Check Your 'Tude Trivia Quiz

Answer: Verisimilitude

Versimilitude is borrowed from the Latin 'vērīsimilitūdō' and 'vērī similis, vērīsimilis', which means having the appearance of truth. An example of using verisimilitude in a sentence was taken from the same source:

"The novel's degree of verisimilitude is compromised by 18th-century characters who speak in very 21st-century English".

Answer: Pulchritude

The word pulchritude was derived from the Latin 'pulcher', meaning beautiful. It is synonymous with the word comeliness. Neither word really brings to mind the image of something or someone which is physically beautiful. Telling someone that they are a vision of pulchritude is liable to get you hung, drawn and quartered. Hopefully you have sufficient time to explain that it is a compliment.

Answer: Senectitude

Senectitude comes from the Latin 'senectitūdō', meaning old age, which is related to 'senex', meaning old man as per the "Merriam-Webster" dictionary. This is the same root from which the word 'senile' is derived. According to the same dictionary, the first known use of the word was in 1796. Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" (1796) mentions the word in Part 1, speaking of the Lilliputians:

"Persons, of all ages, from twenty to extreme senectitude."

Answer: Turpitude

Turpitude comes from the Latin 'turpitūdō', meaning base or vile. Moral turpitude is also a phrase used in criminal law to describe "conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty, or good morals" (taken from "West's Encyclopedia of American Law", 2005). Debauchery and depravity are synonyms of turpitude.

Answer: Hebetude

The word is derived from the Latin 'hebetudo' and 'hebēre', which means to be dull. There is a medical definition as well. Found in the "Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 9th edition © 2009", hebetude is defined as "a state of dullness or lethargy, characteristic of some forms of schizophrenia".

Answer: Dissimilitude

Dissimilitude is derived from Latin 'dissimilis' meaning unlike ('dis' means not, and 'similis' means like. Synonyms include words like divergency, contrast and disparity. Dissimilitude could be used in a sentence in the following way, "there is dissimilitude between procedures for making butter and cheese".

Answer: Disquietude

This definition for disquietude is taken from the "Collins English" dictionary. Disquietude is made up of two parts. 'Dis-' is Latin, referring to apart or away, but generally used to denote the opposite of something. Quietude is from the Latin 'quiētus' meaning quiet.

Helen Keller wrote, "And even now I sometimes feel the same uneasiness and disquietude" in her book "Story of My Life" published in 1903.

Answer: Desuetude

The word is of late Middle English origin and derived from the Latin 'dēsuētūdo', meaning to become disaccustomed to. The pronunciation for desuetude, checked with both the "Oxford" and "Merriam-Webster" dictionaries, is [dəˈsjuːətjuːd] or [dɛswɪtjuːd].

Answer: Etude

'Etude' is a French word meaning study and is used to describe an instrumental musical composition. Frédéric Chopin, a Polish composer, is well known for his etudes, having composed a total of twenty-seven in his lifetime.

Answer: Rectitude

Rectitude is a Middle English word derived from the Latin words 'rectitudo' and 'rectus', meaning straight or right. Rectify has the same Latin origin, and even the word rectum is defined as "straight intestine". The root 'rect-' in Latin means guide, rule, right, or straight.