Barron's Book - Random Exercises

Front 1

prodigal

Back 1

spendthrift; extravagant person

Hint 1

A prodigal squandering his wealth

Front 2

self-effacement

Back 2

withdrawal from attention

Front 3

artifice

Back 3

trickery; guile

Hint 3

antonym: sincerity

Front 4

devious

Back 4

indirect

Hint 4

a devious argument is like a circuitous route

Front 5

officious

Back 5

meddlesome

Hint 5

helpful in an excessive, offensive manner

Front 6

penury

Back 6

extreme poverty

Hint 6

antonym: opulence

Front 7

discomfited

Back 7

abashed; disconcerted; exhibiting embarrassment

Hint 7

like being nonplussed is exhibiting bafflement

Front 8

drive

Back 8

noun - state of instinctual need (like thirst)

Hint 8

like smell is an example of a sense, thirst is an example of a drive

Front 9

skulduggery

Back 9

dishonest, unscrupulous behavior

Hint 9

mark of a swindler

Front 10

effrontery

Back 10

shameless boldness

Hint 10

antonym: diffidence

Front 11

taciturnity

Back 11

quality of being uncommunicative

Hint 11

antonym: loquacity, talkativeness, wordiness, garrulity

Front 12

gaucheness

Back 12

awkwardness

Hint 12

antonym: polish, refinement, culture

Front 13

precipitate (adj.)

Back 13

hasty, impetuous

Hint 13

antonym: cautious

Front 14

list (v.)

Back 14

to lean to one side or tilt (dealing with ships)

Hint 14

antonym: to be upright

Front 15

nice

Back 15

requiring or marked by great accuracy, delicacy, and skill

Hint 15

"to make a nice distinction in an argument" or "to hit a nice shot in golf"

Front 16

chary

Back 16

hesitant, reluctant to proceed

Hint 16

antonym: bold

Front 17

redoubtable

Back 17

fearsome

Hint 17

antonym: unimposing

Front 18

scad

Back 18

a large number or amount

Hint 18

antonym: dearth

Front 19

entrench

Back 19

To provide with a trench, especially for the purpose of fortifying or defending.
To fix firmly or securely

Hint 19

antonym: oust

Front 20

sumptuous

Back 20

Of a size or splendor suggesting great expense; lavish

Hint 20

antonym: restrained

Front 21

beguile

Back 21

To deceive by guile; delude.
To take away from by or as if by guile; cheat.
To distract the attention of; divert.
To pass (time) pleasantly.
To amuse or charm; delight.

Front 22

obliquity

Back 22

deviation from parallelism or perpendicularity

Hint 22

antonym: straightforwardness

Front 23

parsimonious

Back 23

Excessively sparing or frugal

Hint 23

antonym: generous

Front 24

abrogate

Back 24

To abolish, do away with, or annul, especially by authority.

Hint 24

antonym: ratify

Front 25

lugubrious

Back 25

Mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree.

Front 26

stupefy

Back 26

To dull the senses or faculties of.
To amaze; astonish.

Hint 26

antonym: enliven

Front 27

cogent

Back 27

Appealing to the intellect or powers of reasoning; convincing

Hint 27

antonym: unpersuasive

Front 28

credit

Back 28

To believe in; trust

Hint 28

antonym: to believe false

Front 29

stilted

Back 29

Stiffly or artificially formal; stiff.

Hint 29

antonym: informal

Front 30

ungainly

Back 30

Lacking grace or ease of movement or form; clumsy.
Difficult to move or use; unwieldy.

Hint 30

antonym: graceful

Front 31

abstemious

Back 31

Eating and drinking in moderation

Front 32

sobriety

Back 32

Gravity in bearing, manner, or treatment.

Hint 32

antonym: mirth

Front 33

mirth

Back 33

Gladness and gaiety, especially when expressed by laughter.

Hint 33

antonym: sobriety

Front 34

restiveness

Back 34

a feeling of impatience or uneasiness induced by external coercion or restriction,

Hint 34

antonym: docility

Front 35

petulance

Back 35

Unreasonably irritable or ill-tempered; peevish.
Contemptuous in speech or behavior.

Front 36

hallow

Back 36

To make or set apart as holy.
To respect or honor greatly; revere.

