Verbal Questions - May 2008

May 28

1. Prolific(adj): Producing offspring or fruit in great abundance; fertile; characterized by abundant production.
Synonyms: teeming, fecund, abundant.
Antonyms: barren.

2. Consonant(adj): in agreement; agreeable; in accord; consistent ; corresponding in sound, as words
Synonyms: concordant, congruous, conformant, accordant, compatible, congenial, harmonious.
Antonyms: dissonant

3. Boast(v): to speak with exaggeration and excessive pride, esp. about oneself; to glorify oneself in speech; talk in a self-admiring way
Boast(n): The act or an instance of bragging.
Synonyms(n): brag, braggadocio, fanfaronade, gasconade, rodomontade, vaunt
Synonyms(v): brag, crow, gasconade, rodomontade, vaunt

4. Accolade(n): any award, honor, an expression of approval; praise; a ceremonial embrace, as of greeting or salutation.
Synonyms: award, guerdon, honorarium, plum, premium.

5. Prig(n): A person who demonstrates an exaggerated conformity or propriety, especially in an irritatingly arrogant or smug manner.
Priggish(adj): exaggeratedly proper
Synonyms: Victorian, bluenosed, old-maidish, precise, prim, prudish, puritanical, strait-laced, stuffy, genteel

6. Straddling(n): to stand or sit with a leg on each side of; to stand wide apart, as the legs; the taking of a noncommittal position

7. Belie(v): to show to be false; contradict; to misrepresent.
Synonyms: refute, disprove, controvert, repudiate, confute, gainsay, besiege, betray, camouflage, contradict, counterfeit, deceive, defame, deny, disguise, disprove, distort, slander.
Antonyms: prove, verify, support.

8. Dissipated(adj): indulging in or characterized by excessive devotion to pleasure; intemperate; Wasted or squandered.
Synonyms: dissolute, incontinent, licentious, profligate, unbridled, unconstrained, unrestrained, wanton.

9. Nuance(n): a subtle difference or distinction in expression, meaning, response; a very slight difference or variation in color or tone
Synonyms: subtlety, nicety, hint, refinement, variation.

10. Pernicious(adj): causing insidious harm or ruin; injurious; hurtful
Synonyms: baleful, baneful, deleterious, detrimental, evil, fatal, malign, noxious, ruinous, toxic, lethal.

11. Gossamer(n): something extremely light, flimsy, or delicate; a fine, a fine film of cobwebs often seen floating in the air or caught on bushes or grass; a soft sheer gauzy fabric.

12. Elusive(adj): eluding clear perception or complete mental grasp; hard to express or define; difficult to describe.
Synonyms: baffling, cagey, cunning, eely, ephemeral, equivocal, evasive, fleeting, foxy, impalpable, insidious, intangible, lubricious, mysterious, saponaceous, slippery, subtle, tricky, wily.

13. Impede(v): to retard in movement or progress by means of obstacles or hindrances; to prevent or delay the start or progress of.
Synonyms: clog, curb, deter, disrupt, hamper, harass, hinder, interfere, obstruct, stymie, thwart.

14. Encumbrance(n): something that encumbers; something burdensome, useless, or superfluous; burden; hindrance; a dependent person; a charge against property; any obstruction that impedes or is burdensome.
Synonyms: complication, debt, embarrassment, handicap, hindrance, impediment, incubus, obstacle, perplexity.

15. Quarantine(n): a strict isolation imposed to prevent the spread of disease; to exclude, detain, or isolate for political, social, or hygienic reasons.
Synonyms: ban, confine, exclude, interdict, isolate, restrain, restrict.


Analogies:

1. Impede: Encumbrance

2.Quarantine: Isolate

ORKUT VERBAL DATABASE (Till May 23rd)


Today's Words:

1. Irrational(adj): not in accordance with reason, without the faculty of reason; deprived of reason ; utterly illogical; without or deprived of normal mental clarity or sound judgment, absurd; foolish.
Synonyms: unreasonable, ridiculous; insensate; illogical.

2. Friable(adj): easily crumbled or reduced to powder; crumbling.
Synonyms: fragile, frangible, brittle

3. Consensus(n): An opinion or position reached by a group as a whole; general agreement or concord.
Synonyms: unanimousness, harmony.

4. Torpor(n): A state of mental or physical inactivity or insensibility; a state of suspended physical powers and activities; sluggish inactivity or inertia
Synonyms: stolidity, listlessness, lethargy, sleepiness, slumber, drowsiness; apathy; numbness.

5. Mollify(v): to soften in feeling or temper, as a person; to reduce the rigidity of.
Synonyms: pacify, appease, soothe, assuage, conciliate, dulcify, placate, propitiate.

6. Beguile(v): to influence by trickery, flattery, etc.; mislead; to take away from by cheating or deceiving; to charm or divert
Synonyms: delude; bewitch, captivate, enchant, betray, cozen, hoodwink, humbug.


