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Quiz about In Other Words
Quiz about In Other Words

In Other Words Trivia Quiz


Are you subject to fits of logophilia? Try this quiz. I provide a sentence that uses two interesting words. See if you can choose which of the sentences that follow has the nearest to the same meaning.

A multiple-choice quiz by uglybird. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
uglybird
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
175,681
Updated
Aug 20 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
878
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Question 1 of 10
1. [It seemed anomalous that such abstruse words would be spoken in such a dulcet tone.]

Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?
Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. [Florence was scoffing when abruptly, arachibutyrophobia struck.]

Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. [Gladys had the peccant look of a person engaged in divagation.]

Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?
Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. [So enervating was the speech that George's motivation to act turned to velleity.]

Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?
Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. [Carl was not going to abdicate to a witling.]

Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?
Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. [Morris was as fictile as pacable.]

Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?
Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. [Our county has both karst and kame.]

Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?
Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. [While it once required a sizable aperture to excite Marge's crytoscopophilia, she now found herself transfixed at the sight of the smallest transom.]

Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?
Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. [Play may be polysemous, but then true monosemy is rare.]

Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. [Alfred gazed at the purple welkin incredulously.]

Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?
Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. [It seemed anomalous that such abstruse words would be spoken in such a dulcet tone.] Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?

Answer: It seemed odd that such difficult to understand words would be so sweetly spoken.

Dulcet comes from the Latin word "dulcis" meaning sweet. The Latin root from which abstruse comes means "to hide."
2. [Florence was scoffing when abruptly, arachibutyrophobia struck.] Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?

Answer: As she ate, Florence became fearful of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of her mouth.

The root "arachi" here refers to peanuts rather than to spiders, the root "butyro" to butter. The word "arachibutyrophobia" came to my attention in Bill Bryson's very excellent book on the English language, "The Mother Tongue". The word "scoff" can refer to mocking or ridiculing behavior, and also to rapid, often undignified, eating of food.
3. [Gladys had the peccant look of a person engaged in divagation.] Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?

Answer: Gladys looked abashed about the fact that she was rambling.

Both "peccant" and "divagation" are SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) words, albeit rather obscure ones. Peccant shares a root with "peccadillo", which is, of course, a small sin. In Latin, "peccadum" means sin.
4. [So enervating was the speech that George's motivation to act turned to velleity.] Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?

Answer: The boring speech sapped George's motivation to act.

"Velleity" is another word courtesy of Bill Bryson, author of "The Mother Tongue". "Velleity" is that state of mind in which a person has the merest wish with no energy to obtain the object of desire. Considering how often I experience velleity, I am surprised the word is not in frequent use. I am aware of no synonyms for it.
5. [Carl was not going to abdicate to a witling.] Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?

Answer: Carl was not going to step aside for a person of mean understanding.

"Witling" is another somewhat obscure SAT word. A witling is someone of little intelligence, often applied to one who think they are clever when they are not. I feel a bit peccant about this transparent attempt to fool you by using a word that sounds as if it might have a meaning opposite to the one that it does. I bet there's a name for words like this.
6. [Morris was as fictile as pacable.] Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?

Answer: Morris was malleable and easily placated.

"Fictile" has a brittle sound to it, and yet it means moldable. "Pacable", on the other hand, is only two letters away from "peaceable" and has a very similar meaning.
7. [Our county has both karst and kame.] Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?

Answer: Our county has both short glacial ridges and areas of eroded limestone.

In my quest for interesting and obscure words I came across a website that might be of interest to word lovers: http://phrontistery.50megs.com/index.html. It contains a number of resources of interest. "Karst" and "kame" were found there.
8. [While it once required a sizable aperture to excite Marge's crytoscopophilia, she now found herself transfixed at the sight of the smallest transom.] Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?

Answer: Marge has an increasing desire to look through even the smallest of the windows of the homes she passes.

"Crytoscopophilia" is yet another Bill Bryson word mentioned in "The Mother Tongue". It refers to a significant desire to peer through windows of the houses one passes. One definition for transom is a small window over a door.
9. [Play may be polysemous, but then true monosemy is rare.] Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?

Answer: The word "play" has many meanings, but words that truly have a single meaning are rare.

"Polysemous" is from the Greek word "polu" meaning many and the Greek word "sema" meaning sign or signify. The word "semantic" also derives from the root "sema".
10. [Alfred gazed at the purple welkin incredulously.] Which of the following sentences has the meaning that most nearly matches the sentence in brackets?

Answer: Alfred was surprised to see a purple sky.

I love the word "welkin" and am sorry that I have no legitimate reason to use it in everyday conversation. I may have to do an entire quiz of welkin puns at some point. Do I hear you thanking me for this quiz? "You're welkin!"
Source: Author uglybird

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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