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1. The advent of e-mail revolutionized both business and personal communication.
• Parts: ad (to, toward); vent (come)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: The arrival of a notable person, thing, or event; The first season of the church year, leading up to Christmas and including the 4 preceding Sundays
• Antonyms: departure, elimination
• Variant forms: na
• Context Phrase:
• Advent – (noun)
• Synonyms: arrival, invention, entrance, emergence
2. An assiduous gymnast, she persevered until she scored a 10 on the balance beam.
• Parts: as (to, toward); sid (sit); ous (full of) (staying put)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: Showing great care and perseverance; Constant in application or attention
• Antonyms: lazy, careless, indifferent, indolent
• Variant forms: assiduously (adv); assiduousness (n)
• Context Phrase:
• Assiduous (adj)
• Synonyms: persistent, conscientious, diligent
3. Unlike her sister who is always kind and optimistic, she is captious and rude.
• Parts: capt (seize, grasp); ous (full of)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: Tending to find fault or raise petty objections; Intended to entrap or confuse (a captious question)
• Antonyms: complimentary, benign
• Variant forms: captiously (adv); captiousness (n)
• Context Phrase:
• Captious (adj)
• Synonyms: irritable, faultfinding, carping
4. Princess Diana, unlike most royals, did not condescend when she talked with ordinary citizens.
• Parts: con (together, with ); de (down); scend (climb)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: To show feelings of superiority; To do something in a haughty way, as though it is below one’s dignity
• Antonyms: na
• Variant forms: condescension (n); condescending (adj)
• Context Phrase:
• Condescend – (verb)
• Synonyms: deign, patronize, stoop
5. We hoped the crescendo of our cheers would disconcert our opponents.
• Parts: cresc (to grow)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: A gradual increase in loudness in a piece of music; a piece of music marked to be performed by increasing loudness; A progressive increase in force
• Antonyms: na
• Variant forms:na
• Context Phrase:
• Crescendo - noun
• Synonyms: na
6. Though the brakes malfunctioned, the derelict mechanic let the car pass inspection.
• Parts: de (completely down); re (back); linguere (leave)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: Shamefully negligent in not having done what one should have done; A piece of property; abandoned in a poor condition;one without a home or job
• Antonyms: responsible, reliable, competent
• Variant forms: dereliction (n)
• Context Phrase:
• Derelict – (adjective)
• Synonyms: delinquent, irresponsible, vagrant
7. As they danced, he enjoyed the fragrant perfume that emanated from her.
• Parts: e (out); manare (flow); ate (make, cause)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: To come or send forth; as from a source; To give out or emit something abstract or perceptible (to emanate strength)
• Antonyms: withdraw, return
• Variant forms: emanative (adj); emanator (n)
• Context Phrase:
• emanated - noun
• Synonyms: emit, issue, flow, exude, originate, disperse
8. Recognizing the exigency of the situation, the governor toured the areas devastated by the flood.
• Parts: ex (out); ag (drive, force, act)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition:Something that requires immediate attention or remedy; An urgent need or demand
• Antonyms: frivolity, insignificance, irrelevance
• Variant forms: exigent (adj); exigence (n)
• Context Phrase:
• Exigency - noun
• Synonyms: urgency, emergency, crisis, predicament
9. Sports writers frequently use hyperboles and alliteration to attract readers’ attention.
• Parts: hyper (above, over); ballein (throw)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: An exaggeration or extravagant statement used as a figure of speech, not meant to be taken literally. (This book weighs a ton.)
• Antonyms: na
• Variant forms: hyperbolical (adj) hyperbolism (n)
• Context Phrase:
• Hyperbole – (n)
• Synonyms: exaggeration, overstatement
10. The United States delivered tons of food to the indigent people in the war-ravaged areas.
• Parts: in (in); egere (want, lack) ent (full of)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: Lacking the means of subsistence; A needy or destitute person
• Antonyms: affluent, rich, opulent, wealthy
• Variant forms: indigence (n)
• Context Phrase:
• indigent – adj.
