Vocabulary Quiz from "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," by Stieg Larsson

This is a vocabulary challenge based on vocabulary words from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.

If you enjoy word challenges or learning new words, in context, then take a minute to complete this word

challenge. Every effort has been made to pull salient words from the text, in particular words that often appear on the SAT will often be a part of these vocabulary quizzes.

Test your vocabulary on a few of the words from Stieg Larsson's book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Each vocabulary word will be presented with three alternative definitions. Try to choose the best definition. To make the quiz a little easier a quoted passage follows each vocabulary word. Answers are at the end of the vocabulary quiz.

Some of these words are challenging, but some of them you may find familiar. The definitions will remain very basic for the sake of simplicity. Good luck.

1. sycophantic - A) mean spirited, B) characteristic of sucking-up, C) marked with depth and interest

"But the questions were anything but sycophantic." p 452

2. taciturn - A) irritable, B) silent, C) feisty

"A taciturn girl with hostile vibrations." p 436

3. inscrutable - A) not hidden, B) without concern, C) unreadable

"The old man's expression was inscrutable as he stared out of the window." p 164

4. quagmire A) emotional mess, B) difficult situation, C) surreptitious game

"I'd like to know how you ended up in this quagmire." p 165

5. indolent - A) careless, B) greedy, C) slothful

" 'If Richard personified the family's dark, fanatical side, Gottfried embodied the indolent one.' " p 73

6. quintessence - A) perfect embodiment of something, B) the opposite of a thing, C) in some ways like a thing

"She did not just seem difficult - in his eyes she was the very quintessence of difficult." p 33

7. exiguous - A) small, B) blinded by trust, C) hearty

"She had a rudimentary knowledge of the law - it was a subject she had never had occasion to explore - and her faith in the police was generally exiguous." p 181

8. surly - A) short, B) kind, C) hostile

" 'A reporter at DN is said to have reached him and got a surly reply.' " p 221

9. cogitation - A) investigation, B) thought, C) careful research

"After six month of fruitless cogitation, the case of Harriet Vanger cracked open." p 235

10. delphic - A) grandiose, B) ambiguous, C) unresponsive

"When she was asked why the previous year's expose of Wennerstrom had been such a fiasco, she was even more delphic."

Vocabulary Quiz Answers: 1-B, 2-B, 3-C, 4-B, 5-C, 6-A, 7-A, 8-C, 9-B, 10-B

How did you do on the vocabulary quiz?

If you got 8 - 10 correct you are word wise.
5 - 7 correct answers means you have an astute understanding of vocabulary.
If you got 3 - 5 answers correct, take heart, you are resourceful and learning well.
If you got 1 or 2 correct, why not study the words and give yourself a do-over.