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Quiz about Words Too Easily Confused Set Nine
Quiz about Words Too Easily Confused Set Nine

Words Too Easily Confused, Set Nine Quiz


Some English words are entirely too much like others, while having completely different meanings. How many of these too-similar words can you properly sort?

A matching quiz by FatherSteve. Estimated time: 3 mins.
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Author
FatherSteve
Time
3 mins
Type
Match Quiz
Quiz #
384,462
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Easy
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
1105
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
Last 3 plays: BurgGurl (8/10), Guest 107 (6/10), Guest 72 (7/10).
(a) Drag-and-drop from the right to the left, or (b) click on a right side answer box and then on a left side box to move it.
QuestionsChoices
1. Poor fit between upper and lower teeth   
  Malignancy
2. Bad smelling  
  Mallomar
3. A curse or imprecation  
  Mallow
4. Chocolate-coated marshmallow on a cracker  
  Malice
5. Tendency to grow progressively worse   
  Malingerer
6. One who shirks duty by feigning illness   
  Malediction
7. A plant from which a confection is made   
  Malodorous
8. Evil natured, pernicious, harmful   
  Maleficent
9. The villain in "Sleeping Beauty"   
  Malocclusion
10. The intent to accomplish evil   
  Malign





Select each answer

1. Poor fit between upper and lower teeth
2. Bad smelling
3. A curse or imprecation
4. Chocolate-coated marshmallow on a cracker
5. Tendency to grow progressively worse
6. One who shirks duty by feigning illness
7. A plant from which a confection is made
8. Evil natured, pernicious, harmful
9. The villain in "Sleeping Beauty"
10. The intent to accomplish evil

Most Recent Scores
Today : BurgGurl: 8/10
Mar 18 2024 : Guest 107: 6/10
Mar 18 2024 : Guest 72: 7/10
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Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Poor fit between upper and lower teeth

Answer: Malocclusion

"Very few people have perfect teeth alignment. However, most problems are minor and do not require treatment. Malocclusion is the most common reason for referral to an orthodontist." ~ Michael Kapner, 'Medline Plus', 2/22/16.

In a perfect world (or, at least, in a perfect mouth), upper and lower teeth would nest exactly into one another when the jaws are closed. Their failure to do so is termed malocclusion, which derives from the Latin, meaning bad (mal-) closure (occludere).
2. Bad smelling

Answer: Malodorous

"He saw the squalid tract of her vice, miserable and malodorous." ~James Joyce, 'Dubliners' (1914).

A malodorous thing has a bad odor, smells bad, smells foul. The adjective is constructed from the Latin "mal" meaning bad, and "odorus" meaning to have a smell, a scent, an odor.
3. A curse or imprecation

Answer: Malediction

"Hermione, will you please ... "
"Don't you tell me what to do, Harry Potter!" she screeched. "Don't you dare! Give it back now! And YOU!" She was pointing at Ron in dire accusation: It was like a malediction, and Harry could not blame Ron for retreating several steps."
~J.K. Rowling, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'

A noun meaning to speak evil, to call down a curse, an execration or imprecation. It comes from the Latin "mal" meaning bad, and "dictum" meaning to speak.
4. Chocolate-coated marshmallow on a cracker

Answer: Mallomar

"Seems he already sold his soul in 1976 for Bee Gees tickets, and again in 1981 for half a Mallomar." ~'Family Guy', Season 2, Episode 11 ('A Pictue is Worth a 1,000 Bucks').

Mallomars are a confection produced by Nabisco, built by extruding marshmallow on a graham cracker circle and coating the whole with dark chocolate. They have been made and sold since 1913. They are sold only September through March so the chocolate won't get all melty.
5. Tendency to grow progressively worse

Answer: Malignancy

"Capitalism is a social cancer. It has always been a social cancer. It is the disease of society. It is the malignancy of society." ~Murray Bookchin (1921-2006), author.

The medical term malignancy is constructed from the Latin "mal" meaning bad, and "-gnus" meaning born. Typically used to describe cancers, the term describes the progressive worsening of a disease.
6. One who shirks duty by feigning illness

Answer: Malingerer

"Article 115-Malingering. Any person subject to this chapter who for the purpose of avoiding work, duty, or service -- (1) feigns illness, physical disablement, mental lapse or derangement; or (2) intentionally inflicts self-injury; shall be punished as a court-martial may direct." ~Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The noun malingerer entered English from the French "malingrer" meaning to pretend to be sick. The term distantly refers to beggars who created fake sores on themselves to induce greater charity.
7. A plant from which a confection is made

Answer: Mallow

"In patches grows the water mallow:
To left and right one must seek it.
Shy was this noble lady;
Day and night he sought her."
~Ancient Chinese Poem.

Mallow refers to any number of plants in the mallow family, especially Althea officinalis which grows near marshes, hence the term "marshmallow" to describe the confection made from a paste derived from the roots of the plant.
8. Evil natured, pernicious, harmful

Answer: Malign

"Not death but disease is the real enemy; disease, the malign force that requires confrontation. Death is the surcease that comes when the exhausting battle has been lost." ~ Sherwin B. Nuland.

From the Old French "maligne" meaning "to have an evil nature," the adjective "malign" entered English in the 14th Century. It is also a verb carrying a similar but different meaning.
9. The villain in "Sleeping Beauty"

Answer: Maleficent

"Narrator: So you see, the story is not quite as you were told, and I should know, for I was the one they called 'Sleeping Beauty'. In the end, my kingdom was united not by a hero or a villain, as legend had predicted, but by one who was both hero and villain. And her name was Maleficent." ~'Maleficent' (2014).

The adjective "maleficent" derives from the Latin and means harmful, malicious, and wicked. In Walt Disney's animated feature 'Sleeping Beauty' (1959), it is the name of the evil fairy who cursed the princess to eternal sleep. In the 2014 live-action movie 'Maleficent', Angelina Jolie creates a more sympathetic depiction of the fairy.
10. The intent to accomplish evil

Answer: Malice

"... Murder is unlawful homicide with malice aforethought. Malice aforethought means ... (a) An intention to cause the death of, or grievous bodily harm to, any person, whether such person is the person actually killed or not; (b) Knowledge that the act which causes death will probably cause the death of, or grievous bodily harm to, some person, whether such person is the person actually killed or not, although such knowledge is accompanied by indifference whether death or grievous bodily harm is caused or not, or by a wish that it may not be caused ..."
~Stephen's Digest of Criminal Law, 1st ed. (1877), in art. 223,

The noun "malice" means ill will. The word entered English from the Latin via the Old French "malice" meaning spite or wickedness. The Latin root is "malus" meaning bad. It is used in legal writing with particular attention to intent.
Source: Author FatherSteve

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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Related Quizzes
This quiz is part of series Words Too Easily Confused:

There are many English words which are devilishly similar but unrelated in meaning. These quizzes are an opportunity to sort some of those out.

  1. Words Too Easily Confused Easier
  2. Words Too Easily Confused, Set Two Easier
  3. Words Too Easily Confused, Set Three Very Easy
  4. Words Too Easily Confused, Set Four Very Easy
  5. Words Too Easily Confused, Set Five Easier
  6. Words Too Easily Confused, Set Six Very Easy
  7. Words Too Easily Confused, Set Seven Easier
  8. Words Too Easily Confused, Set Eight Very Easy
  9. Words Too Easily Confused, Set Nine Easier
  10. Words Too Easily Confused, Set Ten Easier
  11. Words Too Easily Confused, Set Eleven Easier

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