Writing Vocabulary Builder-upper (Drop in and add your favorite words)

Yes, everyone knows that a thesaurus is - a dinosaur with a vocabulary that's very very...not small. They're horrible creatures that too often break the writing rule that if you have to look up a word, you shouldn't be using it.

It's fairly well established that each of us uses only a tiny fraction of the words in our vocabulary. One estimate is that even the wordiest among us recognize about only one-sixth of the English language and use only one-sixth of that.

While fans of the Hemingway style of writing enjoy literature that makes use of short words and sentences, many prefer writing with more flow and nuance.

This isn't to suggest that more adjectives are better, or that bigger words are better. I'd wager every one of us can recall reading a story where it seems obvious that the author was guilty of using the thesaurus without a clue about when to stop.

The goal, then, should be to turn words we recognize but rarely, if ever, use into words that become an occasional part of our active vocabulary and are used to make writing richer and more colorful.

So for all you smarties that have a favorite word or two (or ten), now is your time to share with the rest of the class.

The rule here is to post only words you know and have occasionally used (correctly, I hope ). No dictionaries allowed!

Along with the word, please include a short definition and use the word in a sentence. Preferably a Star Warsy sentence.

 

I'll bite:

Anakin possessed a propensity to pontificate about the peculiarities of his plebian childhood.

propensity: a habit or tendency, but with greater regularity
pontificate: to wax philosophical or speak at length
plebian: common (as in social status)


EDIT: Can't spell.

 

Finally feeling frustrated Anakin stopped in his assiduous quest for the information that he had been sent to find and grabbing the files that he felt would be advantageous marched out of the archives, stopping only for a few minutes to pick up a stack of references on the autonomous anarchist planets in the Outer Rim that were beyond the Republic?s grasp that he had set aside earlier to use later for his latest Galactic Politics paper, and made his way to the apartment that he shared with his master.

assiduous: diligent, persistent
advantageous: useful
autonomous: separate, independent
anarchist: ine in favor of overthrow of government


?Well I only thought that if we augment our knowledge then our mission looks more auspicious.?

augment: to expand
auspicious: having favorable prospecs


He finally came to the concluion that trying to understand the crass credo of his native people was a conundrum that was begining to prove corrosive to his sanity.

Crass: crude
Credo: system of beliefs
Conundrum: riddle, puzzle, or problem with no solution
Corrosive: gradually distructive
Corrosive:

 

The cacophony of panicked screams filled the Coruscanti skies.

cacophony: harsh discordance of sound


The arguments of the two Bothans behind him, the soft words that only lovers can make from the couple in the next booth over, raucous laughter at the bar and in one corner, someone enjoying Dex's soup a little too energetically - all these things gathered into a white sound that would have been jarring to most beings but Qui-Gon found it soothing.

raucous - harsh, grating


But it was not a pure black, that stench-clogged miasma of smoke and sudden death.

miasma - horrible gaseous materials polluting the air or else dangerous atmosphere.

Xan's caustic wit had gotten him into trouble before but this was beyond any childish prank.

caustic - biting, or corrosive; also a chemical term of materials with pH higher than 7 (will cause burns on the skin and clothing)

 

The utter destruction of the Jedi was Palpatine's goal, and he planned to use whatever nefarious means were available.

Pronunciation: ni-fair-ee-uhs; Definition: adjective; extremely wicked or villainous; iniquitous: a nefarious plot.
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[Origin: 1595?1605; wicked, vile, equivalent to offense against divine or moral law.

 

Ooooh, nice thread. I just love words, the bigger the better.
Studying in Germany will give you a vocabulary like that too. The first time I went abroad, I was talking like a book - a scientific one, too.
It's interesting to see, that most face words are not 'English' oneseither but stem from about any other language. I'm no exception.

Thrawn, an afficionado of art, was determined to wipe out the Repulic with a most sophisticated plan.

afficionado: somebody who depply loves something, cares, an addict

determined: to be set on doing something (I think it's well know, but I just love it , think Mr Darcy...)

sophisticated: elaborate (haha), comlpicated, difficult, learned


And also thrawn: twisted, in a negative way

Ia ctually looked up 'nefarious' because I came over it once too often.
And I always thought 'to augment' meant 'to complement'

 

I love this thread already

Palpatine wagged an admonitory finger. "Don't disturb me again, apprentice."

Vader paused infinitesimally before replying "Yes, Master."

The Emperor, now having returned to perusing that month's issue of Playbeing, entirely failed to notice.

*

admonitory [ad-MON-it'ry], adj: to do with telling off. From the verb admonish, to tell off or rebuke. Has a rather archaic/Biblical ring to it. The Old Testament prophets go round admonishing people.

infinitesimal [in-fin-i-TESS-i-mul], adj: [almost] infinitely small

peruse [puh-ROOZE], v: to read attentively.

edit: pronunciation guidelines

 

While fans of the Hemingway style of writing enjoy literature that makes use of short words and sentences,

You bet your ass we do.


One of my all-time favorites:

Rather than waste time fighting the hooligan, Anakin merely stepped aside as the man charged him and crashed through the window to defenestrate himself.

defenestrate: v. to throw out a window. From the Latin de + fenestra (window).

