C
- The cacophony coming from the construction site next door made it impossible to concentrate on the test.
- It was a testament to unconditional love that the parents of the kindergartners could call the cacophony of the band recital “music.” Some of them even seemed to enjoy the screeching racket.
For a related word see dissonance.
- He was always cadging change from me, which added up to a lot of money over time, so eventually I presented him with a loan statement and started charging interest.
Match each word in the first column with its definition in the second column. Check your answers here.
| 1. cadge |
a. tolerate |
| 2. brook |
b. complex |
| 3. cacophony |
c. flourish |
| 4. burgeon |
d. bring up |
| 5. bucolic |
e. discordant sound |
| 6. boor |
f. polish |
| 7. broach |
g. pastoral |
| 8. byzantine |
h. mooch |
| 9. burnish |
i. rude person |
| 10. bridling |
j. restrain |
- Even though I resolve not to give in, my dog is always able to cajole an extra dog biscuit out of me just by looking at me with his big brown eyes.
- I can’t believe Wendy cajoled her way out of another mess; all she has to do is smile sweetly and everyone agrees to her every demand.
- Tom calumniated his rival by accusing him of having been unfaithful, but it backfired because when the truth came out, Tom ended up looking petty and deceitful.
Calumny means slander, aspersion.
- Whenever she was afraid someone would discover her own incompetence, she would resort to calumnies and claim everyone else was doing a bad job.
- Knowing all aspects of how to run her business, Emily has a canny eye for making a deal.
- In times of market uncertainty, canny investors may prefer to keep their money in gold rather than stock.
- She was forever violating the canons of polite conversation by asking questions that were far too personal for the circumstances.
- Adhering to the dictates of his religion’s canon meant that he couldn’t eat pork.
Canonical means following or in agreement with accepted, traditional standards.
- The canonical status of the standard literary classics has been challenged by the emergence of the work of feminist and third-world scholars, among others.
- Lee’s capricious behavior this weekend shouldn’t have come as much of a shock; its not as if he’s usually all that stable and predictable.
Having caprices (sudden changes of mind or actions) makes you capricious, which then means that you can be described as tending toward capriciousness.
- His cardinal error was in failing to bribe his sister; otherwise his parents might never have found out about the party and grounded him.
- According to classical definition, the cardinal virtues are: prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude.
- Though the book was primarily concerned with spiritual matters, its descriptions of earthly pleasures were sometimes shocking in their sheer carnality.
Carnal desires are those that relate to bodily or sexual appetite.
- Mac intended the carnival ride as an aphrodisiac, but the effects of the spinning actually dampened any carnal desires that were already there.
It may seem a little odd, but the word carnage is related—it means physical remains.
- Harriet’s expression as she slunk out of the room indicated that the castigation she had received was even worse than expected, and that we were probably in for a similar tongue-lashing.
- The rack was one of the many gruesome tools of castigation available to the medieval torturer.
- Enzymes are common biological catalysts which regulate the speed of many critical processes in the human body.
- Steve was hoping the romantic music would be all the catalyst the evening needed.
To catalyze is to act as a catalyst, to bring about.
- Some argue that while the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand catalyzed World War I, the war would still have happened in the absence of his death, even if it might have begun some months or years later.
- The fact that Caroline saw a stork the week before she became pregnant is merely a coincidence; it should not imply any causality whatsoever.
- Because the experiment tested so many factors at the same time, it is difficult to prove the causality of one agent over another.
- Even washing her hands repeatedly couldn’t stop the stinging of the caustic bleach she had used on her clothes.
- Her caustic wit was legendary—everyone enjoyed reading Sandra’s articles as long as he or she was not the target of her humor.
- Though the board censured the gallery for holding the exhibition, the event continued as planned, and even drew larger crowds than expected before the board’s outspoken disapproval.
n a judgment involving condemnation; the act of blaming or condemning
- The chairman’s misdeeds were only made public and held up to censure once it became certain that the board members could not be implicated.
Censorious (note the spelling) is an adjective that means tending to or expressing censure.
- Some seem to thrive on chaos in the workplace, but Lucy relishes a clean desk and predictable schedule.
Chaotic is an adjective that describes a state of chaos.
- When Shigeru arrived home after being robbed, he found his apartment in a chaotic state.
Originally, the Greek word for chaos meant space, or emptiness (think chasm), but now it has more to do with disorder.
Match each word in the first column with its definition in the second column. Check your answers here.
| 1. carnality |
a. slander |
| 2. canon |
b. criticize severely |
| 3. calumniate |
c. cautious |
| 4. censure |
d. unpredictable |
| 5. causality |
e. harsh criticism |
| 6. castigation |
f. primary |
| 7. capricious |
g. set of principles |
| 8. caustic |
h. substance that causes change |
| 9. cajole |
i. burning |
| 10. cardinal |
j. coax |
| 11. catalyst |
k. confusion |
| 12. canny |
l. bodily |
| 13. chaos |
m. relationship of cause and effect |
- Claudette was chary with her praise lest it go to Fredrick’s head.
