4.13.T - Lesson: Module 4 Vocabulary: Denotation and Connotation

Question 1

Amnesty

Answer 1

n. pl. am·nes·ties
A general pardon granted by a government: amnesty for military deserters; amnesty for tax evasion.
tr.v. am·nes·tied, am·nes·ty·ing, am·nes·ties
To grant a general pardon to.

Question 2

astute

Answer 2

as·tute (ə-stt, ə-styt)
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adj.
Having or showing shrewdness and discernment, especially with respect to one’s own concerns. See Synonyms at shrewd.

Question 3

cataract

Answer 3

cat·a·ract (kătə-răkt′)
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n.
1. A large or high waterfall.
2. A great downpour; a deluge.
3. Medicine Opacity of the lens or capsule of the eye, causing impairment of vision or blindness.

Question 4

chagrin

Answer 4

n.
A keen feeling of mental unease, as of annoyance or embarrassment, caused by failure, disappointment, or a disconcerting event: To her chagrin, the party ended just as she arrived.

Question 5

compunction

Answer 5

com·punc·tion (kəm-pŭngkshən)
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n.
1. A strong uneasiness caused by a sense of guilt: stole the money without compunction. See Synonyms at penitence.
2. A sting of conscience or a pang of doubt aroused by wrongdoing or the prospect of wrongdoing: “commercial speculators and hired politicians who had no compunction about pillaging their country for personal gain” (Leo Damrosch).

Question 6

conundrum

Answer 6

co·nun·drum (kə-nŭndrəm)
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n.
1. A riddle in which a fanciful question is answered by a pun.
2. A paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma: “the conundrum … of achieving full employment without inflation” (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.)

Question 7

distrait

Answer 7

adj.
Inattentive or preoccupied, especially because of anxiety: “When she did not occupy her accustomed chair at the seminar, Freud felt uneasy and distrait” (Times Literary Supplement).

Question 8

ennui

Answer 8

n.
Listlessness and dissatisfaction resulting from lack of interest; boredom: “The servants relieved their ennui with gambling and gossip about their masters” (John Barth).

Question 9

florid

Answer 9

flor·id (flôrĭd, flŏr-)
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adj.
1. Flushed with rosy color; ruddy.
2. Very ornate; flowery: a florid prose style.
3. Archaic Healthy.
4. Obsolete Abounding in or covered with flowers.

Question 10

gadabout

Answer 10

n.
One who roams or roves about, as in search of pleasure or amusement

Question 11

genteel

Answer 11

adj.
1. Refined or polite, often in an affected way: “Who better to domesticate him than the most genteel woman in the world? What better to housebreak him than … a delicate actress with beautiful diction for his wife?” (Philip Roth). See Synonyms at polite.
2. Typical or characteristic of the upper class: “His family background was somewhat less genteel than his Brahmin name and Harvard pedigree might suggest” (Scot French).
3. Elegantly stylish or fashionable: genteel manners and appearance.

Question 12

haggard

Answer 12

adj.
1. Exhausted or distraught and often gaunt in appearance.
2. Wild and intractable. Used of a hawk in falconry.
n.
An adult hawk captured for training.

Question 13

introspective

Answer 13

intr.v. in·tro·spect·ed, in·tro·spect·ing, in·tro·spects
To engage in introspection

introspection means: Contemplation of one’s own thoughts, feelings, and sensations; self-examination.

Question 14

judicial

Answer 14

adj.
1. Law
a. Of, relating to, or proper to courts of law or to the administration of justice: the judicial system.
b. Decreed by or proceeding from a court of justice: a judicial decision.
c. Belonging or appropriate to the office of a judge: in judicial robes.
2. Characterized by or expressing judgment: the judicial function of a literary critic.
3. Proceeding from a divine judgment.

