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About This Quiz
Did you know that while raw brainpower peaks in the early 20s, vocabulary is one of the things that keeps growing virtually all your life? That's good news for those of us who scored less-than-impressively on the verbal section of our SATs. Of course, this is only true if you work on your verbal skills a bit, keeping your ears open to interesting new words and their meanings. On the other hand, if "LOL" and "OMG" are mainstays of your vocabulary (even when speaking out loud), you might be stagnating.ÂÂ
That's where our quiz might come in handy. We've rounded up some of English's most useful, elegant and precise words, to shine up your rusty vocabulary. Do you know whether "slovenly" is an adverb or an adjective? Or the difference between "assent" and "dissent"? Or, for that matter, when to use "dissent" and when to settle for plain old "disagreement"? Our quiz will make all these things clear -- but not before it tests your verbal skills.ÂÂ
So, whether you're never at a loss for words, or you're a little worried about the "word usements you structure" (to borrow a great phrase from Steve Martin in "L.A. Story"), give our quiz a try. We think you'll find it challenging, demanding and rigorous, without being irksome, Sisphyean or vexatious! ÂÂ
Pensive
Cautious
Faultless
Cumbersome
Lost in thought
This word got a boost from the Harry Potter series. Albus Dumbledore had a "Pensieve" in which he kept and sorted his thoughts. That word is a portmanteau of "pensive" and "sieve," the latter being an instrument for separating and isolating things.
Herbivorous
Growing nearly everywhere
Eating only vegetation
"Herbivorous" usually describes animals. Humans are "vegetarian" or "vegan," because our creative diets, even when they don't include animal products, go beyond just grasses and herbs.
Blue in color
420-friendly
Courtly
Elegantly polite
The term "courtly" comes to us from the royal courts of Europe, especially England, where men of the court were assumed to have fine manners. A specialized meaning of the term is "courtly love," in which a nobleman loved a married woman, often a queen, only with words and poems, keeping the relationship unconsummated. It was considered the highest form of love.
Ambitious
Inclined to fight
Sullen
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Haphazard
Fearful
Joyous
Infrequent
Without much planning
To 'hazard a guess" is to guess without much hope of getting it right. "Haphazard" doubles down on this idea of chance, by adding the prefix "hap-" which we also see in "happenstance" and "perhaps."
Omniscient
All-knowing
There are several "omni-" terms in English that can be confused with each other. "Omnipresent" is "everywhere," while "omnipotent" is "all-knowing" and "omnivorous" means "eating all kinds of things."
Everywhere
Incorrect
Scientifically-inclined
Prologue
An armored vehicle
A beginning or introduction
Prologues are often found in books. The opposite is "epilogue," the final section of a book that wraps things up.
A high altiitude
A two-volume set
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Disproportionate
In a foreign language
Small in size
Out of balance
You'll often find this word in the phrase "disproportionate response." Being expelled from school for chewing gum in class would count.
Timid
Persuade
Clean up
Fight over
Make softer
Talk into (doing something)
"Persuade" and "convince" are often used interchangeably, but they're not the same. You convince someone of a fact; you persuade them to do something. E.g., "I persuaded her to jump by convincing her the fall was survivable."
Alienate
To extend
To disbelieve
To weaken
To put off or estrange
Specific people can be alienated from each other, like former friends. But in a larger sense, people who don't fit into a group, or society overall, are described as "alienated."
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Reminisce
To edit
To paint over
To recall
The dictionary definition of "reminisce" simply means "to think about the past." But it has gained the connotation of "fondly." When people are said to reminisce over drinks, they're not complaining about hard times.
To lose faith
Amends
Congregants in a church
Deeds done to make up for past wrongs
This is a word that you mostly hear as part of a specific phrase: "make amends." In other words, you probably won't hear someone say, "his amends weren't enough for me."
Hearing aids
Visual aids
Adulterate
Contaminate
To clarify, "contaminate" is a harsher term than "adulterate." You wouldn't want to eat contaminated food, but something "adulterated" might just have cheap or inauthentic ingredients, though it's still safe to eat.
Grieve for
Laugh about
Finish
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Usury
Entertainment
Fear
Predatory lending
"Usury" is a term you don't hear a whole lot these days; it's been replaced by "predatory lending." It does come up in discussions of Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice," in which Shylock was considered a usurer.
Sly innuendo
Facsimile
Copy
Technically, your fax machine is a "facsimile machine." This is because it receives information that creates a copy of a document that is physically elsewhere.
Dilution
Metaphor
Sporting event
Arid
Desert-like
"Arid" refers to a very dry climate or region. The term was adopted, aptly enough, by an anti-perspirant brand.