Issue Topic :

1. The best way to understand the character of a society is... only by studying its major cities.
(something similar to this)


Argument Topic:

1. Thirteen years ago, researchers studied a group of 25 infants who showed signs of mild distress when exposed to unfamiliar stimuli such as an unusual odor or a tape recording of an unknown voice. They discovered that these infants were more likely than other infants to have been conceived in early autumn, a time when their mothers' production of melatonin—a hormone known to affect some brain functions—would naturally increase in response to decreased daylight. In a follow-up study conducted earlier this year, more than half of these children—now teenagers—who had shown signs of distress identified themselves as shy. Clearly, increased levels of melatonin before birth cause shyness during infancy and this shyness continues into later life.

May 21

1. Bilious(adj): relating to or containing bile; irritable as if suffering from indigestion; extremely unpleasant or distasteful.
Synonyms: grumpy, crabby, cross, grouchy, dyspeptic; peevish; irritable; cranky.

2. Inveterate(adj): Firmly and long established; deep-rooted; settled or confirmed in a habit.
Synonyms: hardened, constant, habitual, set, fixed, rooted.

3. Hermetic(adj): Completely sealed, especially against the escape or entry of air; not affected by outward influence or power; isolated.

4. Obscure(adj): not clear or plain, not clear to the understanding.
Synonyms: dubious, ambiguous, vague, or uncertain, blurred, veiled, undistinguished, secluded, inconspicuous, dusky, somber, abstruse.
Antonyms: certain, clear, conspicuous, bright.

5. Hygienic(adj): conducive to good health; healthful; sanitary; tending to promote or preserve health.

6. Absolve(v): to free from guilt or blame or their consequences, to grant pardon for, To pronounce clear of guilt or blame; to relieve of a requirement or obligation.
Synonyms: exculpate, acquit, exonerate, vindicate.
Antonyms: blame.

7. Mollify(v): to soften in feeling or temper, to calm in temper or feeling; to reduce the rigidity of; soften.
Synonyms: appease, assuage, calm, conciliate, dulcify, pacify, placate, propitiate.

8. Mitigate(v): to lessen in force or intensity; to make less severe
Synonyms: allay, alleviate, assuage, comfort, ease, lessen, lighten, palliate.

9. Extricate(v): To release from an entanglement or difficulty; to liberate from combination.
Synonyms: loose, rescue, recover; disengage.

10. Assuage(v): to make milder or less severe; relieve; ease, to soothe, calm; to satisfy.
Synonyms: alleviate, lessen, relieve, mitigate, allay, appease, mollify.
Antonyms: intensify.

11. Verbiage(n): overabundance or superfluity of words, as in writing or speech; the manner in which something is expressed in words.
Synonyms: diffuseness, diffusion, pleonasm, prolixity, redundancy, verboseness, verbosity, wordage.

12. Overhaul(v): To examine or go over carefully for needed repairs; to dismantle in order to make repairs, to gain upon, catch up with, or overtake, as in a race.


Analogies:

1. Overhaul: Revision

2. Thermal: Heat


May 16

1. Sequential(adj): characterized by regular sequence of parts; following.
Synonyms: sequent, serial, subsequent, successional, successive, Sequential, consequent.
2. Latent(adj): potentially existing but not presently evident or realized; apparent; remaining in an inactive or hidden phase.
Synonyms: dormant, quiescent, veiled, abeyant, inactive, sleeping.
Antonyms: open, active.

3. Garrulous(adj): excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner; wordy or diffuse.
Synonyms: prating, babbling; verbose, prolix, loquacious.
Antonyms: reticent, uncommunicative, taciturn, close-mouthed.

4. Effervescence(v): to give off bubbles of gas, as fermenting liquors; to show enthusiasm, excitement, liveliness, etc.

5. Discordant(adj): being at variance; disagreeing;harsh; Not being in accord; conflicting; not in agreement or harmony.
Synonyms: dissonant; incongruous; Discordant; discrepant.

6. Harmony(n): agreement; accord;a consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement.
Synonyms: accord, concert, concord, symphony, tune; congruity; amity, friendship; consonance, conformity, correspondence, consistency.

7. Delegation(n): the body of delegates chosen to represent a political unit, as a state, in an assembly; a group or body of delegates; authorizing subordinates to make certain decisions.
Synonyms: commission.

8. Pride(n): the state or feeling of being proud; a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority; an excessively high opinion of oneself.
Synonyms: conceit, self-esteem, egotism, vanity, vainglory; amour-propre, ego, self-regard, self-respect.
Antonyms: humility.

9. Esteem(v): to regard highly or favorably; regard with respect or admiration.
Synonyms: reverence, veneration; account, admiration, appreciation, consideration, estimation, favor, honor, regard, respect.
Antonyms: disdain.