• Synonyms: (adj) poor, needy, destitute (n) pauper
11. The Secretary of Defense will serve as our interlocutor at the UN discussion on disarmament.
• Parts: inter (between, among); locut (talk); or (one who)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: Someone who takes part in a dialogue or conversation
• Antonyms: na
• Variant forms: interlocution (n.)
• Context Phrase:
• Interlocutor – ( n.)
• Synonyms: participant
12. Living in malaise, people tend not to be very creative or productive.
• Parts: mal (bad); aise (ease)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: a general feeling of discomfort, illness, or uneasiness whose exact cause is difficult to identify
• Antonyms: peace, satisfaction, comfort, contentment
• Variant forms: na
• Context Phrase:
• malaise – n.
• Synonyms: discontent, vexation, uneasiness, displeasure
13. The ne plus ultra in Latin dancing, he won several world championships.
• Parts: ne (nothing); plus (more); ultra (beyond)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: The perfect or most extreme example of its kind; The ultimate; The extreme or utmost point, especially of excellence or achievement
• Antonyms: na
• Variant forms: na
• Context Phrase:
• Ne plus ultra - n
• Synonyms: culmination, acme, paragon
14. This character does not appear on stage until the penultimate act of the play.
• Parts:pen (almost); ultimus (last)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: Next to last in a series of things; Second to last; The next to last (n)
• Antonyms: na
• Variant forms: na
• Context Phrase:
• Penultimate – adj.
• Synonyms: na
15. The professor’s ponderous speech and monotone lulled most of the audience to sleep.
• Parts: pond (heavy, weigh); ous (full of)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: Dull, laborious, or excessively solemn; having great weight; Slow, clumsy, graceless, or unwieldy from weight, lacking fluency
• Antonyms: light, buoyant, airy
• Variant forms: ponderosity (n), ponderously (adv)
• Context Phrase:
• ponderous - adj
• Synonyms: massive, verbose, wordy, pompous
16. Greek mythology is replete with the stories of Zeus and his progeny.
• Parts: pro (forth, forward); gen (birth); y (result of)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: A descendant or the descendants of; The result of creative effort
• Antonyms: ancestor
• Variant forms: progenitor (n)
• Context Phrase:
• progeny – n.
• Synonyms: children, offspring, posterity, descendant
17.When she filed the law suit, she certainly did not expect any recriminations.
• Parts: re (back, again) crimin (accuse); ation (act of)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: An accusation in response to one from someone else
• Antonyms: na
• Variant forms: recriminate (v.); recriminatory (adj.)
• Context Phrase:
• Recrimination – n.
• Synonyms: counteraccusation, retaliation, reprisal
18. We were shocked that the sanctimonious student had been caught cheating on the exam.
• Parts: sanctimonia (holy); ious (full of)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: Making a show of being morally superior to other people; Feigning piety or righteousness
• Antonyms: sincere, righteous, earnest
• Variant forms: sanctimoniously (adv); sanctimony (n)
• Context Phrase:
• sanctimonious - adj.
• Synonyms: self-righteous, holier-than-thou, hypocritical
19. When she did not earn the promotion by her own accomplishments, she lied and resorted to subterfuge against her colleagues.
• Parts: sub (under);fug (flee)-literally, (to escape secretly)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: Deceit used in order to achieve one’s goals; A statement or action resorted to in order to deceive
• Antonyms: candor, honesty, sincerity, veracity
• Variant forms: na
• Context Phrase:
• subterfuge – (n.)
• Synonyms: scheme, evasion, deception, artifice, trick
20. The serious students resented his vacuous comments about Shakespeare’s sonnets.
• Parts: vac (empty); ous (full of)
• Educated Guess:
• Definition: Having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence; Devoid of substance or meaning; Lacking in serous purpose or occupation
• Antonyms: meaningful, significant, insightful
• Variant forms: vacuity (n); vacuously (adv)
• Context Phrase:
• vacuous – (adj)
• Synonyms: stupid, foolish, inane, mindless, asinine
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