Magoosh Advanced 2

propitiate

verb: to placate or appease

The two sons, plying their angry father with cheesy neckties for Christmas, were hardly able to [] him - the father already had a drawer full of ones he had never worn before or ever planned to.

martinet

noun: a strict disciplinarian

Synonyms : disciplinarian , moralist

The job seemed perfect to Rebecca, until she found out that her boss was a total []; after each project the boss would come by to scrutinize - and inevitably criticize - every little detail of the work Rebecca had done.

blinkered

adjective: to have a limited outlook or understanding

In gambling, the addict is easily [] by past successes and/or past failures, forgetting that the outcome of any one game is independent of the games that preceded it.

arch

adjective: to be deliberately teasing

Synonyms : condescending , patronising , patronizing

The baroness was [], making playful asides to the townspeople; yet because they couldn't pick up on her dry humor, they thought her supercilious.

quixiotic

adjective: wildly idealistic; impractical

Synonyms : romantic , wild-eyed

For every thousand startups with [] plans to be the next big name in e-commerce, only a handful ever become profitable.

impecunious

adjective: lacking money; poor

Synonyms : penniless , penurious , pinched

In extremely trying times, even the moderately wealthy, after a few turns of ill-fortune, can become [].

venial

adjective: easily excused or forgiven; pardonable

Synonyms : excusable , forgivable

His traffic violations ran the gamut from the [] to the egregious - on one occasion he simply did not come to a complete stop; another time he tried to escape across state lines at speeds in excess of 140 mph.

schadenfreude

noun: joy from watching the suffering of others

From his warm apartment window, Stanley reveled in [] as he laughed at the figures below, huddled together in the arctic chill.

cupidity

noun: greed for money

Synonyms : avarice , covetousness

Some believe people that amassing as much wealth as possible is the meaning to life - yet they often realize that [] brings anything but happiness.

jejune

adjective: dull; lacking flavor

Synonyms : insubstantial, insipid

Although many top chefs have secured culinary foam's popularity in haute cuisine, Waters criticizes it for being [] and unfilling.

adjective: immature; childish

Synonyms : adolescent , juvenile , puerile

Her boss further cemented his reputation for being [] after throwing a fit when the water cooler wasn't refilled.

execrate

verb: to curse and hiss at

Synonyms : accurse , anathematise

Though the new sitcom did decently in the ratings, Nelson railed against the show, saying that it was nothing more than an [] pastiche of tired cliché's and canned laughter.

sybarite

noun: a person who indulges in luxury

Synonyms : voluptuary

Despite the fact that he'd maxed out fifteen credit cards, Max was still a [] at heart: when the police found him, he was at a $1,000 an hour spa in Manhattan, getting a facial treatment.

quisling

noun: a traitor

History looks unfavorably upon []; indeed they are accorded about the same fondness as Nero—he who watched his city burn down while playing the violin.

jaundiced

adjective: to be biased against due to envy or prejudice

Shelly was [] towards Olivia; though the two had once been best friends, Olivia had become class president, prom queen, and, to make matters worse, the girlfriend of the one boy Shelly liked.

arriviste

noun: a person who has suddenly risen to a higher economic status but has not gained social acceptance

Synonyms : nouveau-riche , parvenu , upstart

The investment banker was the quintessential [], leveraging every connection and seizing every networking opportunity with ruthless ambition to climb the corporate ladder.

remonstrate

verb: to make objections while pleading

Synonyms : berate , chew out , chide , lambast

The mothers of the kidnapped victims [] to the rogue government to release their children, claiming that the detention violated human rights.

pyrrhic

adjective: describing a victory that comes at such a great cost that the victory is not worthwhile

George W. Bush's win in the 2000 election was in many ways a [] victory: the circumstances of his win alienated half of the U.S. population.

peremptory

adjective: bossy and domineering

Synonyms : autocratic , bossy

My sister used to [] tell me to do the dishes, a chore I would either do perfunctorily or avoid doing altogether.

mulct

verb: to defraud or swindle

Synonyms : defraud

The so-called magical diet cure simply ended up []ing Maria out of hundreds of dollars, but did nothing for her weight.

sententious

adjective: to be moralizing, usually in a pompous sense

The old man, casting his nose up in the air at the group of adolescents, intoned [], "Youth is wasted on the young."

curmudgeon

noun: a grouchy, surly person

Since Uncle Mike was the family [], each Thanksgiving he was plied with copious amounts of wine, in the hope that he would become less grouchy.

juggernaut

noun: a force that cannot be stopped

Napoleon was considered a [] until he decided to invade Russia in winter; after which, his once indomitable army was decimated by cold and famine.