Analogies:

1. Discordant: Harmony

2. Delegation: Represent

3. Pride: Esteem

May 14

1. Appease(v): to bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; to satisfy; or relieve
Synonyms: pacify; soothe; assuage; allay; conciliate, propitiate
Antonyms: enrage; increase, arouse, sharpen; defy.

2. Estrange(v): to turn away in feeling or affection; make unfriendly or hostile; to divert from the original use or possessor; To withdraw; to withhold
Synonyms: alienate, disaffect, disunite

3. Succinct(adj): expressed in few words; characterized by conciseness or verbal brevity.
Synonyms: concise; terse; pithy, compendious, laconic

4. Dependant(adj): Contingent on another; Subordinate; Relying on or requiring the aid of another for support; addicted to a drug.

5. Oblivious(adj): unmindful; unconscious; unaware; forgetful; Lacking all memory
Synonyms: withdrawn, musing, daydreaming, dreamy, forgetful, distracted, abstracted.

6. Drift(n): a driving movement or force; impulse; pressure; overbearing power or influence;impetus.

7. Sequential(adj): characterized by regular sequence of parts; following;
Synonyms: sequent, serial, subsequent, successional, successive, Sequential, consequent.

8. Erudite(adj): characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly.
Synonyms educated, knowledgeable; wise, sapient

9. Bewilderment(n): The condition of being confused or disoriented; confusion resulting from failure to understand
Synonyms: befuddlement, discombobulation, fog, muddle, mystification, perplexity, puzzlement, stupefaction, stupor, trance, daze.

10. Keen (adj): Having a fine, sharp cutting edge or point; having or marked by intellectual quickness
Synonyms: cutting, bitter, caustic; piercing, penetrating, acute; discerning, astute, sagacious, shrewd, clever; avid; earnest, fervid.
Antonyms: dull.

11. Benevolent(adj): desiring to help others; charitable; characterized by or expressing goodwill or kindly feelings.
Synonyms: altruistic, beneficent, benign, benignant, goodhearted, kindhearted, humane, generous, liberal, philanthropic.
Antonyms: cruel, malevolent.


Analogies:

1. Finger print: Identification

2. Frequent: Rare


Issue Topics:

1."The study of history places too much emphasis on individuals. The most significant events and trends in history were made possible not by the famous few, but by groups of people whose identities have long been forgotten."

2. History is useful to find illusion of particular period of time they lived.


Argument Topic:

1. The following appeared in a newspaper feature story. "At the small, nonprofit hospital in the town of Saluda, the average length of a patient's stay is two days; at the large, for-profit hospital in the nearby city of Megaville, the average patient stay is six days. Also, the cure rate among patients in the Saluda hospital is about twice that of the Megaville hospital. The Saluda hospital has more employees per patient than the hospital in Megaville, and there are few complaints about service at the local hospital. Such data indicate that treatment in smaller, nonprofit hospitals is more economical and of better quality than treatment in larger, for-profit hospitals."

May 9

1. Affinity (n): A natural attraction, liking, or feeling of kinship.
Synonyms: partiality, fondness; sympathy, leaning, bent; similarity, compatibility.
Antonyms: dislike, aversion, dissimilarity, disparity

2. Invigorate (v): to give vigor to; fill with life and energy; energize; heighten or intensify;

3. Prolong (v): to lengthen out in time; extend the duration of; cause to continue longer; to lengthen in duration; to lengthen in extent.
Synonyms: draw out, elongate, extend, prolongate, protract, spin, stretch.
Antonyms: abbreviate

4. Appease (v): to bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment;to satisfy or relieve.
Synonyms: to allay, or relieve; assuage; pacify; soothe; conciliate, dulcify, mollify, placate, propitiate.

5. Repose (n): The act of resting or the state of being at rest; peace; calm, tranquillity.

6. Elucidate (v): to make lucid or clear; throw light upon; make clear and (more) comprehensible; to provide clarification; explain

7. Stoical (adj): impassive; characterized by a calm
Synonyms: imperturbable, cool, indifferent.
Antonyms: sympathetic, warm, demonstrative, effusive.

8. Rescind (v): to abrogate; annul; revoke; repeal; to invalidate (an act, measure, etc.) by a later action or a higher authority.
Synonyms: nullify; retract, withdraw; countermand, repeal, veto.

9. Maverick (n): someone who exhibits great independence in thought and action.
Synonyms: nonconformist, independent, loner.

10. Saunter (v): to walk with a leisurely gait; stroll; a leisurely walk (n).
Synonyms: amble, ramble, meander.

11. Wary(adj): watchful; being on one's guard against danger
Synonyms: alert, vigilant, guarded, circumspect, prudent.

12. Gulled (v): To deceive or cheat.


Analogies:

1. Conductor: score

2. Saunter: walk

3. Wary: gulled

4. He: she


Issue Topic:

1. The surest indicator of a great nation is not the achievements of its rulers, artists, or scientists, but the general welfare of all its people.