Can You Pass This College Vocabulary Quiz?

By: Annette
Estimated Completion Time
1 min
Can You Pass This College Vocabulary Quiz?
Image: Shutterstock

About This Quiz

Do you want to improve your vocabulary? Want to see how many tricky words you can remember from college? Curious whether your personal lexicon is impressive, abysmal, or simply just adequate? Then you're in the right place. Class has begun!

English is said to be one of the most complex languages of all. Beyond that, most college graduates or students are expected to know certain words and be able to use them correctly in a sentence. These words can be found in textbook and classrooms alike. So, how many do you think you remember from your intense days of learning? Remember cramming for the verbal section of the SAT? How many of those words can you recall? If you wish you could use words like "cogent" (powerfully persuasive) and "pertinacious" (stubbornly unyielding) correctly, or at least be able to define them, then head over to this quiz!

What are you waiting for? Take this first step to becoming (or seeming like) the smartest person in your circle! Let's see if you know words like "vitriolic" or "aberration" (they're not what you might think!). What about "ostentatious" or "conundrum"? (They mean pretentious and a difficult problem, respectively.) We promise we won't admonish you for not getting a perfect score. Don't abscond now without testing your knowledge first! See what we did there? Alright, now let's find out if you're a master of English vocabulary, or at least holding steady at a college level.

Put on your word whiz hat, and let's get started!

Callous
Loose
Hardened
Sympathetic​
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When someone is callous, they're emotionally hardened. "The events of his life had left him callous and unkind."

Advertisement

Debunk
Prove true
Dismiss
Expose a falsehood
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

To debunk something is to expose it, often while ridiculing it. "His theory on the evolution of plants through magic was debunked by scientists."

Advertisement

Empirical
Derived from science
Faith-based evidence
Pertaining to an Emporer
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Empirical evidence is derived from science and experimentation. "Rather than relying on theory, Jenny gathered empirical evidence that supported her ideas."

Advertisement

Bane
A boost
Something causing misery
A victim
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A bane is something that causes misery or even death. "This messy divorce is the bane of my existence right now."

Advertisement

Defunct
Banished
Foul
Inactive
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Something that is defunct is inactive and no longer functioning. "The now-defunct cupcake shop stood vacant and dark on the busy street."

Advertisement

Rife
Damaged
Paltry
Widespread
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When something is widespread, especially something negative, it's rife. "The local government was rife with hypocrisy."

Advertisement

Vitriolic
Harsh
Bitter
Malicious
All of the above
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

To be vitriolic is to be harsh, bitter and malicious. "His vitriolic tirade about office politics was not tolerated by management."

Advertisement

Dirge
A dance
A song of mourning
A parade
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A dirge is a song or hymn of mourning used at a memorial. "The funeral procession was accompanied by a sad dirge, sung by the church choir."

Advertisement

Bereft
Without a home
Sorrowful
Without a clue
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

To be bereft is to be sorrowful from the loss of something. "After the death of her husband, Susan was utterly bereft."

Advertisement

Requisition
Authoritative request
Redemption
Usurpation
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A requisition is an authoritative demand or request for property or materials. "The requisition came from upper management for five dozen cardboard boxes."

Advertisement

Panacea
Placebo
Remedy for all ills
A miracle solution
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A panacea is a perceived remedy for all ills. "Hank felt better after eating the M&M's, and that's why he assumed that chocolate was a panacea for everything that ailed him."

Advertisement

Aberration
Contemptible​
An illusion
Different from the norm
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

An aberration is something that is different from the norm. Someone with a genetic aberration may have a rare disability or talent.

Advertisement

Blandishment
Ignorance
Braggadocio
Flattery
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Blandishment is flattery that is intended to persuade someone. "His startling blandishment of the governor was a strategy to win funding for his organization."

Advertisement

Calumny
Treason
False accusation
Utter discontent
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Calumny is a false accusation or slander. "The poor girl did not commit the crime, but rather, she was a victim of vicious calumny."

Advertisement

Candor
Emotionalism​
Full of lies
Honesty
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Candor is the quality of being straightforward and honest. "The jury was impressed by the witness' candor."

