1. Cautious
   Faultless
2. 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.

1. Growing nearly everywhere
   Eating only vegetation
2. Blue in color
   420-friendly

"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.

1. Elegantly polite
   Ambitious
2. Inclined to fight
   Sullen

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.

1. Fearful
   Joyous
2. 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."

1. All-knowing
   Everywhere
2. Incorrect
   Scientifically-inclined

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."

1. An armored vehicle
   A beginning or introduction
2. A high altiitude
   A two-volume set

Prologues are often found in books. The opposite is "epilogue," the final section of a book that wraps things up.

1. In a foreign language
   Small in size
2. Out of balance
   Timid

You'll often find this word in the phrase "disproportionate response." Being expelled from school for chewing gum in class would count.

1. Clean up
   Fight over
2. 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."

1. To extend
   To disbelieve
2. 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."

1. To edit
   To paint over
2. To recall
   To lose faith

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.

1. Congregants in a church
   Deeds done to make up for past wrongs
2. Hearing aids
   Visual aids

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."

1. Contaminate
   Grieve for
2. Laugh about
   Finish

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.

1. Entertainment
   Fear
2. Predatory lending
   Sly innuendo

"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.

1. Copy
   Dilution
2. Metaphor
   Sporting event

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.

1. Desert-like
   Friendly
2. Round in shape
   Abusive

"Arid" refers to a very dry climate or region. The term was adopted, aptly enough, by an anti-perspirant brand.

1. Folded
   Made of metals
2. 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.

1. Neurological
   Musical
2. Rising
   Very loud

"Ascendant" means "on the rise." Less strictly, it can mean "reigning" or "dominant," like a sports team that's nearly unbeatable.

1. To chalk up to
   To dislike
2. To heat up
   To paint in pastel colors

"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).

1. Bad weather
   Disagreement
2. Soft noise
   A graveyard

"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.

1. Alarm or bell
   Implication
2. Past event
   Traffic roundabout

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.

1. Dwelling
   Disturbance
2. Good luck
   Theory

"Domicile" is, of course, closely related to the word "domestic." Both come from "domus," the Latin word for "home."

1. To define or examine in detail
   To think ahead
2. To understand incorrectly
   To be necessary

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.

1. Blame or criticize
   Feed adequately
2. Consider seriously
   Write about

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.

1. Agricultural practice
   Jewel or gem
2. Key part of a belief system
   Weapon

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.

1. Artist's tool
   Roof of the mouth
2. 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.

1. Closed off, clannish
   Easily angered
2. Geometric in shape
   Elderly

"Insular" comes from "insula," the Latin word for "island." So an "insular" group of friends is one that keeps to themselves.

1. Dark-haired
   Healthy
2. Thoughtless
   Underweight

You'll sometimes see this word as part of the expression "hale and hearty." It's related to both the words "heal" and "whole."

1. Assigned punishment
   Graveyard shift
2. A small sum
   A waltz-like dance

"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.

1. Thin
   Extra
2. Foolish
   Wing-shaped

An "auxiliary" is something added on for emergencies or nonessential functions. An auxiliary engine, for example, would kick in when the main engines fail.

1. Discrimination, especially against women
   Literary analysis
2. Minimalism, especially in fashion
   Inability to recognize faces

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.

1. Communicate with
   Enchant
2. Live near
   Decimate

"Enthrall" today has a good connotation ("the audience was enthralled"). But it has a dark background: "thralls" is an old word for "slaves."

1. Aquatic
   Elegant
2. Messy
   Slow-moving

"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).

1. Musical
   Heavy
2. 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."

1. Candidate for office
   Fictional hero
2. Pastry chef
   Person who repairs things

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.

1. Period of several hours
   Difficult situation
2. Former friend
   Result of an equation

You''ll come across the word "quagmire" when reading military history. It's often used to characterize long engagements like the Korean Conflict or the Vietnam War.