Skip to content
TOEFLIBTee
GuidesStart practicing

TOEFL Words | Questions & Answers 19/44

VocabularyUpdated 3 min read

This page drills ten TOEFL vocabulary words through original context sentences. Read each sentence, choose the closest meaning for the bolded word, then check your answers against the key below.

TOEFL Words | Questions 181-190

  1. Delivery drones now crisscross the industrial park every afternoon, dropping small packages at loading docks along the way.

The word "crisscross" is closest in meaning to:

  • (A) slow down
  • (B) move back and forth
  • (C) gather
  • (D) split off
  1. Investors greeted the startup's ambitious timeline with open skepticism, questioning whether the factory could really open within a year.

The word "skepticism" is closest in meaning to:

  • (A) relief
  • (B) curiosity
  • (C) doubt
  • (D) confidence
  1. Without a government subsidy, the rural clinic could never have afforded the imaging equipment it now relies on daily.

The word "subsidy" is closest in meaning to:

  • (A) delay
  • (B) training
  • (C) permit
  • (D) financing
  1. Because so few records survive, historians admit that much of what we know about the village's founding remains conjectural.

The word "conjectural" is closest in meaning to:

  • (A) based on guessing
  • (B) widely documented
  • (C) poorly translated
  • (D) commonly disputed
  1. The clerk kept track of incoming shipments by employing a simple tally system of marks on a chalkboard.

The word "employing" is closest in meaning to:

  • (A) counting
  • (B) using
  • (C) drawing
  • (D) avoiding
  1. Before spreadsheets existed, small shop owners maintained their accounts by hand in leather-bound ledgers.

The word "maintained" is closest in meaning to:

  • (A) shared
  • (B) predicted
  • (C) kept
  • (D) doubled
  1. The market stall displayed an assortment of dried peppers, from mild and sweet to intensely fiery varieties.

The word "assortment" is closest in meaning to:

  • (A) shortage
  • (B) recipe
  • (C) display
  • (D) variety
  1. The guild's finest silversmiths enjoyed an exalted status among local merchants, who competed for their limited output.

The word "exalted" is closest in meaning to:

  • (A) modest
  • (B) temporary
  • (C) questionable
  • (D) superior
  1. The local pottery trade came of age in the early twentieth century, gaining a reputation that reached buyers overseas.

The phrase "came of age" is closest in meaning to:

  • (A) established itself
  • (B) slowed down
  • (C) changed ownership
  • (D) faced criticism
  1. Geologists found faint traces of ancient riverbeds preserved in the canyon's layered rock walls.

The word "traces" is closest in meaning to:

  • (A) boundaries
  • (B) currents
  • (C) imprints
  • (D) forests

Answers

  • 181 — B: crisscross ≈ move back and forth — vehicles that crisscross an area move back and forth across it.
  • 182 — C: skepticism ≈ doubt — skepticism about a plan is doubt about it.
  • 183 — D: subsidy ≈ financing — a subsidy is a form of financial support.
  • 184 — A: conjectural ≈ based on guessing — conjectural knowledge is largely guesswork.
  • 185 — B: employing ≈ using — to employ a method is to use it.
  • 186 — C: maintained ≈ kept — accounts that are maintained are kept up to date.
  • 187 — D: assortment ≈ variety — an assortment is a varied mix of items.
  • 188 — D: exalted ≈ superior — exalted status is a high, superior standing.
  • 189 — A: came of age ≈ established itself — a trade that comes of age establishes itself.
  • 190 — C: traces ≈ imprints — traces of a riverbed are faint imprints of it.

See related word groups on the vocabulary hub, then apply these words with reading practice.

Keep reading