The Luminaries Vocabulary

Question 1

Largesse

Answer 1

the act of giving away money or the quality of a person who gives away money; also : money that is given away

Question 2

Disequilibrium

Answer 2

a loss or lack of balance

Question 3

Barque

Answer 3

a sailing vessel having three or more masts, square-rigged on all but the aftermost.

Question 4

unorthodoxy

Answer 4

Not of orthodox behavior

Question 5

affronting

Answer 5

a personally offensive act or word; deliberate act or display of disrespect; intentional slight; insult:
an affront to the king.

an offense to one’s dignity or self-respect.

Question 6

connexion

Answer 6

british word for connection

Question 7

meagre

Answer 7

deficient in quantity or quality; lacking fullness or richness; scanty; inadequate:

having little flesh; lean; thin:

Question 8

privation

Answer 8

lack of the usual comforts or necessaries of life:
His life of privation began to affect his health.

an instance of this.

the act of depriving.

the state of being deprived.

Question 9

hearth

Answer 9

the floor of a fireplace, usually of stone, brick, etc., often extending a short distance into a room.

Question 10

decanters

Answer 10

a vessel, usually an ornamental glass bottle, for holding and serving wine, brandy, or the like.

Question 11

gorge

Answer 11

a narrow cleft with steep, rocky walls, especially one through which a stream runs.

a small canyon.

a gluttonous meal.

something that is swallowed; contents of the stomach.

an obstructing mass:
an ice gorge.

the seam formed at the point where the lapel meets the collar of a jacket or coat.

Fortification. the rear entrance or part of a bastion or similar outwork

Question 12

impertinent

Answer 12

intrusive or presumptuous, as persons or their actions; insolently rude; uncivil:

not pertinent or relevant; irrelevant:

Archaic. inappropriate, incongruous, or absurd.

Obsolete. (of persons) trivial, silly, or absurd.

Question 13

discomfiture

Answer 13

disconcertion; confusion; embarrassment.

frustration of hopes or plans.

Archaic. defeat in battle; rout.

Question 14

malaise

Answer 14

a condition of general bodily weakness or discomfort, often marking the onset of a disease.

a vague or unfocused feeling of mental uneasiness, lethargy, or discomfort.

Question 15

spade-beard

Answer 15

an oblong beard with square ends

a beard rounded off at the top and pointed at the bottom

Question 16

renegade

Answer 16

a person who deserts a party or cause for another.

an apostate from a religious faith.

Question 17

lucifers

Answer 17

a friction match: originally a trade name for a match manufactured in England in the 19th century

Question 18

quays

Answer 18

a landing place, especially one of solid masonry, constructed along the edge of a body of water; wharf.

Question 19

deference

Answer 19

respectful submission or yielding to the judgment, opinion, will, etc., of another.

respectful or courteous regard:

Question 20

belied

Answer 20

having a belly, especially one of a specified kind, size, shape, condition, etc. (usually used in combination):
big-bellied.

swelled or puffed out:

Question 21

dogged

Answer 21

persistent in effort; stubbornly tenacious:

Question 22

vanguard

Answer 22

the foremost division or the front part of an army; advance guard; van.

the forefront in any movement, field, activity, or the like.

the leaders of any intellectual or political movement.

(initial capital letter) Rocketry. a U.S. three-stage, satellite-launching rocket, the first two stages powered by liquid-propellant engines and the third by a solid-propellant engine.

Question 23

awl

Answer 23

a pointed instrument for piercing small holes in leather, wood, etc.

Question 24

awning

Answer 24

a rooflike shelter of canvas or other material extending over a doorway, from the top of a window, over a deck, etc., in order to provide protection, as from the sun.

a shelter.

Question 25

shanties

Answer 25

a crudely built hut, cabin, or house.
adjective

of, pertaining to, or constituting a shanty or shanties:

of a low economic or social class, especially when living in a shanty:

Question 26

inclement

Answer 26

(of the weather, the elements, etc.) severe, rough, or harsh; stormy.

not kind or merciful.

Question 27

subversive

Answer 27

Also, subversionary [suh b-vur-zhuh-ner-ee, -shuh-] (Show IPA). tending to subvert or advocating subversion, especially in an attempt to overthrow or cause the destruction of an established or legally constituted government.

Question 28

repudiate

Answer 28

verb (used with object), repudiated, repudiating.

to reject as having no authority or binding force:
to repudiate a claim.

to cast off or disown:
to repudiate a son.

to reject with disapproval or condemnation:
to repudiate a new doctrine.

to reject with denial:
to repudiate a charge as untrue.

to refuse to acknowledge and pay (a debt), as a state, municipality, etc.

Question 29

traversed

Answer 29

to pass or move over, along, or through.

to go to and fro over or along.

to extend across or over:
A bridge traverses the stream.

to go up, down, or across (a rope, mountain, hill, etc.) at an angle:
The climbers traversed the east face of the mountain.

to ski across (a hill or slope).

to cause to move laterally.

to look over, examine, or consider carefully; review; survey.

Question 30

verdant

Answer 30

green with vegetation; covered with growing plants or grass:

of the color green:

inexperienced; unsophisticated:

Question 31

dubbers

Answer 31

to invest with any name, character, dignity, or title; style; name; call:
He was dubbed a hero.

to strike lightly with a sword in the ceremony of conferring knighthood; make, or designate as, a knight:
The king dubbed him a knight.

to strike, cut, rub, or make smooth, as leather or timber.