Hint 36

antonym: desecrate

Front 37

spur

Back 37

To incite or stimulate

Hint 37

antonym: discourage

Front 38

mealymouthed

Back 38

Unwilling to state facts or opinions simply and directly,
as from e.g. timidity or hypocrisy

Hint 38

antonym: sincere

Front 39

prevaricate

Back 39

To stray from or evade the truth; equivocate

Hint 39

antonym: to state truthfully

Front 40

nefarious

Back 40

Infamous by way of being extremely wicked.

Hint 40

antonym: exemplary

Front 41

begrudge

Back 41

To envy the possession or enjoyment of
To give or expend with reluctance

Hint 41

antonym: to grant freely

Front 42

bilk (v.)

Back 42

To defraud, cheat, or swindle
To evade payment of
To thwart or frustrate
To elude.

Hint 42

antonym: to pay in full

Front 43

occlude

Back 43

To cause to become closed; obstruct
To prevent the passage of

Hint 43

antonym: to open

Front 44

cavil (v.)

Back 44

To find fault unnecessarily; raise trivial objections

Hint 44

antonym: to commend

Front 45

recalcitrant

Back 45

Marked by stubborn resistance to and defiance of authority or guidance

Hint 45

antonym: tractable

Front 46

nettle (v.)

Back 46

To sting with or as if with a nettle.
To irritate; vex.

Hint 46

antonym: mollify

Front 47

paltry

Back 47

Lacking in importance or worth, trivial.
Wretched or contemptible.

Hint 47

antonym: munificent

Front 48

splenetic

Back 48

Affected or marked by ill humor or irritability.

Hint 48

antonym: cordial

Front 49

virulence

Back 49

Bitterly hostile or antagonistic; hateful.
Intensely irritating, obnoxious, or harsh.

Hint 49

antonym: harmlessness

Front 50

asperity

Back 50

Roughness or harshness, as of surface, sound, or climate.
Severity; rigor.
A slight projection from a surface; a point or bump.
Harshness of manner; ill temper or irritability.

Hint 50

antonym: kindness

Front 51

fetter (v.)

Back 51

To put fetters on; shackle.
To restrict the freedom of.

Hint 51

antonym: liberate

Front 52

boggle (v.)

Back 52

To hesitate as if in fear or doubt.
To shy away or be overcome with fright or astonishment.
To act ineptly or inefficiently; bungle

Hint 52

antonym: to remain unruffled

Front 53

hidebound (adj.)

Back 53

Stubbornly prejudiced, narrow-minded, or inflexible.

Hint 53

antonym: open-minded

Front 54

gambol (v.)

Back 54

To leap about playfully; frolic.

Hint 54

antonym: plod

Front 55

taper (v.)

Back 55

To become gradually narrower or thinner toward one end.
To diminish or lessen gradually

Hint 55

antonym: broaden

Front 56

high-handed

Back 56

Arrogant; overbearing; oppressive; arbitrary; violent

Hint 56

antonym: reasonable

Front 57

dejected

Back 57

Being in low spirits; depressed

Front 58

vouchsafe (v.)

Back 58

To condescend to grant or bestow (a privilege, for example); deign.

Hint 58

antonym: to prohibit

Front 59

jettison (v.)

Back 59

To cast overboard or off
To discard (something) as unwanted or burdensome

Hint 59

antonym: to salvage

Front 60

savant

Back 60

A learned person; a scholar.

Front 61

gamely

Back 61

in a plucky manner

Hint 61

antonym: fearfully

Front 62

crestfallen

Back 62

Dispirited and depressed; dejected.

Hint 62

antonym: haughty

Front 63

haughty

Back 63

Scornfully and condescendingly proud

Hint 63

antonym: crestfallen

Front 64

desultory

Back 64

Moving or jumping from one thing to another; disconnected
Occurring haphazardly; random

Hint 64

antonym: methodical

Front 65

pulchritude

Back 65

Great physical beauty and appeal.

Hint 65

antonym: unsightliness

Front 66

rancor

Back 66

Bitter, long-lasting resentment; deep-seated ill will.

Front 67

panegyric

Back 67

formal eulogistic composition intended as a public compliment.
Elaborate praise or laudation; an encomium.

Front 68

elegy

Back 68

A poem or song composed especially as a lament for a deceased person.