Advertisement

Iconoclast
A celebrity
A challenger of cherished ideas
An outcast
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

An iconoclast is someone who challenges, or attacks, cherished ideas and institutions. "Harriet challenged the rules of art to such a degree that she became an iconoclast in many peoples' eyes."

Advertisement

Impinge
To end
To begin
To infringe upon
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

To impinge is to infringe upon something. "I don't mean to impinge upon your plans for marriage, but I must say that I do not care for the groom."

Advertisement

Abnegation
Rejection of doctrine
Resigning from something
Appeasing one's self
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Abnegation is to deny or reject a doctrine or belief. "Her lack of belief in her native Islam was pure abnegation."

Advertisement

Maverick
A shooter
A lone survivor
Someone with independent thought
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A maverick is someone who is independent in thought and action. "The maverick of the group looked outside the box and never took things for granted."

Advertisement

Pithy
Unkind
Selfish
Concise
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Something that is pithy is not only concise, but it's also full of meaning. "Her pithy haiku expressed so much in so few words."

Advertisement

Sanctimonious
Hypocritically pious
Without faith
Overly Judgemental
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

To be sanctimonious is to be hypocritically pious. "The corrupt priest was horribly sanctimonious, while on the side he was gambling with the church's money."

Advertisement

Stolid
Overly emotional
Firm
With little emotion
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

To be stolid is to show little emotion. "The judge was stolid and unforgiving, even while the witness wept and pleaded with him."

Advertisement

Travesty
A tragedy
An epiphany
A false imitation
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A travesty is something that misrepresents or imitates a style. "The artist said that he was an impressionist, but his painting of roses was an utter travesty in the eyes of those in the know."

Advertisement

Veracity
Viciousness
Full of truth
Full of humility
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Veracity refers to the unwillingness to tell lies. "The town council couldn't deny the young girl's veracity, as she described the true dangers of the local park."

Advertisement

Vituperate
To verbally​ attack
To condemn
To back down
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

To vituperate is to spread negative information about something, or verbally attack someone. "Whenever her husband got drunk, he would vituperate her all night long." This word is rarely used.

Advertisement

Abrogate
To dismiss
To revoke
To persuade
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

To abrogate is to formally revoke something. "The president knew the law was wrong, and therefore he chose to abrogate it with his own pen."

Advertisement

Abstruse
Difficult to​ penetrate
Without meaning
Lacking interest
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When something is abstruse, it's difficult to penetrate. "Because her comment was so abstruse, Mike had to pick it apart for about twenty minutes, searching for the meaning."

Advertisement

Accretion
An increase
A decrease
A halting
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Accretion is the natural growth or addition of something. "The love they had for one another led to the accretion of their little family, fortune and wellbeing."

Advertisement

Aggrandize
To grandstand
To wash in praise
To increase or enlarge
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When you aggrandize something, you expand it. "In light of new information, Sally was able to aggrandize the scope of her business."

Advertisement

Capitulate
To add to
To surrender
To capitalize on
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

To capitulate is to surrender under agreed circumstances. "The warring tribe's capitulation led to an eventual peace treaty."

Advertisement

Cleave
Separate​
To butcher
Tie together
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

To cleave is to separate or cut with a sharp instrument. "The mountain man was able to cleave the wood with one swipe of his ax."

Advertisement

Compunction
Empathy
Deep regret
Solace
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Compunction is the feeling of deep regret, often for a misdeed. "Although she was responsible for killing the butterfly, the little girl showed no compunction."

Advertisement

Consign
To resolve oneself
To give over to someone else for safekeeping
To sell
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When you consign something, you give it over to another for safekeeping and care. "Although she loved her stuffed monkey, she consigned it to her friend when she went on vacation."

Advertisement

Didactic
Repetitive​
Making no sense
Instructive
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When something is didactic, it is instructive - perhaps overly so. "That noisy mother was didactic, always telling the other mothers what they ought to do."

Advertisement

Dour
Strict
Brooding
Sad
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When someone is dour, they have a brooding ill humor. "The dour receptionist treated me like I didn't exist."

Advertisement

You Got:
/35
Shutterstock