2004 Final Exam English Vocab

Front 1

abate

Back 1

(v) to make less in amount, degree, etc.; to subside, become less; to nullify; to deduct, omit

Hint 1

wait until the storm abates before going outside again; to abate her picture from the website as per her request

Front 2

abstemious

Back 2

(adj) moderate, sparing (as in eating and drinking); characterized by abstinence and self-discipine

Hint 2

frugal and abstemious in their habits

Front 3

adamant

Back 3

(adj) firm in purpose or opinion, unyielding;
(n) an extremely hard substance

Hint 3

adamant in their refusal to countenance the plan

Front 4

adulation

Back 4

(n) praise or flattery that is excessive

Hint 4

enjoyed the adulation of the fans

Front 5

amenable

Back 5

(adj) willing to follow advice or authority, tractable, submissive; responsive;
amenable to: liable to be held responsible for

Hint 5

a leader who is amenable to reason

Front 6

anathema

Back 6

(n) an object of intense dislike, a curse or strong denunciation (often used adjectivally without the artice)

Hint 6

declare racial prejudice to be anathema

Front 7

astute

Back 7

(adj) shrewd, crafty, showing practical wisdom

Hint 7

shrewd, crafty, showing practical wisdom

Front 8

aver

Back 8

(v) to affirm, declare confidently

Hint 8

aver that she would give us assistance

Front 9

berate

Back 9

(v) to scold sharply

Hint 9

berate the tardy students

Front 10

carnage

Back 10

(n) large-scale slaughter or loss of life

Hint 10

the carnage caused by the explosion

Front 11

credulous

Back 11

(adj) too ready to believe, easily deceived

Hint 11

credulous customers

Front 12

expatiate

Back 12

(v) to expand on, write or talk at length or in detail; to move about freely

Hint 12

expatiate on her previous suggestions

Front 13

extraneous

Back 13

(adj) coming from the outside, foregin; present but no essential, foreign

Hint 13

removed the extraneous substance in the solution

Front 14

jejune

Back 14

(adj) lacking in nutritive value; lacking in interest or substance; immature, juvenile

Hint 14

woefully jejune comments

Front 15

obdurate

Back 15

(adj) stubborn, unyielding

Hint 15

obdurate in his opposition to change

Front 16

ostensible

Back 16

(adj) apparent, appearing to be true or actual; capable of being shown or exhibited

Hint 16

doubted his obstensible reason for being in town

Front 17

precocious

Back 17

(adj) showing unusually early development (especially in talents or mental capacity)

Hint 17

displaying a precocious talent for science

Front 18

sadistic

Back 18

(adj) delighting in cruelty, excessively cruel

Hint 18

condemned the sadistic dictator

Front 19

sententious

Back 19

(adj) self-righteous, characterized by moralizing; given to use of maxis or adages; saying much in few words, pithy

Hint 19

sententious advice

Front 20

supplicate

Back 20

(v) to beg earnestly and humbly

Hint 20

supplicate the court for mercy

Front 21

surfeit

Back 21

(n) an excess or overindulgence, as in eating or drinking; causing disgust; (v) to feed or supply with anything to excess

Hint 21

a surfeit of gossip and innuendo

Front 22

tortuous

Back 22

(adj) winding, twisted, crooked; highly involved, complex; devious

Hint 22

a tortuos path up the mountain

Front 23

turgid

Back 23

(adj) swollen, loated, filled to excess; overdecorated or excessive in language

Hint 23

a turgid writing style

think of turgor pressure

Front 24

criterion

Back 24

(n) a rule, test; a standard for judgment or evaluation

Hint 24

the criterion by which we judge great art

Front 25

deplete

Back 25

(v) to use up as a result of spending or consumption; to diminish greatly

Hint 25

deplete the treasury through extravagance

Front 26

culpable

Back 26

(adj) deserving blame, worthy of condemnation

Hint 26

culpable neglect of their duties

Front 27

equivocate

Back 27

(v) to speak or act in a way that allowes of more than one interpretation; to be deliberately vague or ambiguous

