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Word Set 6
Knowledge and Skill
| Term | Definition | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|
| adept (adj.) | skillful | The salesman was adept at charming customers into spending more than they had planned. |
| adroit (adj.) | skillful | Although Herman proved quite adroit at carpentry, he was never able to sell any of his pieces. |
| anthropology (noun) | study of human beings | John's degree in anthropology prepared him for working in a national history museum. |
| boorish (adj.); boorishness (noun) | crude | Gideon's boorish behavior in front of the judge earned him a night in jail for contempt of court. |
| cerebral (adj.) | intellectual | Gabi has always enjoyed studying cerebral subjects such as philosophy, world literature, humanities, and statistics. |
| churlish (adj.) | rude, impolite | I admit that I wake up churlish every morning, but my mood improves drastically after I have my cup of coffee. |
| conscientious (adj.) | careful, diligent | In my neighborhood, conscientious people are working to protect our environment. |
| cosmopolitan (adj.) | sophisticated, cultured, worldwide | Since Jane loved being around people of various cultures, she enjoyed the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the international market. |
| credulity (adj.); credulous (noun) | the trait of trusting others too much | Tom's astounding credulity led him to believe that the world is flat. |
| didactic (adj.) | (often excessively) morally instructive | While the professor's lectures were designed to be didactic, they only served to confuse the students. |
| discern (verb); discerning (adj.) | perceive, perceptive | A detective's job is to discern who is guilty of a particular crime by evaluating the evidence. |
| epiphany (noun) | sudden realization | Just as I was about to fail the exam, I had an epiphany and remembered some of the facts I had learned. |
| erudite (adj.); erudition (noun) | scholarly | The room was fill of erudite scholars who made the discussion on astronomy fun and interesting. |
| esoteric (adj.) | understood only by a few | The medical research was so esoteric that only a few physicians could actually understand the results. |
| fastidious (adj.) | careful, meticulous, exacting | Although the fastidious painter had all of his brushes, he refused to paint because his special canvasses were unavailable. |
| finesse (noun) | tact, elegant skill | The chess champion played the game with a finesse that allowed him to easily beat all the other players. |
| flummox (verb) | confuse | Because I didn't study for the final exam, all the questions seemed to flummox me. |
| folly (adj.) | foolishness | Unfortunately, the man's act of folly in the casino caused him to lose everything he owned. |
| foolhardy (adj.) | recklessly daring | Many cats make the foolhardy decision to climb a tree and then become afraid to climb back down. |
| grandiose (adj.) | pompous, pretentious | the billionaire has this grandiose idea about building a house on Mars. |
| inane (adj.) | senseless, stupid | My teacher is really good about ignoring inane comments from the clowns in our class. |
| ineptitude (noun) | incompetence | Because of Bill's ineptitude, he lost his job. |
| ingenuous (adj.) | unsophisticated and trusting naive | Jessica's ingenuous nature made her an easy target for the con man. |
| lithe | graceful, supple | Lithe and stealthy, the cat crept soundlessly toward the unsuspecting sparrow. |
| neophyte (noun) | beginner | Because I have very little computer experience, I am a neophyte when it comes to working with the most software programs. |
| oversight (noun) | mistake | My cousin apologized for not inviting me to his wedding, insisting that it was an unintentional oversight. |
| painstaking | careful | The manuscript was so poorly written that editing it was a painstaking task that took half a year. |
| pedant (noun); pedantic (adj.); pedantry (noun) | a person who makes a great show of their knowledge | Rambling on and on, the pedant never knew when to stop discussing any issue that entered his mind. |
| precocious (adj.) | early development in maturity and intelligence | While their peers were running around the playground, one precocious group of elementary school students sat and chatted about colleges they hoped to attend |
| provincial (adj.) | narrow-minded, unsophisticated | After growing up in a provincial environment in the country, Henrietta sought out a more sophisticated life in the city. |
| punctilious (adj.) | meticulous, attentive to detail | Because my aunt is quite punctilious when it comes to table settings, every utensil must be turned properly. |
| pundit (noun) | a knowledgeable commentator | The attorney is often asked to provide insight as a pundit for the prime time legal drama. |
| quixotic (adj.) | foolish | While the knight's quest sounded noble, in reality it was a quixotic plot which could only end in the young man's death. |
| sage (adj./noun) | wise | When I have questions about my courses, I often seek sage advice from my college mentor. |
| scrupulous (adj.) | very careful and precise | Because Shannon is a scrupulous editor, she never misses errors when she proofreads a document. |
| shrewd (adj.) | astute, smart | His shrewd coaching brought the ream to the state championship four years in a row! |
| slipshod (adj.) | careless, sloppy | Because the roofer performed a slipshod repair job, we had a leak in the kitchen within hours |
| stupefy (verb); stupefaction (noun) | bewilder | Even my teacher did not know the answer to the trivia question that seemed to stupefy the game show contestants. |
| susceptible (adj.) | easily influenced or affected | Because James smoked for over twenty years, he is extremely susceptible to illnesses. |
| tractable (adj.) | easily managed or controlled | Because the substitute teacher had a lot of classroom experience, she found it easy to turn the chaotic scene into a room of tractable students. |
| uncanny (adj.) | extraordinary, weird | When the psychic looked at the abandoned house, she had an uncanny sense that something bad had happened to the owner. |
| uncouth (adj.) | crude | In my family, it is considered uncouth to question someone about the value of a gift that they give you. |
| unfathomable (adj.) | incomprehensible, unbelievable | After five hours, we still could not figure out the unfathomable riddle. |
| ungainly (adj.) | clumsy | Penguins are ungainly on land, always waddling around awkwardly on the ice. |
| urbane (adj.) | elegant, sophisticated | Everyone wants to know why the urbane city people have decided to move to our small town. |
| venerable (adj.) | commanding respect because of age, dignity | Harold has been on staff at the hotel for sixty years and is recognized as a venerable part of the organization. |
| virtuoso (noun); virtuosity (noun) | one with exceptional musical skill | Ruben is a musical virtuoso who runs his own school of music. |
| wry (adj.) | clever or grime sense of humor | When I was driving, I saw a wry bumper sticker that read, "4 out of 3 people have trouble with fractions." |
| acumen (noun) | insightfulness | John's business acumen, along with his computer skills, made him an asset to the software company. |
Created by:
WiseStranger
Popular English Vocabulary sets