Joy English · Level C2 · Describing people and ideasjoy-english.com
Sophisticated adjectives for people and ideas
Name:Date:
Describe minds, characters, arguments and problems with precise adjectives such as erudite, astute, incisive, tenuous, spurious and intractable.
Choose the right adjective
Choose the adjective that best completes each sentence.
- Only a truly ___ scholar, who had read widely in several languages and fields, could trace the origin of the phrase.
- The link between the two studies is ___: it rests on a single, unverified anecdote.
- The disease is ___: symptoms are mild at first and the damage builds up unnoticed.
- Despite the poor forecasts, Kofi remained ___ about the company's future.
- Her analysis was ___: in a few sharp sentences it went straight to the heart of the problem.
- Fame on social media can be ___: today's star is forgotten by next month.
- The winner was ___ in victory, praising her rival's skill and offering to share the prize.
- There was a ___ agreement among the staff that nobody would mention the incident again.
Complete the sentences
Complete each sentence with one word from this list. Use each word once: astute, spurious, intractable, inscrutable, erudite, magnanimous, insidious, tenuous.
- The ___ investor sold her shares weeks before the market turned.
- The claim that the herb cures every illness is ___; no study has ever confirmed it.
- The boundary dispute between the two neighbours proved ___: years of patient mediation failed to bring them any closer.
- The old judge's face was ___; no one could tell what he was thinking.
- Her ___ lectures, full of references to philosophy, history and mathematics, attract students from every faculty.
- It was ___ of him to forgive the debt in full.
- The ___ spread of misinformation is hard to notice until it has changed opinions.
- Because the connection between the two events was extremely slight and ___, the committee refused to draw a conclusion.
Answer key
Choose the right adjective
- b) eruditeGreat learning is erudite. Astute means shrewd rather than learned.
- c) tenuousA very weak connection is tenuous. Incisive describes sharp analysis, not a link.
- b) insidiousHarm that spreads gradually and unseen is insidious.
- d) sanguineCheerfully optimistic in a difficult situation is sanguine.
- c) incisiveSharp, clear thinking that reaches the core of a problem is incisive. Tenuous would mean weak.
- c) ephemeralLasting only a short time is ephemeral.
- b) magnanimousGenerous towards a rival is magnanimous.
- d) tacitAn agreement understood without being stated is tacit.
Complete the sentences
- astute / shrewd / canny / savvyShrewd and quick to read a situation is astute.
- spurious / false / baseless / unfounded / groundless / bogus / dubiousA claim that looks genuine but is false is spurious.
- intractable / insoluble / unsolvable / irresolvable / unresolvableA problem that resists every attempt to solve it is intractable.
- inscrutable / unreadable / impassive / expressionless / blankImpossible to read or interpret is inscrutable.
- erudite / learned / scholarlyShowing great learning is erudite.
- magnanimous / generous / gracious / noble / kindGenerous and forgiving is magnanimous.
- insidious / gradual / creeping / slow / subtleHarm that spreads gradually and unnoticed is insidious.
- tenuous / weak / flimsy / fragile / thinA very slight, flimsy link is tenuous.