Hint 27

an annoying tendency to equivocate

Front 28

irresolute

Back 28

(adj) unable to make up one's mind, hesitating

Hint 28

be irresolute in a time of danger

Front 29

succinct

Back 29

(adj) expressed breifly and clearly; (clothing) lacking in fullness of cut

Hint 29

issue a succinct statement

Front 30

egregious

Back 30

(adj) conspicuous, standing out from the mass (used particularly in an unfavorable sense)

Hint 30

guilty of an egregious blunder

Front 31

modicum

Back 31

(n) a small or moderate amount

Hint 31

try to get by with a modicum of effort

Front 32

penury

Back 32

(n) extreme poverty; barreness, insuffficiency

Hint 32

the penury of their circumstances

Front 33

recapitulate

Back 33

(v) to review a series of facts; to sum up

Hint 33

pause to recapitulate the main points

Front 34

recapitulate

Back 34

(v) to review a series of facts; to sum up

Hint 34

pause to recapitulate the main points

Front 35

resuscitate

Back 35

(v) to revive, bring back to consciousness or existence

Hint 35

resuscitate the rescued swimmer

Front 36

censurable

Back 36

(adj) deserving of blame or correction

Hint 36

a censurable act

Front 37

contingent

Back 37

(adj) likely but not certain to happen, possible; dependent on uncertain events or conditions; happening by chance
(n) a representative group forming a part of a larger body

Hint 37

contingent on my parents' approval

Front 38

discursive

Back 38

(adj) passing aimlessly from one place or subject to another, rambling, roving, nomadic

Hint 38

a discursive account of his life

Front 39

disseminate

Back 39

(v) to scatter widely

disseminations (n) The act of disseminating, or the state of being disseminated; diffusion for propagation and permanence; a scattering or spreading abroad, as of ideas, beliefs, etc.

Hint 39

in order to disseminate her views

Front 40

dowdy

Back 40

(adj) poorly dressed, shabby; lacking smartness and good taste

Hint 40

her dowdy appearance

Front 41

inculcate

Back 41

(v) to impress on the mind by repetition, teach persistently and earnestly

Hint 41

inculcate good work habits in young students

Front 42

palpable

Back 42

(adj) capable of being touched or felt; easily seen, heard, or recognized

Hint 42

a palpable absurdity

Front 43

perceptive

Back 43

(adj) having sympathetic insight or understanding, capbale of keen appreciation

Hint 43

have a perceptive eye for values

Front 44

pernicious

Back 44

(adj) extremely harmful; deadly, fatal

Hint 44

a pernicious influence on young people

Front 45

quail

Back 45

(v) to shrink back in fear, lose heart in a difficult or dangerous situation

Hint 45

quail at the thought of being discovered

Front 46

salient

Back 46

(adj) leaping, jumping, or springing forth; prominent, standing out, conspicuous
(n) a projection or bulge, a land form that projects upward or outward

Hint 46

the salient feature of the new plan

Front 47

satiate

Back 47

(v) to satisfy completely; to fill to excess;
(adj) full, satisfied

Hint 47

satiate with too much moviegoing

Front 48

specious

Back 48

(adj) deceptive, apparently good or valid but lacking real merit

Hint 48

a specious claim on our support

Front 49

winsome

Back 49

(adj) charming, attractive, pleasing (ogften suggesting a childlike charm and innocence)

Hint 49

delighted by her winsome personality

Front 50

blatant

Back 50

(adj) noisy in a coarse, offensive way; obvious or conspicuous, especially in an unfavorable sense

Hint 50

a blatant hypocrite

Front 51

broach

Back 51

(v) to break the surface of the water, to turn sideways to the wind and waves; tp bring up or begin to talk about (a subject); to announce; to pierce (a keg or cask) in order to draw off liquid;
(n) a spit for roasting, a tool for tapping casks

Hint 51

unwilling to broach so touchy a subject

Front 52

buttress

Back 52

(v) to support, prop up, strengthen;
(n) a supporting structure

Hint 52

buttress and argument

Front 53

carousal

Back 53

(n) noisy revelry or merrymaking (often witha suggestion of heavy drinking)

Hint 53

drowning care in a perpetual carousal

Front 54

collate

Back 54

(v) to compare critically in order to note differences, similarities, etc.; to arrange in order for some specific purpose