 

My hiney is not a subject for wagering.




avarice: an overwhelming greed or desire to hoard wealth


prevarication: a deliberately misleading statement; a lie



To satisfy his avarice, Watto was often given to prevarication in his dealings.

 

The technical term for throwing oneself out of a window (defenestrating oneself) is actually autodefenestration. From Latin auto, by itself (like autobiography, a biography written by its subject) + de + fenestra.

So you could even have Rather than waste time fighting the hooligan, Anakin merely stepped aside as the man charged him and crashed through the window to autodefenestrate.

Damn, I've got to use that in a fic now . . .

 

Oops. See, normally I use defenstrate as it applies to my computer, so to apply it in a way that involved people was a challenge. Here's an improvement:

After Threepio's seventeenth lecture that day on the importance of impeccable grooming and social skills and the odds of a smuggler achieving such high goals, Han was ready to defenestrate the droid.

ululate: v. to wildly and loudly call out, shriek, yell. The best way to describe this noise is to take the first two syllables and repeat them over and over again. From Latin ululo (v).

Obi-Wan though the woman was simply giving him flowers as a form of greeting, but when the temple priestesses began a chorus of ululations, he was struck with a very bad feeling.

 

Oooh!!! Words!!!! I love 'em!!!!!

Only... I thought we weren't supposed to make use of dictionaries?

Anyway, here is one for lovers of the Force:

Obi-Wan again let the silence draw out, but there was a quality to that silence that made Anakin forget his posturing and look up to see an odd kind of empyreal shimmer around the Jedi.

Empyreal. Pertaining to the highest celestial levels; pure light.

Edits: I can't spell my own word!

 

Oh you can make use of one to make sure your definition is 100% correct or to double check your spelling.

What I meant by "no dictionaries" was that you aren't supposed to just thumb through a dictionary and post all the big words. If you're gonna post a word here, it has to be one you already know.

 

Sopoforic: Causing drowsiness or sleep.

Specious: "pleasing in appearance, but lacking quality or merit"


Padme couldn't decide whether the worst part of being a senator was having to listen to countless soporific speeches, or having to provide courteous applause to the specious logic merely because the holocams were on.

 

Taciturn: reserved in speech
Tenel Ka remained her usual taciturn self as the other Jedi Knight all began speaking excitedly.
Verbose: a lot of words when just a few would do.
Em-TeeDee could always be counted on to deliver a verbose translation to Lowbacca's replies.
Nonchalantly: cool, calm, collected, composed.
Jacen eyed the ensuing chaos nonchalantly, then lept into action upon reaching a plan of action.

 

wonky: adj. Screwed up, messed up, not working properly.

Leia was hardly surprised when Han complained that the Falcon's hyperdrive was yet again wonky.

accoutrement: n. Ornamentation, accessories, usually in reference to clothing/equipment/dress. (NB: this is a British spelling)

gargantuan: adj. Huge! Brachiosaurus-sized.

Padmé gritted her teeth - the gargantuan headdress was the most painful accoutrement of her elaborate outfit.

 

sophistry: thinking or reasoning that is superficial and lacking any real depth of understanding often a credible sounding argument intended to deceive



Palpatine relished his opportunity to proclaim the superiority of the dark side, but Yoda was unmoved by the sophistry of his arguments.

 

Affect: To influence or change.


Effect: Result, something brought about by a cause or agent.


The effect of Anakin's slash was a gash wide enough to affect the flow of air escaping from the now doomed pod.

 

ostentatious: adj. Very showy and flashy

Mara's worst nightmare was being seen wearing one of Lando's ostentatious capes.

cajole: v. to flatter, praise

Mara begged and cajoled, but still Jabba wouldn't let her on the sail barge to watch Luke die.

inveigle: v. to lure through deceit or flattery

obfuscate: v. Hide, darken; confuse, muddle.

"Mulder, not everything is a labyrinth of dark conspiracy, and not everybody is plotting to deceive, inveigle and obfuscate."

(Okay, it's not Star Wars, but I couldn't help myself. It's one of my favorite quotes. )

 

tutelary: protecting or guardianship of something; adjective

opprobrium: disgrace; contempt; noun

It was the great wish of the Jedi Bendu that every Force-sensitive borne under the stars should live and die a tutelary being, bound to the service of the Republic. It was a cause of ever-lasting opprobrium to them that their brethren, the Sith Ashla opposed this.

 

Katabasis: A mythological journey to the underworld


Sentence:
Han wondered how much being in carbonite was like one of those stories about katabasis Chewie sometimes tried to tell him when they were both drunk.

 

Lugubrious: mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree

The most enormous massif Anakin had ever seen lumbered up to the gate, and stood there looking at him with huge, lugubrious black eyes.

 

schadenfreude = gloating delight

He felt a dark stab of schadenfreude at Vader's suffering.

According to my English teacher, this word has been borrowed from German quite recently. However, I can't find it in the dictionary, and Word doesn't know it either.

Can I trust my English teacher?

 

Yes! It is in fact a word. In fact, it's a whole song from the Broadway show Avenue Q (which I highly recommend if your sense of humor is anything like mine).

In the words of Gary Coleman (you'll get that if you see the show ):

It's German for "happiness at the misfortune of others!"

edit: Just checked dictionary.com, and it's in there.

 

It's always funny to see German words in English, like doppelgänger, fingerspitzengefühl and zeitgeist...