O's

Question 1

Offhand

Answer 1

Casual, informal; done without preparation or forethought; rude in a short way, brusque.

I was pretty happy with my salary until my coworker Deena mentioned offhandedly that she was thinking about buying a house now that she made six figures.

Question 2

Offset

Answer 2

Counteract, compensate for. Offset is usually a verb, but can be used as a noun: My company provided me with an offset against moving expenses.

Property taxes did go up this year, but we didn’t really suffer because the hit to our finances was offset by a reduction in fees paid to our homeowners association.

Question 3

Oligarchy

Answer 3

Government by the few, especially by a class or a small group or clique.

Question 4

Omit

Answer 4

Remove, delete, take out.

Question 5

Operative

Answer 5

Operating; having influence, force, or effect; effective, key, significant. The expression operative word refers to the one most meaningful word within a larger phrase. An operative can be a worker, or a detective or spy.

In the doctor’s prescription of daily cardio exercise, the operative word is “daily.”

Question 6

Optimal

Answer 6

Best, most desirable or favorable. To optimize is to make perfect, such as by “maxing out” or striking just the right balance.

Many believe that the U.S. Constitution’s genius lies in its striking an optimal balance between freedom and order.

Question 7

Oral narratives

Answer 7

Stories told verbally, especially by people who are not literate or whose cultures do not have writing (or didn’t at the time). An oral tradition is a practice of passing down a culture’s history verbally.

Question 8

Outstrip

Answer 8

Surpass, exceed; be larger or better than; leave behind.

Our sales figures this quarter have outstripped those of any other quarter in the company’s history.