I want to expand my vocabulary. There are many words that I don't know the meaning to. Any suggestions...?

Question

When I write or even speak to people I don't tend to use big words because I don't know many big words. I want to expand my vocabulary so I am able to speak intelligently. Any vocab words that are good to use? Any websites that can help? Or even books? Thanks.

Answer 1

You are to be commended for wanting to expand your horizons! You could try just turning a page in a dictionary every day and choosing a word. You learn how to spell it, what it means, and how to use it. Then you do just that. You use it during your day. It's been said that if you use a word three times it's yours, so use your new word as often as is feasible. ( just don't make a nuisance out of yourself! ) Or play those computer games here on Yahoo that involve words, such as Bookworm or the like, and when you come upon a word you don't understand or don't know, jot it down and save it to look up later. And LOOK IT UP LATER! Once you begin to look for words to add to your normal speech, you will see how much fun it becomes to use a vocabulary that is well-rounded. Happy word hunting! :)

Answer 2

Read a lot. :) And try to read more non-fiction. Most of our society doesn't read much, and what they do read is fiction. Find a subject that interests you, read about it, and then slowly expand. Your vocabulary will grow as your knowledge does. Or just buy a book of words often used on the SAT or something. :) And if you really just want to learn a word a day, or something, get a dictionary. haha. It's not like it's science. :)

Answer 3

Yahoo has The Word of The Day on their homepage. I suggest to write the word and the meaning on a letter size paper and hang it in an area that you walk by often. During the day, read it aloud every time you see it. This will help you remember and get used to saying the word. Also, if anyone uses a word you don't know, make a note of it, write it down and do the same thing with it when you get home.

Answer 4

My advice would be to by the GRE Preparation Book by the Princeton Review and begin working on the vocabulary words in the back of the book. These will help you expand your vocabulary in ways you have never thought of.

Another way is to simply read. Choose some authors you might like and start reading away...

Answer 5

Reader's Digest has 10 in each issue and a little quiz. If you learn the affixes- prefixes and suffixes, it will help you a great deal in remembering the meaning of many words. Try reading the SAT vocabulary books (they are novels that include SAT vocabulary words and can be found in the testing section at Barnes and Noble.)

Answer 6

Try the book "Word Power Made Easy." It builds your vocabulary gradually and before you know it, you'll know some big words that other people have to look up in the dictionary.

Answer 7

When you read a book, have a dictionary to hand and look up any words you're not sure of. Also, invest in Roget's Thesaurus. This will give you alternative words to use in place of a simpler or shorter one.

Answer 8

dictionary.com offers a word of the day newsletter. Though the words are usually a bit to obscure to use in normal conversation, some of them are fun to know.

Answer 9

I suggest you to pick out an article you like to read from the newspaper and read atleast one article per day or every two days. As you read, look up all the words you dont know and read and reread the article until you fully understood everything. Hope this help!

Answer 10

I used to get dictionary.com's daily word.

You need to keep something in mind, though - just because you know big words doesn't mean your audience will understand. Sometimes when people try to sound intelligent, they just wind up sounding silly. You always need to keep your audience in mind when writing and speaking.