Vocabulary Workshop Level F unit 6 Choosing the Right Word

His conduct after his mother's death was so ___________ that I must conclude he was not in full possession of his faculties.

anomalous abnormal, irregular, departing from the usual

By casting ___________ on the ability and character of others, you reveal the misgivings you have about yourself.

aspersions damaging or derogatory statement; the act of slandering or defaming

Have you ever heard of anything as ___________ as an experimental technique to test the intelligence of cows?

bizarre extremely strange, unusual, atypical

Many of Mark Twain's contemporaries found his essays amusing, but others cringed at his ___________ commentary.

brusque abrupt, blunt, with no formalities

What hurt my feelings was not so much his refusal to give me a job as the ___________ way in which he told me that he had nothing for me.

brusque abrupt, blunt, with no formalities

He's so tight with his money that it's just about impossible to ___________ a nickel out of him, no matter how worthy the cause.

cajole to coax, persuade through flattery or artifice; to deceive with soothing thoughts or promises

I spent all morning trying to ___________ our frightened cat out from under the house.

cajole to coax, persuade through flattery or artifice; to deceive with soothing thoughts or promises

In Gulliver's Travels and other writings, Jonathan Swift ___________ the human race for its follies and wickedness.

castigated to punish severely; to criticize severely

I cannot understand how she was able to ___________ a meeting between two people who had refused to have anything to do with each other.

contrive to plan with ingenuity; to bring about through a plan

A favorite ploy of the ___________ is to appoint a convenient scapegoat upon whom a misguided populace can vent its anger.

demagogue a leader who exploits popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power

My uncle Rick seems unable to ___________ himself of the idea that he is still capable of the feats he performed in his youth.

disabuse to free from deception or error, set right in ideas or thinking

With the innumerable activities open to a young person like you, I can't understand why you should suffer from ___________

ennui weariness and dissatisfaction from lack of occupation or interest, boredom

Government bureaucracy was hobbling many programs with ___________ of red tape.

fetters a chain or shackle placed on the feet (often used in plural); anything that confines or refrains; (v.) to chain or shackle; to render helpless or impotent

For ancient Romans, fleeing from the battlefield was the most ___________ act of cowardice a soldier could commit.

heinous very wicked, offensive, hateful

The institutions of our society, far from being ___________ are in the process of change at this very moment.

immutable not subject to change, constant

An ___________ group at the convention refused to accept the choices of the regular party leaders.

insurgent one who rebels or rises against authority; (adj.) rising in revolt, refusing to accept authority; surging or rushing in or on

Her opinion of her own importance is so grotesquely exaggerated that we have come to regard her as a ___________

megalomaniac a delusion marked by a feeling of power, wealth, talent, etc., far in excess or reality

Although her new position bore a high-sounding title, it was really little more than a ___________

sinecure a position requiring little or no work; an easy job

While Joan was sleeping soundly in her tent, oblivious to nocturnal creatures, a snake made its ___________ way across the campsite.

surreptitious stealthy, secret, intended to escape observation; made or accomplished by fraud

If, as they now claim, they were not aware of the illegal character of their undertaking, why did they plan it so ___________?

surreptitiously stealthy, secret, intended to escape observation; made or accomplished by fraud

The coach put his faith in his team, hoping they would not ___________ the bounds of their training and violate protocol.

transgress to go beyond a limit or boundary; to sin, violate a law

He may have kept within the letter of the law, but there is no doubt that he has ___________ the accepted moral code.

transgressed to go beyond a limit or boundary; to sin, violate a law

The task of education, said the speaker, is to ___________ the primitive selfishness of the child into socially useful modes of behavior.

transmute to change from one nature, substance, or form to another

Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie books were so vivid that, as a child, I felt I was ___________ experiencing the realities of pioneer life.

vicariously performed, suffered, or otherwise experienced by one person in place of another

Living ___________ through her children, my neighbor pushes her sons and daughters into every extracurricular activity imaginable.

vicariously performed, suffered, or otherwise experienced by one person in place of another