Vocabulary Drill

Chapter 4

abase · lower in respect

abstained · kept oneself from doing

accede · give in

alibi · excuse

alternative · another choice

blathering · talking foolishly

circumspectly · cautiously

cogitating · thinking

collusion · secret cooperation

contraband · smuggled goods

contrivance · artificial arrangement

coruscated · sparkled

cowered · shrank away in fear

decry · strongly criticize

derision · ridicule or scorn

disclosing · revealing

discretion · individual choice

efficacious · effective

effulgent · brilliant

enormity · huge importance

estimable · worthy of high regard

extinguished · put out

fabricate · invent or construct

feeble · weak

foiled · defeat or frustrate

forsake · abandon

fortifications · walls that strengthen or protect

fortitude · strength of mind

hasty · fast or impatient

humiliation · destruction of self-respect or dignity

hypothetically · assuming for the sake of argument

immobilize · prevent from moving

inarticulate · unclear, at a loss for words

incensed · angry

incorrigible · depraved or unmanageable

infrastructure · basic framework

ingenious · clever and original

integral · essential

interjected · introduced or interrupted

linchpin · key element

metamorphosis · transformation

mocked · made fun of or imitated

neophyte · beginner

nonexistent · not present in reality

plodded · walked heavily or slowly

proficient · skillful or expert

quavered · spoke tremblingly

remanded · ordered back

shaft · beam shining through an opening

silhouetted · outlined against a lighter background

speculative · theoretical

supercilious · condescending

tinkering · repairing or experimenting

trembled · shivered

unmitigated · unrelieved