Vocab #2

Question 1

A distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition

Answer 1

Motif

Question 2

The study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation

Answer 2

Semiotics

Question 3

That which cannot be doubted; unquestionable

Answer 3

Indubitable

Question 4

To make, or utter with, a gleeful chuckling or snorting sound

Answer 4

Chortle

Question 5

To attack by argument or criticism; oppose or challenge as false or questionable

Answer 5

Impugn

Question 6

Repeated use of the same conjunction

Answer 6

Polysyndeton

Question 7

A word formed from a verb

Answer 7

Participle

Question 8

A phrase expressing an idea in a clever or amusing way

Answer 8

Epigram

Question 9

The use of a word to replace a word used earlier in a sentence to avoid repetition

Answer 9

Anaphora

Question 10

Filled with bitter criticism or malice

Answer 10

Vitriolic

Question 11

A person between the ages of 80 and 89

Answer 11

Octogenarian

Question 12

Existing in a land from the earliest times or before the arrival of colonists; indigenous

Answer 12

Aboriginal

Question 13

Having a title without any real authority

Answer 13

Titular

Question 14

Producing a great number or amount of something

Answer 14

Prolific

Question 15

A line of poetry with eight metrical feet

Answer 15

Octometer

Question 16

Denoting a word or part of a word that expresses the doer of an action

Answer 16

Agentive

Question 17

A casual romantic or sexual relationship

Answer 17

Dalliance

Question 18

Acting in a stealthy manner as if to hinder observation

Answer 18

Furtive

Question 19

Soft feathers from the breast of the female eider duck, used as stuffing for quilts

Answer 19

Eiderdown

Question 20

The place of origin or earliest known history of something

Answer 20

Provenance

Question 21

The white fur of the stoat, used for trimming garments, especially in the ceremonial robes of judges or peers

Answer 21

Ermine

Question 22

Interpret a word or action in a particular way

Answer 22

Construe

Question 23

A woman’s small hat, typically having a narrow, closely turned up brim

Answer 23

Toque

Question 24

A highly poisonous European plant of the parsley family, with a purple spotted stem, fernlike leaves, small white flowers, and an unpleasant smell

Answer 24

Hemlock

Question 25

To preserve a corpse from decay, originally with spices and now usually by arterial injection of a preservative

Answer 25

Embalm

Question 26

Used to express necessity or inevitability

Answer 26

Perforce

Question 27

Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant

Answer 27

Facetious

Question 28

Relating to or believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities

Answer 28

Egalitarian

Question 29

“A silence.” You stop suddenly in midsentence as if words fail, or as if a word to your wise reader has been completely sufficient

Answer 29

Aposiopesis

Question 30

“A turning away.” You “turn away” from your audience to address someone new - God, the angels, heaven, the dead, or anyone not present

Answer 30

Apostrophe

Question 31

You substitute an epithet, a label, for a person’s real name, usually with ironic emphasis

Answer 31

Antonomasia

Question 32

Also called paralepsis or preteritio. “A passing over.” You pretend not to mention something in the very act of mentioning it.

Answer 32

Apophasis

Question 33

“Doubting.” You hesitate ironically between alternatives

Answer 33

Aporia