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Vocabulary in Context

Description: This exercise tests your range of English vocabulary
Number of Questions: 22
Created by:
Tags: english vocabulary Vocabulary
Attempted 0/22 Correct 0 Score 0

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

Marketers try every trick in the book to persuade the __________ public to spend their money and buy stuff they don’t really need.

  1. gullible

  2. incredulous

  3. ingenious

  4. convivial

  5. stoic


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Gullible means ‘unsuspecting’ or ‘trustful’. It is easy to deceive gullible people.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

Fashion and lifestyle magazines have a large number of readers because they bring _________ pleasure in luxury living.

  1. ephemeral

  2. vicarious

  3. bovine

  4. penurious

  5. clandestine


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Vicarious feelings are the feelings that we experience secondhand, i.e. without direct participation. This is something that we all experience when we watch a football match or a movie.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

Beethoven was a __________ musical genius.

  1. contentious

  2. consummate

  3. inveterate

  4. glib

  5. egregious


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Consummate means perfect.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

Whenever he was in town, he would show up at every party. He was a __________, foodie and sybarite par excellence.

  1. viviparous

  2. vivacious

  3. bon vivant

  4. joie de vivre

  5. ascetic


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

A bon vivant is a person who finds great pleasure in socialising.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

The little girl looked at the dolls with wide ____________ eyes, but her poor mother couldn’t afford to buy any of them.

  1. indefatigable

  2. ingenuous

  3. ingenious

  4. intrepid

  5. versatile


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Ingenuous means ‘frank’ and 'innocent'.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

She writes about art and music not from the point of view of an expert artist but from that of an enthusiastic _________.

  1. tyro

  2. virtuoso

  3. termagant

  4. kleptomaniac

  5. dilettante


Correct Option: E
Explanation:

A dilettante is a person who has an amateur interest in the arts. 

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

Our politicians are never tired of doling out feel-good _________ that create the illusion that all is well.

  1. maxim

  2. platitudes

  3. euphonies

  4. persiflage

  5. euphemisms


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

A maxim is a statement of a general truth.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

'Prosperity is just around the corner' was a popular _________ of the 1930s.

  1. persiflage

  2. anodyne

  3. cliché

  4. eulogy

  5. euphony


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Anodyne is a statement meant to alleviate fear.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

All eyes were on her as she strode across the stage with ____________ grace.

  1. equine

  2. piscine

  3. lupine

  4. vulpine

  5. feline


Correct Option: E
Explanation:

Feline means like a cat. It can also refer to a person who is graceful, light-footed or agile.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

The bodies of the five soldiers killed by the militants were severely mangled and ___________.

  1. castigated

  2. capitulated

  3. decapitated

  4. enervated

  5. alleviate


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

To decapitate is to cut off the head.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

We know very little about the planned mission because the crew members themselves have been __________ about it.

  1. leonine

  2. laconic

  3. magnanimous

  4. incendiary

  5. ursine


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Laconic means economical in speech.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

Shruti would not have married Rakesh if she had known that he was a hopeless __________ who had an uncontrollable need for alcohol.

  1. agnostic

  2. somnambulist

  3. kleptomaniac

  4. dipsomaniac

  5. incendiary


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

A dipsomaniac is an alcoholic.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

Rakesh was a real __________ and made no bones about advertising such prejudice. He would readily pick up a fight with anyone who criticised his religion or political affiliations.

  1. chauvinist

  2. sycophant

  3. dilettante

  4. iconoclast

  5. lecher


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

A chauvinist is a person having aggressive patriotic, religious or political views.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

The ____________ hostess made sure that her guests had access to every amenity.

  1. laconic

  2. punctilious

  3. perspicuous

  4. garrulous

  5. magnanimous


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Punctilious means showing great attention to detail.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

Martha has a __________ deformity. She was born with a clubfoot.

  1. congenital

  2. inveterate

  3. unconscionable

  4. egregious

  5. incorrigible


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Congenital means happening at or during birth.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

The _____________ who made off with a cache of jewels has been arrested by the police.

  1. kleptomaniac

  2. egomaniac

  3. altruist

  4. stoic

  5. chauvinist


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

A kleptomaniac feels a compulsive need to steal.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

He just goes about his business but that does not make him a ____________.

  1. ascetic

  2. misanthrope

  3. misogamist

  4. misogynist

  5. ambivert


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

A misanthrope is a person who hates people.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

The suspect answered the detective’s questions easily and fluently. His ________ responses made the detective suspicious.

  1. vociferous

  2. consummate

  3. glib

  4. nonchalant

  5. naive


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

A glib talker is suspiciously fluent or smooth.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

At least some of our politicians are gifted ____________ who are good at manipulating the press and appealing to regional or communal interests.

  1. misanthropes

  2. dermatologists

  3. pedagogues

  4. demagogues

  5. pachyderms


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

A demagogue is a political leader who gains popularity by appealing to popular desires and prejudices.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

My grandfather was a/an ____________ smoker. He couldn’t quit smoking even after he developed cancer of the lungs.

  1. congenital

  2. consummate

  3. egregious

  4. asocial

  5. inveterate


Correct Option: E
Explanation:

Inveterate means long accustomed, or deeply habituated.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

You can’t expect a _________ to be faithful to his wife.

  1. philanthropist

  2. bibliophile

  3. philologist

  4. philanderer

  5. asocial


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

A philanderer is a person who engages in extramarital sex.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the most appropriate alternative.

The invading army killed and tortured without mercy, compunction or regret. It was an ____________ act of cruelty.

  1. unconscionable

  2. notorious

  3. incongruous

  4. egregious

  5. invincible


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Unconscionable means unscrupulous.

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