The noun skill is a general term for the ability, rooted in one’s knowledge or practice, to do something well. The noun dexterity is more specific: it refers to one’s skill or adroitness in using the hands or body. A person who displays great dexterity is highly coordinated and able to perform a challenging physical activity with precision and ease. Dexterity is also used to refer to cleverness or agility of the mind.

To shun something is to take pains to avoid it. To eschew something is to abstain from it or keep away from it. They are very close in meaning, but eschew is more often used to talk about the avoidance of a course of action that is perceived as unwise or detrimental to a specific outcome. The verb shun is more likely to be used to convey aversion or loathing.

The informal noun druthers means “one’s own way, choice, or preference,” and it is overwhelmingly used in the conditional, like this: “If I had my druthers, I’d read Synonym of the Day all day long! But alas, I must get back to work.” Fun fact: druthers is the plural of druther, which is an alteration of the phrase would rather.

Obscure is used to describe things not widely known or understood, such as an obscure literary reference (a reference that does not land well because nobody gets it). Arcane is used to describe things that are known by very few, perhaps intentionally, such as secret or guarded knowledge. You might hear arcane used to describe knowledge of the metaphysical or occult, or to describe rules or information that is so highly technical, most people don’t bother to learn it.

If you have clout, you have strong influence or sway over something. This noun has a long history of being used to describe political influence—and indeed, clout is still most frequently found in discussion of people or entities that are able to drive outcomes in governmental matters. But clout is also used to discuss economic power. You may even find clout used to refer to the influence of a person on social media with oodles of attentive followers.

When it comes to meanings of words, there’s denotation, which is a word’s explicit or direct meaning, and there’s connotation, a word’s associated or implicit meaning. For example, the word frugal on its surface means (denotes) efficient money management (nothing wrong with that!). The connotation of this word, however, might be stinginess or even avariciousness. As any synonym seeker knows, the connotation of a word varies greatly depending on context!

As you might guess from the look of it, judicious is all about sound judgment—but not necessarily in the courtroom. This adjective means “having, exercising, or characterized by good or discriminating judgment.” Someone who is judicious is sensible, levelheaded, and well advised in their decisions and actions. The adjective judicial (so close in spelling and very easy to confuse) is the better choice for describing matters pertaining to judgment in courts of justice.