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. To penetrate through spaces; to spread throughout - imbue - pervade






2. Clearly and directly stated - opposite of implicit






3. Not apparent/dormant/quiescent/inert like hidden energy






4. Well-spoken; expressive; articulate - meticulous






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






6. To add ornamental or fictitious details - adorn - bedeck - elaborate






7. Intricate and complicated - byzantine - labyrinthine - tangled






8. Make impure/debase






9. Bucolic - rural






10. To taint or tarnish - besmirch - defile






11. Plastic/phony/pretentious






12. A song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person






13. Courageous; brave; valiant; valorous - audacious - intrepid






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






15. Inertia/standstill/ stagnation






16. Relaxation - tranquility






17. Point of culmination/ pinnacle/ acme






18. Perceptive/sharp






19. Humble oneself in a demeaning way - cringe - fawn - toady - kowtow - bootlick






20. Controversy - argument - verbal attack - refutation






21. Deceptive scheme; clever trick






22. Using or showing good judgment - wise - sensible






23. To expand like a woman in labor






24. Wandering and unpredictable






25. Turmoil/disorder






26. Purposeful exaggeration for effect - embellishment - inflation






27. Old/antique/bygone/stale






28. Using an inoffensive word instead of an offensive one






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






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






31. Nonsensical talk - specialized language - argot - cant - slang






32. Eject/discard like in excess fuel






33. To disavow/reject validity of/deny/disown






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






35. Tending to be thrifty or cheap - prudence - sparing - parsimony






36. To polish






37. Mournful speech - funeral hymn - elegy






38. Ornament against evil/talisman/fetish






39. Undecorated - stern in appearance - bleak - grim






40. Imbue - permeate - penetrate - suffuse






41. Mark of disgrace






42. Book - usually large and academic






43. Not controlled by conscience; unscrupulous






44. To inspire; to permeate; to fill with a mood or tone - to pervade






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






46. Truthfulness






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






48. Fearless - intrepid - venturesome - valiant - valorous - game - gallant - plucky






49. 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 ...






50. Easily aroused