Week 1 - Deck 2

Question 1

attest

Answer 1

verb [trans.] provide or serve as clear evidence of : “his status is attested by his recent promotion.”
[intrans.] declare something exists or is the case : “I can attest to his tremendous energy.”
[with clause] “the deceased’s attorney attested that he had been about to…”

Question 2

indelible

Answer 2

adj. (of ink or a pen) making marks that cannot be removed.
- not able to be forgotten or removed

“His story made an indelible impression on me.”

Question 3

zeitgeist

Answer 3

noun [in sing.] the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time

“The story captured the zeitgeist of the late 1960s.”

Question 4

Milton

Answer 4

John Milton (1608-74), English Poet. His three major works, Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes, which were completed after he had gone blind in 1652, show his mastery of blank verse.

Question 5

blank verse

Answer 5

verse without rhyme, esp. that which uses iambic pentameter

Question 6

torpor

Answer 6

n. a state of physical or mental inactivity; lethargy

“They veered between apathetic torpor and hysterical fanaticism.”

Question 7

sublime

Answer 7

adj. of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe: “Mozart’s sublime piano concertos…”
[as n.] (the sublime) “…experiences that ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous.”
- used to denote the extreme or unparalleled nature of a person’s attitude or behavior. “He had the sublime confidence of youth.”

Question 8

antipathy

Answer 8

n. a deep-seated feeling of dislike; aversion: “his fundamental antipathy to capitalism…”

Question 9

facetious

Answer 9

adj. treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant.

Question 10

bathos

Answer 10

n. (esp. in a work literature) an effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous.

Question 11

epithet

Answer 11

n. an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality or characteristic of the person or thing mentioned : “The old men are often unfairly awarded the epithet ‘dirty’.”
- such a word or phrase as a term of abuse : “He felt an urge to hurl epithets in his face.”
- a descriptive title: “the epithet ‘Father of Waters,” poetically used for the Mississippi River.”

Question 12

extol

Answer 12

v. (extolled, extolling) [trans.] praise enthusiastically
“He extolled the virtues of the Russian peoples.”

Extol, which comes from the Latin meaning to raise up, suggest that you’re trying to magnify whatever or whomever you’re praising (to extol her virtues so that everyone would vote for her.)

Question 13

cherub

Answer 13

n. (pl. cherubim) a winged angelic being described in biblical tradition as attending on God.
- (pl. cherubim or cherubs) a representation of a cherub in art, depicted as a chubby, healthy-looking child with wings.
- (pl. cherubs) a beautiful or innocent-looking child.

Question 14

subversive

Answer 14

adj. seeking or intended to subvert an established system or institution: “subversive literature”
n. a person wish such aims

Question 15

subvert

Answer 15

v. [with obj.] undermine the power and authority of (an established system or institution): “an attempt to subvert democratic government.”

Question 16

ethos

Answer 16

n. the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations

“a challenge to the ethos of the 1960s”

Question 17

pathos

Answer 17

n. a quality that evokes pity or sadness

“the actor injects his customary humor and pathos into the role”