Test your range of English vocabulary with this exercise.
1. Which of the following words can be used to refer to a speaker who does not use more words than necessary?
The adjective laconic is used to refer to people who say very little, but mean much.
2. Which of the following words can be used to refer to a man who excessively caters to, worships and submits to the most outlandish or outrageous demands of his wife?
There is a difference between the words henpecked and uxorious. A henpecked husband is dominated by his wife. An uxorious husband is dominated by his neurosis, and his wife may not enjoy his uxoriousness.
3. Which of the following words is synonymous with alcoholism?
Dipsomania is the morbid compulsion to keep on drinking alcoholic beverages.
4. Which of the following words can be used to refer to people who have delusions about their invincibility?
Megalomaniacs are people who have delusions about their invincibility.
5. Which of the following words can be used to refer to a person who fears shut-in or crowded places?
A claustrophobe is a person who fears being shut-in or being in crowded places.
6. A person who sneers at convention and tradition is a/an ……………………………
An iconoclast is a person who sneers at convention and tradition.
7. A person who has morbid anxiety about his or her health is a /an ………………………….
A hypochondriac is a person who has morbid anxiety about his/her health.
8. Which of the following words is used to refer to the act of killing one’s wife?
Uxoricide is the act of killing one’s wife.
9. Which of the following words can be used to refer to a person who is a strict disciplinarian?
A martinet is a disciplinarian
10. Which of the following words can be used to refer to a person who tends to fixate obsessively over one thing?
A monomaniac is a person who tends to fixate obsessively over one thing.
11. Which of the following words can be used to refer to an accomplished musician?
A virtuoso is an accomplished musician and performer.
12. Which of the following words can be used to refer to an old man in a ruling position?
A patriarch is an old man in a ruling position.
Answers
1. A speaker who does not use more words than necessary – Laconic
2. A word used to refer to a man who excessively caters to, worships and submits to the most outlandish or outrageous demands of his wife – Uxorious
3. A word synonymous with alcoholism – Dipsomania
4. People who have delusions about their invincibility – Megalomaniac
5. A person who fears shut-in or crowded places – Claustrophobe
6. A person who sneers at convention and tradition – Iconoclast
7. A person who has morbid anxiety about his or her health – Hypochondriac
8. Act of killing one’s wife – Uxoricide
9. A person who is a strict disciplinarian – Martinet
10. A person who tends to fixate obsessively over one thing – Monomaniac
11. A word used to refer to an accomplished musician – Virtuoso
12. A word used to refer to an old man in a ruling position – Patriarch
