Verbal Ability 2

  1. Banal
    • predictable,cliche,borgin
    • His conversations consisted of banal phrases liek 'Have a nice day'.

    • Similar: bland,bromidic,hackneyed,shopworn,platitudinous
  2. Bolster
    • support, prop up
    • The presence of giant footprints bolstered the arguement that bigfoot was in the area.

    Similar: sustain,unerprinting,crutch, support,uphole
  3. Bombastic
    • pompous in speech and manner
    • Mussolini's speechs were mostly bombastic; his boasting and outrageous claims had no basis in fact.

    Similar: bloated, declamatory, grandiose, fustian
  4. Burgeon
    • to grow and flourish
    • Faulkner neither confirmed nor denied stories about himself, allowing rumor to burgeon where it would.

    Similar: bloom,flourish,thrive,prosper
  5. Burnish
    • tp polish
    • He burnished the silver coffee pot until it shone brightly.

    Similar: buff, polish, luster,scour
  6. Cacophony
    • harsh, jarring noise
    • The junior high orchestra created an almost unbearable cacophony as ther tried to tune their instruments.

    Similar: discord,chaos,noise,clamor
  7. Candid
    • impartial and honest in speech
    • The observations of a child can be charming since they are candid and unpretentious.

    Similar: direct, open, honest, straighforward, sincere
  8. Capricious
    • changing one's mind quickly and often
    • Queen's Elizabeth I was quite capricious; her courtiers could never be sure which one would catch her fancy.

    Similar: arbitrary, chance, fickle,changeable,inconstant
  9. Castigate
    • to punish or criticize harshly
    • Americans are amazed at how harshly the authorities in Singapore castigate perpetrators of what would be only minor crimes in the United States.

    Similar: admonish, scold, reproach, tax, reproach
  10. Catalyst
    • something that brings about a change in something else
    • The imposition of harsh taxes was the catalyst that finally brought on the revolution.
  11. Caustic
    • biting in wit
    • Dorothy Parker gained her caustic reputation from her cutting, yet witty, insults.

    Similar: acerbic,trenchant,mordant
  12. Chaos
    • great disorder or confused situation
    • In the most religious traditions, God created an ordered univiers from a chaotic void.

    Similar: clutter, disorder,jumble,disorderness,disarrangement, mess,snarl,turmoil
  13. Chauvinist
    • someone prejudiced in favor of a group that he or she belongs
    • The attitude that men mus be obeyed since they are inherently superior to women is commone amount male chauvinists.

    Similar: biased, partial,prepossessed,partisan,one-sided
  14. Chicanery
    • deception by means of raft or guile
    • Dishonest used-car salesmen often use chicanery to sell their beat-up old cars.

    Similar: artiface,deception,conniving,craftiness,misrepresentation,sneakiness,underhandedness
  15. Circumspect
    • cautious, aware of potential consequences
    • She was very circumspect in her language and behavior when first introduced to her fiancee's parents.

    Similar: alert, cautious,heedful,solicitous,wary,prudent
  16. Coalesce
    • to grow together to form a single whole
    • The sun and planets eventually coalesced out of vast cloud of gas and dust.

    Similar: blend, amalgamate, consolidate, fuse, unite
  17. Cogent
    • convincing and well-reasoned
    • Swayed by the cogent argument of the defense the jury had no choice but to acquit the defendant.

    Similar: convincing, persuasive,solid,valid,tellin
  18. Condone
    • to overlook, pardone or disregard
    • The prisoner was condoned due to newly discovered evidence.

    Similar: exculpate,excuse,pardon,remit
  19. Connoisseur
    • a person with expert knowledge or discriminaing tastes
    • I am a connoisseur of beer; only loving miller lite.
  20. Convoluted
    • intricated and complicated
    • My AP class was convoluted by my teacher.

    Similar: perplexing,complex,elaborate,tangled,knotty
  21. Corroborate
    • supporting evidence
    • Fingerprints provided corroboration for the witness's testimony that he saw the defendant in the victim's apartment.

    Similar: buttress,confirm,verify,substantiate, bear out, authenticate
  22. Credulous
    • too trusting; gullible
    • Although some 4 year-olds believe in the Easter Bunny, only the most credulous 9 year olds also believe in him.

    Similar: naive,susceptable,trusting
  23. Crescendo
    • Stedily incresing in volume or force
    • The crescendo of tension built in the movie as the killer was sneaking into the house.
Author
crh0016
ID
20880
Card Set
Verbal Ability 2
Description
B,C
Updated