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Difficult Words
1. This will take off a little heat off our beleaguered troops.
2. Her smile belied her real feelings.
3. The
4. Cruelty begets cruelty.
5. He bluntly avowed that he didn’t like it.
6. He bestowed on her an avuncular compassion.
7. Rock is worn down by a process of gradual attrition.
8. His career as a playwright had an auspicious start.
9. Some politicians have realized that there are more artful ways of subduing people than shooting or jailing them.
10. She used extremely wily tactics to impose the policy.
11. He colored the description with a few apocryphal touches.
12. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.
13. We accepted the invitation with alacrity.
14. Agrarian cultures set their planting calendars by the sun’s seasonal progressions.
15. Although at first reserved, after a few drinks he became quite affable toward us.
16. We all quailed before her furious looks and acerbic tongue.
17. In this text he has brought abstruse ideas within the comprehension of the lay mind.
18. The court absolved me from[of] all charges.
19. There was little aberration from the norm.
20. Most of the children will be condemned to spend their entire lives in abject poverty.
21. His deceit in not divulging all the facts is culpable.
22. The balmy weather is a herald of spring.
23. Aiding and abetting a suicide is a crime.
24. the covenant between the two countries to reduce armaments
25. He was himself a convivial host who loved good food, good wine and company.
26. Is hate the antithesis or a corollary of love?
27.
28. He redeemed himself with an appropriately contrite apology.
29. The guerillas have been making conciliatory advances towards the government.
30. His salary is not commensurate to his worth.
31. His cogent criticism made me pause.
32. In collusion with the secret police, the authorities framed him.
33. the traditional military clique of northern Muslims
34. approach a problem with the utmost circumspection
35. He has swallowed whole the dogma of some charlatan religionist and is parroting it about.
36. They preach celibacy but do not practice it.
37. The food has been adulterated to increase its weight.
38. He’s young, very headstrong, but he’s a good man underneath.
39. He takes pleasure in flouting social convention.
40. The drums beat a slow cadence.
41. Michael capitulated with a weary laugh.
42. While we’re able to broach the subject of sex, money rarely gets an airing.
43. She gave me her Harold Lloyd look of bemused chagrin.
44. These days you can’t get away with chicanery like that.
45. Borderline psychotics may have alternating periods of depression and ebullience.
46. In the 18th century art was seen, along with music and poetry, as something edifying.
47. In the
48. Esoteric Buddhism
49. The phrase has both exoteric and esoteric meaning.
50. Don’t be so exacting; be more lenient.
51. He offered a few glib remarks in exculpation of his actions.
52. Our brook is an evanescent freshet crossed by two bridges.
53. The way she never listened to me absolutely exasperated me.
54. We exhort adhesion to the pact on the part of all the signatory powers.
55. The criminal showed no compunction for his heinous crime.
56. I don’t like being condescended to.
57. The Roman Catholic Church has issued a compendium of its teachings.
58. Much blood has congealed on his sword.
59. The conflagration has been brought under control.
60. In the eyes of many of his constituents he has compromised himself.
61. These triangles are congruent with each other.
62. connive at a petty theft by a fellow office worker
63. connive with another prisoner in an escape from prison
64. It was odd indeed that a taciturn person like him should on that very day turn garrulous.
65. An aircraft retracts its wheels while flying.
66. Your behavior has besmirched [smeared, sullied, stained]the family name.
67. He passes his stools regularly.
68. It’s important to separate the wheat from the chaff.
69. More brawn, less brain.
70. He always such bombastic [ostentatious] things.
71. He boasts brazenly of having cheated in the exams.
72. His tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth.
73. He cleft his way thorough the crowd.
74. Don’t try to circumvent the law.
75. It was a little churlish of him not to have invited him in.
76. Dialogue forms the underpinning of the villagers’ way of life.
77. That’s enough banter; let’s start talking seriously.
78. It is a sultry day.
79. In her paintings perspective is always awry.
80. With the new shop, we are able to attract a wealthier clientele.
81. She has the poise to convince anyone that she is the right person for the job.
82. He sat poised with Zen-like placidity.
83. I don’t have the aplomb to carry off a trick like that.
84. To preclude disappointment, copies should be secured at once.
85. He has the upbeat manner of the eternal optimist.
86. The riddle remains inscrutable to us.
87. He fought a valiant battle to save the old house from being demolished.
88. I impeached him of [with] a crime.
89. Only the best actors can induce trepidation in the pit of an audience’s stomach.
90. The crowd expressed their jubilation at the news by going on a stampede.
91. Seething animosities lay barely hidden beneath under the surface.
92. There is still insurgent [guerilla, terrorist] activity in the frontier areas.
93.
