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This book has been optimized for viewing at a monitor setting of 1024 x 768 pixels. WORD SMART BUILDING AN EDUCATED VOCABULARY WORD SMART BUILDING AN EDUCATED VOCABULARY Random House, Inc. New York www.PrincetonReview.com The Independent Education Consultants Association recognizes The Princeton Review as a valuable resource for high school and college stu dents applying to college and graduate school. The Princeton Review, Inc. 2315 Broadway New York, NY 10024 E-mail: [email protected] Copyright © 2006 by The Princeton Review, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copy right Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. 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 2 WORD SMART

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Publisher: Princeton Review.Date : 2006.Pages : 392.The words people use say a lot about them. Some words say that they are smart, persuasive, and informed. Others say that they don't know what they're talking about. Knowing which words to use and how to use them are keys to getting the most from on