1. To complain
   To cheat
2. To lie
   To slack off

This British word looks like "whine," but the words have different etymologies. "Whinge" came from the Old English word "hwinsian," which means to moan unhappily. Yeah, sounds unpleasant.

1. Vandalizing a school
   Jaywalking
2. Using a fake weapon in a robbery
   Stealing books

"Biblioklept" refers to a person who pilfers books. It comes from the root "biblio-," meaning book, and "kleptes," Greek for thief. Unhand that work of literature, cultured ruffian!

1. Dancing
   Hesitating
2. Stargazing
   Arguing

This word is like a cousin to "wishy-washy." It originated in the 1700s with indecisive people saying "Shall I? Shall I?" repeatedly. It can also mean to dawdle, like "dilly-dally."

1. Lilliputian
   Brobdingnagian
2. Adamantine
   Quixotic

This is one of those fancy literary words. In Jonathan Swift's novel, "Gulliver's Travels," Brobdingnag is an imaginary land of giants. Bonus points if you recognize Lilliputian, too.

1. A jail
   A dungeon
2. A dark alley
   A haunted house

"Hoosgow" is a slang term that originated in the American West in the early 1900s. It's likely an incorrect pronunciation of "juzgado," the Spanish word for a court of law.

1. Spouts nonsense
   Skips work
2. Cleans obsessively
   Befriends animals

We all know at least one blatherskite, a silly person who doesn't stop jabbering. The word appeared in a Scottish song and was well known among soldiers during the American Revolution.

1. Crepuscule
   Obverse
2. Aureole
   Plication

If you've seen religious paintings, then you've probably seen the "aureole," or radiance around holy people's heads. Beyonce could have another hit singing, "I can see your aureole ..."

1. Sockdolager
   Anopisthograph
2. Echolalia
   Eyetooth

The "sock" in this American slang term refers to hitting someone. It's unclear what "-dolager" means. President Lincoln heard a form of this word in the play at which he was killed.

1. A hangover
   A feeling of distress
2. A great clamor
   All of these

Put the German words for cat ("katze") and distress ("jammer") together, and you get this useful word to describe an uneasy feeling, a hangover or a din that aggravates the first two.

1. Gobbet
   Callithump
2. Flibbertigibbet
   Snollygoster

Word experts aren't even sure where this one comes from, only that it's American slang from the 1840s. You can use this as a fun alternative to the more serious word, "Machiavellian."

1. Effulgent
   Concomitant
2. Sectile
   Wroth

"Wroth" is an Old English word that means angry, but also turbulent or stormy. It's a good way to describe either the weather or your boss when they catch you napping under your desk.

1. Nape
   Elbow
2. Nose
   Ankle

Meaning the nape or back of the neck, "nuque" dates back to the late 1500s and comes from the French. Going further back, it evolved from the Latin and Arabic words for "spinal cord."

1. Strict
   Confusing
2. Talkative
   Irritable

In Greek myth, Rhadamanthus was one of three judges who determined dead people's fate in the underworld. He was known as the inflexible, strict one. Hopefully, the other two were nicer.

1. Recalcitrant
   Puckish
2. Jejune
   Guileless

Puck in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a merry imp, but the word originally had the more sinister meaning of "devil" in Old Norse. Good thing the Bard came along.

1. Jocularity
   Cunctator
2. Picaro
   Potvaliancy

"Cunctator," or "delayer," was a name given to Roman General Fabius Maximus, who used strategic tactics to defeat Hannibal's army. We wish procrastination was still a positive trait.

1. A tangy drink
   A fraying scarf
2. A substandard poet
   A branch used as a cane

Isn't English cool? There's even a word for a bad poet! This word has the Latin suffix "-aster," which indicates that something is not as good as the real thing. Everyone's a critic.

1. An accident
   An awkward situation
2. A fluster
   A petty argument

An American word with an unknown origin, "swivet" describes the state of anxious excitement you're in when you rush out the door still wearing your slippers and forget your keys inside.

1. Curse words
   Shapeshifting characters
2. Whimsical illustrations
   Imaginary creatures

"Whangdoodle" is another Americanism of uncertain origin. Children's authors Roald Dahl and Julie Andrews (yes, that Julie Andrews) featured various whangdoodles in their books.