Question 15

languor

Answer 15

n.
1. Lack of physical or mental energy; listlessness: “the languor of the men, induced by the heat” (Herman Melville). See Synonyms at lethargy.
2. A dreamy, lazy, or sensual quality, as of expression: “the clarity of her complexion, the length and languor of her eyelashes” (Jhumpa Lahiri).
3. Oppressive stillness, especially of the air: the languor of a hot July afternoon.

Question 16

lithe

Answer 16

adj. lith·er, lith·est
1. Readily bent; supple: lithe birch branches.
2. Marked by effortless grace: a lithe ballet dancer.

Question 17

nominal

Answer 17

nom·i·nal (nŏmə-nəl)
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adj.
1.
a. Of, resembling, relating to, or consisting of a name or names.
b. Assigned to or bearing a person’s name: nominal shares.
2.
a. Existing in name only; not real: “a person with a nominal religious position but no actual duties” (Leo Damrosch).
b. Insignificantly small; trifling: a nominal sum.
3. Philosophy Of or relating to nominalism.
4. Economics Of or relating to an amount or rate that is not adjusted for inflation.
5. Business Of or relating to the par value of a security rather than the market value.
6. Grammar Of or relating to a noun or word group that functions as a noun.
7. Aerospace & Engineering According to plan or design: “The flyby was declared a success after the spacecraft phoned home to Earth at 8:53 p.m. EDT and all systems were nominal” (Emilee Speck).

Question 18

pallor

Answer 18

n.
Extreme or unnatural paleness.

Question 19

procure

Answer 19

v.tr.
1. To get by special effort; obtain or acquire: managed to procure a pass.
2. To bring about; effect: procure a solution to a knotty problem.
3. To obtain (a sexual partner) for another.

Question 20

propagate

Answer 20

v.tr.
1. To cause (an organism) to multiply or breed.
2. To breed (offspring).
3. To transmit (characteristics) from one generation to another.
4. To cause to extend to a broader area or larger number; spread: missionaries who propagate the faith.
5. To make widely known; publicize: propagate a rumor.
6. Physics To cause (a wave, for example) to move in some direction or through a medium; transmit.
v.intr.
1. To have offspring; multiply.
2. To extend to a broader area or larger number; spread.
3. Physics To move through a medium.

Question 21

recapitulate

Answer 21

v.tr.
1. To repeat in concise form.
2. Biology To appear to repeat (the evolutionary stages of the species) during the embryonic development of the individual organism.
v.intr.
To make a summary.

Question 22

rogue

Answer 22

n.
1. An unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person; a scoundrel or rascal.
2. One who is playfully mischievous; a scamp.
3. A wandering beggar; a vagrant.
4. A vicious and solitary animal, especially an elephant that has separated itself from its herd.
5. An organism, especially a plant, that shows an undesirable variation from a standard.
adj.
1. Vicious and solitary. Used of an animal, especially an elephant.
2. Large, destructive, and anomalous or unpredictable: rogue tornado.
3. Operating outside normal or desirable controls: “How could a single rogue trader bring down an otherwise profitable and well-regarded institution?” (Saul Hansell).

Question 23

rueful

Answer 23

adj.
Causing, feeling, or expressing sorrow or regret: “He gave the young officer the rueful look of a father exasperated with his misbehaving son” (Khaled Hosseini).

Question 24

stagnant

Answer 24

adj.
1. Not flowing or moving, and often foul-smelling or stale: stagnant ponds; stagnant air.
2. Showing little or no activity or vitality; inactive or sluggish: a stagnant economy; a stagnant mind.

Question 25

surmise

Answer 25

v.tr.
1. To make a judgment about (something) without sufficient evidence; guess: “In another pocket he came across what he surmised in the dark were pennies, erroneously, however, as it turned out” (James Joyce).
2. To say (something) as a guess or conjecture.
v.intr.
To make a guess or conjecture.
n.
An idea or opinion based on insufficiently conclusive evidence; a conjecture.

Question 26

Denotation

Answer 26

the literal meaning of a word

Question 27

Connotation

Answer 27

an idea or feeling that a word evokes in addition to its literal meaning