Special Report

Can You Answer These Real Jeopardy! Questions About Words?

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If you are one of the 90% of Americans who are staying inside in an attempt to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be running out of ideas about how to stay occupied. There is, after all, a finite number of shows that can be streamed online. Luckily, virtual gatherings – just like virtual happy hours – are an option. And what better way to spend this time with friends than to test each other’s knowledge with fun trivia questions.

As one of the most beloved games in American television history, “Jeopardy!” offers an entertaining activity to pass the time. Three contestants will have to battle it out while answering clues from different categories, several of which are about words. The categories vary wildly — from basics like compound words to more odd ones like “Dr. Johnson’s alphabet.”

24/7 Tempo went through J! Archives — a site created by fans of the show that lists clues going back to 1984 — and found more than 11,000 clues about words. We narrowed them down to 30 that are more specifically about the meaning of words, synonyms, descriptions, popular expressions, and spelling.

Click here to see if you can answer these real Jeopardy! clues about words

Test your knowledge in another area — U.S. states: Here are 50 real “Jeopardy!” questions about each state.

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FROM RAGS TO RICHES $1200:

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amesy / Getty Images

Redact

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NEW WORDS IN THE MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARY $1200:

Gerardo_Alvarez / Getty Images

Glamping

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NEW WORDS IN THE MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARY $2000:

sammcool / Getty Images

A dachshund

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TRENDING AT MERRIAM-WEBSTER $1200:

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Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Hirsute

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FROM THE “PEN” OF WEBSTER’S THIRD $800:

“Prudent only in small matters”

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Pennywise

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BIG WORDS $1200:

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Eliot J. Schechter / Getty Images

Humongous

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FRENCH WORDS IN ENGLISH $600:

CoffeeAndMilk / Getty Images

A brunette

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WORDS IN PLAIN SIGHT $1000:

A long, narrow strip of wood used as support for a bed

miodragtrajkovic / Getty Images

A slat

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4-LETTER WORDS ENDING IN “O” $600:

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PATCHARIN SIMALHEK / Getty Images

A memo

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WORDS FROM MYTHOLOGY $1000:

Courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd.

Nemesis

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WORDS START WITH “U” $800:

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ronstik / Getty Images

Unboxing

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NATIONAL SPELLING BEE WINNING WORDS $2000:

Bill Oxford / Getty Images

Dulcimer

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NONSENSE WORDS $400:

Courtesy of KVH Media Group

Bazinga!

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16-LETTER WORDS $2000:

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DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images

Northeasternmost

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REVERSIBLE COMPOUND WORDS $1200:

anyaberkut / Getty Images

Layover and overlay

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ONOMATOPOETIC WORDS $1600:

The back of the neck

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Naked King / Getty Images

Nape

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JUST YOUR AVERAGE CATEGORY $1200:

Tero Vesalainen / Getty Images

Mediocre

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SINGLE-CONSONANT WORDS $2000:

Mixmike / Getty Images

Adieu

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HIGH-SCORING SCRABBLE WORDS $400:

Wiltser / Getty Images

Equinox

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FOREIGN WORDS & PHRASES $1200:

fizkes / Getty Images

An au pair

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ANAGRAMS OF EACH OTHER $800:

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trait2lumiere / Getty Images

Treason and senator

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NUMERIC WORDS & PHRASES $1200:x

Scott Wintrow / Getty Images

A three-ring-circus

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ADD A LETTER $1600:

101dalmatians / Getty Images

Fiend and friend

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ABORIGINAL WORDS $400:

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baytunc / Getty Images

Boomerang

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NEWER WORDS $1600:

Fokusiert / Getty Images

Youthquake

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ANIMAL WORDS & PHRASES $1200:

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VladimirFLoyd / Getty Images

A duckface

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MALE & FEMALE WORDS $400:

Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Iron

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WORDS ABOUT WORDS $600:

This 5-letter verb meaning “to express feeling”, maybe on stage, is an example of a back-formation

bowdenimages / Getty Images

Emote

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MEDICAL WORDS & PHRASES $800:

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Teka77 / Getty Images

Tetanus

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BORROWED WORDS $1200:

Neustockimages / Getty Images

A bodega

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AUTHORS USE NEW WORDS $600:

nortonrsx / Getty Images

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