1. Curious
   Quick and skillful
2. Callous
   Sentimental

If you've ever studied French, you know that droit means "right," both as in "right of free speech" and "left and right." Adroit means both.

1. Stubborn
   Adoring
2. Strange
   Comical

From Latin, inexorable means not pliant. When your spouse or sibling is impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason, you may say that person is resolutely inexorable.

1. Marriage
   Laundry
2. Farming
   Entertaining

If you cultivate the land or breed animals, you are practicing husbandry. If you're versed in Old English, this word started In the 1300s with another word, “husbandman,” and came to mean a farmer.

1. Take away people's rights or liberties
   Give rights or freedoms to a group of people
2. Make immediate provisions for medical care
   Supply food to those who are impoverished

This word can be traced back to Old French when the combination of "en," meaning "make, put in," and enfranchir, meaning "to set or make free," came together to mean a group of people given the right to vote, or "to admit to membership in a state."

1. A complex mechanical design
   A crafty plot to achieve your ends
2. A fine-tuned precision instrument
   Simple architectural design

Machination derives from the Medieval French, machina, meaning "machine." However, the word describes a crafty and involved plot to achieve usually sinister ends. It's a bit like intrigue.

1. Fame
   Money
2. Style
   Intelligence

Panache is a word of French origin that carries the connotation of flamboyant manner and reckless courage. Specifically, from Middle French, it meant "a tuft or plume of feathers." Today, it means distinctive and stylish elegance.

1. Quiet
   Sleepy
2. Tolerant
   Not embarrassed

In the late 14th and early 15th centuries, abash meant "perplex, embarrass, lose one's composure". Thus the opposite of that means not embarrassed.

1. Fated
   Desired
2. Starving
   Unflagging Vitality

In Latin, it was possible to defatigare or "to tire out," but only the negative version (prefixed with in- ) entered the English language through French.

1. Attack as false
   Immunity
2. Idyllic
   Inane

The root of impugn is the Latin, "pugnare," which means "to fight." So when you impugn, you are fighting or attacking the idea or statement by saying that it's false or wrong.

1. Surpassing the ordinary
   Silly
2. Boring
   Crazy

The word canny means "cunning" or "sly." However "uncanny" means mischievous, strange or mysterious in a strange way.

1. Playfully oblivious
   Heartsick as well as ill
2. Avoiding responsibilities through falsehoods
   Promoting oneself above others

Malinger comes from the French, "malingre," which can mean "ailing or sickly," One theory says that mal, or "wrongly," suggests the sick person is just faking it.

1. The cookware needed to create a souffle
   The inner workings of an assembly line
2. Fashionable outer wear
   The surroundings and conditions

From French, "milieu" means middle place. A milieu is both the surroundings and everything that makes up the surroundings. Sometimes a milieu shapes a person, as when a "milieu of abuse and poverty" inspires someone to improve things for others.

1. Infectious
   Abusive
2. Passionate
   Crazy

Invective comes from the Latin for "abusive." If a comedian is on a rant about how stupid people are, he or she might spew invective language before getting to the punch line.

1. When you want to be politically correct
   When you are furious at a person
2. When you find something hard to express
   When you're patronizing someone

The Latin root of "ineffable" comes from "ineffabilis," which joins the prefix "in," meaning "not," with the adjective "effabilis," meaning "capable of being expressed." Together it means incapable of description.

1. Systematically
   Evidently
2. Proof
   Ostensible

From French, "ostensible" means something is capable of being shown, or presentable. Here's an example in a sentence: “His ostensible purpose was charity; his real goal was popularity."

1. Difficult to manage
   Slightly paranoid
2. Increasingly despondent
   Greatly agitated

The Latin root word, "tract," means “drag” or “pull,” so something that is intractable is difficult to manage.

1. Intrusively meddling
   Odorous
2. Thoughtful
   Awe-inspiring

When the suffix, -osus ("full of"), is added to "officium," the Latin word officiosus came into being. It means"eager to serve, help, or perform a duty," but in an annoyingly eager way that is more than what is required.

1. Difficult to understand
   Ridiculous
2. Boring
   Temperamental

Abstruse things are difficult to understand because they are so deep and intellectually challenging. But that's for ordinary people, not those who know languages. The root word, abstusu,s is taken from Latin, meaning "hidden, concealed, or secret."