94. She wrenched an apple off.
95. He had his teaching certificate revoked.
96. Communication with the outside world remains tenuous.
97. My father was irreparably addicted to gambling.
98. The streets are wedged solid with the chaos of poorly regulated parking and near-constant traffic gridlock.
99. the scrapings and scourings of the street
100. He was crunching a sweet in his mouth.
101. She doesn’t paint but just daubs.
102. This will detract much from his fame.
103. He was completely engrossed in the book.
104. Her clumsy shoes encumbered her as she ran.
105. I am afraid he has considerably embellished the truth.
106. He was highly elated about it.
107. They employed [used] blackmail to make him divulge a secret.
108. The bubbles gradually dissipated.
109. She expostulated with her husband about borrowing money from her relatives.
110. The teacher expatiated on her favorite subject.
111. Although he appeared to enjoy a jet-setting life, he eschewed publicity and avoided nightclubs.
112. She is a little old-fashioned, so you must be careful to observe the amenities.
113. The church declared[pronounced] an anathema on him.
114. An altercation developed between the catcher and the umpire.
115. If she plays her cards right, she may be able to make him pay alimony.
116. He was aghast at the suggestion.
117. It’s possible nowadays to secure a fortune from the proceeds of a single book.
118. Where did those allegations emanate from?
119. Pride does not consort with poverty.
120. I did what I could to allay his anger.
121. The company divested its unprofitable assets.
122. There is no need to debase yourself in front of her.
123. He made an inept[clumsy, crude] attempt to apologize but simply made the situation worse.
124. officials in the lower echelon
125. We held the project in abeyance.
126. The present disturbances will soon blow over.
127. Scientists claim the sea is only marginally contaminated.
128. It is patently[palpably] absurd to believe such things.
129. Antibiotics are flagrantly[widely] misused.
130. He provided her with an incisive appraisal of her work.
131. She has cancer and is slowly wasting away.
132. She is a nodding acquaintance.
133. His decision hinges on it.
134. We must take firm action in order to demonstrate our resolve.
135. In a moment of carefree bravado I invited her to spend the weekend with me.
136. He tried to gloss over the error.
137. I was worn to a frazzle by the time we left.
138. The sudden appearance of the company president flustered the factory foreman.
139. He filched a couple of dollars from his mother’s purse.
140. The ship ran afoul of floating debris.
141. He had a rough ride in his interview.
142. The scourge was controlled by the pesticide.
143. The stick tapers off to a sharp point.
144. My mother whipped up a quick breakfast for me.
145. This food will tide us over till spring.
146. The phrase was expunged from the draft of his speech.
147. A nuclear explosion would obliterate[wipe out] the city.
148. Take an eclectic approach.
149. She girded her waist with a belt.
150. He was already unsteady on his feet, and I toppled him over without difficulty.
151. The teacher was deluged with questions.
152. I defer to your judgment.
153. We surmised that it was his fault.
154. The boy became enamored of a girl.
155. I was dallying about in the park.
156. I crumpled a piece of paper into a ball.
157. She said she was enervated, which seemed a good description.
158. We have been living together for five years, and we’re still dithering over whether to marry…
159. I hate to fawn on the powerful.
160. I became estranged from the classmate.
161. The woman enjoined her daughter to be honest in all matters.
162. They were soon ensconced in a hotel.
163. They tallied up the election returns.
164. He reeked of garlic.
165. She ransacked her desk looking for her marriage license.
166. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of my memory.
