Common Lit Vocabulary for “The Roaring Twenties”

Question 1

High Jinks

Answer 1

Playful or rowdy activity.

Question 2

Unfettered

Answer 2

Unrestrained or completely free.

Question 3

Capitalism

Answer 3

A way of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) are owned by individual people and companies rather than by the government.

Question 4

Moniker

Answer 4

A name or nickname

Question 5

Doughboys

Answer 5

Refers to a United States foot soldier, especially during World War I

Question 6

League of Nations

Answer 6

An international organization founded after World War I, intended to promote international cooperation and peace.

Question 7

Ratification

Answer 7

The act of officially approving something.

Question 8

Flappers

Answer 8

We’re women during this time who were fashionable, intent on enjoying life, and unconcerned with society’s conventional standards for them.

Question 9

Prohibition

Answer 9

(1920-1933) was a nationwide ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States.

Question 10

Imbibed

Answer 10

To drink (particularly an alcoholic beverage)

Question 11

Speakeasies

Answer 11

Is an illegal saloon or nightclub that sells alcohol.

Question 12

Al Capone

Answer 12

Was an American gangster who distributed illegal alcohol during the Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois.

Question 13

Bootleggers

Answer 13

Is a person who manufactures, sells, or transports liquor illegally. Bootlegging were very popular in the United States during the era of Prohibition.

Question 14

Charles Lindbergh

Answer 14

Made the first solo flight across the Atlantic, flying approximately thirty-three hours from New York to Paris.

Question 15

Laissez-faire

Answer 15

A phrase referring to a policy or attitude of letting things take their own course, without interfering.

Question 16

Delegations

Answer 16

Are groups of people who are chosen to vote or act for someone else.

Question 17

Nitwit

Answer 17

A stupid person.

Question 18

Taciturn

Answer 18

Reserved or uncommunicative in speech.

Question 19

Assiduous

Answer 19

Showing great care, attention, and effort.

Question 20

Maxim

Answer 20

A brief expression of a general truth.

Question 21

Buying on Margin

Answer 21

The phrase refers to citizens purchasing items out of their price range by borrowing heavily from banks.

Question 22

Speculating

Answer 22

Invest in stocks, property, or other ventures in the hope of gain but with the risk of loss

Question 23

Unprecedented

Answer 23

Never done or known before

Question 24

Bull market

Answer 24

Refers to a market in which share prices are rising, encouraging buying.

Question 25

Speculative orgy

Answer 25

Excessive indulgence in a specified activity.

Question 26

Tariff

Answer 26

Is a tax to be paid on specific imports or exports.

Question 27

Shanties

Answer 27

Small, crudely built shacks.

Question 28

Stymie

Answer 28

To prevent or hinder the progress of

Question 29

Staunch

Answer 29

loyal and committed in attitude

Question 30

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), or FDC

Answer 30

Served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. Due to extreme political and economic crises, as well as active wartime, FDR won an unheard of four U.S. presidential elections. He led the United States during the Great Depression and WWII.