- Chary of revealing his hiding place, Fido only reluctantly led us to the spot behind the sofa where we discovered a stash of fifty dog bones.
- The “time out” seems to have become a common parental means of chastening younger children, somewhat similar to being forced to sit in the corner wearing a dunce cap, but without the element of public humiliation.
- The piano teacher knew it would be difficult to chasten the student’s rebellious spirit without breaking it. The trick was to get her to sit still long enough to learn something without destroying her spontaneous creativity.
Chastened as an adjective means corrected, punished, or humbled.
- Rita was chastened by the effect her thoughtlessness had on those around her, and she resolved to consider her actions more carefully in the future.
- She was such a party chauvinist; her blind devotion made her refuse to acknowledge the changes underway that would lead to the party’s downfall.
- His chauvinism for Dutch soccer led him to paint everything he owned, including his car, orange.
A male chauvinist believes in the inferiority of women to men. This term is often followed by the word pig.
- As a true native New Yorker, Kenya remained a chic dresser long after she moved to Kansas; it’s too bad there was no one there to appreciate her sense of style.
- Jorge opened a chic boutique near the affluent suburb to cater to shoppers with fashionable tastes and expendable incomes.
- Bernard’s reputation for legal chicanery made judges and prosecutors distrust him, but his clients had a hard time seeing past his successes.
- I refuse to let such chicanery go unpunished!
- Walter Mitty’s life was a series of chimeras; the fantastic daydreams in which he starred were completely real to him.
Chimerical means illusory or improbable.
- The fantastic successes of some internet start-ups turned out to be chimerical once the tech boom ended.
- Choleric by nature, the boxer had no trouble mentally preparing to face his opponent.
According to Aristotle, choleric personalities were supposed to be caused by too much stomach bile. This book contains vocabulary words based on three other personality types that he identified based on bodily fluids … can you find the rest?
- Underneath Mr. Oleander’s churlish exterior, there’s a nice guy hiding somewhere; it’s just hard to tell because he is so rude most of the time.
A churl is someone who is churlish.
- Since everyone knew that Brad became a churl whenever he’d had too much to drink, they were just waiting for him to start saying inappropriate things and getting into fights at the party.
- The legislative and judicial branches of government serve to circumscribe the power of the president.
- She thought that living in the country would be peaceful, and was therefore surprised by constant noise stemming from the clangorous cowbells tied around the cow’s necks.
- It took a major internal crisis for the rival factions to coalesce around a single goal.
- Cosmologists theorize that matter began to coalesce into stars and galaxies about one billion years after the Big Bang.
- The presentation of the lifetime achievement award was a fitting coda both to the evening and to his years of work with the organization.
- I’ll only let you borrow the Ferrari if you can give me a cogent reason for why you need to drive more than one hundred miles per hour.
- He may have gotten the day off because his argument for why he deserved it was so cogent, or it could just have been that it was Saturday and he wasn’t scheduled to work anyway.
Match each word in the first column with its definition in the second column. Check your answers here.
| 1. chicanery |
a. boorish |
| 2. cogent |
b. come together |
| 3. coda |
c. illusion |
| 4. chary |
d. chastise |
| 5. chic |
e. convincing |
| 6. chauvinist |
f. trickery |
| 7. chasten |
g. blindly devoted member |
| 8. churlish |
h. concluding piece |
| 9. chimera |
i. wary |
| 10. choleric |
j. angry |
| 11. coalesce |
k. fashionable |
| 12. circumscribe |
l. loud |
| 13. clangorous |
m. limit |
- Knowing that he had lied about his previous experience colored our evaluation of his application.
- He may have colored the truth a little bit when he said he had jogged 20 miles, because he probably hadn’t run more than two.
- Although Allen’s salary at the Department of Social Work was hardly commensurate with his work experience and previous salary history, the challenge of the job and the feeling that he was giving back to the community made it worth his while.
- Only if the team won the national championship would the fans feel the team’s performance was commensurate with its potential.
- A “yes man” is characterized by his complaisance.
Complaisant means showing a willingness to please.
- The patriarch was most likely to be complaisant after he had eaten a sumptuous meal, so everyone saved his or her requests for such a time.
Don’t confuse this with complacent, which means self-satisfied.
- By the time my roommate and I parted ways, our things were such a confounded mess that it was hard to remember what belonged to whom.
You probably already recognize the prefix con- (or com-), which often means joining or bringing things together. Confound means to mix together or confuse things. To be confused is to be confounded.
- An internationally recognized connoisseur of wines, Natasha was often hired as a consultant for private collectors.
- Did you know that some people call themselves connoisseurs of water?
