Unit 5

Question 1

anodyne

Answer 1

n. something that calms or soothes pain

Some people use alcohol as an anodyne to numb their emotional pain.

Question 2

anomalous

Answer 2

adj. irregular; deviating from the norm

The psychologist discounted the anomalous behavior of the soldier, saying it was merely a short-term effect of the stress of battle.

Question 3

antecedent

Answer 3

n. something that comes before

Historical factors contributed to make the Reformation, which had its antecedents in the reform movement within the Roman Catholic Church, into a much broader phenomenon.

Question 4

antediluvian

Answer 4

adj. prehistoric

Most of our knowledge of antediluvian times has been a result of fossil digging.

Question 5

antipathy

Answer 5

n. dislike; hostility

Healthcliff feels great antipathy for Edgar Linton, the man who marries the woman he loves.

Question 6

apathy

Answer 6

n. indifference

Apathy was high in the election because there was no major controversy or issue to arouse voter interest.

Question 7

apex

Answer 7

n. the highest point

In English literature, classicism reaches its apex in the poetry of Alexander Pope and the other Augustans.

Question 8

apogee

Answer 8

n. the point in an orbit most distant from the body being orbited; the highest point

The Ottoman Empire reaches its apogee in the seventeenth century.

Question 9

apothegm

Answer 9

n. a terse, witty saying

One of the best-known political apothegms was written by the British historian Lord Acton: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Question 10

appease

Answer 10

v. to calm; pacify; placate

Many historians have criticized British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain for trying to appease Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.