Vocab

Michael Tomasky’s weekly quiz:

Five multiple-choice questions on words I consider to be relatively obscure follow. As always, don’t peek and let us know how you did.

1. A person’s coeval was:
a. His accomplice in an act, usually a nefarious one.
b. Born around the same time.
c. Her collaborator in producing a creative work of some kind.

2. If something is recondite, it’s:
a. Willfully obtuse.
b. Placed at a certain angle in relation to another thing.
c. Partially eroded or faded, as old ink on a paper might be.

3. To tergiversate is to:
a. restore a piece of land from a state of despoilment.
b. refute beyond reasonable question, especially scientifically.
c. desert or abandon; change sides.

4. To behave in a louche way is to:
a. be lazy.
b. act in a tawdry or disreputable fashion.
c. exhibit a carefree attitude.

5. A thing’s quiddity is:
a. its real nature or essence.
b. an unusual manifestation or emanation of that thing.
c. its mirror image.

Answers below the fold.