Front 69

auger

Back 69

Any of various hand tools, typically having a threaded shank and cross handle, used for boring holes in wood or ice.
A drill bit.

A machine having a rotating helical shaft for boring into the earth.
A rotating helical shaft used to convey material, as in a snow blower.

Front 70

augury

Back 70

The art, ability, or practice of auguring; divination.
A sign of something coming; an omen

Front 71

wick

Back 71

A cord or strand of loosely woven, twisted, or braided fibers, as on a candle or oil lamp, that draws up fuel to the flame by capillary action.

Front 72

scrimshaw

Back 72

The art of carving or incising intricate designs on whalebone or whale ivory.
A decorative article made by this art.

Front 73

eddy

Back 73

A current, as of water or air, moving contrary to the direction of the main current, especially in a circular motion.
A drift or tendency that is counter to or separate from a main current, as of opinion, tradition, or history.

Front 74

pseudopod

Back 74

temporary outgrowth used by some microorganisms as an organ of feeding or locomotion; used by amoeba for grasping

Hint 74

pseudopod is to amoeba as tentacle is to octopus

Front 75

minnow

Back 75

Any of a large group of small freshwater fishes of the family Cyprinidae, widely used as live bait.
Any of various other small, often silver-colored fishes.

Front 76

rectitude

Back 76

Moral uprightness; righteousness.
The quality or condition of being correct in judgment.
The quality of being straight.

Front 77

fret (v.)

Back 77

to provide with an ornamental design consisting of repeated and symmetrical geometric figures, often in relief, contained within a band or border.

Hint 77

fret is to wood as embroider is to fabric

Front 78

glaze (v.)

Back 78

To fit, furnish, or secure with glass: glaze a window.

Front 79

mendicant

Back 79

a beggar

Hint 79

mendicant is to beg as mentor is to guide

Front 80

sap (n.)

Back 80

The watery fluid that circulates through a plant, carrying food and other substances to the various tissues.
The fluid contents of a plant cell vacuole.
An essential bodily fluid.
Health and energy; vitality.

Front 81

apiary (n.)

Back 81

A place where bees and beehives are kept, especially a place where bees are raised for their honey; home for bees.

Front 82

ratiocinate

Back 82

To reason methodically and logically; to think

Front 83

canto

Back 83

One of the principal divisions of a long poem.

Front 84

vise (n.)

Back 84

A clamping device, usually consisting of two jaws closed or opened by a screw or lever, used in carpentry or metalworking to hold a piece in position.

Front 85

crowbar

Back 85

a tool used to pry things apart

Front 86

stag (n.)

Back 86

a male deer

Front 87

doe : stag

Back 87

female deer : male deer

Front 88

colt : stallion

Back 88

colt is a young stallion

Front 89

ants: colony

Back 89

one to group

Front 90

bees: swarm

Back 90

one to group

Front 91

chicks: clutch

Back 91

one to group

Front 92

crows: murder

Back 92

one to group

Front 93

clams: bed

Back 93

one to group

Front 94

ducks: brace

Back 94

one to group

Front 95

elks: gang

Back 95

one to group

Front 96

fish: school

Back 96

one to group

Front 97

geese: flock

Back 97

one to group

Front 98

hares: down

Back 98

one to group

Front 99

hens: brood

Back 99

one to group

Front 100

kangaroos: troop

Back 100

one to group

Front 101

leopards: leap

Back 101

one to group

Front 102

lions: pride

Back 102

one to group

Front 103

monkeys: troop

Back 103

one to group

Front 104

oxen: yoke

Back 104

one to group

Front 105

seals: pod

Back 105

one to group

Front 106

sheep: flock

Back 106

one to group

Front 107

swans: bevy

Back 107

one to group

Front 108

whales: pod

Back 108

one to group

Front 109

drake: hen

Back 109

male:female duck

Front 110

gander: goose

Back 110

male:female goose

Front 111

stallion:mare

Back 111

male:female horse

Front 112

boar:sow

Back 112

male:female pig

Front 113

buck:doe

Back 113

male:female rabbit

Front 114

ram:ewe

Back 114

male:female sheep

Front 115

goose:gaggle

Back 115

one to group

Front 116

goose:gosling

Back 116

old to young goose