Vocab Review (Groups 1–6)
Review these words from groups 1–6, then take the quiz at the bottom of the page.
Group 1
convoluted | intricate; complex | The directions were so convoluted that we drove all around the city and got lost. |
cryptic | difficult to comprehend | The writing on the walls of the crypt was cryptic; none of the scientists understood it. |
futile | having no useful purpose; pointless | It is futile to try to explain the difference between right and wrong to your pet. |
impede | to slow the progress of | The retreating army constructed barbed-wire fences and destroyed bridges to impede the advance of the enemy. |
obscure | (adj.) relatively unknown | Scott constantly makes references to obscure cult films, and no one ever gets his jokes. |
obscure | (v.) to conceal or make indistinct | The man in front of me was so tall that his head obscured my view of the movie. |
quandary | a state of uncertainty or perplexity | Ann was in a quandary because she had no soap with which to do her laundry. |
indolent | lazy | Mr. Lan said his students were indolent because they had not done their homework. |
Group 2
insipid | uninteresting; unchallenging | That insipid movie was so boring and predictable. |
listless | lacking energy | Since he is accustomed to an active lifestyle, Mark feels listless when he has nothing to do. |
torpor | laziness; inactivity; dullness | The hot and humid day filled everyone with an activity-halting torpor. |
alienated | removed or disassociated from (friends, family, or homeland) | Rudolf felt alienated from the other reindeer because they never let him join in their reindeer games. |
alliance | a union of two or more groups | The two countries formed an alliance to stand against their common enemy. |
disparity | inequality in age, rank, or degree; difference | There is a great disparity between rich and poor in many nations. |
servile | submissive; like a servant | Cameron’s servile behavior finally ended when he decided to stand up to his older brother. |
suppressed | subdued; kept from being circulated | The author’s book was suppressed because the dictator thought it was too critical of the regime. |
Group 3
embellish | to make beautiful by ornamenting; to decorate | We embellished the account of our vacation by including descriptions of many colorful people and places we visited. |
florid | describing flowery or elaborate speech | The candidate’s speech was so florid that although no one could understand what he was talking about, they all agreed that he sounded good saying it. |
opulent | exhibiting a display of great wealth | Dances at the king’s palace are always very opulent affairs because no expense is spared. |
ornate | elaborately decorated | The carved wood was so ornate that you could examine it several times and still notice things you had not seen before. |
ostentatious | describing a showy or pretentious display | Whenever the millionaire gave a party, the elaborate decorations and enormous amounts of food were always part of his ostentatious display of wealth. |
poignant | profoundly moving; touching | The most poignant part of the movie was when the father finally made peace with his son. |
ebullience | intense enthusiasm | A sense of ebullience swept over the crowd when the matador defeated the bull. |
effusive | emotionally unrestrained; gushy | Gwyneth Paltrow was effusive in her thanks after winning the Oscar; she even burst into tears. |
Group 4
egregious | conspicuously bad or offensive | Forgetting to sterilize surgical tools before an operation would be an egregious error. |
flagrant | extremely or deliberately shocking or noticeable | His throwing the pie at his teacher was a flagrant sign of disrespect. |
frenetic | wildly excited or active | The pace at the busy office was frenetic; Megan never had a moment to catch her breath. |
gratuitous | given freely; unearned; unwarranted | The film was full of gratuitous sex and violence that was not essential to the story. |
superfluous | extra; unnecessary | If there is sugar in your tea, adding honey would be superfluous. |
alleviate | to ease a pain or burden | John took aspirin to alleviate the pain from the headache he got after taking the SAT. |
asylum | a place of retreat or security | The soldiers sought asylum from the bombs in the underground shelter. |
auspicious | favorable, promising | Our trip to the beach had an auspicious start; the rain stopped just as we started the car. |
Group 5
benevolent | well-meaning; generous | She was a kind and benevolent queen who was concerned about her subjects’ well-being. |
benign | kind and gentle | Uncle Charlie is a benign and friendly man who is always willing to help. |
mollify | to calm or soothe | Anna’s apology for scaring her brother did not mollify him; he was mad at her all day. |
reclamation | the act of making something useful again | Thanks to the reclamation project, the once unusable land became a productive farm. |
sanction | to give official authorization or approval | The students were happy when the principal agreed to sanction the use of calculators in math classes. |
dubious | doubtful; of unlikely authenticity | Jerry’s claim that he could fly like Superman seemed dubious—we didn't believe it. |
fabricated | made; concocted to deceive | Fabio fabricated the story that he used to play drums for Metallica; he had never actually held drumsticks in his life. |
hypocrisy | the practice of pretending to be something one is not; insincerity | People who claim to be vegetarian but eat chicken and fish are guilty of hypocrisy. |
Group 6
slander | false charges and malicious oral statements about someone | After the radio host stated that Monica was a space alien, she sued him for slander. |
spurious | not genuine | The sportscaster made a spurious claim when he said that the San Antonio Spurs were undefeated. |
astute | shrewd, clever | Kevin is financially astute; he never falls for the tricks that credit card companies play. |
clandestine | secretive | The spies planned a clandestine maneuver that depended on its secrecy to work. |
coup | a brilliantly executed plan | It was quite a coup when I talked the salesperson into selling me this valuable cuckoo clock for five dollars. |
disingenuous | not straightforward; crafty | Mr. Gelman was rather disingenuous; although he seemed to be simply asking about your health, he was really trying to figure out why you’d been absent. |
ruse | a crafty trick | The offer of a free cruise was merely a ruse to get people to listen to their sales pitch. |
stratagem | a clever trick used to deceive or outwit | Planting microphones in the gangster’s home was a clever, but illegal, stratagem. |
Instructions for the Quiz
Answer the questions.
Quiz