F Words

Question 1

facetious (adj)

Answer 1

joking (often inappropriately); not seriously intended

Tolstoy criticized George Bernard Shaw for his facetious tone in his play Arms and the Man, saying that one should not speak jestingly about such a serious subject.

Question 2

fallacious (adj)

Answer 2

logically unsound

Paradoxically, fallacious reasoning does not always produce incorrect results; even though your logic may be flawed, the conclusion you reach may still be correct.

Question 3

fatuous (adj)

Answer 3

smugly foolish

It is fatuous for publishers to believe that a few flashy quotes on a dust jacket cover will dazzle readers so much that they won’t notice that the book itself isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.

Question 4

fawning (adj)

Answer 4

seeking favor from superiors by behaving abjectly

In Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Collins is the archetypal fawning clergyman, wholly dependent for his living on the goodwill of his patron, Lady Catherine, whom he flatters shamelessly.

Question 5

felicitous (adj)

Answer 5

very well suited or nicely expressed
Tyndale’s greatest achievement as a translator was that he struck a felicitous balance between the demands of biblical scholarship and the need for simplicity of expression.

Question 6

fervor (n)

Answer 6

passionate intensity of feeling; earnestness of emotion

At the protest rally, the students cheered the strikers and booed the dean with equal fervor.

Question 7

flag (v)

Answer 7

lose vigor, become feeble

The lecture was so boring that our attention began to flag.

Question 8

fledgling (adj n)

Answer 8

lacking experience

The folk dance club organized an apprenticeship program to allow fledgling dance callers the opportunity to polish their skills.

Question 9

florid (adj)

Answer 9

flowery in style; reddish in color

He was an old-fashioned orator, known for his overblown rhetoric and his florid prose.

Question 10

flout (v)

Answer 10

reject mockingly; show contempt for

The painter Julian Schnabel flouted the convention of high art by painting on velvet and linoleum, materials more commonly used by sidewalk artists than by creators of fine art.

Question 11

foment (v)

Answer 11

stir up

Cynical even for a politician, he foments conflicts among his fellow committee members to consolidate his own position.

Question 12

forbearance (n)

Answer 12

patient endurance

Be patient with Robert, and treat him with forbearance: he is bad tempered because he is still weak from his illness.

Question 13

forestall (v)

Answer 13

prevent by taking action in advance

By setting up a prenuptial agreement, the bride and groom hoped to forestall any potential arguments about money in the event of a divorce.

Question 14

fortuitous (adj)

Answer 14

by chance

Though he pretended their encounter was fortuitous, he’d actually been hanging around her usual haunts for the past two weeks, hoping she’d turn up.

Question 15

founder (v)

Answer 15

fail completely

After hitting the submerged iceberg, the Titanic started taking in water rapidly and soon foundered.

Question 16

fractious (adj)

Answer 16

tending to cause trouble

Bucking and kicking, the fractious horse unseated its rider.

Question 17

frenetic (adj)

Answer 17

wildly agitated

As soon as they smelled smoke, the frenetic horses milled about in their stalls.

Question 18

furtive (adj)

Answer 18

done in a secretive or shifty manner

Noticing the furtive glance the customer game the diamond bracelet on the counter, the jeweler wondered whether he had a potential shoplifter in the store.