Vocabulary Twenty-two

Question 1

billet-doux

Answer 1

a love letter

Question 2

canard

Answer 2

false rumor, hoax

Question 3

repartee

Answer 3

skill of replying quickly, cleverly, and humorously; witty reply

Question 4

riposte

Answer 4

quick retort or repartee

Question 5

impasse

Answer 5

deadlock; predicament affording no escape

Question 6

avant-garde

Answer 6

experimentalists or innovators in any art

Question 7

milieu

Answer 7

environment or setting

Question 8

pince nez

Answer 8

eyeglasses clipped to the nose by a spring

Question 9

vis-à-vis

Answer 9

face to face; opposite; when compared or confronted with

Question 10

imbroglio

Answer 10

difficult situation, complicated disagreement

Question 11

peccadillo

Answer 11

slight offense

Question 12

Adonis

Answer 12

a handsome young man

Question 13

chimerical

Answer 13

fantastic, unreal, absurd

Question 14

egress

Answer 14

a going or way out; exit

Question 15

perfidy

Answer 15

violation of a trust; treachery

Question 16

tortuous

Answer 16

full of twists or curves; winding; tricky; crooked

Question 17

anarchy

Answer 17

total absence of rule or government; confusion; disorder

Question 18

oligarchy

Answer 18

form of government in which a few people have the power

Question 19

hyperbole

Answer 19

extravagant exaggeration

Question 20

malaise

Answer 20

vague feeling of bodily discomfort or illness