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. Characterized by severe suffering or sorrow - serious or grave






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






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






4. To polish






5. Elaborated to excess: overdone - extremely excited: agitated - hectic - frenzied - heated Ex - She became ... when she heard that her child was missing






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






7. Mark of disgrace






8. Airtight; secret; obscure; magical; mysterious






9. Self contradictory






10. Commonplace - everyday occurrence - banal






11. Plastic/phony/pretentious






12. Sluggish/listless/apathetic






13. Mournful speech - funeral hymn - elegy






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






15. To overwhelm - to cover with water - to deluge - submerge..etc






16. Airtight; secret; obscure; magical; mysterious






17. Altruism/ charity






18. No variation; tediously the same in sound






19. Funeral bell/ omen of death






20. To perceive or recognize






21. Submission to another's will; respect; courtesy






22. Fluctuate between choices - to dither - vacillate - oscillate






23. Innocent - simple - frank - sincere - naiive - credulous - gullible






24. Purposeful exaggeration for effect - embellishment - inflation






25. Temporary; lasting a brief time






26. Credulous/ easily deceived/ simple minded/ingenuous/gullible






27. Fearless - adventurous - audacious - plucky - gallant






28. Dormant - unused - unseeded - idle






29. Effective writing or speaking






30. To taint or tarnish - besmirch - defile






31. Equivalent to - alike - parallel






32. Having bad connotation - disparaging - belittling - insulting






33. Social outcast






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






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






36. Ductile/easily shaped/pliable/adaptable






37. Speech in praise of someone - laud - extol - commend






38. Suggest - propose an explanation






39. Extremely careful; particular about details - scrupulous - picky - finicky - similar to articulate






40. Wordy/not succinct/ineloquent






41. Ornament against evil/talisman/fetish






42. Extremely generous or extravagant - exuberant - opulent - prodigal - profuse - bombastic






43. To attack or assault - beset






44. A firmly held opinion - especially a religious belief






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






46. An amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge






47. To grow together and form a single whole - amalgamate - fuse - condense






48. Easily aroused






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






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