Verbal Advantage – Level 01 Word 11 – Word 20 MCQ Test

Word List

• Word 11: Capricious [kuh-PRISH-us]

Unpredictable, tending to change abruptly for no apparent or logical reason.

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Synonyms of capricious include flighty, changeable, impulsive, and fickle. More difficult synonyms include erratic, whimsical (W(H)IMzi-kul), volatile (VAHL-uh-tul), and mercurial (mur-KYUR-ee-ul).

A caprice (kuh-PREES) is a sudden change of mind or change in the emotions. A person or a thing that is capricious is subject to caprices—to abrupt, unpredictable changes: “He’s so capricious, his mood changes with the wind”; “New England has a capricious climate”; “The stock market is notoriously capricious.”

Did you notice that my recommended pronunciation for capricious is kuh-PRISH-us, the second syllable rhyming with wish? You will hear educated speakers say kuh-PREE-shus, a pronunciation based on the corresponding noun caprice (kuhPREES). This variant has been recognized by American dictionaries since the 1960s. But authorities have preferred kuhPRISH-us since the 18th century, when pronunciation was first recorded. Current American dictionaries list kuh-PRISH-us first, and it is the only pronunciation in the Oxford English Dictionary. Have you ever heard anyone put an E in the middle of suspicious, judicious, or avaricious? Rhyme capricious with delicious.

• Word 12: Blatant [BLAYT-’nt]

Noisy, disagreeably or offensively loud, boisterous, clamorous: “the blatant sound of horns honking in heavy traffic.”

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Blatant is also used to mean sticking out in a glaring way, obtrusive, flagrant, as in “a blatant lie,” “a blatant error,” “a blatant attempt to impress the boss.”

In either sense, blatant suggests something conspicuous and disagreeable.

• Word 13: Obligatory [uh-BLIG-uh-tor-ee]

Required, necessary, binding, mandatory.

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Obligatory duties are those you must perform to fulfill an obligation or responsibility. Doing miscellaneous paperwork is an obligatory function of the clerical worker.

Do not pronounce the initial o in obligatory like the o in open. Pronounce it like the a in above.

• Word 14: Negligible [NEG-li-ji-bul]

Unimportant, trifling, of little consequence.

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That which is negligible can be neglected. A negligible concern can be disregarded; it is so trivial and insignificant that it warrants little or no attention.

• Word 15: Adamant [AD-uh-mint]

Unyielding, immovable, inflexible, refusing to give in, unshakable, unrelenting, implacable. “She was adamant in her opposition to the plan.”

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The adjective adamant comes from the noun adamant, which refers to a hard substance or stone, such as a diamond, that in ancient times was believed to be unbreakable. There is an old word adamantine (AD-uh-MAN-tin), still listed in current dictionaries but not often used; it means like adamant, very hard, unbreakable. The adjective adamant, which has replaced adamantine in current usage, means hard in the sense of inflexible, immovable, unyielding.

• Word 16: Sporadic [spuh-RAD-ik or spor-AD-ik]

Occasional, infrequent, irregular, not constant, happening from time to time, occurring in a scattered or random way.

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A business venture may have sporadic success. A gambler’s luck may be sporadic. Sporadic crimes are crimes scattered throughout a city or neighborhood. Sporadic outbreaks of a disease in the population are occasional, isolated outbreaks.

Antonyms of sporadic include constant, incessant (in-SES-int), and unremitting.

• Word 17: Vanguard [VAN-gahrd]

The forefront of an action or movement, leading position or persons in a movement: “They were in the vanguard of the war on poverty.”

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In its strict military sense, vanguard means the troops moving at the head of an army, the part of the army that goes ahead of the main body, an advance guard.

• Word 18: Concur [kun-KUR]

To agree, be in accord with, unite in opinion.

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Concur comes from the Latin con-, together, and currere, to run, flow, and means literally to run or flow together, go along with. That derivation has led to three slightly different meanings of the word.

First, concur may be used to mean to act together, combine in having an effect, as “Time and chance concurred in our success.”

Second, concur may be used to mean happen together, occur at the same time, coincide, as “His pay raise concurred with his promotion.”

The third and most common meaning of concur is to agree, as “Your story concurs with theirs”; “We concurred on almost every point of negotiation.”

• Word 19: Precociousness [pruh-KOH-shus-nis]

Early development or maturity, especially in mental ability.

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The noun precociousness and the adjective precocious come from the Latin praecox, which means premature, or literally, “ripening before its time.” Precocious is most often used of children whose intellectual or emotional development is unusually advanced. Precociousness, early development, is the opposite of retardation, slowness in development.

• Word 20: Aloof [uh-LOOF]

Apart, at a distance, removed, withdrawn, not wishing to speak or associate with others.

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The aloof person is emotionally reserved and keeps a cool distance from others. Aloofness means reluctance to get involved or take an interest in something.

Synonyms of aloof include unsympathetic, unapproachable, standoffish, and indifferent.