Words Too Easily Confused, Set Nine Quiz

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.