Word Power: Test Your Knowledge of “Truth” Terms
Updated: May 02, 2022
Distinguishing fact from fiction isn’t always easy. These words describe the many shades of truth and falsehood—and that’s no lie.
Bona fide
A: Faithful to the original version
B: Reliable source
C: Made with sincere intent
Answer: C—Made with sincere intent
As in, “Although he was forced to break it, Martin’s promise had been bona fide.”
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Unproven
A: Not shown to be not true
B: Not shown to be true
C: Shown not to be true
Answer: B—Not shown to be true
As in, “Some of the alleged health benefits of probiotics are so far unproven.”
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Calumniate
A: Overlook evidence
B: Make false, malicious statements about someone
C: Accept that something is unknown
Answer: B—Make false, malicious statements about someone
As in, “The politician calumniated her rival, accusing her of corruption.”
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Echo chamber
A: Environment where you encounter only opinions that match your own
B: Repeating a claim until you are believed
C: Effect where information tends to get distorted as it spreads
Answer: A—Environment where you encounter only opinions that match your own
As in, “To transcend the echo chamber of his Facebook feed, Arun picked up a newspaper.”
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Impugn
A: Refuse to change your mind
B: Reject a fact because it makes you feel bad
C: Challenge the truth or honesty of something
Answer: C—Challenge the truth or honesty of something
As in, “The witness braced himself, knowing the defence lawyers would try to impugn his credibility.”
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Demagoguery
A: Believing something because other people do
B: Separating facts from opinions
C: Using popular prejudices and dishonest claims to gain power
Answer: C—Using popular prejudices and dishonest claims to gain power
As in, “Bruce stooped to demagoguery by unfairly blaming immigrants for the crime rate.”
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Embroider
A: Add fictitious details to make a story more interesting
B: Pay someone to express a particular opinion
C: Assume a false identity
Answer: A—Add fictitious details to make a story more interesting
As in, “Pirouz got some laughs by embroidering an account of a family gathering.”
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Verisimilar
A: Plagiarized
B: Having the appearance of truth
C: Untrue yet persuasive
Answer: B—Having the appearance of truth
As in, “Khuyen’s strength as a novelist was in writing verisimilar dialogue.”
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Truism
A: Outdated information
B: Belief that it’s possible to know the truth
C: Obvious truth that goes without saying
Answer: C—Obvious truth that goes without saying
As in, “Ana’s book rehashed the truism that kids learn from their parents’ example.”
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Four-flush
A: Bluff
B: Fact-check
C: Behave gullibly
Answer: A—Bluff
As in, “The other poker players thought Kira was four-flushing when in fact she had a great hand.”
If you can get 80% of these tricky trivia questions right, you’re a certified genius.
Taradiddle
A: Misattributed quote
B: Pretentious nonsense
C: Intentionally confusing
Answer: B—Pretentious nonsense
As in, “Hal thought his company’s ‘holistic framework for achieving disruptive innovation’ was taradiddle.”
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Cogent
A: Not contradicting the known facts
B: Claimed by multiple sources
C: Logical and convincing
Answer: C—Logical and convincing
As in, “Rhiannon made a cogent case for a safe-injection site.”
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Gish Gallop
A: Spread a rumour
B: Bombard an opponent with weak arguments
C: Get something wrong because you researched it hastily
Answer: B—Bombard an opponent with weak arguments
As in, “Gish galloping is dishonest, but it still wins debates.”
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Verifiable
A: Undeniable
B: Able to be checked
C: Sworn under oath
Answer: B—Able to be checked
As in, “If you doubt the river is polluted, go see for yourself,” maintained the ecologist. “It’s a verifiable fact.”
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Malinger
A: Treat with bogus medicine
B: Pretend to be sick to avoid work
C: Leave undetermined
Answer: B—Pretend to be sick to avoid work
As in, “Sasha spent the day malingering and watching his favourite show’s new season.”
Looking for another Word Power test? Find out how well-versed you are in Canadian slang terms.
