Vocab cumulative test

Question 1

pensive

Answer 1

thoughtful, deep thinking, meditative

Question 2

mercurial

Answer 2

subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood

Question 3

ruminative

Answer 3

expressing or involving deep thought

Question 4

abstruse

Answer 4

difficult to understand (adj)

Question 5

acrimony

Answer 5

bitterness or ill feeling (n)

Question 6

bombastic

Answer 6

overblown, histrionic inflated language (adj)

Question 7

buoyancy

Answer 7

resilience of spirit (n)

Question 8

connotative

Answer 8

suggestive of an associative or secondary meaning (adj)

Question 9

consternation

Answer 9

a sudden, alarming dread or dismay (n)

Question 10

cynical

Answer 10

negative, pessimistic, cutting (adj)

Question 11

despondent

Answer 11

in low spirits from lack of confidence (adj)

Question 12

effusive

Answer 12

expressing feelings of gratitude or approval in an unrestrained or heartfelt manner (adj)

Question 13

enmity

Answer 13

being actively opposed or resistant to something (n)

Question 14

euphemistic

Answer 14

polite language, politically correct (adj)

Question 15

flippant

Answer 15

sarcastic, irreverent

Question 16

homespun

Answer 16

plain, unpolished, unsophisticated speech (adj)

Question 17

idiomatic

Answer 17

peculiar to a particular language or dialect (ex.: “bloody” is a British phrase for our “crappy”, et al)

Question 18

insolent

Answer 18

rude or disrespectful (adj)

Question 19

jargon

Answer 19

special words or expressions used by a particular group

Question 20

lugubrious

Answer 20

dismal or gloomy in an affected way (adj)

Question 21

pedantic

Answer 21

precise, over-exacting, meticulous (adj)

Question 22

picturesque

Answer 22

particularly detailed in rich visual imagery (adj)

Question 23

picturesque

Answer 23

particularly detailed in rich visual imagery (adj)

Question 24

sanguine

Answer 24

optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation (adj)

Question 25

serene

Answer 25

calm, peaceful, tranquil (adj)

Question 26

somber

Answer 26

extremely serious, grave, depressing (adj)

Question 27

trite

Answer 27

hackneyed or stale (adj)

Question 28

turgid

Answer 28

tediously pompous or bombastic (adj)

Question 29

chiasmus

Answer 29

the order of the terms in the first of parallel clauses is reversed in the second. “has the church failed mankind, or has mankind failed the church”

Question 30

anadiplosis

Answer 30

repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause. “the crime was common, common be the pain”

Question 31

asyndeton

Answer 31

omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words “he was brave, fearless, afraid of nothing”

Question 32

personification

Answer 32

giving a non-living thing human/ active qualities

Question 33

synecdoche

Answer 33

a figure of speech in which a part is used to designate the whole or the whole is used to designate a part
ex. “all hands on deck”

Question 34

horatian

Answer 34

light-hearted, intended for fun

Question 35

juvenalian

Answer 35

bitter, angry attacking

Question 36

dimunition

Answer 36

taking a real-life situation and reducing it to make it ridiculous and showcase its faults.

Question 37

understatement

Answer 37

the opposite of exaggeration. By contrast, it draws attention to the truth

Question 38

apostrophe

Answer 38

words that are spoken to a person who is absent or imaginary, or to an object or abstract idea.

Question 39

allusion

Answer 39

an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference