Week 1 - Deck 1

Question 1

Thomas Hardy (birth-death)
Tess of the d'Urbervilles (year published)

Answer 1

1840-1928

Tess published in 1891

Question 2

Jacobins

Answer 2

The English who supported the French Revolution during its early stage (or even throughout).

Question 3

espouse

Answer 3

verb [trans]

adopt or support (a cause, belief, or way of life): “she espoused communism.”

Question 4

patrician

Answer 4

n. an aristocrat or nobleman
- a member of a long-established wealthy family.
- a member of a noble family or class in Ancient Rome.

adj. belonging to or characteristic of the aristocracy; “a proud, patrician face.”

Question 5

impetus

Answer 5

n. the force or energy with which a body moves: “hit the booster coil before the flywheel loses all its impetus.”

the force that makes something happen or happen more quickly : “the crisis of the 1860s provided the original impetus for the settlements.”

Question 6

sordid

Answer 6

adj. involving ignoble actions and motives; arousing moral distaste and contempt: “the story paints a sordid picture of bribes and scams.”
- dirty or squalid : “the overcrowded housing conditions were sordid and degrading.”

Question 7

Luddite

Answer 7

n. a member of any of the bands of English workers who destroyed machinery, esp. in cotton and woolen mills, that they believed was threatening their jobs.
- a person opposed to increased industrialization or new technology : “a small-minded Luddite resisting progress.”

Question 8

sardonic

Answer 8

adj. grimly mocking or cynical : “Starkey attempted a sardonic smile.”

Question 9

nouveau riche

Answer 9

n. [treated as pl.] (usu. the nouveau riche) people who have recently acquired wealth, typically those perceived as ostentatious or lacking in good taste.

Question 10

ostentatious

Answer 10

adj. characterized by vulgar or pretentious display; designed to impress or attract notice : “books that people buy and display ostentatiously but never actually finish.”

Question 11

onerous

Answer 11

adj. (of a task, duty, or responsibility) involving an amount of effort and difficulty that is oppressively burdensome : “he found his duties increasingly onerous.”

Question 12

bereft

Answer 12

adj. deprived of or lacking something, esp. a nonmaterial asset : “her room was stark and bereft of color.”
- (of a person) lonely and abandoned, esp. through someone’s death or departure : “his death in 1990 left her bereft.”

Question 13

stark

Answer 13

adj.

1. sever or bare in appearance or outline : “the ridge formed a stark silhouette against the sky.”
   - unpleasantly or sharply clear; impossible to avoid : “his position on civil rights is in stark contrast to that of his liberal opponents. the stark reality of life for deprived minorities.”
2. [attrib.] complete; sheer : “he came running back in stark terror.”

Question 14

affront

Answer 14

n. an action or remark that causes outrage or offense
“He took his son’s desertion as a personal affront. Privilege publicly worn is an affront to democracy.”

v. [trans.] (usu. be affronted) offend the modesty or values of
“She was affronted by his familiarity.”

Question 15

fulminate

Answer 15

verb [intrans.] express vehement protest
“all fulminated against the new curriculum.”

{poetic/literary} explode violently or flash like lightening
“Thunder fulminated around the house.”