Hint 54

collate the pages of the manuscript

Front 55

connoisseur

Back 55

(n) an expert; one who is well qualified to pass critical judgments, especially in one of the fine arts

Hint 55

a connoisseur of modern American painting

Front 56

disconsolate

Back 56

(adj) deeply unhappy or dejected ; without hope, beyond consolation

Hint 56

a loss that left him disconsolate

Front 57

encumber

Back 57

(v) to weigh down or burden (with difficulties, cares, debt, etc.); to fill up, block, hinder

Hint 57

encumber with heavy packages

Front 58

foment

Back 58

(v) to promote trouble or rebellion; to apply warm liquids to, warm

Hint 58

attempted to foment a riot

Front 59

herculean

Back 59

(adj) (capital H) relating to Hercules;
(lowercase h) charaterized by great strength; very hard to do in the sense of requiring unusual strength

Hint 59

dismayed by the herculean task ahead

Front 60

impassive

Back 60

(adj) showing no feeling or emotion; inanimate; motionless

Hint 60

study the judge's impassive face

Front 61

incontrovertible

Back 61

(adj) unquestionable, beyond dispute

Hint 61

a person of incontrovertible honesty

Front 62

magniloquent

Back 62

(adj) expressed in lofty or high-flown language (often in the sense of being pompous or over-elaborate)

Hint 62

a magniloquent orator

Front 63

opportune

Back 63

(adj) suitable or convenient fora particular purpose; occurring at an appropriate time

Hint 63

to pick a most oppurtune moment

Front 64

nonplussed

Back 64

(adj, part.) puzzled, not knowing what to do, at a loss

Hint 64

nonplussed by the sudden turn of events

Front 65

prolific

Back 65

(adj) abundantly productive; abundant, profuse

Hint 65

a prolific composer; a prolific harvest

Front 66

inception

Back 66

(n) the beginning, start, earliest stage of some process, institution, etc.

Hint 66

at the inception of a new program

Front 67

bumptious

Back 67

(adj) offensively self-assertive, excessively and arrogantly self-confident

Hint 67

a bumptious young chauvinist

Front 68

choleric

Back 68

(adj) easily made angry, bad-tempered

Hint 68

a choleric person is not pleasant to be around as they always fly up the wall from almost any subject

Front 69

curtail

Back 69

(v) to cut short, bring to a halt or end sooner than expected; to reduce

Hint 69

to curtail expenses

Front 70

definitive

Back 70

(adj) conclusive, final, representing the limit of what can be done

Hint 70

the definitive biography of Lincoln

Front 71

enigmatic

Back 71

(adj) puzzling, perplexing, not easily understood, mysterious

Hint 71

as enigmatic as the Sphinx

Front 72

heresy

Back 72

(n) an opinion different from accepted belief; the denial of an idea that is generally held sacred

Hint 72

be accused of heresy

Front 73

inauspicious

Back 73

(adj) unfavorable, unlucky, suggesting bad luck for the future

Hint 73

an inauspicious beginning

Front 74

impromptu

Back 74

(adj, adv) without preparation, offhand, suddenly or hastily done
(n) an extemporaneous composition or remark; a miniaml piece suggestive of improvisation

Hint 74

called on for some impromptu remarks

Front 75

infirmity

Back 75

(n) a weakness or ailment (physical, mental, moral, etc.)

Hint 75

the infirmity of old age

Front 76

mawkish

Back 76

(adj) excessively and objectionably sentimental; having a mildly sickening flavor

Hint 76

poignant without being mawkish

Front 77

remit

Back 77

(v) to send or hand in (as money), to cancel (as a penalty or punishment), forgive, pardon; to lessen, diminsih; to put off, postpone, defer

Hint 77

refused to remit the funds requested

Front 78

sartorial

Back 78

(adj) of or pertaining to a tailor or his work; having to do with clothes or dress (especially men's)

Hint 78

admire his sartorial splendor

Front 79

profligate

Back 79

(adj) given over to dissipation and self-indulgence, immoral; recklessly extravagant
(n) a person given to self-indulgent and wild spending

Hint 79

too profligate a use a public funds

Front 80

novice

Back 80

(n) one who is just a beginner at some activity requiring skill and experience (also used adjectivally)

Hint 80

mistakes typical of a novice