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TOEFL Word List # TOEFL/M11

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Explanation of impostor (noun)
person who pretends to be someone else in order to deceive others; pretender; impersonator

Sample of impostor
The nurse was an impostor who drugged the baby but was exposed after two days and sacked.



   
Explanation of respite (noun)
rest period; temporary delay

Sample of respite
The workers talked and drank coffee during the respite.
The team was given a respite from the long practice schedule.



   
Explanation of reprisal (noun)
injury inflicted in turn for one received; retaliation; revenge

Sample of reprisal
Informed sources in the Caribbean thought it likely that the political maneouvrings behind all this were by way of a reprisal for a report by Lord Avebury criticizing Forbes Burnham's ruling party for election-rigging.



   
Explanation of hovel (noun)
dirty or wretched dwelling; hut; shack

Sample of hovel
Watching Ranald drop a rafter on his head, Marion sneered at herself that these children, this filthy hovel were all that was left to her.



   
Explanation of scintilla (noun)
trace; particle; spark; iota

Sample of scintilla
She described the exquisite pains of love when one day she could not rise from her bed because of the anguish from a scintilla of pure love that had pierced her heart.



   
Explanation of buffoon (noun)
clown; joker; fool; ludicrous figure

Sample of buffoon
He regarded the chaplain as a buffoon though a dedicated buffoon.
Hitchcock sets an innocent woman against Charles Laughton's squire, a criminal buffoon, and a gang of smugglers, but there is never any real conflict, and the ending is almost comic.



   
Explanation of aptitude (noun)
skill; talent; ability

Sample of aptitude
In view of the importance of language in education, the authors also suggest that the BPVT might be used to assess scholastic aptitude, although it seems unwise to rely solely on one test for this purpose.



   
Explanation of coalition (noun)
alliance; merging of various units into one unit; union

Sample of coalition
The Alliance campaign, with the differing emphasis posed by Liberals' David Steel, who was of the center-left, and the Social Democrat, David Owen, who contemplated a possible coalition with the Tories, was a disaster.
The result was that we were dangerously isolated with a strong coalition arrayed against us, but fortunately our opponents overplayed their hand.



   
Explanation of impropriety (noun)
incorrectness; unsuitableness

Sample of impropriety
The medieval church was divided on the issue of whether there was impropriety in the mimetic representation of holy personages on stage.



   
Explanation of candor (noun)
sincerity; honesty; openness

Sample of candor
I imagine his candor (a candor that effectively deflects prurient interest) will be a tremendous help to a lot of young people in India and elsewhere.



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