172 VOCABULARY FOR TOEFL iBT
volatile ('vol·a ̆·til) adj. 1. varying widely, inconstant, changeable, fickle.- unstable, explosive, likely to change suddenly or violently. 3. (in chemistry)
evaporating readily. The stock market has been so volatile lately that I have decided
to invest in bonds instead.
voluble ('vol·yu ̆·be ̆l) adj. 1. talking a great deal and with great ease; language
marked by great fluency; rapid, nimble speech. 2. turning or rotating easily on
an axis. Your new spokesperson is very voluble and clearly comfortable speaking in
front of large audiences.
voracious (voh·'ray·shu ̆s) adj. excessively greedy, rapacious; having a great
appetite for something, devouring greedily. I have always been a voracious reader
and literally consume dozens of books every month.
W
wary ('wair·ee) adj. guarded, watchful, cautious. After being swindled by the street
vendor, Bridget was wary of most salespeople.
winnow ('win·oh) v. 1. to separate the grain from the chaff by using the wind or
other current of air to blow the chaff away. 2. to separate the good from the
bad; to examine or sift through to remove undesirable elements. We have win-
nowed the list of applicants down to five highly qualified candidates.X
xenophobia (zen·o ̆·'foh·bee·a ̆) n. a strong dislike, distrust, or fear of foreigners.
Many atrocities have been committed because of xenophobia.Z
zealous ('zel·u ̆s) adj. filled with or marked by great interest or enthusiasm; eager,
earnest, fervent. Shalom was such a zealous student that he begged his teacher to
assign him extra projects.
zeitgeist ('ts ̄t· ̄st) n. the spirit of the times; the general intellectual and moral
outlook or attitude characteristic of a particular generation or period of time.
The revolutionary zeitgeist of the sixties and seventies is in sharp contrast to the con-
servative zeitgeist of the fifties.
zenith ('zee·nith) n. 1. the highest point, top, peak. 2. the point in the sky
directly above the observer. She is at the zenith of her career and has won every
case this year.