Friendly
Round in shape
Abusive
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Federated
Folded
Made of metals
Very strong
United
You don't hear "federated" as often as you do "federation," but they both have to do with things being united. This is why "federal" is the term for government services at the national level, not the level of individual states or counties.
Ascendant
Neurological
Musical
Rising
"Ascendant" means "on the rise." Less strictly, it can mean "reigning" or "dominant," like a sports team that's nearly unbeatable.
Very loud
Ascribe
To chalk up to
"Ascribe" is a finicky word that demands both a direct and an indirect object. You can't just "ascribe Trump's election," you have to "ascribe Trump's election to ____________". (Fill in your favorite reason here).
To dislike
To heat up
To paint in pastel colors
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Dissent
Bad weather
Disagreement
"Dissent" is usually reserved for serious or political disagreements. It's a bit strong to say there was "dissent" in a family over what kind of ice cream to buy.
Soft noise
A graveyard
Innuendo
Alarm or bell
Implication
This is one of our favorite borrowings from Latin. "Innuendo" means "by nodding," and thus carries the idea of something said discreetly, without being spoken aloud.
Past event
Traffic roundabout
Domicile
Dwelling
"Domicile" is, of course, closely related to the word "domestic." Both come from "domus," the Latin word for "home."
Disturbance
Good luck
Theory
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Parse
To define or examine in detail
You couldn't avoid this verb during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal of the 1990s. So much had to do with what the president said and what he might have meant by it, that cable-news anchors and guest experts were constantly "parsing" statements.
To think ahead
To understand incorrectly
To be necessary
Censure
Blame or criticize
Don't confuse this with "censor," which means to prevent from speaking or printing. "Censure" usually means a public recognition of a wrong that stops short of a punishment; it's similar to an employer putting a note in your file about a mistake on the job.
Feed adequately
Consider seriously
Write about
Tenet
Agricultural practice
Jewel or gem
Key part of a belief system
Example: A tenet of Catholicism is belief in the Immaculate Conception. Fun fact: "Tenet" is also the name of a chain of hospitals, apparently for no other reason than it sounds impressive.
Weapon
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Palate
Artist's tool
Roof of the mouth
Sense of taste
Both #2 and #3
Yup, we tried to trick you with "artist's tool." But that's "palette," the handheld plate on which an artist puts paints to be used in a work session. "Palate" is a part of the mouth, and more figuratively, your taste in foods. A "refined palate" means you have good, or perhaps expensive, taste.
Insular
Closed off, clannish
"Insular" comes from "insula," the Latin word for "island." So an "insular" group of friends is one that keeps to themselves.
Easily angered
Geometric in shape
Elderly
Hale
Dark-haired
Healthy
You'll sometimes see this word as part of the expression "hale and hearty." It's related to both the words "heal" and "whole."
Thoughtless
Underweight
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Penance
Assigned punishment
"Penance" doesn't usually refer to a harsh punishment like a whipping. A person performing penance is doing an activity to make up for wrongs committed. It implies that redemption is possible.
Graveyard shift
A small sum
A waltz-like dance
Auxiliary
Thin
Extra
An "auxiliary" is something added on for emergencies or nonessential functions. An auxiliary engine, for example, would kick in when the main engines fail.
Foolish
Wing-shaped
Chauvinism
Discrimination, especially against women
Though chauvinism is now mostly used to talk about the view of women as inferior, it wasn't also so. The term came from a French patriot, Chauvin, whose enthusiasm for France gave rise to the original sense of "chauvinism" as regional boosterism.
Literary analysis
Minimalism, especially in fashion
Inability to recognize faces
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Enthrall
Communicate with
Enchant
"Enthrall" today has a good connotation ("the audience was enthralled"). But it has a dark background: "thralls" is an old word for "slaves."
Live near
Decimate
Slovenly
Aquatic
Elegant
Messy
"Slovenly" is a false adverb, or an adjective that looks like an adverb. English has several of them, including "timely," "lovely" and "courtly" (found elsewhere in this quiz).
Slow-moving
Obsolete
Musical
Heavy
Sharp
Out of date
Nothing is created "obsolete"; things are rendered obsolete by time and innovation. If you want to get fancy, use the noun version, "obsolescence."
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Protagonist
Candidate for office
Fictional hero
If you want to annoy people at a cocktail party, correct them when they say "protagonists." The word is taken from the Greek, and according to the strict rules of Greek drama, can only be singular, not plural.
Pastry chef
Person who repairs things
You Got:
/35
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