Be careful; this is one of those words with multiple definitions. The primary definitions are: logically following; important, but on the GRE it is more likely to be used as we’ve defined it here.
- Although he thought himself a respected and well-liked man, his consequential air was intensely annoying to those around him. He seemed to think he was the best thing since sliced bread.
- I contemn their attempts to curry favor; nothing is more contemptible than a sycophant.
Be careful not to confuse this with condemn, which seems very similar, but means to pronounce judgment against.
- Sometimes Lydia’s contentious nature really drove me crazy; it seemed as if she argued with everything I said simply out of habit or some sort of strange pleasure.
- The judges’ contentious decision of the title bout led some to claim that undue influence had been exerted in deciding the outcome of the fight.
- The contiguous United States include all the states except Hawaii and Alaska, since they are the only ones that don’t share at least one border with another state.
- The kitchen and dining room in our house are contiguous, making it easier to carry food and plates from one to the other.
- Wayne was hardly contrite for the practical joke he pulled; even though he said he was sorry, the twinkle in his eye and barely suppressed grin seemed to indicate otherwise.
- David’s contrite words were long overdue; if he had made his apologies last week, his sister would have been a lot more willing to accept them.
Contrition is regret or remorse.
- Once she expressed genuine contrition for wrecking my car I was willing to forgive her, though she would still have to pay for the damages.
- The convention of wearing a bridal veil was apparently begun by the Romans, who thought the veil would protect the bride from evil spirits.
- The conventions of modern poetry are much less rigid than those of classical poetry; in fact, it is difficult to find any two poets or critics who could even agree on definitions, much less rules.
Match each word in the first column with its definition in the second column. Check your answers here.
| 1. contiguous |
a. corresponding |
| 2. contemn |
b. willingness to comply |
| 3. color |
c. self-important |
| 4. convention |
d. argumentative |
| 5. consequential |
e. penitent |
| 6. contrite |
f. expert |
| 7. commensurate |
g. distort |
| 8. contentious |
h. scorn |
| 9. complaisance |
i. touching |
| 10. confound |
j. agreed-upon principle |
| 11. connoisseur |
k. confuse |
- Cynthia’s convoluted response to the question made her listeners think she was concealing something; it was as if she hoped they would forget the question as they tried to follow her answer.
- I do not know by what convoluted reasoning you arrived at the idea that you should have three weeks extra vacation, but I can’t argue with the conclusion!
- Stuttering is often a highly corrigible speech impediment, which can be corrected through speech therapy.
- The trend away from rehabilitative programming in prisons may indicate a decrease in the public’s belief that inmates are corrigible.
Corrigibility, a noun, is the capacity to be set right.
- The corrigibility of the damage to the train could only be determined after extensive inspection and testing.
The opposite of corrigible is incorrigible, meaning not reformable, uncontrollable, recalcitrant.
- Julius was an incorrigible daydreamer; no matter how much his teachers scolded him, he would much rather be hanging out in his own imaginary world than paying attention to his lesson.
- Her refusal to countenance any of what she called “back talk” made her an unpopular babysitter, but even the children had to admit that things were less chaotic when she was around.
- The dean fully countenanced the addition of the new athletic complex, saying that a healthy body would only aid in the development of a healthy mind.
Countenance can also be a noun, in which case it means mien, face, composure.
- The countenance of the woman in Dorothea Lange’s famous photograph, “Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California” is one of the most powerful and enduring images of the Great Depression; the woman’s face communicates such fear and despair, and yet also strength, that it has become iconic.
- The corrupt televangelist cozened millions of dollars out of his viewers by convincing them that he would perform miracles to make them all win the lottery.
For a related word, see guile.
- His craven cowardice in refusing to admit his mistake meant that a completely innocent person was punished.
- Steve lived in craven fear of being found out as a fraud.
- That sculpture in the lobby was so obviously a fake that it would convince only the most credulous person; after all, the “gold” left something that looked suspiciously like paint on our fingers when we touched the sculpture.
- Nathan was so credulous that he believed us when we told him that naugahyde comes from horse-like creatures called naugas, who eat plastic grass.
- The audience’s attention was held rapt as the orchestra worked its way to a crescendo, filling every nook in the hall with thunderous sound.
- The crescendo of RSVPs seems to have passed, as we now are receiving only one or two replies per day.
- Pat could hardly be thought culpable for spilling the cranberry juice on the floor, since he wasn’t even in the room at the time.
- If she is judged culpable of improper conduct, the governing board will decide her punishment.
Culpability is blameworthiness.
- His culpability was never in doubt once the auditors traced the embezzlement back to his department.
For a related word, see exculpate.
- Tricia’s cynicism was matched only by her own selfishness; she believed no one else was altruistic because she never was herself.
Someone who displays cynicism is called a cynic.
- The cynics say that these donations were made to receive public praise, but if that’s true, why were they made anonymously?