167. The old building weathered the disaster.
168. He quickly accumulated colossal wealth.
169. The river’s basin extends[measures] 4,109 square miles.
170. He fully merited the honors he received.
171. Fire crews are hoping they can achieve full containment of the fire before the winds pick up.
172. An analogy can be drawn between the human heart and a pump.
173. My admonition fell on deaf ears.
174. His wife was an accessory to the murder.
175. He waded through waist-deep water.
176. He composed a valedictory[farewell] tanka.
177. They defeated the Russians soundly.
178. They just offered platitudes.
179. He spouted the current administration’s propaganda.
180. His razor slashed through the tyre.
181. We all scratched our heads over their motives.
182. They panted[gasped] for breath after the race.
183. The priest gravely admonished me to mend my ways.
184. These figures make my poor head spin.
185. The guide book is replete with useful information.
186. The ship was overrun by[with] rats.
187. The outcome quelled their complaints.
188. The umbrella retails at[for] 8 $.
189. My conscience prodded me to tell the truth.
190. He mulled it over for a second.
191. The strong drink intoxicated me in a matter of minutes.
192. I’ll be back in a jiffy.
193. She looked at me with a knowing smile.
194. The candle sputtered and went out.
195. They won’t leave you in the lurch.
196. We gossiped inanely about nothing.
197. She is lax about her appearance.
198. Tell me outright.
199. debunk a myth
200. He broke out in coarse invectives against me.
201. They were convicted on forensic evidence alone.
202. The rift between them has widened.
203. He believed religion was the opiate of the masses.
204. He’s fastening on that girl like a leech.
205. In the 19th century, inbreeding nearly led to the extinction of the royal family.
206. A plethora of new operators will be allowed to enter the market.
207. A gloating press reported a litany of Administration abuses of its power.
208. The piping of flutes wafted through the warm summer twilight.
209. She brushed her flaxen lengths of hair.
210. The baby was being suckled at her mother’s breasts.
211. Eddie wore blue jeans and a plaid shirt.
212. The brothers are engaged in an internecine feud.
213. I abstained scrupulously[religiously] from open criticism.
214. I can’t help feeling slightly wistful about the perks I’m giving up…
215. She kicked him hard in the groin.
216. The workers complained vociferously[vigorously] about their ill-treatment.
217. To the delight of many Americans, the prohibition on alcohol was repealed.
218. Eventually Nature will exact retribution for the way we have abused her.
219. A falling-out among the leaders caused[created] a schism in the party.
220. He had the temerity to file a grievance.
221. He was jilted by his girlfriend.
222. The tiger skulks through the long tall grass.
223. The old man replied to their questions with sedate[serine] dignity.
224. Administration officials have winnowed the list of candidates to three.
225. He is a man of staid appearance.
226. The President’s strident plea for support of the health bill polarized Congress.
227. a ribald[bawdy] comedy of manners
228. the piercing[raucous] clamor of a burglar alarm
229. It isn’t yet clear whether the new law can actually be applied retroactively.
230. Many movie stars have a large retinue of hangers-on.
231. rocky projectiles from the sides of the volcano
232. He is in the throes of creating a masterpiece.
233. a pestilent cold
234. “I don’t need help,” he said petulantly.
235. He grew peevish at my retort.
236. The papers say that modern youth is going to the dogs.
237. I think now that she probably was slightly spastic.
238. His hard sinewy body advertised his ruthlessness of purpose.
239. Sartre reveled in intellectual adventure.
240. His affection was not abated by his peccadilloes.
241. He has a tubby[stubby, rotund] body.
242. I’ll spring for the grub.
243. Mark Twain’s wife was so prudish she felt it necessary to bowdlerize her husband’s prose.
244. He crowed to reporters that he had rejected their offer.
245. I was scared by the hullabaloo over my arrival.
246. The puppy squealed with pain.
247. The bird sat preening its feathers in the sun.
248.
249. It was first published in 1914 in a highly expurgated version.
250. The boy was stung by the taunts of his playmates.
251. The plucky schoolgirl amazed doctors at the hospital by hanging on to life for nearly two months.
252. They strafed the palace from a helicopter.
253. He glowered and glared, but she steadfastly refused to look his way.
254. raise[cause, make] a rumpus
255. Daphne was so guileless that Claire had no option but to believe her.
256.
