TOEFL Vocabulary Check

She hadn’t eaten all day, and by the time she got home she was ______.

• blighted

• confutative

• ravenous

• ostentatious

• blissful

Answer explanation

Ravenous (adj.) means extremely hungry.

The movie offended many of the parents of its younger viewers by including unnecessary ______ in the dialogue.

• vulgarity

• verbosity

• vocalizations

• garishness

• tonality

Answer explanation

Vulgarity (n.) means offensive speech or conduct.

His neighbors found his ______ manner bossy and irritating, and they stopped inviting him to backyard barbeques.

• insentient

• magisterial

• reparatory

• restorative

• modest

Answer explanation

Magisterial (adj.) means overbearing or offensively self-assured.

Steven is always ______ about showing up for work because he feels that tardiness is a sign of irresponsibility.

• legible

• tolerable

• punctual

• literal

• belligerent

Answer explanation

Punctual (adj.) means arriving exactly on time.

Candace would ______ her little sister into an argument by teasing her and calling her names.

• advocate

• provoke

• perforate

• lamente

• expunge

Answer explanation

To provoke (v.) is to incite anger or resentment; to call forth a feeling or action.

The dress Ariel wore ______ with small, glassy beads, creating a shimmering effect.

• titillated

• reiterated

• scintillated

• enthralled

• striated

Answer explanation

To scintillate (v.) means to emit or send forth sparks or little flashes of light, creating a shimmering effect; to sparkle.

Being able to afford this luxury car will ______ getting a better paying job.

• maximize

• recombinant

• reiterate

• necessitate

• reciprocate

Answer explanation

To necessitate (v.) means to make necessary, especially as a result.

Levina unknowingly ______ the thief by holding open the elevator doors and ensuring his escape.

• coerced

• proclaimed

• abetted

• sanctioned

• solicited

Answer explanation

To abet (v.) means to assist, encourage, urge, or aid, usually an act of wrongdoing.

Shakespeare, a(n) ______ writer, entertained audiences by writing many tragic and comic plays.

• numeric

• obstinate

• dutiful

• prolific

• generic

Answer explanation

Prolific (adj.) means abundantly creative.

I had the ______ experience of sitting next to an over-talkative passenger on my flight home from Brussels.

• satisfactory

• commendable

• galling

• acceptable

• acute

Answer explanation

Galling (adj.) means irritating, annoying, or exasperating.