Verbal Advantage – Level 07 Word 1 – Word 10 MCQ Test

Word List

• Word 1: Redress [REE-dres for the noun, ri-DRES for the verb]

Reparation, compensation, satisfaction for a wrong done.

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Synonyms of redress include amends, recompense (REK-umpents), retribution, rectification, requital (ri-KWYT-’l), and quittance (KWIT-’ns).

Redress may take the form of a monetary compensation or it may be an act or statement that makes amends, that repairs or compensates for a wrong. One may seek redress for a loss or injury, or one may demand redress for an insult. Webster’s New World Dictionary, third edition (1997), notes that redress “suggests retaliation or resort to the courts to right a wrong.”

The verb to redress (ri-DRES) means to repair, set right, make amends for, as to redress grievances, to redress one’s losses, to redress a wrong.

• Word 2: Anomalous [uh-NAHM-uh-lus]

Irregular, abnormal, out of place; deviating from what is usual or expected; not fitting in with a common type or conforming to a general rule.

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Synonyms of anomalous include inconsistent, unnatural, eccentric (ek-SEN-trik), and aberrant (a-BER-int).

Anomalous comes from Greek and means literally “not the same.” Something that is anomalous stands out because it is not the same; it is irregular, abnormal, or out of place: “Compared with the last five years, these statistics are anomalous.” “In that neighborhood full of ticky-tacky houses, the imposing old Victorian mansion was architecturally anomalous.” “Sometimes he was reluctant to express his opinion because he thought it would be perceived as anomalous.”

The corresponding noun is anomaly (uh-NAHM-uh-lee), which means a deviation from the norm, an irregularity: “As the only female executive in a company dominated by men, Harriet was an anomaly.” “His penchant for flamboyant clothes made him an anomaly in his conservative profession.” “If there is no other life in the universe, then our planet is an anomaly.”

• Word 3: Obsequious [uhb-SEE-kwee-us]

Subservient, submissive, obedient; ready and willing to serve, please, or obey.

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Here are some examples of how obsequious may be used: “When the king entered, all the members of the court bowed obsequiously.” “Bill’s supervisor expected the employees to be obsequious, attending to her immediate needs before dealing with anything else.” “When his wife found out about his affair, Larry tried everything he could think of to persuade her to forgive him, but she scorned all his obsequious gestures and banished him from her bed.”

The corresponding noun is obsequiousness, which means subservience, obedience, an eager desire to serve or obey: “Eleanor was disgusted with Michael’s obsequiousness whenever they entertained his boss.” “Some companies reward obsequiousness rather than initiative and independent work.”

Synonyms of obsequious include compliant, servile, slavish, ingratiating (word 13 of Level 3), deferential, fawning, toadying, truckling, and sycophantic. Antonyms include unruly, defiant, intractable (word 12 of Level 5), refractory (word 42 of Level 6), recalcitrant (ri-KAL-si-trant), and intransigent (in-TRAN-si-jent, word 4 of Level 8).

• Word 4: Didactic [dy-DAK-tik]

Instructive, designed or intended to teach.

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Synonyms of didactic include edifying, preceptive (pree-SEP-tiv), expository (ek-SPAH-zi-TOR-ee), hortatory (HOR-tuh-TOR-ee), and pedagogic (PED-uh-GAHJ-ik). Pedagogic is the adjective corresponding to the noun pedagogue (PED-uh-GAHG). A pedagogue is a teacher, but today the word is sometimes used disparagingly to mean a teacher who is strict, narrow-minded, or dogmatic.

The adjective didactic comes from the Greek didaktikos, skillful or adept at teaching. In modern usage didactic means designed or intended to teach. A didactic paradigm is a model or example that serves to instruct. A didactic treatise is an instructive treatise, one that teaches a lesson, principle, or rule of conduct. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that art should be didactic, for one of his famous precepts is that art should “instruct as well as delight.”

Didactic often connotes morally instructive or edifying. A great work of fiction may be as didactic as it is entertaining. Sometimes didactic has the negative connotation of inclined to lecture others in a tedious or excessively moralistic way: “The members of the committee soon grew weary of Barney’s didactic manner of telling everyone how the organization should be run.”

The corresponding noun didactics means the art or science of teaching. The word pedagogy (PED-uh-GOH-jee) may also refer to the art or science of teaching, but more often pedagogy means the teaching profession: “Vince and Janet decided that after they were married they would both pursue careers in pedagogy.”

• Word 5: Truncate [TRUHNG-kayt, like trunk + ate]

To cut short, shorten by cutting or lopping off.

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Synonyms of truncate include condense, abridge, abbreviate, and curtail. Antonyms include lengthen, extend, elongate, prolong, and protract (word 25 of Level 3).

Truncate comes from the Latin verb truncare, to maim, mutilate, shorten by cutting off, which in turn comes from truncus. As an adjective, the Latin truncus means maimed, mutilated, cut short or lopped off; as a noun, truncus denotes a tree that has been cut down, so that only the stump remains.

