4/18 Vocab

Question 1

caustic

Answer 1

biting in wit, sarcastic, cutting, mordant

“Dorothy Parker gained her reputation for CAUSTIC wit from her cutting, yet clever, insults.”

Question 2

chauvinist

Answer 2

excessively patriotic, xenophobic, ethnocentric, racist, jingoistic
“The attitude that men are inherently superior to women and therefore must be obeyed is common among male CHAUVINISTS.”

Question 3

cogent

Answer 3

convincing, compelling, strong, forceful, powerful, potent, weighty, impactful, effective
“Swayed by the COGENT argument of the defense, the jury had no choice but to acquit the defendant.”

Question 4

dirge

Answer 4

elegy, lament, burial hymn, threnody, requiem

“Melville wrote the poem ‘A DIRGE for James McPherson’ for the funeral of a Union general who was killed in 1864.”

Question 5

dissonance

Answer 5

discord, disharmony, incongruity, discrepancy

“Cognitive DISSONANCE is the inner conflict produced when long-standing beliefs are contradicted by new evidence.”

Question 6

estimable

Answer 6

admirable, reputed, respected, esteemed, praiseworthy

“Most people consider it ESTIMABLE that Mother Teresa spent her life helping the poor of India.”