2.5.F - Lesson: Vocabulary and Review

Question 1

Sagacity

Answer 1

n.
The quality of being discerning, sound in judgment, and farsighted; wisdom.

Question 2

Diffident

Answer 2

adj.
Lacking or marked by a lack of self-confidence; shy and timid: He was too diffident to express his opinion.

Question 3

Beguiled

Answer 3

1. To deceive by guile or charm: beguiled unwary investors.
2. To deprive (someone) of something by guile or deceit; cheat: a disease that has beguiled me of strength.
3. To distract the attention of; divert: “to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming” (Abraham Lincoln).
4. To amuse or charm; delight or fascinate. See Synonyms at charm.
5. To pass (time) pleasantly.

Question 4

Alacrity

Answer 4

n.
1. Cheerful willingness; eagerness.
2. Speed or quickness; celerity.

Question 5

Dilapidated

Answer 5

adj.
Having fallen into a state of disrepair or deterioration, as through neglect; broken-down and shabby.

Question 6

Intrepid

Answer 6

adj.
Resolutely courageous; fearless. See Synonyms at brave.

Question 7

Intrepid

Answer 7

adj.
Resolutely courageous; fearless. See Synonyms at brave.

Question 8

Evanescent

Answer 8

Vanishing or likely to vanish like vapor.

Question 9

Furtive

Answer 9

adj.
Characterized by, acting with, or suggesting stealth or a desire to avoid discovery; surreptitious: “J.W. from time to time gave her a furtive squeeze of the hand, but they never got to go out alone any more” (John Dos Passos). See Synonyms at secret.

Question 10

grotesque

Answer 10

adj.
1. Characterized by ludicrous, repulsive, or incongruous distortion, as of appearance or manner. See Synonyms at ugly.
2. Outlandish or bizarre, as in character or appearance. See Synonyms at fantastic.
3. Of, relating to, or being the grotesque style in art or a work executed in this style.
n.
1. One that is grotesque.
2.
a. A style of painting, sculpture, and ornamentation in which natural forms and monstrous figures are intertwined in bizarre or fanciful combinations.
b. A work of art executed in this style.

Question 11

blighted

Answer 11

n.
1.
a. Any of numerous plant diseases resulting in sudden conspicuous wilting and dying of affected parts, especially young, growing tissues.
b. The condition or causative agent, such as a bacterium, fungus, or virus, that results in blight.
2.
a. An agent or action that harms or ruins the value or success of something: “the heavy-handed, moralistic parenting that was the blight of the traditional family” (Theodore Roszack).
b. A condition or result of harmful or ruinous action: policies that lifted the city from economic blight.

Question 12

Morose

Answer 12

adj.
Sullenly melancholy; gloomy.

Question 13

Dupe

Answer 13

n.
A person who is easily deceived or is used to carry out the designs of another.

Question 14

Venerable

Answer 14

adj.
1. Commanding respect by virtue of age, dignity, character, or position.
2. Worthy of reverence, especially by religious or historical association: venerable relics.
3. Venerable Abbr. Ven. or V.
a. Roman Catholic Church Used as a title for a person who has reached the first stage of canonization.
b. Used as a form of address for an archdeacon in the Anglican Church or the Episcopal Church.

Question 15

pariah

Answer 15

n.
1. A social outcast: “Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village, Huckleberry Finn, son of the town drunkard” (Mark Twain).
2. A Dalit.

Question 16

caricature

Answer 16

n.
1.
a. A representation, especially pictorial or literary, in which the subject’s distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect.
b. The art of creating such representations.
2. A grotesque imitation or misrepresentation:The trial was a caricature of justice.
tr.v.car·i·ca·tured, car·i·ca·tur·ing, car·i·ca·tures
To represent or imitate in an exaggerated, distorted manner.

Question 17

Ensconced

Answer 17

tr.v.
1. To settle (oneself) securely or comfortably: She ensconced herself in an armchair.
2. To place or conceal in a secure place.

Question 18

Gory

Answer 18

adj.1. Covered or stained with gore; bloody.
2. Full of or characterized by bloodshed and violence.

Question 19

Clandestine

Answer 19

adj.
Kept or done in secret, often to conceal an illicit or improper purpose.

Question 20

Purloined

Answer 20

tr.v.
To steal, especially in a stealthy way.

Question 21

notoriety

Answer 21

adjective
famous or well known, typically for some bad quality or deed.

Question 22

effusive

Answer 22

adj.
1. Unrestrained or excessive in emotional expression; gushy: an effusive manner.
2. Profuse; overflowing: effusive praise.

Question 23

Windfall

Answer 23

n.
1. A sudden, unexpected piece of good fortune or financial gain.
2. Something, such as a ripened fruit, that has been blown down by the wind.
adj.
Of or relating to a windfall: windfall profits.

Question 24

accouterments

Answer 24

n.
1. often accoutrements An accessory item of equipment or dress.
2. often accoutrements Military equipment other than uniforms and weapons.
3. accoutrements Outward forms of recognition; trappings: cathedral ceilings, heated swimming pools, and other accoutrements signaling great wealth.
4. Archaic The act of accoutring.

Question 25

cogitating

Answer 25

intr. To take careful thought or think carefully about; ponder.

Question 26

wily

Answer 26

adj. wi·li·er, wi·li·est
Full of wiles; cunning.

Question 27

wily

Answer 27

adj. wi·li·er, wi·li·est
Full of wiles; cunning.

Question 28

grotesque

Answer 28

adj.
1. Characterized by ludicrous, repulsive, or incongruous distortion, as of appearance or manner. See Synonyms at ugly.
2. Outlandish or bizarre, as in character or appearance. See Synonyms at fantastic.
3. Of, relating to, or being the grotesque style in art or a work executed in this style.
n.
1. One that is grotesque.
2.
a. A style of painting, sculpture, and ornamentation in which natural forms and monstrous figures are intertwined in bizarre or fanciful combinations.
b. A work of art executed in this style.