Grammar's Misfits [Logo]
Each horizontal and numbered list of words contains one "maverick," one that just refuses to conform, that won't fit into the little society of synonyms and near-synonyms. Click on the misfit in each list (going down the page from 1 to 20) and it will appear in the text-area at the bottom of the page. When you are finished, compare the list you have prepared to the list of nonconformists in "Grammar's Misfits." The words are numbered to help you find the horizontal list where you made a mistake.

 
1 apathy indifference ennui pulchritude
2 ignominious overt explicit patent
3 perfunctory aloof haughty remote
4 contentious argumentative solicitous litigious
5 supercilious idyllic charming rustic
6 decorous militaristic correct orderly
7 conspicuous showy laudatory ostentatious
8 philanthropic parsimonious frugal stingy
9 excitable evanascent ephemeral transient
10 vacuous vapid inane giddy
11 exonerate exculpate castigate excuse
12 banal piquant pungent stimulating
13 turpitude depravity intransigence corruption
14 feckless exorbitant incompetent unqualified
15 recondite ingenuous naive simple
16 probity integrity honesty verisimilitude
17 odious sacrosanct nefarious hateful
18 inevitable ineluctable impervious predictable
19 invective nonconformity aberration deviation
20 virulent poisonous hostile jingoistic

    



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