Here at Writer’s Relief, we really love words, so we decided to create our own version of “Balderdash.” Writer’s Relief staff members each turned in a word with its real definition and three made-up ones. Take our interactive vocabulary quiz: Can you find the real definition among the three fake definitions? After you take the quiz, we’ll show you which ones you got right and reveal the real definitions for the ones you got wrong. Have fun—and no cheating!
Writer's Relief Vocabulary Quiz
After you receive your results, leave a comment and let us know how many points you got!
14 ouch. Didn’t look any up though!
Some interesting words and a few surprising definitions – nice one. 15 out of 22 right
17! I’m pleased, as many of correct answers that I missed were my second choice.
Well I’ve no clue what my score is – when I click on the “Download certification” link (which I assume will give me my results), I get an error message: No DocRaptor API key! Please alert the site owner to fix this!
22 correct. I love vocabulary words – the stranger the better…
17/22. I’m happy. I did notice a bit of mis-match regarding grammatic form. Eg. “egregious” is an adjective and the correct answer is a noun, “mistake”. Have I missed something?
15 out of 22 not bad- I love words too- how about:
Defenestrate
Borborygmus
or
Humumunukunukapawaa
Fifteen. Yayyyy! But I only knew six; the others were process of elimination stuff, or just wild guesses.
18/22. Toyed with one other answer that came close. Couldn’t believe the correct answer to one of them!
17; I might have to look up the latin derivative as reference for one of my incorrect choices: callipygian. I couldn’t recall Antony saying any such thing to Cleopatra.
13 out of 22….that’s okay, because I teach ESL, and I think I’m losing my touch with speaking my own language — though several of these words weren’t derived from English anyway. Like Shelver506, most of the ones I missed were 50/50 with my answer vs. the correct answer.
I managed to get 16. Considering the questions’ desire to obfucate, I was pleased.
18 out of 22! Not bad for Monday brain
Michele, there was a slight link error for some users, but it’s since been fixed! Go ahead and click “Submit” at the bottom of the post to receive your results!
Fun! Got 15 out of 22 right.
Great words. Loved the creative choices
18 out of 22.
Anton, thanks for the catch. We’ve since corrected this “egregious” error! (That’s a hint for the rest of you quiz-takers!)
18 correct. Did not look any up. Lots of fun.
13…..! Need to work on my vocabulary….
16 I’m happy with that, these were interesting words!
17 out of 22. Fun quiz, I learned some new words.
17 out of 22 — and missed a couple I should have known.
Thank you, Anton K. That difference in part of speech left me puzzled too!
16/22 – ick. I need to read more; the ones I missed I’ve never come across!
Great fun. 14 out of 22 was better than I expected
I got nineteen out of twenty-two. Not bad, considering I took a guess at a couple. Words don’t always mean what you think they do! I think this little exercise shows that fancy vocabulary should be used judiciously-and keep the dictionary handy.
19 out of 22 … not too shabby.
17 out of 22, not bad at all
I got 13, which may be low for a writer, but it’s probably better than the average adult. I write for children, so I wouldn’t use words like this anyway. It was a fun quiz.
14 out of 22 correct. I really thought that I was going to get only one or two wrong. I had to guess at some, but I thought I chose correctly by knowing the root words. It definitely was a lot of fun!
Only 19 correct – I’m slipping!
12 Some I knew, some I guessed at, but I had fun and learned!
18 correct. Very hard words. Guessed some.
15 out of 22. Fun quiz!
18-not bad for a chicken doctor
18/22! That was really fun. Got tripped up by “callipygian” xD
21 of 22. Loved the “faux” defs – often more fitting I think than the correct one, in today’s context. lol! Callipygian nearly got me – recognizing the root, but was 1st thinking calligraphy – so it would have suggested WRITING from the posterior, which I have seen examples of. Is there a word for THAT? lol!
19. I had fun. Thanks.
17 correct. That was fun! And just a bit crazy.