257. He was killed in a tavern brawl over a woman.
258. The cancer went into remission.
259. a diaphanous veil
260. His errant son at Dartmouth ran up debts of ￡2250.
261. The dug-outs were secure from everything but a direct hit.
262. mollusks that live on the waterline
263. He seems to have lapsed back into heavy drinking.
264. The baby gets cranky at bedtime.
265. A large rock jutted over the edge of the ravine.
266. a ravenous[wolfish] appetite
267. a selfish, gluttonous and lazy person
268. The boulder was dislodged by the vibration of the mobbing train.
269. It takes a few weeks for the chrysalis to metamorphose into a butterfly.
270. The last chapter of this convoluted tale is yet to be written.
271. The suddenness of the attack made him flinch perceptibly.
272. The issue was added to the agenda of the party’s conservative caucus.
273. It was a mere calumny, without a shadow of proof.
274. The enemy was put to rout.
275. The biography brings out into clear view all the salient features of his career.
276. It transpired that the fire was caused by a careless smoker.
277.
278. This ore assays high in gold.
279. a gross[egregious, blatant] distortion of the truth
280.
A large convoy of supply
ships set sail for
281. Armed marauders prey on freighters.
282. immolate oneself
283. Whales take twenty-four hours to copulate.
284. She is imbued with the righteous moral fervor of a revolutionary.
285. There is not a tithe of evidence.
286. a virulent[vitriol] denunciation
287. Daniels is at his best when he’s cool and direct, rather than combative and polemical.
288. an anthropomorphic description of God
289.
In
290. I did not mean to cast aspersions on his honor.
291. A bumper grain crop caused a sharp collapse in the price.
292. The case is rapidly deteriorating into a farce.
293. If the heart-block is complete, the atria and ventricles beat at entirely different rates.
294. replenish a depleted stock of trout by releasing fingerlings
295. The refugees were peremptorily expelled from the country.
296. squalid alleys, eloquent of the most abject poverty
297. The bulldozer remorselessly destroyed squatters’ shanties.
298. Asthma causes wheezing and breathlessness.
299. It was not the policy of the government to repatriate genuine refugees.
300. The ostensible purpose of these meetings was to gather information on financial strategies.
301. He was arrested under a magistrate’s warrant.
302. bemoan[lament, bewail] someone’s death
303. He is lame in the left leg.
304. He told innocent fibs like anyone else.
305. Playing computer games for hours on end, day after day, can turn anyone into an addlebrained[spaced-out] imbecile.
306.
a tripartite pact
between
307. a glum prospect for the American producers
308. Tigers go for the jugular.
309. The man sprang from peasant stock.
310. She has an astonishing avidity for hard work.
311. A price that high is barefaced robbery.
312. The car thumped against the wall.
313.
invoke an oil embargo against the
314. The urgent needs of the time drew forth their latent capabilities.
315. Both of the accused were convicted of perjury.
316. I incurred a good deal of opprobrium by doing this.
317. a right-angled triangle (an acute triangle, an obtuse triangle)
318. Deciduous trees are dormant in winter.
319. Jimmy turned maudlin after three drinks.
320. He defended us from the enquiries of officious busybodies.
321. He paid obsequious court to his superiors.
322. His impertinent conduct is quite galling to us.
323. Children learn these things through a process of osmosis.
324. “Mom,” she intoned, elongating the word until it sounded like a foghorn.
325. The audience was stupefied by the daring stunt.
326. The depression blighted[stunted] export trade.
327. The wall was not plum[perpendicular] to the floor.
328. Even Freud could not plum the deep abyss of human nature.
329.
In his representation of the
330. I scalded my tongue on[with] the soup.
331. Aloe may have an analgesic effect on inflammation and minor skin irritations.
332.