1. Surprising
   Upsetting
2. Contrary
   Delaying

This word comes from the Latin root word, "dilator," which means someone who puts things off, or a procrastinator. So dilatory tactics would be tactics used to delay. Or in this case, we might use harder words, so you have to consider the options for a longer time.

1. Melancholy
   Quickly aroused to anger
2. Paranoid
   Humorous

Irascible comes from the Latin root "ira," which means "anger" or "rage," the same root that gives us the word ire, "anger." However, the "sc" in the middle of irascible, means "becoming." So the anger hasn't exploded yet.

1. A recluse
   Someone who demands conformity to rules
2. A knowledgeable person
   Someone who wants to please

Martinet was coined after General Jean Martinet (died in 1672) who invented the military drills. He was a stickler for rules and regulations. Martinet is also used to describe someone who stubbornly adheres to methods or rules.

1. To negotiate for a single consensus
   To abolish by authoritative action
2. To plead in defense
   To harbor resentment

"Abrogate" comes from the Latin root rogare, which means to propose a law. When combined with "ab," which means "from" or "away," it means to abolish by authoritative action.

1. The masses
   The fluctuations in weather
2. The meaningless of life
   The science of social interactions

This may be Greek to you, but hoi polloi was originally written in Greek letters. It means the people, the general public, the common man, the masses, or simply, hoi polloi.

1. Selfless
   Charitable
2. Unrepentant
   Romantic

Obdurate is stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing. In Latin, obdurare means "to harden." A near synonym is adamant, from the Latin adamas, meaning "hard metal, diamond."

1. A) Theoretic
   B) Experiment
2. C) Observation
   D) B & C

Empirical looks like empire but comes from a completely different origin. It is from the Greek empeirikos, meaning experienced. It's now used for any kind of knowledge that comes from experiment and observation.

1. Prestige
   Ownership
2. Fashionable
   Stingy

Cachet is the French word for a small seal or impression left by a seal. The meaning has evolved from "(letter under) personal stamp (of the king)" to "prestige."

1. When you're surprised at the outcome
   When you're delighted about something
2. When you feel sorry for what you've done
   When you're falsely accused of some act

When you feel compunction you feel very, very sorry, usually for something you did to hurt someone or mess something up. The origin of this word is from Latin, "compungere," which is to prick hard or sting,

1. Not excited
   Bewildered
2. Shocked
   Jealous

It's confusing because in Latin, "non plus" means no more, no further or a state in which nothing more can be done. Another way to say this is perplexed or completely puzzled.

1. It is controversial.
   It is fraught with disaster.
2. It is inconceivable.
   It is just beginning.

Incipient comes from the Latin incipere, "to begin." The more commonly used word, "inception," means the beginning. However, incipient includes the idea that it may never be fully formed.

1. Silly and exuberant
   Excessively mournful
2. Scared and timid
   Relaxed and confident

Anything that makes you feel gloomy is lugubrious. This word is derived from the Latin verb, lūgēre, which means "to mourn."

1. Housewife and maid
   Beggar and Franciscan monk
2. Chauffeur and repairman
   Socialite and Donor

Mendicant can refer to a beggar as well as a man belonging to a religious order, such as the Franciscan Friars who denounce all worldly goods.

1. Ignore
   Ignorance
2. Ignoble
   Dishonor

Breaking this word down, either from the French, ignominie, or from Latin, ignominia, this word is created from the prefix "in," meaning "no or not," plus nomen, meaning "a name." Therefore, it means ruining your name or reputation.

1. Break the rules
   Bend the rules
2. Follow the rules
   Change the rules

This word comes from late Latin where "contravenire," or contra- + venire, means "against to come." Today, this word is synonymous with violation. For instance, "She might contravene her parents' ban on sweets if her friend offers her some licorice."

1. Liar
   Gossiper
2. Conceited
   Pessimistic

A mendacious person is one who tells lies habitually and intentionally. The root word is from the Middle French, "mendacieux," and from the Latin, "mendacium," which means a lie, untruth, falsehood, or fiction.

1. Perk up physically
   Rush around frantically
2. Wear down mentally
   Feel awkward internally

In Latin, "enervare" means “to cut the sinew” or “to cause to be cut from the muscle.” This action would weaken anyone. The word has evolved to mean to unnerve or weaken.