American popular culture around the world.

Question 69

quandary

Answer 69

a state of perplexity or doubt e.g. The unexpected results or the test have created a quandary for researchers. in a quandary about

Question 70

chaff

Answer 70

the husks separated in threshing or winnowing

Question 71

chagrin

Answer 71

disquietude or distress of mind caused by humiliation, disappointment, or failure to vex or unsettle by disappointing or humiliating e.g. She had gained five pounds over the winter, much to her chagrin. He was chagrined to learn that his help was not needed.

Question 72

chalice

Answer 72

a drinking cup; goblet, especially the eucharistic cup

Question 73

chameleon

Answer 73

any of a family of lizards with prehensile tail, independently movable eyeballs, and unusual ability to change the color of the skin a person given to often expedient or facile change in ideas or character e.g. At the summer resort he acquired a reputation as a social chameleon - someone who could be whatever his hosts wanted hi to be.

Question 74

char

Answer 74

to convert to charcoal or carbon usually by heat; burn to burn slightly or partly; scorch e.g. The fire charred the beams.

Question 75

charade

Answer 75

a game in which some of the players try to guess word or phrase from the actions of another player who may not speak

Question 76

charlatan

Answer 76

quack one making usually showy pretenses to knowledge or ability; fraud, faker e.g. the celebrated faith healer who turned out to be a charlatan

Question 77

charter

Answer 77

a document issued by a government that gives rights to a person or a group a document which declares that a city, town, school, or corporation has been established a document that describes the basic laws, principles, etc., of a group a special privilege, immunity, or exemption a tour, vacation, or trip by charter arrangement e.g. a charter boat/flight

Question 78

chary

Answer 78

discreetly cautious about dangers and risks slow to grant, accept, or expand e.g. chary investors who weren't burned by the dot-com bust a person very chary of compliments

Question 79

chase

Answer 79

to ornament (metal) by indenting with a hammer and tools without cutting an edge

Question 80

chasm

Answer 80

abyss; gorge a marked division, separation, or difference e.g. a chasm in time The chasm between the super-rich and everyone else has so widened that our elites seem to inhabit a different country.

Question 81

chastise

Answer 81

to inflict punishment on; to censure severely, castigate e.g. The coach is always chastising the players for minor mistakes.

Question 82

chauvinist

Answer 82

a person who is aggressively and blindly patriotic, especially one devoted to military glory also applied to gender

Question 83

cherubic

Answer 83

of or having the nature of a cherub, or an angel represented as a rosy-cheeked child with wings; angelic having a plump, pretty innocence e.g. a cherubic face and a dazzling smile

Question 84

chicanery

Answer 84

deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry; trickery e.g. That candidate only won the election through chicanery.

Question 85

somber

Answer 85

so shaded as to be dark and gloomy of a dismal or depressing character; grave, melancholy conveying gloomy suggestions or ideas e.g. Her death put us in a somber mood. a somber portrait of life on the street a somber suit

Question 86

chide

Answer 86

to voice disapproval to; reproach in a usually mild and constructive manner; scold e.g. She chided us for arriving late.

Question 87

chimera

Answer 87

an imaginary monster compounded of incongruous parts an illusion or fabrication of the mind, especially an unrealizable dream e.g. Economic stability in that country is merely a chimera.

Question 88

chisel

Answer 88

a metal tool with a sharpened edge at one end used to chip, carve, or cut into a solid material to cut or work with or as if with a chisel to employ shrewd or unfair practices on in order to obtain one's end; also to obtain by such practices e.g. chisel a job He chiseled me out of 50 dollars.

Question 89

choice

Answer 89

worthy of being chosen; selected with care | of high quality; of a grade between prime and good

Question 90

choleric

Answer 90

easily moved to often unreasonable or excessive anger; hot-tempered angry, irate

Question 91

chimerical

Answer 91

existing only as the product of unchecked imagination; fantastically visionary or improbable e.g. For the time being, interplanetary travel remains a chimerical feature of life in the 21st century.