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