Jeopardy! phenom James Holzhauer parlayed his smarts and gambling skills to be correct 97 percent of the time he answered a question. Wonder how you would rate? We curated a pop quiz of word questions to see how you stack up. We even included one that stumped the champ...
Can You Answer These Real Jeopardy! Questions About Words?
Updated on Dec. 16, 2022
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Word play for $500: A letter added to a kidnap victim’s salvation produces this window above a door
Back in 1985 on Season #1 of Jeopardy! Bruce Rhodewalt, a musician from Los Angeles, California, gave the correct response to the hint: “What is transom?” At the time, the highest amount a contestant could win in the first round was $500 compared to $1,000 today.
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4-Syllable Words for $100: From the Latin for “follow,” it’s a campaign to subjugate a people because of their religion or race
A triple stumper! Not one of the three contestants in 2015 knew the correct question: “What is persecution?” Check out these Latin words that will make you sound smarter.
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Tree Words for $500: You wood wood like like this 1966 Neil Diamond hit if you heard it
Doug Lach, a product development manager from Columbus, Ohio (whose four-day cash winnings total $73,400) gave the right response in the Double Jeopardy! round in 2000: “What is ‘Cherry Cherry’?”
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Words of the 2000s: In 2008 Time Magazine described this new practice as “one part social networking and one part capital accumulation”
The correct answer for this Final Jeopardy! clue was: “What is crowdsourcing?” Pete Vanderhyden wrote “online banking” and lost it all. Carol Hansen believed it began with cyber and came in second and James Holzhauer bet $35,000 and won the game with $82,381. Jeopardy’s host is an American icon.
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Word Origins: An Italian word meaning cool and fresh gave us the name of this art of painting on plaster
Back on Season 7 in 1996, Molly Redfield, a PhD candidate from Claremont, California, had the correct response: “What is fresco?” Take note of these words with offensive origins that you need to stop saying.
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F-Words: Some guitarists “worry” about these ridges on their fingerboards
Tricia Schroyer, a housewife and freelance seamstress from Pensacola, Florida gave the correct question on Season 14 in 1983: “What is frets?” If you have gotten 100 percent of these questions correct, you should check out the Jeopardy! categories that stump everyone.
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Visual Vocabulary: A Latin word for a sea creature, in photography, it’s a color that conveys nostalgia
All of the contestants knew that the correct question in the Final Jeopardy! round in 2017 was” What is sepia? The Etymology Dictionary says “sepia” means “rich brown pigment,” and that it was originally adopted into the English language from the Italian word “seppia” for “cuttlefish,” which came from the Latin and Greek “sepia,” meaning the same thing. Somewhere along the line, the term was applied to the color of brown paint or ink prepared from the cuttlefish’s fluid secretions.
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Word Origins: This 8-letter word for a reaction against a trend comes from an engineering term for a jolt caused by a gap in machine parts
None of the three contestants knew the correct question for the Final Jeopardy! clue: “What is backlash?” Can you figure out the Final Jeopardy! questions that everyone got wrong?
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Oxymorons: Abbreviated VR, it was coined by computer scientist and musician Jaron Lanier
The correct question for this clue in the Double Jeopardy! round in 1998 is: “What is virtual reality?” Does your noggin get a bit fatigued playing word games? Check out these brain games guaranteed to boost your brain power.
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Wutz Mispelled: I have an abhorrence of the appearence of misspelled words; let’s have no recurrence
Jeff Henderson, a retail manager from Calgary, Alberta, Canada quickly answered: “What is recurrence?” However, he was incorrect. Laura Hertzfeld, a journalist from Venice, California got the correct response: “What is appearence?” James Holzhauer didn’t buzz in, just saying!
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16-Letter Words: Look at a map of the contiguous U.S. and you’ll see that this 16-letter superlative adjective applies to Maine
This clue was one of the infamous $2,000 questions that James Holzhauer answered with the correct response: “What is northeasternmost?” Holzhauer went on to win one of the series Tournament of Champions competitions. Besides Holzhauer, these are the contestants who won the most money.
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Words from Mythology: This term for a cure-all bears the name of a daughter of Asclepius
Liz Levin, an attorney from Los Angeles, California selected this Daily Double on a game against Holzhauer whose big game wins relied on Daily Doubles. Though she stole the opportunity from Holzhauer, when Alex Trebek encouraged her to say something, she responded, “Uh…” The correct question was: “What is panacea?”
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Geographic Terms: A rugged mountain pass is a gap, and an especially rugged gap is a notch, like this one just east of Burlington
This clue was one of the questions that James Holzhauer answered incorrectly. His response was: “What is Dixville Notch?” The correct question is: “What is Smuggler’s Notch?” For the record, it was a triple stumper. These are 30 more geography questions everyone gets wrong.
