TOEFL Vocabulary — Set 6

Set 6 of TOEFL Vocabulary covers 5 words: judicious, elusive, petulant, verbose, brief. Each entry below includes its definition, an example sentence, and synonyms — practice them with the interactive cards above.

1. judicious · adjective/dʒuˈdɪʃəs/

   having, showing, or done with good judgment or sense

   The committee made a judicious decision to allocate funds only to projects with proven track records.

   Synonyms: prudent, sensible, wise

   Origin: from Latin 'judiciousus', from 'judicium' meaning 'judgment'

2. elusive · adjective/ɪˈlusɪv/

   difficult to find, catch, or achieve

   After years of searching, the researchers finally published a paper on the elusive species they had been studying.

   Synonyms: evasive, hard to grasp, unattainable

   Origin: The word 'elusive' originates from the Latin 'elusivus', which means 'to evade' or 'to escape', derived from 'eludere'.

3. petulant · adjective/ˈpɛtʃələnt/

   childishly sulky or bad-tempered

   The petulant child threw a tantrum when he didn't get his favorite toy.

   Synonyms: irritable, moody, sulky

   Origin: from Latin 'petulans', meaning 'pulling, lashing out' or 'impertinent'

4. verbose · adjective/vɜrˈboʊs/

   using more words than necessary

   The professor's verbose explanations often left students confused rather than enlightened.

   Synonyms: wordy, long-winded, prolix

   Origin: from Latin 'verbosus', meaning 'full of words', from 'verbum' meaning 'word'

5. brief · adjective/brif/

   lasting a short time or having a concise expression

   The meeting was brief, lasting only fifteen minutes, which allowed everyone to return to their tasks quickly.

   Synonyms: short, concise, summary

   Origin: from Latin 'brevis', meaning 'short'