Vocabulary Quiz: Understanding Words

Vocabulary Building

• Acquisitive: excessively interested in acquiring money or material things
• Affect: have an effect on; make a difference to
• Ambiguity: the quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness
• Ambivalent: having mixed feelings about someone or something; being unable to choose between two (usually opposing) courses of action

Emotional States

• Anguish: severe mental or physical pain or suffering
• Apathetic: showing or feeling no interest, enthusiasm, or concern
• Anxiety: a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something that may happen
• Apprehension: anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen
• Ardent: enthusiastic or passionate

Language and Communication

• Aphorism: a pithy observation that contains a general truth
• Assert: state a fact or belief confidently and forcefully
• Assertive: having or showing a confident and forceful personality
• Avaricious: having or showing an extreme greed for wealth or material gain
• Berate: to scold or condemn vehemently and at length

Literary Devices

• Bombast: language that is overly rhetorical, pompous, or grandiose
• Burlesque: a literary or dramatic work that mocks or ridicules through exaggeration and absurdity
• Cadence: the rhythmic flow or sequence of sounds or words in poetry or prose
• Catharsis: the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions

Attitudes and Behaviors

• Belligerent: hostile and aggressive
• Candid: honest, truthful, and straightforward in speech or expression
• Condescending: displaying an attitude of patronizing superiority
• Consternation: feelings of anxiety, dismay, or confusion, often caused by something unexpected or unsettling
• Contemptuous: showing disdain, scorn, or lack of respect

Philosophy and Ethics

• Cynicism: an attitude of distrust or skepticism, often characterized by a belief that people are motivated purely by self-interest
• Decadence: moral or cultural decline characterized by excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury
• Didactism: the practice or principles of teaching or instructing, especially in a moral or ethical sense
• Fatalism: the belief that events are predetermined by fate or destiny and therefore cannot be altered

Style and Tone

• Colloquial: language or expressions used in ordinary or familiar conversation
• Conciliatory: intended to placate or reconcile; showing willingness to make concessions or compromise
• Crass: lacking sensitivity, refinement, or intelligence; gross or insensitive
• Euphony: pleasing or sweet sound, especially in language; the quality of being melodious or harmonious in speech or writing

Test your knowledge of vocabulary words including acquisitive, affect, ambiguity, and more. Learn their meanings and improve your language skills.