1601-1650

Question 1

brevity

Answer 1

n. briefness

Question 2

extrovert

Answer 2

n. an outgoing person

Question 3

impassioned

Answer 3

adj. filled with emotion; fervent

Question 4

gall

Answer 4

n. boldness; impudence

Question 5

remnant

Answer 5

n. a small amount left over after the rest has been used; a surviving trace

Question 6

genial

Answer 6

adj. cheerful; friendly

Question 7

alacrity

Answer 7

n. cheerful willingness; swiftness

Question 8

elude

Answer 8

v. to escape from, as by daring or skill; to escape the understanding of

Question 9

dally

Answer 9

v. to waste time; loiter

Question 10

inadvertent

Answer 10

adj. unintentional; accidental

Question 11

mainstay

Answer 11

n. a chief support

Question 12

manacles

Answer 12

n. shackles; handcuffs

Question 13

affinity

Answer 13

n. a natural attraction or feeling of kinship; an inherent similarity

Question 14

denouement

Answer 14

n. conclusion; resolution; the falling action of a story after its climax

Question 15

exhort

Answer 15

v. to urge strongly

Question 16

torpid

Answer 16

adj. inactive; sluggish; dormant

Question 17

garrulous

Answer 17

adj. talking too much, esp. about trivial thigns

Question 18

insolent

Answer 18

adj. boldly disrespectful in speech or behavior; impertinent; impudent

Question 19

cozen

Answer 19

v. to defraud or deceive; to obtain by deceit; to get someone to do someone by wheedling

Question 20

congenital

Answer 20

adj. present since birth; being an essential characteristic

Question 21

divert

Answer 21

v. to change the direction of; to amuse

Question 22

ascribe

Answer 22

v. to attribute to a specific source

Question 23

debonair

Answer 23

adj. easy and carefree in manner

Question 24

aloof

Answer 24

adj. distant or removed in attitude or manner

Question 25

maraud

Answer 25

v. to raid; to invade for plunder

Question 26

waif

Answer 26

n. a homeless person, especially a child orphan; someone who is thin and gaunt, especially a girl

Question 27

ward

Answer 27

v. to repel or turn aside (danger, attack, harm, etc.), usually with “off”

Question 28

scorn

Answer 28

n. a feeling of contempt or disdain

Question 29

envoy

Answer 29

n. a government representative sent on a special diplomatic mission; a messenger

Question 30

sumptuous

Answer 30

adj. of a size or splendor suggesting great expense; lavish

Question 31

gesticulate

Answer 31

v. to make gestures, esp. while speaking

Question 32

feckless

Answer 32

adj. careless; irresponsible

Question 33

ferret

Answer 33

v. to search; to seek (with “out”)

Question 34

mediocre

Answer 34

adj. ordinary to inferior in quality; not standing out from the average

Question 35

hiatus

Answer 35

n. an interruption in activity or progress

Question 36

prose

Answer 36

n. the ordinary form of written or spoken language, without rhyme or meter

Question 37

painstaking

Answer 37

adj. very thorough; careful

Question 38

crass

Answer 38

adj. dull-witted; unrefined

Question 39

corpus

Answer 39

n. a large collection of writings

Question 40

motif

Answer 40

n. a recurring subject or theme, esp. in a work of art or literature

Question 41

compendium

Answer 41

n. a short, complete summary

Question 42

scintilla

Answer 42

n. a small amount; a spark

Question 43

abjure

Answer 43

v. to renounce under oath; to give up or deny

Question 44

palpitate

Answer 44

v. to beat rapidly; to shake or flutter

Question 45

inept

Answer 45

adj. without skill; absurd or foolish

Question 46

dismal

Answer 46

adj. causing gloom or depression

Question 47

avuncular

Answer 47

adj. resembling an uncle; benevolent

Question 48

countenance

Answer 48

n. appearance, esp. the expression of the face

Question 49

avant-garde

Answer 49

n. a group active in inventing and applying new techniques, esp. in the arts.

Question 50

pedigree

Answer 50

n. record of ancestry; family tree