1. Breakable
   Toxic
2. Malodorous
   Stolen

Yes, "frangible" is another way of saying "fragile." It derives from the Latin word "frangere," which means "to break." The average postal carrier might not know this though, so ...

1. Messy
   Cold
2. Cozy
   Moldy

"Algid" may not be in popular use, but it's still an appropriate way to describe your bed mate's frigid feet under the covers. It also describes a type of malaria that involves clammy skin.

1. A skin rash
   A propensity to rhyme
2. Body odor
   A grumpy mood

"Mulligrubs" dates back to the 1590s, but no one knows exactly how it formed. It means a case of the blues or, alternately, a colicky stomach. Use this word when your friend is cranky.

1. Stamps
   Matchbooks
2. Ceramic swans
   Love letters

The giveaway in the word is "lumen," which is Latin for "light." And "phil" refers to loving something. Someone who's not a phillumenist is the Scarecrow from "The Wizard of Oz."

1. Scabrous
   Mordacious
2. Insouciant
   Concupiscible

"Mordacious" comes from the Latin word meaning "to bite," but it's used in a figurative sense to describe caustic, acerbic language. So no, your 2-year-old is probably not mordacious.

1. Proper
   Childlike
2. Gritty
   Suspenseful

"Pukka" comes from the Hindu word "pakka," which means "solid." It evolved to mean genuine, reliable or first-class. In modern British slang, something pukka is cool, awesome or hip.

1. Sitting cross-legged
   Solving crossword puzzles
2. Singing in a foreign language
   Displaying crucifixes

Combining the Latin words for "cross" and "word," a cruciverbalist can refer to someone who either makes or solves crosswords. You can bet most avid cruciverbalists use a pen, too.

1. A taste tester
   A politician
2. A tour guide
   A snake tamer

A cicerone is someone who guides sightseers. The word gets its name from Cicero, the famous Roman orator, because tour guides are supposed to be eloquent with their flowery descriptions.

1. Stammer
   Pontificate
2. Improvise
   Speak to oneself

The next time you hear a public speaker speaking extemporaneously or off-hand, you can call them an autoschediast. But maybe save the comment for your friends, not the Q&A session.

1. One's entire family or clan
   A mix of unrelated items
2. A hole in a pocket
   The metal part of a pencil

This Yiddish word describes someone's relatives, both by blood and marriage, and close family friends. You can think of it as a tight-knit clan or a network of family and friends.

1. Gorgonized
   Tantalized
2. Enervated
   Bamboozled

"Gorgonize" comes from the Gorgons of Greek myth. Anyone who gazed at these snake-haired monsters would be turned to stone. The word means to hypnotize, mesmerize or petrify someone.

1. Evenly spaced
   Containing different colors
2. Almond shaped
   Wise and omniscient

"Amygdaliform" means having the curved shape of an almond. Blame your amygdala, the almond-shaped part of the brain responsible for strong emotions, for blurting out that mouthful!

1. Making honey
   Pleasant to hear
2. Having bad intentions
   Sickly sweet

"Melliferous" comes from the Latin for "bearing honey," and that's exactly what it means. You might use the related word, "mellifluous," to describe someone with a voice sweet as honey.

1. A candy
   Tasting of alcohol
2. Amusing
   Greedy

"Lickerish" originally referred to a person who enjoys good food, or even the food itself. It evolved to mean "greedy" or "lustful," coming from the French word to describe debauchery.

1. Applying makeup
   Picking their nose
2. Wearing a mask
   Passing wind

"To fard" isn't commonly used in everyday speech, probably because it sounds like ... you know, that other thing. But it means to put on cosmetics. Whew, that isn't so bad!

1. Gentleness
   Beauty
2. Ruthlessness
   Tenacity

Coming from the Latin words for "hand" (manus) and "to accustom" (suescere), "mansuetude" means tameness or mildness. Remember to use this obscure word the next time you see a docile horse.

1. Prostrated
   Lugubrious
2. Exacerbated
   Splenetic

"Lugubrious" comes from the Latin for "relating to mourning," and indeed, we've never heard a gloomier word. It works perfectly to describe an excessively doleful or melancholic person.