Eighty people were killed when
a DC-9 collided in midair with a Piper Cub over a suburban area of
333. He is still learning and when he hits his stride, he’ll be unstoppable.
334. This has made many Americans conclude that business ethics is an oxymoron.
335. Everyone sensed an otherworldly presence around them.
336. Will this faction secede from the political party?
337. Have these customers been fully apprised of the advantages?
338. Such a rash measure is much to be deprecated.
339. Last night’s harrowing television pictures plumbed new depths of depravity.
340. She is feeble at character delineation.
341. Their glib promises deluded him into investing.
342. Too much fatty food is deleterious to the health.
343. inflammatory[rabble-rousing] oratory
344. They asked an exorbitant price for the antique that I had long coveted.
345. She cobbled together a statement that mollified both left-wingers and moderates.
346. a monolithic organization
347. a mendicant friar/ a mendicant order
348. For a government minister it was an astonishing display of cowardice and mendacity.
349. a railroad magnate/ a coal magnate
350. My heart attack evoked perfunctory commiseration from a number of people who I would have preferred to ignore me.
351. The idea of leadership is pernicious both for the leaders and the led.
352. a philistine city lacking in elegance
353. His toupee dropped off, revealing his bald head.
354. Waiters went scurrying down the aisles, thumping down tureens of soup.
355. Which adjective does this adverb qualify[modify]?
356. He looked at the boss querulously.
357. He has always lived his life by a hopelessly quixotic code of humor.
358. They lay on the firm sands, listening to the plaintive cry of the seagulls.
359. a philosophy professor with a cockney accent and an alarmingly plebeian manner
360. She eased her ponderous[unwieldy] bulk out of the armchair.
361. Example is better than precept.
362. He is confident that the postulate that the universe is expanding will be proved true.
363. What you say may be a good portent for me.
364. “The difference is,” he said portentously, “you are Anglo-Saxons, we are Latins.”
365. Some children have a predilection for cavity formation.
366. She possesses a prodigious amount of knowledge on the subject.
367. a spendthrift[profligate] son
368. I had cut my finger and it was bleeding heavily[profusely].
369. He is cooped up in a room.
370. promulgate a new constitution
371. The political climate is propitious for overhauling the welfare system.
372. a proprietary drug/ the proprietary classes
373. Don’t worry; it is a paltry amount.
374. Almost every female novelist posits a female protagonist.
375. The family is a convenient paradigm of the human situation.
376. He is extremely parsimonious in all matters of finance.
377. Due to official parsimony only the one machine was built.
378. I was all keyed up over her impending operation.
379. an extemporaneous[extempore] speech
380. Christians were arrested for trying to convert people, to proselytize them.
381. His mood swung dangerously between torpor and violent anger.
382. Christianity was banned[outlawed, proscribed] by the Roman emperors.
383. After years of effort I was able to eliminate the lisp from my speech.
384. His flashlight played the scene and rested on an inert figure on the floor.
385. be indolent in the performance of one’s duties
386. There was a look of indescribable[ineffable, inexpressible] joy on his face.
387. What used to be seen as kinks in sexual behavior are now considered quite normal.
388. with carefree[lighthearted] abandon
389. His abrasive manner has won him an unenviable notoriety.
390. I found his manner abrasive and domineering.
391. Once you have mumps, you develop immunity to it.
392. Our child got off with a light attack of chicken pox.
393. Malthus’s theories about the ineluctable tendency of populations to exceed resources
394. They predict that every proton – whether bound into atoms or not – should be slowly but ineluctably disintegrating.
395. He was a typical showman with a brashness bordering on arrogance.
396. When he tested an early vaccine on himself, some described the act as foolhardy.
397. During the recession, training budgets were seen as an expendable luxury.
398. You are in an alcoholic[a drunken] stupor.
399. Employers claimed that the workers were lazy, bringing the sloth of the countryside to the mines.
400. He could not shake off the languor aroused by his disappointment in love.
401. Their behavior, always despicable, reached[hit] its nadir in 1990.
402.
