Vocabulary.com Challenge - 23/08/13 - Noon Session

Questions:

1. Let gifts be to the mighty queen design'd, And mollify with prayers her haughty mind. In this sentence, mollify means to:
1. make more acceptable or suitable by adding something else
2. give out, as breath or an odor
3. infringe upon
4. turn inside out or upside down
2. calico means :
1. extraterrestrial
2. antisocial
3. multicolored
4. semiannual
3. The unsettling message of the Post's coverage is this: The dead deserve deference that the living don't. In this sentence, deference means:
1. respect
2. recession
3. issuing
4. accompaniment
4. indelible means :
1. interactive
2. aquatic
3. communal
4. ineradicable
5. antithetical means :
1. finicky
2. different
3. collapsible
4. distrait

Answers:

1. A, To mollify is to calm someone down, talk them off the ledge, make amends, maybe even apologize.

Mollify comes from the Latin mollificare to "make soft," and that's still at the heart the word. When you mollify someone, you smooth things over, even if you're maybe still a little mad: "I was angry that the guy took my seat, but I was mollified when he offered me one closer to the band." Unlike the sharp sounds of antagonize, there are only soft sounds in this word that means to make someone feel soft and cuddly. Although dryer sheets might soften your clothes, they don't mollify them (unless your clothes were really mad at you before).

The word haughty means “someone who is haughty is arrogant and full of pride. When you're haughty, you have a big attitude and act like you're better than other people”.

2. C, You can call anything with bright colors and patches calico like your cute calico cat or your colorful calico quilt.

There are many fabrics in the world, including silk, cashmere, and denim. Another is calico, which is made from cotton fibers and is printed, meaning it has designs or pictures on it. A calico dress may be printed with purple flowers or have another wild design. Because calico is brightly colored, this word also describes just about anything decorated brightly. As an adjective, calico means something close to motley or multi-colored. A calico design is varied and anything but boring.

3. A, Sure you wear ripped jeans to school every day, but you don't wear them to your grandmother's house out of deference to her. When you show deference to someone, you make a gesture of respect.

The noun deference goes with the verb defer, which means "to yield to someone's opinions or wishes out of respect for that person." If you and your dad disagree about the best route to the grocery store, you might defer to him, and take his route. You're taking his route out of deference to his opinion and greater experience.

4. D, If something is indelible, you better hope you never regret it, like the indelible tattoo of the name of your favourite band or the indelible first impression it might give people you meet years from now, especially if your taste in music changes.

The adjective indelible describes something that can't be erased or removed, like marks made by an indelible marker, or an indelible moment you will never forget, like your first day of kindergarten or the first time you visit a new, exotic place. It comes from the Latin word indelebilis, meaning "not able to be destroyed."

5. B, Something is antithetical when it is in complete and utter opposition to the character of something. If you’re a vegetarian, eating giant T-bone steaks is antithetical to your beliefs.

You’ll find that antithetical is a useful word when you’re trying to express an extreme contrast. If someone is trying to convince you to do something you don’t believe in, or to allow an organization you’re involved with to adopt measures you are strongly against, you can use antithetical. You go out to vote because sitting out of the voting process is antithetical to what you believe in. If you find that your club wants to adopt exclusive measures when it is supposed to be open, you'll tell them that that's antithetical to the club's purpose.