Chapter 4

Question 1

credulous

Answer 1

adj.

1. Disposed to believe too readily; gullible.
2. Arising from or characterized by credulity.

Question 2

lachrymose

Answer 2

adj.

1. Weeping or inclined to weep; tearful.
2. Causing or tending to cause tears.

Question 3

obfuscate

Answer 3

v.

1. To make so confused or opaque as to be difficult to perceive or understand
2. To render indistinct or dim; darken: The fog obfuscated the shore.

Question 4

plethora

Answer 4

n.

An abundance or excess of something

Question 5

repudiate

Answer 5

v.
To shun, eschew

1. To reject the validity or authority of
2. To reject emphatically as unfounded, untrue, or unjust: repudiated the accusation.
3. To refuse to recognize or pay: repudiate a debt.
   4.
   a. To disown (e.g. a child).
   b. To refuse to have any dealings with.

Question 6

tedium

Answer 6

n.

The quality or condition of being tedious; tediousness or boredom.

Question 7

abstemious

Answer 7

adj.

1. Eating and drinking in moderation.
2. Characterized by abstinence or moderation: an abstemious way of life.

Question 8

blithe

Answer 8

adj.

1. Carefree and lighthearted.
2. Lacking or showing a lack of due concern; casual: spoke with blithe ignorance of the true situation.

Question 9

crepuscular

Answer 9

adj.

1. Of or like twilight; dim
   2a. Active primarily at dawn or dusk or both. Used of animals.
   b. Occurring at dawn or dusk or both: crepuscular foraging; a crepuscular stroll through the park.

Question 10

pliable

Answer 10

adj.

1. Easily bent or shaped
2. Capable of being changed or adjusted to meet particular or varied needs: a pliable policy.
3. Easily influenced, persuaded, or controlled

Question 11

rescind

Answer 11

v.

To make void; repeal or annul.

Question 12

temper

Answer 12

v.

1. To moderate
2. To bring to a desired consistency, texture, hardness, or other physical condition by blending, mixing, or kneading: temper clay; paints that had been tempered with oil.
3. To harden or strengthen (metal or glass) by application of heat or by heating and cooling.
4. To strengthen through experience or hardship; toughen: soldiers who had been tempered by combat.
5. Music: To adjust (the pitch of an instrument) to a temperament.

Question 13

abstruse

Answer 13

adj.

Difficult to understand; obscure

Question 14

blunderbuss

Answer 14

n.

1. A short musket of wide bore and flaring muzzle, formerly used to scatter shot at close range.
2. A person regarded as clumsy and stupid.

Question 15

envenom

Answer 15

v.

1. To make poisonous or noxious.
2. To embitter.

Question 16

hedonism

Answer 16

n.

Pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses.

Question 17

laconic

Answer 17

adj.

Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.

Question 18

plumage

Answer 18

n.

1. The covering of feathers on a bird.
2. Feathers used ornamentally.
3. Elaborate dress; finery.

Question 19

accolade

Answer 19

n.
1.
a. An expression of approval; praise.
b. A special acknowledgment; an award.
2. A ceremonial embrace, as of greeting or salutation.
3. Ceremonial bestowal of knighthood.

Question 20

ephemeral

Answer 20

adj.

1. Lasting for a markedly brief time
2. Having a short lifespan or a short annual period of aboveground growth. Used especially of plants.

Question 21

acquiesce

Answer 21

v.

To consent or comply passively or without protest

Question 22

bombast

Answer 22

n.

1. Grandiloquent, pompous speech or writing.
2. Grandiose or overpowering expression, as in music or painting.

Question 23

epicure

Answer 23

n.

1. A person with refined taste, especially in food and wine.
2. A person devoted to sensuous pleasure and luxurious living.

Question 24

lampoon

Answer 24

n.

A written attack ridiculing a person, group, or institution.

Question 25

tenuous

Answer 25

adj.
1.
a. Weak or insubstantial; flimsy: a tenuous argument
b. Precarious or insecure: tenuous survival.
2. Long and thin; slender: tenuous strands.
3. Having a thin consistency: Pluto’s tenuous envelope of gas.