Twenty. But that doesn’t mean I can use those words, only that I can recognize them. On top of which, a number of Russian friends have shown me it’s sometimes more important to know how to use the word “the” than to have a vocabulary that mystifies most people.
14 correct–that’s more than I thought I’d get. Good fun!
19! “Dactyliography” is tricky, given the roots. Well, the word I mean, but I’m sure the thing itself is, as well.
Good way to learn odd words. Got 17!
MM, 19 is great! We’re so glad everyone is enjoying our quiz!
15 correct out of 22. Been a long time out of school, just took an educated guess.
18/22– what fun but frustrating. I’m pleasantly surprised I got some of the ones I did. Credit goes to Amelia Peabody for my knowledge of Schadenfreude.
Enjoyed that – thanks! 19/22
Posted on behalf of J.F.
I got 17 right on the vocabulary test. I hoped for 100% but 17 seems adequate.
15/22. Being that my English stinks, that’s quite a score. Now, Spanish has closer links with Latin and Greek so I recognized most of them. Fun and enlightening quiz. Nothing wrong with spicing the story, here and there, with some stimulant words. Just be awared that it is like decorating. If you are not going to do it right, better don’t do it.
15
Whenever our group of friends get together for game night, it usually includes Balderdash. May the best bluff win.
19 – DRAT! I hoped to do better. Anyway, it was fun.
18 correct. quite an interesting quiz. not sure if i am proud of this or , should i lament my life in books. oh well, thanks for the diversion.
19/22
Quite pleased with that, although I did guess a few. Worked out a lot of them just by looking at the roots.
18 out of 22. A few I should have deduced better, but not too shabby for my first task of the day.
I enjoyed that– and missed 5. So I scored 17/22, and I’m disappointed. Some I thought I knew, others totally foreign to me.
Faye, no need to be disappointed! They don’t call them obscure for nothing—17/22 is a great score. Thanks for participating!
16 right. I guessed quite a few of them. Vocabulary is not my thing. But, this was fun.
Fun! I got 18 out of the 22 correct, and that included some words I’d never heard of. Growing up with a mother who loved reading and “getting lost” in the dictionary, (so do I), I have a pretty good sense of words and their roots, so I was able to suss out most of the unfamiliar words.
I’m also 18 out of 22. Not too shabby, I guess!
14 out of 22. Pretty good seeing as I had only heard of 4 of them.
18 – wow that was a shock to do so well. Most were lucky guesses. Fun blog, thank you.
18/22 not bad considering…
18/22 … great fun, I did better than I expected
21 out of 22. Not bad. The one I missed was callipygian, which I should have gotten since I have one.
Missedtwo. Great way to get rid of arrogant expectations.
20 out of 22! I did better than I thought I might. This was fun, and the “wrong” choices were creative and amusing.
That was fun! Interesting words and definitions. Got 15 out of 22, thought I’d get a lot more incorrect! Thanks for the brain challenge.
21 of 22, before coffee! By the way we sorely need a word for “Christmas Eve for a walrus.” Or at least a poem of that name. Or a choreography?
Took it a second time to see if I’d learned and I got them all right but one: mysticism…It was mightily cystic.
14. Could have done better if went with first instinct. Oh well.
21. That evil egregious word!
14 …
19/22 for me. Many thanks for the new words…I feel a re-tweet coming on!
Finally got around to taking the quiz and the only one I missed was the butt answer. That’s because I am a leg man. Honestly,I was amazed that I got so many.
Total Points: 14 correct out of 22. I’m amazed I did that well.
17 of 22. Should have gone with gut instincts on a couple of them. Under 5 minutes w/out looking up any.
19. But I’m sleepy!
19/22; not too shabby, though a few were educated guesses (and the few I got wrong were woefully so)! What a fun quiz! Now to attempt using the new words in sentences…
That’s great, Madicienne!
21 of 22!! Woohoo!
I’m right in there with the 17 correct group. Not bad after having my head in research about digestion all day.
Perfect way to change gears at the end of the day. Thanks!