TOEFL Vocabulary #16

(especially of children) showing mental development or achievement much earlier than usual:
A precocious child, she went to college at the age of 15.
She recorded her first CD at the precocious age of twelve.

precocious:  /prəˈkoʊ.ʃəs/ (adj)
precociousness (n)

without interest, imagination, excitement:
If only she'd been called Camilla instead of the prosaic Jane.
He asked if I'd gotten my black eye in a fight - I told him the prosaic truth that I'd banged my head on a door.

having or showing understanding and the ability to make good judgments:
a sagacious person/comment/choice

sagacious: /səˈɡeɪ.ʃəs/ (adj)
sagaciously (adv) - sagacity (n)

(especially of a man) confident, comfortable, and polite in social situations:
Herschel was an urbane, kindly, and generous man.
urbane conversation/pleasures
His urbane manners impressed me.

urbane: /ɝːˈbeɪn/ (adj)
urbanely (adv) - urbanity (n)

knowing or suggesting correctly what will happen in the future:
a prescient warning

prescient: /ˈpres.i.ənt/
prescience (n)

careful and avoiding risks; cautious
It's always prudent to read a contract carefully before signing it.
His decision was prudent and timely.

prudent: /ˈpruː.dənt/
prudence (n) - prudently (adv)

to examine something very carefully in order to discover information:
He scrutinized the men's faces carefully/closely, trying to work out who was lying.
All new products are scrutinized by the laboratory.

not expressing  intelligent thought or purpose:
a vacuous remark/question/expression
To seem real to your readers, your characters must not be vacuous, but complex human beings with ordinary difficulties and goals.

vacuous:  /ˈvæk.ju.əs/ (adj)
vacuously (adv)

showing no intelligence or imagination:
a vapid reality TV show
He's attractive but vapid.

very dry and without enough rain for plants:
The desert is so arid that nothing can grow there.
unsuccessful:
After several arid years, the company has started to become successful.