1. Advantageous
   Tantalizing
2. Inconspicuous
   Florid

"Inconspicuous" means not noticeable. Have you ever left an inconspicuous ding in your parents' car after borrowing it, and somehow they spotted it right away? How do they always do that?

1. Egregious
   Mundane
2. Blasé
   Splendid

"Egregious" means extraordinarily bad or flagrant. If you're going to make a mistake at work, it's best not to make an egregious one. A shocking or grievous one, maybe, but not egregious!

1. Truncate
   Fantasize
2. Pontificate
   Mitigate

To "mitigate" means to lessen or to make something less intense. While some people like to mitigate risks by taking proper precautions, others dive into situations without much forethought.

1. Ambiguous
   Dismal
2. Scabrous
   Militant

The word "ambiguous" means open to multiple interpretations. People generally like movies to have clear-cut endings, but sometimes filmmakers challenge audiences with ambiguous conclusions.

1. Contentment
   Misgivings
2. Antipathy
   Senility

"Antipathy" is an instinctive dislike of something. Perhaps a friend of yours has an antipathy for earthworms and runs away shrieking if you dangle one in her face. It's only a harmless worm!

1. Haughty
   Benevolent
2. Spiteful
   Indifferent

A "benevolent" person shows goodwill toward others. Many people consider parenthood a benevolent dictatorship because while Mom and Dad make the rules, they have the kids' best interest at heart.

1. Brawl
   Avenue
2. Clout
   Dissertation

"Clout" is strong influence, particularly in the realm of politics. Someone who has clout with the city council might be successful at having all the potholes in the neighborhood filled promptly.

1. Apex
   Trough
2. Emission
   Imposition

An "apex" is the highest point or a climax. Ambitious people strive to reach — and remain at — the apex of their career. Lots of people are climbing to Mt. Everest's apex these days.

1. Imprudent
   Malicious
2. Fluctuating
   Earnest

"Imprudent" means the opposite of wise. In "The Sandlot," the boys imprudently chew tobacco before riding the carnival ride. Still, they learn a lesson that will stick with them for-ev-er!

1. Omnipotent
   Peculiar
2. Plausible
   Lucrative

Something that's "lucrative" is profitable and brings in money. For instance, if you're going to develop a website, you hopefully want to make it lucrative so you can start raking in the moolah.

1. Rigid
   Sublime
2. Malleable
   Tedious

"Malleable" means adaptable or moldable. When you're baking cookies, the dough should be malleable so you can roll it out with a rolling pin. Otherwise, you might've done something wrong!

1. Tenacious
   Pitiable
2. Quirky
   Solemn

"Tenacious" is a strong word meaning persistent or holding fast. So the next time someone complains that you're as stubborn as an ox, you can take comfort in the idea that they meant to say "tenacious."

1. Scrutinize
   Reinforce
2. Undulate
   Formulate

"Reinforce" means to strengthen. Nothing reinforces a new skill like hours of practice, whether it's perfecting a free throw shot or mastering a tricky classical piece on the piano.

1. Impervious
   Qualitative
2. Potent
   Susceptible

"Susceptible" means likely to be affected by something. For instance, during flu season doctors recommend that children, seniors and people susceptible to illness get their flu shot.

1. Invoke
   Perish
2. Foresee
   Dispatch

To "perish" means to die or be destroyed. Over 1,500 passengers perished when the "Titanic" sank in icy Atlantic waters in 1912, but Jack and Rose's love will never perish, not even in death!

1. Dismay
   Jubilation
2. Conviction
   Bias

"Dismay" means to perturb or dishearten. Much to our dismay, it is not socially acceptable for adults to don Halloween costumes and go trick-or-treating, no matter our intense love of chocolate.

1. Ardent
   Frigid
2. Evanescent
   Gargantuan

"Ardent" means passionate or zealous. When you spend hours creating a costume based on your favorite superhero character to wear to Comic-Con, it's fair to call you an ardent fan.

1. Quenched
   Voracious
2. Diverse
   Preeminent

"Voracious" is a cool word because it can describe a hearty appetite or zealous love of something. For instance, you can be a voracious reader and a voracious eater of bonbons at the same time!

