Vocab G: Unit 3 - Choosing the Right Word

substantive

Members of Congress were relieved to learn that the current peace negotiations involve ________ discussion of key issues.

cavorting

From the deck of our luxury liner, we occasionally caught sight of schools of propoises __________ playfully in the waves.

credence

Despite all the reports of "miraculous" cures, you would be well advised to withhold __________ until the drug has been fully tested.

decried

The investigating committee __________ the use of substandard materials and slovenly workmanship in the housing project.

dissemble

An accomplished hyprocrite usually finds it very easy to __________ his or her true feelings as circumstances dictate.

distraught

__________ with grief, they sat motionless for hours, staring blankly into space.

eulogy

Not surprisingly, the address was a notably evenhanded affair in which the speaker cleverly mixed __________ with admonition.

evinced

The extraordinary musical talents of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart __________ themselves at an amazingly early age.

exhumed

Though the work hadn't seen the light of day for over a century, a daring impresario __________ and staged it to great public acclaim.

feckless

When life was easy he was all dash and confidence, but in times of trouble his essentially __________ character came to the fore.

murky

From the bridge, the rescue team could just make out the blurred image of a car beneath the __________ waters of the river.

nefarious

The United States is cooperating with the other nations of the world in an effort to check the __________ trade in narcotics.

piquant

Far from being unpleasant, her slight foreign accent added an extra dash of spice to her already __________ personality.

primordial

The behavior of armies in wartime often evinces the __________ blood lust that civilized people have not yet fully overcome.

propinquity

The __________ of our ideas on handling the problem made it very easy for my colleague and me to produce the report in record time.

unwonted

His __________ interest in the state of my finances strengthened my suspicions that he was about to ask for a loan.

utopian

The new mayor is a curious mixture of the hardheaded pragmatist and the __________ reformer.

verbiage

The book has an interesting plot, but the author has practically smothered it in endless __________.

verdant

Unfortunately, the __________ hopes and aspirations of my youth have been somewhat blighted by the icy blasts of reality.

viscous

Trying to read your __________ prose is just like trying to swim upstream through custard.

substantive

Because the playwright had hurried through her first draft, she had to make __________ changes as she revised the dialogue.

piquant

In my opinion, the columnist's observations about contemporary media and popular culture are humorous and wonderfully ______________

propinquity

Given my birthday's _____________ to July 4th, my mother customarily decorates my wrapped gifts with red, white, and blue ribbons.

utopian

Plato's _______ description of the ideal society and its politics in The Republic exerted great influence on later philosophers like Aristotle.

feckless

The _____ efforts of out new quarterback caused the team to lose.