English Vocabulary Semester Exam

Adulterate

render (something) poorer in quality by adding other substances, typically an inferior one.

Affinity

a spontaneous or natural liking or sympathy for someone or something.

Animosity

strong hostility

Adroit

clever or skillful in using the hands or mind

Ambiguous

(of language) open to more than one interpretation; having a double meaning.

Antithesis

a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else.

Brevity

shortness of time

Boorish

an unrefined, ill-mannered person.

Beguile

charm or enchant (someone), sometimes in a deceptive way.

Carcinogen

a substance capable of causing cancer in living tissue.

Chimerical

imaginary; not real

Coalesce

come together to form one mass or whole.

Debacle

a sudden and ignominious failure; a fiasco.

Eschew

deliberately avoid using; abstain from.

Endemic

(of a disease or condition) regularly found among particular people or in a certain area.

Ennui

a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.

Eclectic

deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

Flout

openly disregard (a rule, law or convention

Flaunt

display (something) ostentatiously, especially in order to provoke envy or admiration or to show defiance.

Factious

relating or inclined to a state of faction.

Garrulous

excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters.

Gloat

contemplate or dwell on one's own success or another's misfortune with smugness or malignant pleasure.

Hackneyed

(of a phrase or idea) lacking significance through having been overused; unoriginal and trite.

Hiatus

a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process.

Hallow

honor as holy