Vocabulary Building Quiz

Vocabulary

• Balking: To stop abruptly.
• Ballad: A love song.
• Banal: Dull, commonplace.
• Bane: A burden.
• Bard: A poet, often a singer.
• Bashful: Shy, excessively timid.
• Battery: A device that supplies power, or assault.
• Beguile: To trick, deceive.
• Behemoth: Something of tremendous size or power.
• Benevolent: Marked by goodness or doing good.
• Benign: Favorable, not threatening.
• Bequeath: To pass on, give.
• Berate: To scold vehemently.
• Bereft: Devoid of, without.
• Beseech: To beg, plead, implore.
• Bias: A tendency, inclination, prejudice.
• Bilk: To cheat, defraud.
• Blandish: To coax by using flattery.
• Blemish: An imperfection, flaw.
• Blight: A plague, disease, or something that destroys hope.
• Boisterous: Loud and full of energy.
• Bombastic: Excessively confident, pompous.
• Boon: A gift or blessing.
• Bourgeois: A middle-class person, capitalist.
• Brazen: Excessively bold, brash.
• Brusque: Short, abrupt, dismissive.
• Buffet: To strike with force, or an arrangement of food set out on a table.
• Burnish: To polish, shine.
• Buttress: To support; something that provides support.
• Cacophony: A tremendous noise, disharmonious sound.
• Cadence: A rhythm, progression of sound.
• Cajole: To urge, coax.
• Calamity: An event with disastrous consequences.
• Calibrate: To set, standardize.
• Callous: Harsh, cold, unfeeling.
• Calumny: An attempt to ruin someone's reputation.
• Camaraderie: Brotherhood, jovial unity.
• Candor: Honesty, frankness.
• Canny: Shrewd, careful.
• Canvas: A piece of cloth for painting; to cover, inspect.
• Capacious: Very spacious.
• Capitulate: To surrender.
• Capricious: Subject to whim, fickle.
• Captivate: To get the attention of, hold.
• Carouse: To party, celebrate.
• Carp: To annoy, pester.
• Catalog: To list, enter into a list, or the list itself.
• Catalyze: To charge, inspire.
• Caucus: A meeting of people working toward a goal.
• Caustic: Bitter, biting, acidic.
• Cavort: To leap about, behave boisterously.
• Censure: Harsh criticism; to rebuke formally.
• Cerebral: Related to the intellect.
• Chaos: Absolute disorder.
• Chastise: To criticize severely.
• Cherish: To feel or show affection towards something.
• Chid: To voice disapproval.
• Choreography: The arrangement of dances.
• Chronicle: A written history; to write a history.
• Chronological: Arranged in order of time.
• Circuitous: Roundabout.
• Circumlocution: Indirect and wordy language.
• Circumspect: Cautious.
• Circumvent: To get around.
• Clairvoyant: Able to perceive things others cannot.
• Clamor: Loud noise; to insist loudly.
• Clandestine: Secret.
• Cleave: To divide into parts; to stick firmly together.
• Clemency: Mercy.
• Clergy: Members of Christian holy orders.
• Cloying: Sickeningly sweet.
• Coagulate: To thicken, clot.
• Coalesce: To fuse into a whole.
• Cobbler: A person who makes or repairs shoes.
• Coerce: To make someone do something by force or threat.
• Cogent: Intellectually convincing.
• Cognizant: Aware, mindful.
• Coherent: Logically consistent, intelligible.
• Collateral: Secondary; security for a debt.
• Colloquial: Characteristic of informal conversation.
• Collusion: Secret agreement, conspiracy.
• Colossus: A gigantic statue or thing.
• Combustion: The act or process of burning.
• Commendation: A notice of approval.
• Commensurate: Corresponding in size or amount.
• Commodious: Roomy.
• Compelling: Forceful, demanding attention.
• Compensate: To make an appropriate payment.
• Complacency: Self-satisfied ignorance of danger.
• Complement: To complete, make perfect.
• Complicit: Being an accomplice.
• Compliment: An expression of esteem or approval.
• Compound: To combine parts, or the combination itself.
• Comprehensive: Including everything.
• Compress: To apply pressure, squeeze together.
• Compunction: Distress caused by feeling guilty.
• Concede: To accept as valid.
• Conciliatory: Friendly, agreeable.
• Concise: Brief and direct.
• Concoct: To fabricate, make up.
• Concomitant: Accompanying.
• Concord: Harmonious agreement.
• Condolence: An expression of sympathy.
• Condone: To pardon, overlook.
• Conduit: A pipe or channel for something to pass through.
• Confection: A sweet, fancy food.
• Confidant: A trusted person.
• Conflagration: A great fire.
• Confluence: A gathering together.
• Conformist: Someone who conforms to others.
• Confound: To frustrate, confuse.
• Congenial: Pleasant, agreeable.
• Congregation: A gathering of people, especially for religious services.
• Congruity: The quality of being in agreement.
• Connive: To plot, scheme.
• Consecrate: To dedicate something.
• Consensus: An agreement of opinion.
• Consign: To give something over.
• Consolation: Comfort, relief.
• Consonant: In harmony.
• Constituent: An essential part, or a voter.
• Constrain: To restrict forcibly.
• Construe: To interpret.
• Consummate: To complete; to complete a marriage through sexual intercourse.
• Consumption: The act of consuming.
• Contemporaneous: Existing during the same time.
• Contentious: Having a tendency to quarrel or dispute.
• Contrite: Penitent, eager to be forgiven.
• Contusion: A bruise, injury.
• Conundrum: A puzzle or problem.
• Convene: To call together.
• Convention: An assembly of people or a rule, custom.
• Convivial: Characterized by feasting and merriment.
• Convoluted: Intricate, complicated.
• Copious: Profuse, abundant.
• Cordial: Warm, affectionate.
• Coronation: The act of crowning.
• Corpulence: Extreme fatness.
• Corroborate: To support with evidence.
• Corrosive: Tending to eat away, destroy.
• Cosmopolitan: Sophisticated, worldly.
• Counteract: To neutralize, make ineffective.
• Coup: A brilliant, unexpected act, or an overthrow of government.
• Covet: To desire enviously.