Word List (Barron's)
QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
abridge - Answer: condense or shorten
abstemious - Answer: sparing in eating and drinking; temperate
abstract - Answer: theoretical; not concrete; nonrepresentational
abstruse - Answer: obscure; profound; difficult to understand
accessible - Answer: easy to approach; obtainable
acclaim - Answer: applaud; announce with great approval
acknowledge - Answer: recognize; admit
adulation - Answer: flattery; admiration
adversary - Answer: opponent
adversity - Answer: unfavorable fortune; hardship; a calamitous event
,advocate - Answer: urge; plead for
aesthetic - Answer: artistic; dealing with or capable of appreciation of the beautiful
affable - Answer: easily approachable; warmly friendly
affirmation - Answer: positive assertion; confirmation; solemn pledge by one who refuses to take an
oath
alleviate - Answer: relieve
aloof - Answer: apart; reserved
altruistic - Answer: unselfishly generous; concerned for others
ambiguous - Answer: unclear or doubtful in meaning
ambivalence - Answer: the state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes
analogous - Answer: comparable
anarchist - Answer: person who seeks to overturn the established government; advocate of abolishing
authority
anecdote - Answer: short account of an amusing or interesting event
animosity - Answer: active enmity
antagonism - Answer: hostility; active resistance
, antidote - Answer: medicine to counteract a poison or disease
antiquated - Answer: old-fashioned; obsolete
apathy - Answer: lack of caring; indifference
appease - Answer: pacify or sooth; relieve
apprehension - Answer: fear
arbitrary - Answer: capricious; randomly chosen; tyrannical
archaic - Answer: antiquated
arrogance - Answer: pride; haughtiness
articulate - Answer: effective; distinct
artifact - Answer: object made by human beings, either handmade or mass-produced
artisan - Answer: manually skilled worker; craftsman, as opposed to artist
ascendancy - Answer: controlling influence; domination
ascetic - Answer: practicing self-denial; austere
aspire - Answer: seek to attain; long for