In each of the following questions, out of the given alternatives,choose the one which best expresses the meaning of the given word.
Heretical
Answer: D
It is unorthodox.
Heretical means holding opinions contrary to accepted doctrine, from the Greek hairesis, a choosing. Heathenish means outside the faith altogether, which is a different charge - heresy is dissent from within.
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Chivalrous
Answer: C
It is gallant.
Chivalrous means courteous and honourable, especially towards women, from the code of the medieval knight - chevalier, horseman. Military names the knight's calling rather than the quality.
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Aura
Answer: D
It is distinctive atmosphere.
An aura is the distinctive quality that seems to surround a person or place, from the Greek for a breeze.
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Turbulence
Answer: C
It is commotion.
Turbulence is violent, disordered movement, from the Latin turba, a crowd. Treachery is a fault of loyalty and merely resembles it in sound.
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Infatuate
Answer: B
It is enamour.
To infatuate is to inspire with an unreasoning passion, from the Latin fatuus, foolish. Manipulate is a cold and deliberate act, where infatuation is neither.
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Comprehend
Answer: D
It is understand.
To comprehend is to grasp with the mind, from the Latin for seizing together. Agree and settle describe what may follow understanding, not the understanding itself.
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Epitaph
Answer: D
It is an inscription on a tomb.
An epitaph is written on a grave, from the Greek for upon a tomb. An epigram is the witty saying, an epigraph the quotation at the head of a book - three words often mistaken for one another.
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Entice
Answer: B
It is attract.
To entice is to attract by offering something desirable, usually to do what one should not. Disobey is what the enticed person ends by doing, not what the word means.
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Dauntless
Answer: D
It is bold.
Dauntless means not to be discouraged by danger, from daunt with the negative suffix. Modest and lazy are unrelated.
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Calumniate
Answer: A
It is to accuse falsely.
To calumniate is to make false and damaging statements about someone. To denounce may be perfectly truthful, which is the difference the question turns on.
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