I remember in junior high school that whenever we were studying a list of words for a vocabulary test, it was typical to see the noun and adjective clairvoyant. Perhaps it was often listed because of its mysterious meaning and the fact that it is both a noun and an adjective.
I recently watched a Perry Mason episode titled “The Case of the Unwelcome Well” in which Police Lt. Steve Drumm examines a foreign coin found on the crime scene. Mason’s private detective Paul Drake asks, “Does it have anything to do with the case?”
Drumm replies, “Paul, I’m just a cop, not a clairvoyant.”
1. clairvoyant (clair-VOY-unht)
A. an expert in coin collections
B. having the ability to see beyond the range of ordinary perception
C. a rational thinker
D. None of the above
2. If something is insurmountable, it is
A. clairvoyant.
B. impregnable.
C. vincible.
D. emulated.
E. invalid.
3. Mandi exhibits an agreeably appropriate manner or style. Which word matches this description?
A. expeditious
B. loquacious
C. felicitous
D. fervidness
4. An adjective for loud, deep or resonant is
A. sotto voce.
B. sonorous.
C. redolent.
D. trenchant.
E. whimsical.
5. onerous (ON-er-us)
A. deserving of honor
B. when only one of something is sufficient
C. causing a burden or trouble
D. practical
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ANSWERS:
No. 1, clairvoyant, is B.
No. 2, insurmountable is B, impregnable. Dictionary.com defines this five-syllable jewel as “incapable of being surmounted, passed over or overcome; insuperable: an insurmountable obstacle.” Thanks to my longtime friend Jim Ellis, the Voice of Mississippi State University Baseball, for recently using the word “insurmountable.”
No. 3 is felicitous.
No. 4 is sonorous (suh-NAWR-uhs) or (SON-er-uhs).
Our last word is pronounced “Honor us.” Aside from C, onerous means “having or involving obligations or responsibilities, especially legal ones, that outweigh the advantages.”
Editor’s Note: Don Rodney Vaughan, Ph.D., teaches journalism, interpersonal communication and public speaking at East Mississippi Community College and is the pastor of Mt. Vernon Baptist Church in Webster County. Contact him at dvaughan@eastms.edu.
