Vocab List #2

Question 1

Motif

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Semiotics

Answer 2

The study of signs and symbols and their use of interpretation

Question 3

Indubitable

Answer 3

That which cannot be doubted; unquestionable

Question 4

Chortle

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Impugn

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Polysyndeton

Answer 6

Repeated use of the same conjunction

Question 7

Participle

Answer 7

A word formed from a verb

Question 8

Epigram

Answer 8

A phrase expressing an idea in a clever and amusing way

Question 9

Anaphora

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Vitriolic

Answer 10

Filled with bitter criticism or malice

Question 11

Octogenarian

Answer 11

A person between the ages of 80 and 89

Question 12

Aboriginal

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Titular

Answer 13

Having a title without any real authority

Question 14

Prolific

Answer 14

Producing a great number or amount of something

Question 15

Octometer

Answer 15

A line of poetry with eight metrical feet

Question 16

Agentive

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Dalliance

Answer 17

A casual romantic or sexual relationship

Question 18

Furtive

Answer 18

Acting in a stealthy manner as if to hinder observation

Question 19

Eiderdown

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Provenance

Answer 20

The place of origin or earliest known history of something

Question 21

Ermine

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Construe

Answer 22

Interpret a word or action in a particular way

Question 23

Toque

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Hemlock

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Embalm

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Perforce

Answer 26

Used to express necessity or inevitability

Question 27

Facetious

Answer 27

Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant

Question 28

Egalitarian

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Apopsiopesis

Answer 29

“A silence.” You stop suddenly in midsentence

Question 30

Apostrophe

Answer 30

“A turning away”

Question 31

Antonomasia

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Apophasis

Answer 32

“A passing over”. You pretend not to mention something in the very act of mentioning it

Question 33

Aporia

Answer 33

“Doubting.” You hesitate ironically between alternatives