Word Smart: Building an Educated Vocabulary

392 Pages·2016·2.83 MB·English

by  Pareles Marissa.

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WORD

SMART

BUILDING AN
EDUCATED VOCABULARY

WORD

SMART

BUILDING AN
EDUCATED VOCABULARY
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eISBN: 978-0-375-72334-6
Editor: Marissa Pareles
Production Editor: Katie O’Neill
Production Coordinator: Ryan Tozzi
www.PrincetonReview.com
v1.0
CONTENTS

Introduction ......................................................................................1

Chapter 1: Learning New Words ................................................7

Chapter 2: The Words ............................................................... 39

Chapter 3: The Final Exam.......................................................255

Chapter 4: The SAT Hit Parade .............................................. 287

Chapter 5: The GRE Hit Parade............................................... 297

Chapter 6: Word Roots You Should Know ............................. 305

Chapter 7: Common Usage Errors ......................................... 331

Chapter 8: Abbreviations.........................................................339

Chapter 9: The Arts................................................................... 343

Chapter 10: Computers and Technology ................................. 347

Chapter 11: Finance....................................................................353

Chapter 12: Foreign Words and Phrases ................................ 359

Chapter 13: Science ...................................................................365

Chapter 14: The Answers .......................................................... 371

About the Author ..................................................................................383

INTRODUCTION

Y V H B T A Y B
OUR OCABULARY AS EEN ALKING BOUT OU EHIND
Y B
OUR ACK
The words you use say a lot about you. Some words say that
you are smart, persuasive, and informed. Others say that
you don’t know what you are talking about. Knowing which
words to use and understanding how to use them are keys
to getting the most out of your mind.
People often say in frustration, “I know what I mean, but
I don’t know how to say it.” If the right words aren’t there,
the right ideas can’t get through.
Your vocabulary is the foundation of your ability to share
your thoughts with other people. When you im prove your
vocabulary, you improve your abil i ty to bring your intelli­
gence to bear on the world around you.
B I ’ N B
IGGER SN T ECESSARILY ETTER
When people say that someone has a “good vocabulary,” they
usually mean that he or she uses a lot of important-sound ing
words—words like jac ti ta tion, demulcent, and saxicolous. But
a vocabulary con sist ing of words like these isn’t nec es sar i ly
a “good” vocabulary.
Why?
Because almost no one knows what jactitation, demulcent,
and saxi colous mean. If you used these words in conversa­
tion, the chances are that no one listening to you would
know what you were talking about. Big, difficult words have
im por tant uses, but improving a vo cab u lary involves much
more than merely decorating your speech or your writing
with a few polysyllabic zingers.
The goal of communication is clarity. We write and speak
in order to make ourselves understood. A good vocabulary
is one that makes com mu ni ca tion easy and efficient. One
mark of an effective speaker or writer is his or her ability to
express complex ideas with rel a tive ly simple words.
Most discourse among educated people is built on words
that are fairly ordinary—words you’ve heard before, even if
1
INTRODUCTION
you aren’t exactly certain what they mean. The best way to
improve your vocabulary isn’t to comb the dict io nary for a
handful of tongue-twisters to throw at unsuspecting strang­
ers. Instead, you need to hone your understanding of words
that turn up again and again in intelligent communication.
A person who had a clear un der stand ing of every word in
an issue of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, or
Harper’s would have a powerful vo cab u lary—a vo cab u lary
so phis tic at ed enough to im press almost any teach er, ad mis ­
sions officer, colleague, or em ploy er.
A E V
N DUCATED OCABULARY
An educated vocabulary is one that enables you to convey
ideas easily. Do you know what inveterate means? Do you
know the difference between flaunt and flout? Do you know
why an artist might be insulted if you called his or her work
artful?
None of these words is particularly difficult. But each has
its own mean ing or meanings. If you misuse these words,
you communicate that you are in over your head. Using them
cor rect ly can identify you as a member of that most elite of
elites: people who know what they’re talking about.
W ’ P ?
HAT S THE ROBLEM
When people get into trouble with words, it usually isn’t
because they don’t know the meaning of a seldom-used word
like ter ma gant but because they are confused about the mean­
ing of a much more common word—a word they hear, read,
and even use with reg u lar i ty.
Peruse, for example. Many people think that it means
“skim” or “glance over.” But it doesn’t. In fact, it means
very nearly the op po site. To peruse a document is to read it
carefully. Misuse of this useful word is one of the most com­
mon vocabulary errors we encounter in our SAT-prep a ra tion
students.
The number of words you know is less important than
the care you have taken in learning the ones you really use.
Speaking or writing well doesn’t require an enormous vo­
cab u lary—but it does require a confident one. And the way
to gain confidence in your voc ab u lary is to buckle down
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WORD SMART