The Meanings of Words

Question: Which of these words means "discard"?

Answer: To slough means to cast off or discard. It is related to an old word for "snakeskin."

Question: Which word means "to take away"?

Answer: To confiscate something means to take it away from the person who has it. At an airport, for example, a guard might confiscate someone’s knife.

Question: Which of these words means "substitute"?

Answer: A proxy is a substitute for someone, often in a vote or official transaction.

Question: Which of these words means uneven?

Answer: Something one-sided is uneven. The word is often used to mean "favoring one side."

Question: Which of these words can mean "bad-smelling"?

Answer: Something noisome has a foul scent so bad as to be instantly offensive. The word is related to "annoy."

Question: Which of these is a word for an artistic critique?

Answer: A charrette is a formal review of a design, painting, sculpture, or other work of art. In structure it is like a workshop.

Question: Which word means something like "paradise"?

Answer: A utopia is an ideal, or perfect, place. The word combines the Greek words meaning “no place.”

Question: Which of these words suggests care and attention?

Answer: Something methodical follows a method: that is, it is done in an orderly, systematic way.

Question: Which of these refers to an action that continues?

Answer: Something ongoing continues to happen or develop, such as an "ongoing discussion."

Question: Which of these words might be used in connection with a portent?

Answer: Something ominous carries the sense that something bad will soon happen, as in "an ominous letter from an old enemy."