403. He was a natty dresser.
404. The bartender, a dapper little man named Al, was beaming at him.
405. The Prayer Book has provided a flexible enough nexus of beliefs to hold together the different church parties.
406. He was at the doorway unblinking in the sunlight which limned his face and form.
407. the limpid depths of her dark eyes
408. a chartered libertine
409. impugn the integrity of the officials concerned
410. impute supernatural powers to a girl
411. How are you going to disentangle yourself from these imbroglios?
412. Their affection for her son increased almost to idolatry.
413. Cherie’s gregarious nature always made her the life of the party.
414. The gossamer web glistened with the dew.
415. Its logical reasoning cannot be gainsaid.
416. A lamb gamboled about in the field.
417. Her remarks are always germane and central to the most important issues of the day.
418. They met surreptitiously at odd places around the city.
419. cast a furtive[stealthy] glance at…
420. The manuscript was littered with carets indicating all the missing letters the proofreaders had found.
421. a byzantine system of rules and trading arrangements
422. Can I cadge a cigarette?
423. My car went on the bum.
424. mooch[bum, cadge] a cigarette from[off] a passerby
425. a diatribe against human greed
426. She’s very dilatory, but when she writes she writes very well.
427. Prof. Smith lectured with an imposing mien.
428. He refused to give[lend] countenance to the project.
429. The corrupt televangelist cozened millions of dollars out of his viewers.
430. I contemn their attempts to curry favor; nothing is more contemptible than a sycophant.
431. He is always currying favor with[sucking up to] the president.
432. The president was encouraged by a complaisant chorus of affirmation from advisors.
433. Many countries are becoming increasingly chary of accepting immigrants.
434. Our drill sergeant made it clear that she would brook no insubordination.
435. The clouds glowed like burnished gold.
436. a brawling, drunken lout
437. It galled me to be looked down on as a yokel.
438. His blandishments are utterly irresistible.
439. All the people who had toadied to him basely deserted him when he fell from power.
440. He appears blithely unaware of the disastrous effects of the new system.
441. The dancing girls were festooned with flowers.
442. The speakeasy was bedizened with every manner of tawdry decoration.
443. The bully’s bellicose demeanor hid a tender side.
444. The basilisk is a notoriously cranky, albeit mythical, creature whose baleful glare is fatal.
445. Copper’s highly ductile nature allows it to be attenuated to a thin filament without breaking.
446. The fruit has a tart and astringent flavor.
447. The auguries of death are fast gathering round his head.
448. arrant[blatant, glaring] hypocrisy
449. He set up a spurious temple that was a cover for sexual debauchery.
450. the arcane language of law
451. The oppressive use of power is antithetical to our democratic ideals.
452. an apostate from the faith
453. The assignation of that quotation to Ezra Pound is apocryphal.
454. Incan civilization reached its apogee late in the fifteenth century.
455. Nothing is quite so anodyne as a long soak in a bubble bath.
456. Alchemy flourished vigorously during the Middle Ages.
457. The first volume of the trilogy only adumbrates the basics of the story that will be developed in the next two books.
458. I got an abscess so he took the tooth out.
459. abjure one’s belief in a doctrine
460. abrogate[abolish] the Constitution
461. The variance in pottery styles indicates that it is a later accretion.
462. He was known for his acerbic wit.
463. an apposite[an apt, a germane, a pertinent, a relevant] remark
464. It is surprising that such a highly reputable magazine should print such puerile drivel.
465. a lyrical introspective mood
466. The movie invites the audience’s empathy.
467. words that seem to be on the borderline between two parts of speech
468. The new tax was immediately christened “the poll tax” by its opponents.
469. The newspaper has a readership of eleven million.
470. a vernacular disease
471. the self-sacrificing loyalty of a wife to her feckless husband
472. They’re planning to conduct[wage] a filibuster to delay passage of the bill.
473. foment a counterrevolution
474. The cows grazed on the clover in the fallow field.
475.
476. It is far more common for a bird to be extirpated from a particular region while surviving elsewhere.
477. expatiate on one’s favorite subject
478. We are born to expiate crimes that we have committed in a former existence.
479. upbraid someone with[for] ingratitude
480. He had the smugness that many lawyers show.
481. I resent his smug self-assurance.
482. Justice prevailed and she was exonerated.
483. The surgery was a success and he has begun convalescence at home.
484. Sinclair essayed a smile but it could hardly have been rated as a success.
485. He has again evinced his disposition to whimsy.
486. The speech was a scathing[a bitter, an excoriating] indictment of government policy.
487. urinary incontinence / incontinence of urine
488. be endued with good sense and patience
489. the annual banquet of the Entomological Society
490.
