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TOEFL Word List # TOEFL/W50

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Description of laconic (adjective)
sparing of words; terse; pithy; concise

Samples of laconic
After a laconic introduction the program began.
The people enjoyed the public addresses of the laconic queen.



   
Description of rueful (adjective)
regretful; mournful; pitiable

Samples of rueful
His head was bare and his smile was just a little rueful, as if he were uncertain of his welcome.
She looked down at her new French muslin pajamas, the corners of her thin lips turning up in a rueful smile, wondering if the whiskey stains would come out - and deciding that they probably wouldn't.



   
Description of indigenous (adjective)
native to a region; innate; originating from a place

Samples of indigenous
These plants are indigenous to all of the western states.
Piranha are indigenous to the tropics.



   
Description of mottled (adjective)
spotted or streaked with varied colors

Samples of mottled
Built of honey-colored Cotswold stone, some hundred or so years ago, it had a beautiful matching tiled roof, mottled with a patina of lichen and moss.
You'll soon be able to walk down Bond Street without spotting a single varicose vein or mottled thigh.



   
Description of autocratic (adjective)
despotic; dictatorial

Samples of autocratic
The old fears of Russia's autocratic, ultra-centralized state were surely right.
More specific economic policies, which have been widely discussed in recent years, fit within this tendency towards an autocratic state.



   
Description of extemporaneous (adjective)
spontaneous; impromptu; improvised

Samples of extemporaneous
One member of the audience made notes of his extemporaneous address, in which he admitted that he was unprepared for this specific situation or any situation in general.

Determination of extemporaneous
Dictionary.com · Cambridge Dictionaries · Merriam-Webster · Onelook.com


   
Description of stupendous (adjective)
amazing by virtue of its immense size, force or any quality in exceptional degree

Samples of stupendous
Whatever the motives behind the truly stupendous achievements in the field of religious building by people of all races and creeds throughout the centuries, there can be no doubt that those motives must be extremely powerful.



   
Description of credible (adjective)
worthy of belief; trustworthy; reliable; dependable

Samples of credible
For the visitor, it is scarcely credible that staff can work day after day with such clearly difficult patients.



   
Description of innocuous (adjective)
harmless; dull; insipid; uninteresting

Samples of innocuous
The remark was rude but innocuous.
He couldn't bear to sit through another innocuous lecture.
The teens engaged in an innocuous game of touch football.



   
Description of radical (adjective)
thorough; extreme

Samples of radical
For example, this free trade article has been wrongly used to draw up radical measures banning tobacco advertising, a matter which has nothing to do with free trade, and a pure case of Commission empire-building.



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