Nouns as labels #

“Many actors are masochists.”

Did you know what David Niven meant? Did you work out from the context what a masochist probably was? Actors proved, according to David Niven, that they were masochists by voluntarily subjecting themselves to “the most ghastly torture ever invented for people in my profession”. Can you guess now what the word means? Check your answer in a dictionary.

Below you will find some more quite difficult words that are used to describe people with certain human characteristics. Try to work out from the context what each of the italicized words means. Check your guesses in a dictionary.

(a) He is a real miser*;* he puts all his money in the bank and won’t buy himself anything.

(b) He is a well-known philanthropist who donates thousands of dollars to charity each year.

(c) He is an egotist; he never thinks about anyone but himself.

(d) He has never married because he is a misogamist.

le) He has remained a bachelor because he is a misogynist.

(0 He has no friends because he is a misanthrope.

(g) He gave the job to his son because he is a nepotist.

(h) He is a sycophant, always flattering people in the hope of advancing ni own interests.

(i) He is a charlatan; really he has no special skills or knowledge.

(j) He is a connoisseur, with excellent taste and a great deal of knowledge in this field

Now try to use the right word in the following sentences:

misogamist , sycophant, Miser connoisseur misanthrope

nepotist charlatan misogynist philanthropist egotist,

(a) He is a real;……………….he puts all his money in the bank and won’t buy himself anything.

(b) He is a well-known…………………….. who donates thousands of dollars to charity each year.

(c) He is an ………………………….; he never thinks about anyone but himself.

(d) He has never married because he is a …………………………………

(e) He has remained a bachelor because he is a…………………………..

(f) He has no friends because he is a……………………………………

(g) He gave the job to his son because he is a …………………………

(h) He is a………………………………., always flattering people in the hope of advancing his own interests.

(i) He is a ………………………………………..; really he has no special skills or knowledge.

(j) He is a……………………………………….., with excellent taste and a great deal of knowledge in this field.