< V > TOEFL Vocabulary (204)

Urbanity (noun) 

refined, effortless beauty of manner, form, and style

Mark Twain, known for his  urbanity and his artistic integrity, developed a love for

writing about the South.

Utilize (verb) 

to put into action or use

To best utilize a writing center tutor, a student should take a copy of the writing

assignment and have a rough draft ready for review. 

Vacuous (adjective) 

devoid of serious occupation : idle;  marked by lack of ideas or intelligence: stupid

Even if, in the end, all they collectively learn is that a household of African twenty

something’s can be as self-obsessed,  vacuous and obnoxious as reality-television

contestants in other parts of the world. 

Vaguely (adv) 

in a way that is not detailed or exact

We find relationships that are  vaguely reminiscent of the way biologists can group

species into families, and these in turn into the larger classes, phyla, and so on.

Vain (adjective) 

excessively proud, especially of your appearance

In a pungent diary, vivid letters, learned tracts,  and patriotic speeches he revealed

himself as a quintessential Puritan, patriarch of an illustrious family, tough minded

philosopher of the republic, sage, and sometimes a vain, stubborn, and vitriolic partisan.

  

Valve (noun) 

a device controlling the flow of liquid through a pipe

“Lefty loosey” and “righty tighty” is a saying which helps one to remember how to turn a

valve on or off.

Vaporized (adjective) 

characterized as converting (as by the application of heat or by spraying) into a substance 

in the gaseous state as distinguished from the liquid or solid state 

Treating these states of matter differently in the simulation could explain another 

peculiar aspect of the moon's composition: its dearth of easily vaporized "volatile" 

compounds such as water. 

Varied (adjective) 

showing or characterized by many different forms or kinds

She said that it can be found over  varied country, embracing the mountains up to

altitudes of 8000 ft, the seacoasts levels, inland plains, desert areas.

Vast (adjective) 

of extraordinary size and power

The ocean is believed to be a  vast storehouse of natural resources, the exploitation  of

which depends on three factors: knowledge of geology, advances in technology, and the

legal protection for investments of national governments or private industry. 

Veiled (adjective) 

obscured as if by a veil: disguised   

At the time, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Organization for

Women opposed a guardian for the fetus, calling such a proposed move a veiled attempt

by the governor to eliminate the possibility of an abortion.