Magoosh Advanced Word List 3/7

temerity

noun: fearless daring Synonyms : audaciousness , audacity No child has the temerity to go in the rundown house at the end of the street and see if it is haunted.

probity

noun: integrity, strong moral principles The ideal politician would have the probity to lead, but reality gravely falls short of the ideal of morally upright leaders.

insouciance

noun: lack of concern Synonyms : carefreeness , lightheartedness , lightsomeness Surprisingly, Hank had become a high-powered CEO; his high school friends remembered him as "Hanky Panky", who shrugged off each failed class with insouciance.

cede

verb: relinquish possession or control ove Synonyms : deliver , give up , surrenderr Eventually, all parents must cede control of their growing childrens' educations and allow their offspring some autonomy.

lampoon

verb: ridicule with satire Synonyms : satirise , satirize Mark Twain understood that lampooning a bad idea with humor was the most effective criticism.

maunder

verb: wander aimlessly Max liked to maunder down by the seaside and pick up whatever sea shells he would stumble upon. verb: speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly Synonyms : blab , blabber , chatter , clack , gabble , gibber , palaver , piffle , prate , prattle , tattle , tittle-tattle , twaddle After drinking two espressos each, the animated couple would maunder loudly, annoying the other patrons in the coffee shop.

derelict

adjective: (of a person) not doing one's duties Synonyms : delinquent , neglectful , remiss The teacher was derelict in her duties because she hadn't graded a single student paper in three weeks. noun: (of a building) abandoned At one time the waterfront factories were busy and productive, but now they stand derelict and will be torn down.

perspicacious

adjective: acutely insightful and wise Synonyms : sagacious , sapient Many modern observers regard Eisenhower as perspicacious, particularly in his accurate prediction of the growth of the military.

moribund

adjective: being on the point of death; declining rapidly losing all momentum in progress Synonyms : stagnant Whether you like it or not, jazz as a genre is moribund at best, possibly already dead.

mordant

adjective: biting and caustic in thought, manner, or style Synonyms : caustic , corrosive , erosive , vitriolic,black , grim While Phil frequently made mordant remarks about company policy overall, he always was considerably gentler in discussing any person in particular.

provident

adjective: careful in regard to your own interests; providing carefully for the future In a move that hardly could be described as provident, Bert spend his entire savings on a luxurious cruise, knowing that other bills would come due a couple months later.

hagiographic

adjective: excessively flattering toward someone's life or work Most accounts of Tiger Woods life were hagiographic, until, that is, his affairs made headlines.

lugubrious

adjective: excessively mournful At the funeral, lugubrious songs filled the small church.

approbatory

adjective: expressing praise or approval Synonyms : affirmative , approbative , approving , plausive Although it might not be her best work, Hunter's new novel has received generally approbatory reviews.

vitriolic

adjective: harsh or corrosive in tone Synonyms : acerb , acerbic , acid , acrid , bitter , blistering , caustic , sulfurous , sulphurous , virulent While the teacher was more moderate in her criticism of the other student's papers, she was vitriolic toward Peter's paper, casting every flaw in the harshest light.

sagacious

adjective: having good judgement and acute insight Synonyms : perspicacious , sapient Steve Jobs is surely one of the most sagacious CEOs, making Apple the most recognizable and valuable companies in the world.

redoubtable

adjective: inspiring fear or awe Synonyms : formidable , unnerving On television basketball players don't look that tall, but when you stand in front of a seven-foot tall NBA player, he is truly redoubtable.

anemic

adjective: lacking energy and vigor Synonyms : anaemic After three straight shows, the lead actress gave an anemic performance the fourth night, barely speaking loudly enough for those in the back rows to hear.

plucky

adjective: marked by courage and determination Synonyms : gutsy,feisty , spunky Some scouts initially doubted Pedroia because of his short stature, but he is a plucky player, surprising everyone with his boundless energy and fierce determination.

punctilious

adjective: marked by precise accordance with details Synonyms : meticulous The colonel was so punctilious about enforcing regulations that men feel compelled to polish even the soles of their shoes.

portentous

adjective: ominously prophetic Synonyms : fateful , foreboding When the captain and more than half the officers were sick on the very first night of the voyage, many of the passengers felt this was portentous, but the rest of the voyage continued without any problems.

grandiloquent

adjective: puffed up with vanity Synonyms : overblown , pompous , pontifical , portentous The dictator was known for his grandiloquent speeches, puffing his chest out and using big, important-sounding words.

pecuniary

adjective: relating to or involving money Synonyms : monetary The defendent was found guilty and had to serve a period of community service as well as pay pecuniary damages to the client.

unforthcoming

adjective: uncooperative, not willing to give up information The teacher demanded to know who broke the window while he was out of the room, but the students understandably were unforthcoming.

illustrious

adjective: widely known and esteemed; having or conferring glory Synonyms : celebrated , famed , famous , far-famed , notable , noted , renowned Einstein was possibly the most illustrious scientist in recent history.

