Misc. 7

Question 1

amphiboly

Answer 1

\am-FIB-uh-lee\
noun
1. ambiguity of speech, especially from uncertainty of the grammatical construction rather than of the meaning of the words, as in The Duke yet lives that Henry shall depose.

Question 2

potboiler

Answer 2

a mediocre work of literature or art produced merely for financial gain.

Question 3

stemwinder

Answer 3

1. Older Slang. a. a rousing speech, especially a stirring political address. b. something remarkable of its kind. c. a stirring orator.
2. a stemwinding watch.

Question 4

dilatory

Answer 4

1. tending to delay or procrastinate; slow; tardy.

2. intended to cause delay, gain time, or defer decision: a dilatory strategy.

Question 5

nudnik

Answer 5

Slang. a persistently dull, boring pest.

Question 6

compunction

Answer 6

1. a feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for doing wrong or causing pain; contrition; remorse.
2. any uneasiness or hesitation about the rightness of an action.

Question 7

infra dig

Answer 7

beneath one’s dignity.
“… the man among the holly-bushes had made her see it all so plainly: the ridiculousness of being in love, the infra dig business of chasing a man or being chased by a man. “Is love really so absurd and infra dig?” she said aloud to herself. “Why of course!” came a deep, laughing voice.”
– D. H. Lawrence, “The Last Laugh,” The Woman Who Rode Away and Other Stories, 1928
Infra dig is a shortening of the Latin phrase infrā dignitātem, “beneath (one’s) dignity.” It entered English in the early 1800s.

Question 8

immure

Answer 8

1. to shut in; seclude or confine.

2. to enclose within walls.

Question 9

equipoise

Answer 9

1. an equal distribution of weight; even balance; equilibrium.
2. a counterpoise.

Question 10

quondam

Answer 10

former; onetime: his quondam partner.

Question 11

bruit

Answer 11

\broot\
verb
1. to voice abroad; rumor (used chiefly in the passive and often followed by about ): The report was bruited through the village.

Question 12

asomatous

Answer 12

having no material body; incorporeal.

Question 13

thrasonical

Answer 13

boastful; vainglorious.

Question 14

tyro

Answer 14

a beginner in learning anything; novice.

Question 15

cordate

Answer 15

1. heart-shaped: a cordate shell.

2. (of leaves) heart-shaped, with the attachment at the notched end.

Question 16

sockeroo

Answer 16

Slang. a notable success: Her performance was a sockeroo.

Question 17

senectitude

Answer 17

the last stage of life; old age.

Question 18

handsel

Answer 18

1. a gift or token for good luck or as an expression of good wishes, as at the beginning of the new year or when entering upon a new situation or enterprise.
2. a first installment of payment.

Question 19

etiolate

Answer 19

1. to cause to become weakened or sickly; drain of color or vigor.
2. to cause (a plant) to whiten or grow pale by excluding light: to etiolate celery.

Question 20

fallal

Answer 20

a bit of finery; a showy article of dress.

Question 21

asseverate

Answer 21

to declare earnestly or solemnly; affirm positively; aver.

Question 22

troglodyte

Answer 22

1. a person of degraded, primitive, or brutal character.

2. a prehistoric cave dweller.

Question 23

calliopean

Answer 23

\kuh-lahy-uh-PEE-uh n\
adjective
1. piercingly loud; resembling a calliope in sound: a calliopean voice.

Question 24

sine die

Answer 24

\SAHY-nee DAHY-ee, SIN-ey-DEE-ey\
adverb
1. without fixing a day for future action or meeting: The assembly adjourned sine die.

Question 25

portmanteau

Answer 25

1. Also called portmanteau word. Linguistics. a word made by putting together parts of other words, as motel, made from motor and hotel, brunch, from breakfast and lunch, or guesstimate, from guess and estimate.
2. a case or bag to carry clothing in while traveling, especially a leather trunk or suitcase that opens into two halves.

Question 26

macaronic

Answer 26

1: characterized by a mixture of vernacular words with Latin words or with non-Latin words having Latin endings
2
: characterized by a mixture of two languages

Question 27

ramify

Answer 27

1 : to split up into branches or constituent parts
2 : to send forth branches or extensions
3 : to cause to branch
“In alternating chapters, ‘The Lost Boy’ moves back and forth in time, from a present-day whodunit set in a city … to a grim tale set in the 1870s on one of the myriad rocky islands lying off the coast. These narratives are related in fascinating ways, their threads crisscrossing and ramifying inventively.” — Anthony Lewis, The Providence Journal, 27 Nov. 2016

Question 28

nugatory

Answer 28

1 : of little or no consequence : trifling, inconsequential
2 : having no force : inoperative
“The novel’s greatest talker is Sandro’s best friend, Ronnie Fontaine, whose photographs (such as we hear about them) seem nugatory, but whose stories are captivating.” — James Wood, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2013

Question 29

distaff

Answer 29

1 a : related through a mother
b : inherited or derived from the female parent
2 : female

Question 30

adjure

Answer 30

1 : to command solemnly under or as if under oath or penalty of a curse
2 : to urge or advise earnestly

Question 31

carceral

Answer 31

of, relating to, or suggesting a jail or prison

Question 32

grandee

Answer 32

a man of elevated rank or station; especially : a Spanish or Portuguese nobleman of the first rank

Question 33

barbican

Answer 33

an outer defensive work; especially : a tower at a gate or bridge

Question 34

vernal

Answer 34

Of, in, or appropriate to spring

Question 35

bolthole

Answer 35

chiefly British

: a place of escape or refuge; a place where a person can escape and hide.

Question 36

canard

Answer 36

a false or baseless, usually derogatory story, report, or rumor:
“This week, Lewandowski distinguished himself by reviving the birther canard—the thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was not born in the United States.”
– Margaret Talbot, “The Trouble with Corey Lewandowski on CNN,”

Question 37

luciferous

Answer 37

1. bringing or providing light.
2. providing insight or enlightenment.
   Luciferous comes from Latin lūcifer “morning star,” literally, “light-bringing.” It entered English in the mid-1600s.

Question 38

Cimmerian

Answer 38

[si-MEER-ee-uh n]

1. very dark; gloomy: deep, Cimmerian caverns.
2. Classical Mythology. of, relating to, or suggestive of a western people believed to dwell in perpetual darkness.

Question 39

vaunting

Answer 39

1. having a boastfully proud disposition: a vaunting dictator.
2. marked by boastful pride: a vaunting air of superiority.

Question 40

smaragdine

Answer 40

1. emerald-green in color.

2. of or relating to emeralds.