the development of computerized
tomography scanners in
491. The booster rockets were jettisoned two minutes after liftoff.
492. premature ejaculation
493. an inoculation against yellow fever
494. The coat is on the peg.
495. He’s a lecher beneath his solemn veneer.
496. The turmoil on the stock market has not seriously impinged on the lives of ordinary citizens.
497. You’ve completely[utterly] bungled it, you fool.
498. Brackish waters generally support only a small range of faunas.
499. the brittle bones of the aged
500. the noisome air of the trenches
501. He is obdurate in his antagonism to the policy.
502. Amidst the current bunch of nonentities, he is a towering figure.
503. Do not obfuscate the issues by dragging in irrelevant arguments.
504. The crowd became obstreperous and shouted their disapproval of the proposals made by the speaker.
505. This deferral would obviate pressure on the ruble exchange rate.
506. Comparisons are odious.
507. It was a precipitous descent and we decided to use a rope.
508. a pudgy, precocious youngster
509. The chairman made a few prefatory remarks.
510. In a case of premeditated murder a life sentence is mandatory.
511. the firm’s preponderance over its rivals
512. It is held to presage deadly evils.
513. British ministers continued to prevaricate.
514. the contrast between the prim attire of the young lady and the inappropriate clothing worn by her escort
515. There was hunger and privation on their wan and thin faces.
516. the primordial[primeval] ancestor of man
517. All living organisms trace their lineage to a few progenitors.
518. abnormal sexual proclivities
519. deeply[profoundly, terribly] disconsolate
520. Old Chinese gowns cover the gamut of gorgeous hues.
521. They have branded him as a malcontent.
522. French culture is no longer the arbiter of taste.
523. The occasional occurrence of anomalous weather conditions is a loud warning bell regarding our destruction of the environment.
524. play the buffoon
525. verge on burlesque
526. The perennial bachelor vowed to remain celibate.
527. We boiled a chicken carcass to make good stock.
528. saunter through life
529. My dentist is fitting me with some dentures next week.
530. She clinked her glass with his.
531. be lionized by admirers and fans
532. She has a supple body.
533. Her figure was lithe and willowy.
534. If this lode that we have discovered extends for any distance, we have found a fortune.
535. He sued the newspaper because of its libelous story.
536. They found his lewd stories objectionable.
537. Hours of ballet classes kept him limber.
538. In stories, lovelorn damsels used to languish and pine away.
539. distribute[dispense] largess from public funds to welfare claimants
540. with jaunty steps
541. She has a perky, independent spirit.
542. You have permitted your son too much latitude in this matter.
543. a libido that is lackadaisical[languid, flagging, listless, weak]
544. The man was hoary and wrinkled when he was 70.
545. The honed thrust of his argument was simply irresistible.
546. Filled with hubris, Lear refused to heed his friends’ warnings.
547. After his years of adventure, he could not settle down to a humdrum existence.
548. The pastor delivered a moving homily.
549. The message was garbled by the time it was relayed to me.
550. His lengthy reply was full of equivocations.
551. ethereal beauty
552. One must accept with equanimity the contingencies of life.
553. the catechism of hatred enunciated by fascist organizations.
554. He is enraptured with this stroke of good fortune.
555. In order to maintain its power, the government developed a system of espionage that penetrated every household.
556. The headmaster could not regard this latest escapade as a boyish joke and expelled the young man.
557. His attendance at meetings is somewhat erratic.
558. The police kept track of all the local firebrands when the president came to town.
559. I picked up her wrist. It was limp and flaccid.
560. She has an uncanny flair for discovering new artists before the public has become aware of their existence.
561. The tricksters fleeced him of his inheritance.
562. be in gestation for a long time
563. The mounting violence exacted its toll.
564. a happy dispensation of Nature
565. exchange civilities
566. Itinerant peddlers have virtually disappeared from the countryside.
567. Average middle-class citizens are becoming less squeamish about nudity in films and magazines.
568. She gave a heartrending groan when she learned her grandson was drowned in the river.
569. The speech was a scathing[a bitter, an excoriating] indictment of government policy.
570. coddle a baby
571. a coddled egg
572. the arcana of nature
573. After slumbering for four centuries, today the volcano awakened.
574. listen with a stethoscope
575. Then the whole rigmarole starts over again.
576. Comparisons are odious.
577. Many opprobrious epithets were cast at him.
578. run a razor over the stubble on one’s chin
579. As he emphasised, nothing is yet set in concrete.
580. They call rowing the perfect sport. It exercises every major muscle group.
581. mend one’s dissolute life
582. Western sojourners in the East
583. a high propensity of subjectivity in interpretation of the statutes
584. The new season opened with the league’s traditional 25-man rosters pared to 24.
585. Was he playing out his own personal fantasy of justice and retribution?
586. blind advocacy of teetotalism as a cure for all ills
587. His writings gave umbrage to the authorities.
588. I need some items for my guacamole. Onion, cilantro, tomatoes, avocadoes, garlic, and lemon.
589. I found the tortilla chips in aisle 3.
590. I have to do some penny-pinching this month.
591. Money doesn’t grow on trees. （金を大切に使え）
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