umbrage

noun: a feeling of anger caused by being offended Synonyms : offence , offense Since he was so in love with her, he took umbrage at her comments, even though she had only meant to gently tease him.

charlatan

noun: a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes Synonyms : mountebank You may call him a "motivational speaker," but I call him a charlatan--he doesn't have any idea what he's really talking about.

raconteur

noun: a person skilled in telling anecdotes Synonyms : anecdotist Jude is entertaining, but he is no raconteur: beyond the handful of amusing stories he has memorized, he has absolutely no spontaneous story-telling ability.

solecism

noun: a socially awkward or tactless act Synonyms : faux pas , gaffe , gaucherie , slip Mother Anna was always on guard against any solecism from her children and scolded them immediately if any of them talked out of place in public. This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

gaffe

noun: a socially awkward or tactless act Synonyms : faux pas , gaucherie , slip , solecism In a famous gaffe, Vice President Quayle attempted to correct the spelling of a grade school student, only to find that the child was correct.

prognostication

noun: a statement made about the future Synonyms : forecasting , foretelling , prediction When the Senator was asked about where the negotiations would lead, he said that any guess he could make would be an unreliable prognostication.

epiphany

noun: a sudden revelation or moment of insight Gary one day had an epiphany that he was a people person; he prompty quit his factory job and began working as a salesman.

recapitulation

noun: a summary (think of recap) Synonyms : recap , review Every point of the professors lesson was so clear that the students felt his concluding recapitulation was not necessary.

sinecure

noun: an office that involves minimal duties The position of Research Director is a sinecure: the job entails almost no responsibilities, nor does the person in that position have to answer to anyone.

semblance

noun: an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading Synonyms : color , colour , gloss While the banker maintained a semblance of respectability in public, those who knew him well were familiar with his many crimes.

litany

noun: any long and tedious account of something Mr. Rogers spoke to a Senate committee and did not give a litany of reasons to keep funding the program, but instead, appealed to the basic human decency of all present.

effrontery

noun: audacious (even arrogant) behavior that you have no right to Synonyms : assumption , presumption , presumptuousness The skateboarders acted with effrontery, skating through the church grounds and spray-painting signs warning trespassers.

prolixity

noun: boring verbosity Synonyms : long-windedness , prolixness , windiness , wordiness I loved my grandfather dearly, but his prolixity would put me to sleep, regardless of the topic.

duplicity

noun: deceitfulness, pretending to want one thing but interested in something else Synonyms : fraudulence A life of espionage is one of duplicity: an agent must pretend to be a totally different person than who she or he actually is.

anodyne

noun: something that soothes or relieves pain Synonyms : analgesic , pain pill , painkiller Muzak, which is played in department stores, is intended to be an anodyne, but is often so cheesy and over-the-top that customers become irritated. adjective: inoffensive Synonyms : analgesic , analgetic Wilbur enjoyed a spicy Mexican breakfast, but Jill preferred a far more anodyne meal in the mornings.

artlessness

noun: the quality of innocence Synonyms : ingenuousness , innocence , naturalness I, personally, found the artlessness of her speech charming.

primacy

noun: the state of being first in importance The primacy of Apple Computers is not guaranteed, as seen in the recent lawsuits and weak growth.

impute

verb: attribute (responsibility or fault) to something Synonyms : ascribe , assign , attribute He imputed his subpar performance on the test to a combination of stress and poor sleep.

flummox

verb: be a mystery or bewildering to Synonyms : amaze , baffle , beat , bewilder , dumbfound , get , gravel , mystify , nonplus , perplex , pose , puzzle , stick , stupefy , vex Mary's behavior completely flummoxes me: I never have any idea what her motivations might be.

importuned

verb: beg persistently and urgently After weeks of importuning the star to meet for a five-minute interview, the journalist finally got what she wanted.

quail

verb: draw back, as with fear or pain Synonyms : cringe , flinch , funk , recoil , shrink , squinch , wince Craig always claimed to be a fearless outdoorsman, but when the thunderstorm engulfed the valley, he quailed at the thought of leaving the safety of his cabin. This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

bowdlerize

verb: edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate Synonyms : bowdlerise , castrate , expurgate , shorten To receive an R rating, the entire movie was bowdlerized because it contained so much violence and grotesque subject matter.

hail

verb: enthusiastically acclaim or celebrate something Synonyms : herald Many college superstar athletes are hailed as the next big thing, but then flop at the professional level. This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study

enjoin

verb: give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority Synonyms : order , say , tell The government agency enjoined the chemical company to clean up the hazardous dump it had created over the years.

enthrall

verb: hold spellbound Synonyms : delight , enchant , enrapture , enthral , ravish , transport She was so enthralled by the movie that she never heard people screaming, "Fire! Fire!" in the neighboring theater.