Pollyannaish

adjective: extremely optimistic

Even in the midst of a lousy sales quarter, Debbie remained [], never losing her shrill voice and wide smile, even when prospective customers hung up on her.

imbroglio

noun: a confusing and potentially embarrassing situation

The chef cook-off featured one gourmand who had the unfortunate distinction of mixing the wrong broths, creating an [] that diners would not soon forget.

mettlesome

adjective: filled with courage or valor

For its raid on the Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Seal Team Six has become, for many Americans, the embodiment of [].

phantasmagorical

adjective: illusive; unreal

Those suffering from malaria fall into a feverish sleep, their world becoming a [] one; if they recover, they are unsure of what actually took place and what was simply a product of their febrile imaginations.

gerrymander

verb: to manipulate voting districts in order to favor a particular political party

The victorious party won the right to [] the city center to ensure their re-election.

protean

adjective: “pro-team”; readily taking on different roles; versatile

First-year consultants must adopt a [] work style, shifting seamlessly from interview notes to desk research to model inputs, depending on the team’s immediate needs.

picayune

adjective: trifling or petty (a person)

English teachers are notorious for being []; however, the English language is so nuanced and sophisticated that often such teachers are not being contrary but are only adhering to the rules.

excoriate

verb: to criticize very harshly

Entrusted with the prototype to his company’s latest smartphone, Larry, during a late night karaoke bout, let the prototype slip into the hands of a rival company—the next day Larry was []ed, and then fired.

maudlin

adjective: overly emotional and sad

Just as those who were alive during the 70’s are mortified that they once cavorted about in bellbottoms, many who lived during the 80’s are now aghast at the [] pop songs they used to enjoy—really, just what exactly is a total eclipse of the heart?

benighted

adjective: fallen into a state of ignorance

Far from being a [] period, The Medieval Ages produced some great works of theological speculation.

expurgate

verb: to remove objectionable material

The censor had to [] every reference to sex and drugs, converting the rapper's raunchy flow into a series of bleeps.

hedge

verb: to limit or qualify a statement; to avoid making a direct statement

When asked why he had decided to buy millions of shares at the very moment the tech company's stock soared, the CEO decided to [], mentioning something vague about gut instinct.

invective

noun: abusive or denunciatory language

The coach’s harsh [] toward the referee earned him a technical foul and a stern warning.

disabuse

verb: to persuade somebody that his/her belief is mistaken

As a child, I was quickly []ed of the notion that Santa Claus was a rotund benefactor of infinite largess—one night I saw my mother diligently wrapping presents and storing them under our Christmas tree.

fell

adjective: terribly evil

For fans of the Harry Potter series, the [] Lord Voldemort, who terrorized poor Harry for seven lengthy installments, has finally been vanquished by the forces of good

apotheosis

noun: exaltation to divine status; the highest point of development

As difficult as it is to imagine, the [] of Mark Zuckerberg’s career, many believe, is yet to come.

limpid

adjective: having clarity in terms of expression

Her [] prose made even the most recondite subjects accessible to all.

histrionic

adjective: to be overly theatrical

Though she received a B- on the test, she had such a [] outburst that one would have thought that she’d been handed a death sentence.

malapropism

noun: the confusion of a word with another word that sounds similar

Whenever I looked glum, my mother would offer to share "an amusing antidote" with me—an endearing [] of "anecdote" that never failed to cheer me up.

sartorial

adjective: related to fashion or clothes

Monte was astute at navigating the world of finance; from a [] perspective, however, he was found wanting—he typically would attempt to complement his beige tie with a gray suit and white pants.

factitious

adjective: artificial; not natural

The defendant’s story was largely [] and did not accord with eyewitness testimonies

parvenu

noun: a person who has suddenly become wealthy, but not socially accepted as part of a higher class

Despite their wealth, the Chinese FOBs were dismissed as []s by the old-money elites, who saw their flashy displays of luxury as a sign of their outsider status.

mellifluous

adjective: smooth and sweet-sounding

Chelsea’s grandmother thought Franz Schubert’s music to be the most [] ever written; Chelsea demurred, and to her grandmother’s chagrin, would blast Rihanna on the home stereo speakers.

tendentious

adjective: likely to lean towards a controversial view

Because political mudslinging has become a staple of the 24-hour media cycle, most of us, despite protestations to the contrary, are [] on many of today’s pressing issues.

sangfroid

noun: calmness or poise in difficult situations

The hostage negotiator exhibited a [] that oftentimes was more menacing than the sword at his throat, or the gun at his head.

vituperate

verb: to criticize harshly; to berate

Jason had dealt with disciplinarians before, but nothing prepared him for the first week of boot camp, as drill sergeants would [] him for petty oversights such as forgetting to double knot the laces on his boots.

palimpsest

noun: something that has been changed numerous times but on which traces of former iterations can still be seen

The downtown was a [] of the city’s checkered past: a new Starbucks had opened up next to an abandoned, shuttered building, and a freshly asphalted road was inches away from a pothole large enough to swallow a small dog.

bilious

adjective: irritable; always angry

Rex was [] all morning, and his face would only take on a look of contentedness when he’d had his morning cup of coffee.