Probably because the history of truncate contains so much maiming and mutilation, the word usually suggests a more severe or substantial cutting or shortening than its synonyms condense, abridge, abbreviate, and curtail. Of all these words, curtail comes closest to the severity of truncate.

Truncate may refer to a cutting short in number, length, or duration. An editor truncates an article or a book by cutting out large sections of it. A heart attack or severe illness can truncate a life, cut it short early or in its prime. And a company might decide to truncate its workforce, perhaps by cutting out several departments. Of course, company executives would never use the word truncate. They would say they were downsizing, which makes it sound as if they’re just putting the company on a low-fat diet instead of engaging in an act of corporate mutilation.

The corresponding adjective truncated means cut short, abbreviated, terminated abruptly, as a truncated meeting, a truncated explanation, a brief period of economic growth and prosperity truncated by recession.

• Word 6: Abstemious [ab-STEE-mee-us]

Sparing or moderate, especially in eating or drinking: “The doctor prescribed an abstemious regimen to reduce her cholesterol level.” “After six weeks of being abstemious, he lost twenty pounds and felt ten years younger.”

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Abstemious may also mean characterized by abstinence, not partaking or indulging, especially in alcoholic beverages: “Their abstemious way of life was dictated by their strong religious beliefs.”

Abstemious comes directly from the Latin abstemius, which means abstaining from liquor. The corresponding noun is abstemiousness: “Vegetarianism is a form of abstemiousness.”

Synonyms of abstemious include sober, temperate, and ascetic (uh-SET-ik). Ascetic means rigorously abstemious, practicing strict and extreme abstinence or self-denial.

• Word 7: Ethereal [i-THEER-ee-ul]

Heavenly, not earthly; hence, very light, airy, delicate, or refined.

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Synonyms of ethereal include celestial (suh-LES-chul), lofty, elevated, tenuous (TEN-yoo-us), rarefied (RAIR-uh-fyd), and sublime (suh-BLYM). Antonyms include mundane (word 22 of Level 4), terrestrial, and sublunary (suhb-LOO-nur-ee).

In one of its senses, the word ether refers to an imaginary substance that the ancients believed filled the upper regions of space. In this primitive cosmology, ether was the lightest and most subtle of the elements, which included earth, water, and fire. At first the adjective ethereal meant pertaining to the ether, the upper regions of space, and therefore heavenly, celestial: ethereal beings are heavenly beings, creatures or gods that inhabit the upper regions. Out of this notion of elemental intangibility, ethereal came to mean very light, airy, of unearthly delicacy or refinement, as ethereal music, ethereal voices, ethereal beauty, or an ethereal presence or sensation.

• Word 8: Bombastic [bahm-BAS-tik]

Pompous, pretentious, inflated, overblown.

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Bombastic applies to speech or writing that is pompous, overblown, or pretentious, or to people who express themselves in this way.

Bombastic, grandiloquent (word 35 of Level 6), and turgid (TURjid) all denote extravagant language. Turgid, which by derivation means swollen, is used of an inflated style that obscures meaning. Grandiloquent suggests a self- conscious effort to be eloquent through the use of high-flown language. Bombastic suggests pomposity and pretentiousness that masks a lack of substance; the bombastic person speaks in a verbose and self-important way, but says little or nothing.

The corresponding noun is bombast (BAHM-bast). Originally, bombast was a soft, silky material used for padding. The word now means verbal padding, speech or writing that is wordy, puffed up, and pretentious.

• Word 9: Senescent [si-NES-int]

Aging, growing old, on the decline.

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The adjective senescent comes from the Latin senex, which means “old.” Senex is also the source of senile, exhibiting mental impairment due to old age, and senate, which means literally “a council of elders.”

Senescent may be used of persons, things, or ideas that are growing old, decrepit, or outworn, as a senescent leader, a senescent forest, a senescent custom, or a senescent industry.

The antonym of senescent is juvenescent (JOO-vuh-NES-int), growing younger. The corresponding noun is senescence (si-NESints), which means the process of becoming old or the state of being old. Wrinkles, hair loss, persistent aches and pains, and the inability to remember what you ate for breakfast are all telltale signs of senescence.

• Word 10: Pernicious [pur-NISH-us]

Deadly, fatal, destructive, causing great harm or injury.

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Synonyms of pernicious include injurious, ruinous, deleterious (word 33 of Level 4), noxious, baneful, malign (muh-LYN), and noisome (NOY-sum). Antonyms include healthful, wholesome, salutary (SAL-yuh-TER-ee), and salubrious (suh-LOO-bree-us, word 48 of this level).

Pernicious comes through the Latin perniciosus, destructive, ruinous, and pernicies, destruction, disaster, ultimately from nex, which means a violent death. By derivation, that which is pernicious leads to destruction, ruin, or death.

In modern usage pernicious suggests an insidious, evil, or corrupting influence that harms or destroys by undermining and weakening. The disease called pernicious anemia weakens the body’s ability to absorb vitamin B12. A pernicious influence is a deleterious, corrupting, or deadly influence. A pernicious habit is a harmful and potentially fatal habit. A pernicious rumor is insidious or evil. And a pernicious practice is destructive; it undermines the good intentions of others or corrupts society.