False Roots

Question 1

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

glacial

Answer 1

Meaning: slow-moving

It’s the way glaciers move.

Question 2

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

fundamentalist

Answer 2

Meaning: someone who bases beliefs on strict interpretation of core texts

Not related so closely to money or funds.

Question 3

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

denigrate

Answer 3

Meaning: to lower a reputation.

It is related to the Latin root for black, but the connection is an offensive one today.

Question 4

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

lapidary

Answer 4

Meaning: gem cutting

Has nothing to do with lap, or lapping.

Question 5

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

impale

Answer 5

Meaning: to stick a stick through

Has nothing to do with being pale, though you’d probably turn pale if you were properly impaled.

Question 6

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

lacrimous

Answer 6

Meaning: sad, doleful, like a funeral sad

There is no crime here.

Question 7

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

mimicry

Answer 7

Meaning: to mock; to act or talk like someone in a ridiculing way

No one is crying, unless they are mimicked unmercifully.

Question 8

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

mnemonic

Answer 8

Meaning: aiding in memory

Has nothing to do with nemesis.

Question 9

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

repast

Answer 9

Meaning: meal

Has nothing to do with again, passing, or the past.

Question 10

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

fastidious

Answer 10

Meaning: really picky, having unattainable standards

Has nothing to do with either speed or not eating.

Question 11

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

compromise

Answer 11

Positive AND negative meaning:

1. compromise is positive in that it solves difficulties, shows respect
2. compromise is negative referring to principles, showing a lack of conviction

Question 12

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

restive

Answer 12

Meaning: unable to keep still

The opposite of rest.

Question 13

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

fatuous

Answer 13

Meaning: silly

Not fat.

Question 14

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

latent

Answer 14

Meaning: hidden within, capable or surfacing

Not related to being late.

Question 15

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

quandary

Answer 15

Meaning: in a state of confusion

Not related to when.

Question 16

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

rail

Answer 16

Meaning: to complain bitterly

You’d think you know this word, and eliminate it, and THEN, you’d be wrong.

Question 17

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

eclectic

Answer 17

Meaning: deriving ideas, style or taste from a variety of sources

Not related to lecture or electric.

Question 18

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

taciturn

Answer 18

Meaning: reserved in speech, unwilling to speak too much

There is no turn here, neither left nor right.

Question 19

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

abet

Answer 19

Meaning: giving shelter or help

Wanna bet it has nothing to do with a wager.

Question 20

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

callous

Answer 20

Meaning: unfeeling, hard-hearted

It doesn’t mean “call us.”

Question 21

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

debunk

Answer 21

Meaning: prove something to be nonsense

Doesn’t mean dumping someone out of their bed at camp.

Question 22

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

decorous

Answer 22

Meaning: socially proper

Not really too closely related to decoration.

Question 23

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

fallacious

Answer 23

Meaning: incorrect, misleading

Not so much “fall”, but “FAIL”.

Question 24

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

maxim

Answer 24

Meaning: words to live by

Not related to maximum or scantily clad celebrities.

Question 25

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: carp

Answer 25

SAT Meaning: to annoy, pester ## Footnote It's a fish, but a badger, a nag, a termagent, and a shrew are all just animals. They all have meanings related to being a royal pain.

Question 26

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: expound

Answer 26

Meaning: explain systematically and in great detail ## Footnote The word is related to "ponder" which means "to weigh, to wonder at, to consider deeply, to mull over", but it is really probably better not to root this one.

Question 27

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: recalcitrant

Answer 27

Meaning: defiant, unapologetic ## Footnote Neither "calcium" nor "calculate" leads you to the right meaning here.

Question 28

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: tenable

Answer 28

Meaning: able to be defended or maintained ## Footnote Doesn't mean "able to be ten".

Question 29

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: redoubtable

Answer 29

Meaning: respected as a serious challenge, formidable, commanding respect ## Footnote Doesn't not mean "able to doubt again" or "able to be doubted again".

Question 30

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: winsome

Answer 30

Meaning: charming, pleasing ## Footnote Doesn't mean "some that you win".

Question 31

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: adumbrate

Answer 31

Meaning: to explain in a sketchy way ## Footnote "Umbrella" doesn't really help. There's no dumb here.

Question 32

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: clairvoyant

Answer 32

Meaning: clearsighted, insightful to the point it seems supernatural ## Footnote "Voyage" is not in this word.

Question 33

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: clamor

Answer 33

Meaning: loud noise from generally various sources ## Footnote Sinces clams never contribute to any clamor, the word is not related to the tasty mollusk.

Question 34

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: clandestine

Answer 34

Meaning: secret, covert ## Footnote Has nothing to do with the destiny of the clan.

Question 35

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: cleave

Answer 35

Meaning both: to chop apart, separate AND to stick to (something) ## Footnote Not really a false root, but watch out because a child cleaves to his mother and your tongue can cleave to the roof of your mouth.

Question 36

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: empirical

Answer 36

Meaning: based upon observations or experience, capable of being proved or disproven ## Footnote This word is used in science related to data and is not related to the empire.

Question 37

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: noisome

Answer 37

Meaning: offensive, unpleasant, usually to the sense of smell ## Footnote More like "annoying" than "noisy".

Question 38

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: ambiguous

Answer 38

Meaning: unclear ## Footnote Not having to do with bigness though.

Question 39

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: entail

Answer 39

Meaning: comes with, included as a necessary step ## Footnote Maybe as the tail comes with the dog.

Question 40

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: espouse

Answer 40

Meaning: to take up as a cause ## Footnote Not really so close to the "husband" or "wife".

Question 41

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: stagnate

Answer 41

Meaning: to cease motion, progress, or change ## Footnote Not a deer named Nate.

Question 42

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: arboreal

Answer 42

Meaning: related to trees ## Footnote Although trees can be boring.

Question 43

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: arcane

Answer 43

Meaning: obscure, known to a select few, secret ## Footnote Doesn't have anything to do with a cane.

Question 44

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: mores

Answer 44

Meaning: moral attitudes and fixed customs of people ## Footnote Not related to having more.

Question 45

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: buffet

Answer 45

Meaning: a smack or punch, a blow ## Footnote Of course it also means a spread of food where you serve yourself. You wouldn't want a buffet of buffets, because that would be a savage beatdown.

Question 46

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: atrophy

Answer 46

Meaning: loss of strength or size due to lack of use ## Footnote Not really related to a trophy.

Question 47

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: curtail

Answer 47

Meaning: to lessen or reduce ## Footnote A "cur" is an old word for dog, but this doesn't mean doggy tail.

Question 48

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: dogmatic

Answer 48

Meaning: asserting a position based on faith, not fact ## Footnote Again, no dog here.

Question 49

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: ribaldry

Answer 49

Meaning: humor based in rude or vulgar subject matter ## Footnote Has little to do with bald dudes, although they might dig ribald humor.

Question 50

# Describe the following "trap" word that can easily be falsely rooted: surfeit

Answer 50

Meaning: overabundant in supply, indulgent ## Footnote No one is surfing here, although there could be a surfeit of wonderwaves.