Word List 2 - Groups 1-3

Question 1

acrid

Answer 1

Sharp; pungent (used of smells and tastes)

The pound of flesh that Shylock bought at the market reeked of an acrid odor.

Question 2

boorish

Answer 2

Ill-mannered

Portia was the exact opposite of boorish, most likely having been raised to act properly.

Question 3

cynical

Answer 3

Believing that people only act out of selfish motives

Shylock had a cynical view of the Christians, mainly Antonio.

Question 4

epistle

Answer 4

A letter (form of communication)
There were epistles lying the three caskets from Portia's father stating a wise piece of advice.

Question 5

heresy

Answer 5

Against orthodox opinion

If Shylock ate pork or other meats, that would have been a heresy against his religion, Judaism.

Question 6

lance

Answer 6

Spear; spike; javelin

Shylock attempted to procure the one pound of flesh by using a lance to cut the flesh off of Antonio.

Question 7

obscure

Answer 7

Difficult to understand; partially hidden

Bassanio chose the obscure lead casket, which held the simplicity needed to win Portia.

Question 8

poignant

Answer 8

Deeply moving; strongly affecting the emotions

Bassanio’s marriage to Portia was a poignant event in which Bassanio had to recieve money to get Portia.

Question 9

respite

Answer 9

A break; intermission

Antonio had no respite between his borrowing of Shylock’s money and the trial that occurred in Venice.

Question 10

terse

Answer 10

Concise; to the point

Shylock’s demand for a pound of Antonio’s flesh was quite terse and blunt.

Question 11

acrophobia

Answer 11

Fear of heights

Lorenzo obviously did not possess acrophobia, for he climbed up to Jessica with ease.

Question 12

bourgeois

Answer 12

Middle class
Portia is not bourgeois, for she is very wealthy and rich with money.

Question 13

debility

Answer 13

Weakness; incapacity
Shylock’s debility was a loss of his money and fortune which partially occurred wheen Jessica stole a portion of his money.

Question 14

epistolary

Answer 14

Concerned with letters; through correspondance

Shylock’s epistolary bond with Antonio mentioning bluntly the pound of flesh.

Question 15

hiatus

Answer 15

Interruption; pause

There was a slight hiatus in Shylock’s movement prior to his procuring of Antonio’s pound of flesh.

Question 16

languid

Answer 16

Tired; slow

Shylock was not languid during the trial of Antonio, being quite alert and ready to present his opinion on the matter.

Question 17

obscured

Answer 17

Hidden; covered; buried
When Shylock wept at his learning of his daughter’s running away, the obscured reasoning for his sadness was not for his daughter, but for his money which she took.

Question 18

poised

Answer 18

Calm; collected; self-possessed

Even though he knew that he could die, Antonio remained poised throughout his trial, remaining calm.

Question 19

resplendent

Answer 19

Shining; glowing

The torches in Venice at night were quite resplendent when Jessica snuck away.

Question 20

therapeutic

Answer 20

Medicinal; curative

There was no therapeutic solution to Shylock’s own greed, due to it being a psychological problem.

Question 21

acuity

Answer 21

Sharpness (mental or visual)

Although he was evil, Shylock possessed acuity through his decision to loan Antonio money until the very end.

Question 22

braggart

Answer 22

Someone who boasts

Venetian Christians in the 1500s were somewhat braggarts in the sense that they saw Jews as inferior to themselves.

Question 23

debunking

Answer 23

Exposing false claims or myths

Shylock’s debunking of the Jews’s supposed inferiority was expressed toward Antonio when he asks “Hath not a Jew eyes?”

Question 24

epitomized

Answer 24

Typified; characterized; personified

In the eyes of sixteenth century Europe, Shylock epitomized the typical Jew, greedy, mean, and heartless.

Question 25

hidebound

Answer 25

Rigid in opinions

Shylock was hidebound in his belief that Christians were oppressive toward the Jews, who were victims of discrimination.

Question 26

languish

Answer 26

Decay; fade away; get weaker
Over the course of the story, Shylock progressives languishes, through a partial loss of wealth to the point where he must relinquish his fortune.

Question 27

obsequious

Answer 27

Servile; submissive

Portia most likely had many obsequious servants that were waiting day and night to serve a person of such great wealth.

Question 28

polemical

Answer 28

Causing debate or argument
The way in which Shylock is viewed is polemical, due to how he can be interpreted as a pure villain, or as a tragic hero.

Question 29

restorative

Answer 29

A tonic

If Shylock cut off a pound of flesh from Antonio, no restoratives could help Antonio recover from that.

Question 30

thwart

Answer 30

Prevent; frustrate

Portia, disguises as the lawyer, thwarted Shylock from taking one pound of flesh, and instead Shylock lost everything.