1. Exacerbate
   Alleviate
2. Exhilarate
   Lament

To "exacerbate" is to aggravate. For example, if you already have a piercing headache, listening to kids squabbling over a toy will only exacerbate your pain and raise it to migraine-level.

1. Adorn
   Embellish
2. Prevaricate
   Mar

"Mar" means to damage or impair. Nothing mars your dream vacation more than foul weather, poor hotel service, cancelled flights, lost luggage and any other inconvenience you can think of.

1. Tact
   Secretion
2. Urge
   Acquisition

"Secretion" is the process by which a cell or gland releases a substance. Our salivary secretions spike dramatically when we come home from an intense workout and smell burgers cooking on the grill.

1. Coarse
   Flagrant
2. Adept
   Slovenly

An "adept" person is an expert at something. When we go out to eat, we always hope the servers are adept at balancing multiple plates on their arms ⁠— particularly when they pass by us.

1. Lethargic
   Vivacious
2. Adversarial
   Candid

"Lethargic" means drowsy or sluggish. It never fails that we feel lethargic after eating a large meal at Thanksgiving. But it's a sacrifice we're willing to make to show our gratitude!

1. Repudiate
   Enervate
2. Condone
   Concede

To "concede" means to admit something, such as a defeat. After an election, the losing party is expected to concede the winner's victory. We concede that pajamas are not approved daytime attire.

1. Neglect
   Cultivate
2. Endow
   Foment

"Cultivate" means to foster or to help to grow. You can cultivate a richer vocabulary by reading constantly, whether it's books, magazines, newspapers or the backs of cereal boxes!

1. Offensive
   Reputable
2. Tantalizing
   Freewheeling

Something "tantalizing" arouses your desires, like a luscious chocolate cake. As punishment, poor Tantalus couldn't reach the fruit above him or the water below him in Greek mythology.

1. Magnanimous
   Stingy
2. Galvanizing
   Indulgent

Someone who's "stingy" is not generous. In Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," Ebenezer Scrooge is the classic stingy miser who learns the error of his ways from three ghosts. Bah, humbug!

1. Inversion
   Persecution
2. Scorn
   Circulation

An "inversion" is a reversal of position or order. Yoda from Star Wars is the master of speech inversion, which adds to his mystique as a wise Jedi Master. Mixing up syntax he does!

1. Rambunctious
   Docile
2. Tentative
   Squalid

"Rambunctious" means wild, noisy or hard to control. Puppies, kittens and young children hopped up on sugar are known for being rambunctious, as are sports fanatics at critical games.

1. Provocative
   Calamitous
2. Erratic
   Stark

No, we're not talking about "Game of Thrones." "Stark" means harsh or extremely simple. Many people who visit old log cabins are surprised by the stark accommodations. Really, no Wi-Fi in here?

1. Envy
   Malign
2. Suspend
   Demur

To "envy" is to covet something belonging to another. In "Toy Story," Woody envies Buzz Lightyear when he replaces Woody as Andy's favorite toy. Still, pushing someone out the window is not the answer!

1. Furnish
   Culminate
2. Deplete
   Boost

To "deplete" means to use something up. After depleting your resources in the zombie apocalypse, you will be forced to make a run to the store, where the undead love to congregate.

1. Dearth
   Antithesis
2. Onset
   Cornucopia

A "cornucopia" is an overflowing abundance, named after the horn of Amalthea that never ran out of food or drink. We'd love a cornucopia of snacks and beverages at our Super Bowl parties.

1. Fickle
   Obsolete
2. Null
   Modest

"Fickle" means easily changeable. Teachers often call Romeo of "Romeo and Juliet" fickle, because he's mooning over Rosalind one day and obsessed with Juliet the next. We all know how that ends!

1. Eccentric
   Introverted
2. Eloquent
   Dubious

Someone who's "eloquent" uses forceful or expressive speech. Not everyone's eager to give public speeches ⁠— okay, some actually dread it! But put in that position, we all hope to be eloquent.