December 2018

Question 1

Coruscating

Answer 1

1. Flashing; sparkling.

2. Brilliant or striking in content or style.

Question 2

Arduous

Answer 2

Involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring.

an arduous journey

Question 3

Reticent

Answer 3

Not revealing one’s thoughts or feelings readily.

she was extremely reticent about her personal affairs

Question 4

Obfuscate

Answer 4

Make obscure, unclear, or unintelligible.

Bewilder (someone)

The spelling changes will deform some familiar words and obfuscate their etymological origins.

Question 5

Stricture

Answer 5

A restriction on a person or activity.

The strictures imposed by the British Board of Film Censors.

Question 6

Transgress

Answer 6

Go beyond the limits of (what is morally, socially, or legally acceptable)

She had transgressed an unwritten social law.

Question 7

Phantasmagoria

Answer 7

A sequence of real or imaginary images like that seen in a dream.

What happened next was a phantasmagoria of horror and mystery.

Question 8

Idiosyncrasy

Answer 8

A mode of behaviour or way of thought peculiar to an individual.

One of his little idiosyncrasies was always preferring to be in the car first.

Question 9

Ubiquitous

Answer 9

Present, appearing, or found everywhere.

Cowboy hats are ubiquitous among the male singers.

Question 10

Discarnate

Answer 10

(of a person or being) not having a physical body.

Methods for communicating with the dead or with discarnate spirits.

Question 11

Latent

Answer 11

(of a quality or state) existing but not yet developed or manifest; hidden or concealed.
‘they have a huge reserve of latent talent’

Question 12

Hitherto

Answer 12

Until now or until the point in time under discussion.

From this case I was able for the first time to understand the language of schizophrenics, which had hitherto been regarded as meaningless.

Question 13

Substratum

Answer 13

An underlying layer or substance, in particular a layer of rock or soil beneath the surface of the ground.

A foundation or basis of something

‘The idea that Aboriginal culture is essentially unchanging and thus ‘the oldest in the world’ appeals to many Australians, and presumably strengthens the substratum of support for native title, as well as the Aboriginal art market.’

Question 14

Empirical

Answer 14

based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic.

“they provided considerable empirical evidence to support their argument”