Verbal Advantage – Level 02 Review Test

Verbal Advantage teaches that you should actively look for words you don't know while reading, notice them and then look them up, rather than skipping over them. Not guess from context: the book warns that context alone often leads to vague or wrong ideas of a word's meaning.

Redolent means giving off a pleasant smell, fragrant (a kitchen redolent of fresh bread). It can also mean suggestive of something. Not ambient, which means surrounding (ambient noise).

A numismatist collects or studies coins and medals (Greek nomisma, coin). Not philatelist, which is a stamp collector. A sommelier is a wine waiter and a prestidigitator is a magician.

To bruit (usually bruit about) means to spread a report or rumour widely (The news was bruited about the office). Aver means to state firmly, eschew to avoid, and impugn to attack as false.

Emollient means softening or soothing, to the skin or, figuratively, to feelings (an emollient reply). Not enervating, which means weakening or draining energy.

Indigenous means native to a particular place (indigenous plants). Not ingenuous, which looks similar but means innocent and unsuspecting.

Salacious means lustful or arousing sexual desire (salacious gossip). Not carnal, which simply means relating to the body and its appetites, not arousing desire. Clandestine means secret.

Assiduous describes someone who works with steady, careful, persistent effort (an assiduous student). Not incessant, which means never stopping, without the idea of care.

Rancor is deep, bitter, long-lasting resentment, much stronger than mere rudeness, so this pair is not synonymous. The other pairs all express hostility or ill will.

In poignant the g is silent and the gn sounds like the ny in canyon: POYN-yint. POYG-nint is a spelling pronunciation, and POY-int drops the n sound.

The Latin prefix con- (also com-, col-) means together or with. A convocation is a calling together of people for a meeting.

A tirade is a long (protracted), angry, critical (censorious), abusive (vituperative) speech. It is not enigmatic: a tirade is usually all too clear, not mysterious.

Elster recommends klan-DES-tin: stress on the second syllable, and a short final i as in tin. The versions ending in -tyn or -teen, and those stressing the first syllable, are newer variants that he advises against.

Latin vocare means to call (related to vox, voice). A vocation is a calling, and something evocative calls up memories or feelings.

H. W. Fowler wrote A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926), the classic guide to usage. Not Theodore M. Bernstein, who wrote The Careful Writer. Noah Webster is known for his dictionary.

Periphery literally means the outer edge of a physical area, as in the periphery of town. The periphery of experience uses it figuratively, for the edge of something abstract.

The nadir is the lowest point (the nadir of his career). Its opposite, the highest point, is the zenith.

Lucre means money or profit, but today it is used disapprovingly to suggest money gained dishonestly: ill-gotten gains, as in the phrase filthy lucre.

Elster points out that the editorial page (editorials, opinion columns, letters) uses the most sophisticated vocabulary in a newspaper, so it is the best place to find new words.

Haggard means looking exhausted, thin and worn, as from overwork, lack of sleep, worry or hunger. Eating too much is least likely to cause such a gaunt, wasted look.

All four words describe someone who spends money recklessly: wasteful. A prodigal son, for example, wastes his inheritance. Not foolish, which is too general.

Verbose means using too many words. Prolix, voluble, garrulous and loquacious all refer to wordiness or talkativeness. Taciturn is the opposite: habitually silent, saying very little.

A paragon is a perfect model or example. Ingenuity means inventive cleverness, so the inventor Thomas Alva Edison fits best.

The -lived in short-lived comes from the noun life, not the verb live. The traditional pronunciation therefore has a long i, as in strive (-LYVD).

A privative prefix takes away or negates meaning. In- means not, as in inaccurate or improvident. Not mis-, which means badly or wrongly (misuse), not simply not.

The traditional pronunciation of assuage (to ease or soothe) ends with a j sound: uh-SWAYJ, rhyming with page. The -ZH endings are newer and not recommended.

Authenticate, corroborate and substantiate all mean to confirm or prove something true. Investigate means to examine or look into, which does not mean proving anything.

Comprise means to consist of or include: the whole comprises its parts (The city comprises five boroughs). Careful usage avoids is comprised of; use is composed of or consists of instead.

Sensuous refers to pleasure experienced through the senses, such as art, music or colour. Sensual suggests physical, often sexual, gratification.

Latin currere means to run. A courier runs messages, a course is a path you run, and cursory means hasty, done on the run.

Enigmatic, cryptic and equivocal all describe something unclear or open to more than one interpretation: ambiguous. Not ambivalent, which means having mixed feelings.

Cursory means hasty and superficial (a cursory glance). Haphazard, slapdash and superficial are close in meaning. Protracted, long and drawn out, is the opposite.

To vacillate is to waver between choices or opinions, so someone who vacillates has trouble making up their mind. Not puts things off, which is to procrastinate.

Clement comes from Latin clemens, meaning mild, calm or gentle. That is why it describes mild weather (clement weather) and a merciful attitude (clemency).