12 Words for a Thinker’s Vocabulary #3

Tuesday, April 8th, 2014     by Clarice G. James     4 Comments

Marsha-Thinking-Cap-200

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. ~ Psalm 1:7 (NIV)

This vocabulary quiz is based on The Thinker’s Thesaurus by Peter E. Meltzer.

  1. a-nile:  A) yellowing; B) senile; C) type of cat; D) fussy
  2. bos-ky:  A) musty; B) pushy; C) woody; D) bulky
  3. con-a-tion: A) type of flower; B) motivation; C) tarnation; D) trickery
  4. frab-jous: A) joyous; B) chubby jowls; C) difficult; D) pliable
  5. gon-iff: A) gun moll; B) sexually transmitted disease; C) English bakery; D) pianist
  6. ir-re-frag-a-ble:  A) untouchable; B) irresistible; C) unquestionable; D) broken beyond repair
  7. jo-cos-i-ty: A) joke; B) curiosity; C) warmth;  D) predictable
  8. par-o-no-ma-sia: A) sleep deprivation; B) umbrella manufacturing; C) magic trick; D) pun
  9. re-lict: A) change of mind; B) condense; C) artifact; D) widow
  10. sa-pi-ent: A) saturated; B) wise; C) type of snake; D) overweight
  11. wag-gish: A) stout; B) limping; C) temperamental; D) witty
  12. zeph-yr:  A) gemstone; B) a slight wind; C) hot air balloon; D) clown-mobile

Have you circled the correct answers? But can you use them in a sentence? Scroll down to see how you did.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  ~ 2 Peter 1:3 (NIV)

Answers:

  1. B) senile
  2. C) woody
  3. B) motivation
  4. A) joyous
  5. A) gun moll
  6. C) unquestionable
  7. A) joke
  8. D) pun
  9. D) widow
  10. B) wise
  11. D) witty
  12. B) a slight wind

For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. ~ Proverbs 2:10 (NIV)

Happy with your score?

  • 10-12  Yikes! I’m glad I’m not conversing with you.
  • 07-09  I imagine you would do well on Jeopardy.
  • 04-06  It must be agony for you to watch TLC.
  • 00-03  Call me sometime. We can practice our one syllable words.

 

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    The Conversation

  1. Jim Hamlett says:
    April 8, 2014 at 10:32 am

    What a delightful quiz. (I won’t bother sharing my score.) But I will say that I’d enjoy reading material that used the answers rather than the quiz words, which are–IMHO–more suited to fun quizzes than enjoyable prose. If I have to stop every ten minutes to look up a word, then I’ll exchange the piece I’m reading for something less taxing. A challenging word every 5-10 pages is fine. Anything more than that and you might as well be reading a doctoral thesis (which no one but the doctoral committee reads).:)

    Reply
    • Clarice James says:
      April 8, 2014 at 11:16 am

      Jim, The Thinker’s Thesaurus gives the context in which the words were used. It’s fun reading. For instance: “The California Civil Rights Initiative . . . was the model of justice and simplicity: the state cannot discriminate, either for or against individuals or groups, in employment, education, or contracting. But Judge Henderson believes that this prohibition against discrimination is discriminatory! By his irrefragable logic, the Fourteenth Amendment’s command that ‘No State shall . . . deny to any person . . . equal protection of the laws’ is unconstitutional! (Edward J. Elrer, National Review)

      Reply
    • ralph says:
      April 15, 2014 at 10:23 am

      Taxing can be good fun. Edith Pargeter sent me to the dictionary several times an hour, but I couldn’t get enough of her stuff. 🙂

      Reply
  2. ralph says:
    April 15, 2014 at 10:20 am

    It IS agony to watch TLC! But not because I only got 5! 😀

    Reply