The museum director issued unequivocal instructions that every label should help a visitor understand the object beside it. (unequivocal: unambiguous, unmistakable, explicit) The first exhibit nevertheless contained a multiplicity of signs, each explaining why another sign might be misleading. (multiplicity: variety, abundance, large number) A cursory visitor assumed the labels were the exhibit and photographed them without looking at the objects. (cursory: hasty, superficial, perfunctory) The curator found the mistake disconcerting, especially because the photograph won praise for its elegant arrangement of empty frames. (disconcerting: unsettling, disturbing, troubling)
Her assistant was adamant that the collection needed examples rather than another declaration of educational purpose. (adamant: unyielding, inflexible, determined) He placed an ordinary teaspoon beside a colossal wooden spoon used in a village parade. (colossal: enormous, immense, gigantic) The disparity in size made the point more clearly than the previous label about unusual eating customs. (disparity: difference, inequality, contrast) A child offered a discerning question: whether the giant spoon came with a bowl that occupied an entire street. (discerning: perceptive, astute, observant)
The curator refused to equivocate and admitted that the bowl existed only in an artist's sketch. (equivocate: hedge, evade, speak ambiguously) Her forthright answer encouraged visitors to distinguish an actual object from a proposal for a future object. (forthright: frank, direct, candid) The assistant could now delineate the boundary between the collection and the stories people had invented about it. (delineate: outline, describe, define) That boundary remained provisional because a local carpenter had begun discussing the practicalities of an enormous bowl. (provisional: temporary, tentative, conditional)
A conspicuous gap remained where a supposed ancient coin had been removed after someone recognized it as a modern coat button. (conspicuous: prominent, noticeable, obvious) The curator accepted the reprehensible nature of deliberately mislabeling it but distinguished that act from an honest initial mistake. (reprehensible: blameworthy, shameful, culpable) The assistant's candor helped the owner acknowledge the error without inventing another story to protect the first one. (candor: frankness, openness, honesty) The button became an instructive exhibit about checking an attractive claim before repeating it with greater confidence. (instructive: educational, enlightening, informative)
A perfunctory review would have missed the tiny maker's mark that settled the question of the object's origin. (perfunctory: cursory, mechanical, superficial) The curator could substantiate the correction with a matching button still attached to the owner's spare coat. (substantiate: support, verify, corroborate) This palpable connection interested visitors more than a vague assurance that the museum employed exceptionally knowledgeable people. (palpable: tangible, evident, readily noticeable) The owner accepted a cordial invitation to help prepare the next display, this time beginning with the objects he actually understood. (cordial: warm, friendly, gracious)
A pervasive mood of curiosity replaced the anxious search for the only acceptable interpretation of each display. (pervasive: widespread, extensive, all-pervading) The curator remained judicious about adding new exhibits, refusing a wheelbarrow said to contain invisible royal treasure. (judicious: prudent, sensible, thoughtful) Its owner offered a tenuous explanation for the treasure's absence and asked for a large admission fee. (tenuous: weak, flimsy, insubstantial) The museum instead displayed his empty wheelbarrow with an explicit label: an ordinary tool, accompanied by an extraordinary claim. (explicit: clear, definite, unambiguous)