Test your basic knowledge |

Challenging Words

Subjects : english, vocabulary
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Commute/replace/superceded






2. Long harsh speech or verbal attack - diatribe - fulmination - harangue - vilification - obloquy






3. Influence or domination over






4. To injure or destroy the surface or appearance of; to damage the value - influence - or effect of; to face down - outshine






5. Know or understood by only a few - abstruse - arcane






6. Funeral bell/ omen of death






7. To please someone so as to gain an advantage. Ex - ... themselves with the leaders.






8. An orator who appeals to the passions and prejudices of his audience - false leader






9. Passion - excitement - fervor - ardency






10. To attack or assault - beset






11. Hackneyed - trite - commonplace - quotidian






12. Consistent/uniform in composition/ opposite of heterogeneous






13. Fearless - adventurous - audacious - plucky - gallant






14. Equivalent to - alike - parallel






15. Determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason






16. Stubborn; hardheaded; uncompromising - adamant - intransigent - intractable






17. Clearly and directly stated - opposite of implicit






18. Turmoil/disorder






19. Impossible to see through - preventing the passage of light - obscure






20. Airtight; secret; obscure; magical; mysterious






21. Fresh and clean; uncorrupted ex - A ... beach






22. To anger - to provoke - incite - vex - or pester






23. Self-evident truth - adage - maxim - apothegm






24. Effective writing or speaking






25. Using an inoffensive word instead of an offensive one






26. Undecorated - stern in appearance - bleak - grim






27. A ghost of a living person seen just before his or her death - apparition - bogeyman - phantasm






28. Rude and bad-tempered - grumpy






29. Not controlled by conscience; unscrupulous






30. Bell tower - room where bell is hung - steeple - spire






31. Coming into being; in early developmental stages






32. Deceptive scheme; clever trick






33. Growth process from conception to birth - pregnancy - gravidity






34. A compact or close knit body of people or animals or things - legion






35. Make impure/debase






36. Peripheral - irrelevant - digressive - extraneous diverting - inconsequential






37. Appease/mollify/to soothe or pacify






38. Flamboyant/verve/dash






39. Capricious; randomly chosen; tyrannical






40. Suffused with light: luminous - clear to the understanding: intelligible - sane. Ex - His ... history of this grim subject is scrupulously accurate - so far as I am able to judge ...






41. Ornament against evil/talisman/fetish






42. Imbue - permeate - penetrate - suffuse






43. Unsettled - swaying - fluctuate - vacillate - wandering from one place to another - waver






44. The trait of lacking enthusiasm for or interest in things generally






45. Plastic/phony/pretentious






46. Lacking energy or enthusiasm - lethargic - indolent - languid - like ready in spanish






47. Express grieve - deplore - bewail






48. Dormant - unused - unseeded - idle






49. Assuage - relieve - to make more bearable - placate






50. Expressing yourself easily or characterized by clear expressive language