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    100 Words To Make You Sound Smart
    100 Words To Make You Sound Smart
    100 Words To Make You Sound Smart
    Ebook182 pages1 hour

    100 Words To Make You Sound Smart

    By American Heritage Dictionaries

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    About this ebook

    Find the right words to make a point, seal the deal, or just keep folks listening!

    Chosen by the editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries, these words can help anyone who wants to be a more compelling communicator—as a worker, consumer, advocate, friend, dinner companion, or even romantic prospect. The book includes a colorful variety of words, including handy words of just one syllable (such as glib) and words derived from the names of famous people (such as Freudian slip and Machiavellian).  There are expressions from popular culture (Catch-22) and words that date back to classical civilization (spartan and stoic).

    Each word is clearly defined and shown in context with quotations from magazines, newspapers, broadcast media, movies, and television. For many words, quotations from distinguished authors and speakers are also given and word histories are explained. 100 Words to Make You Sound Smart provides an enjoyable way to communicate more effectively, distinctively, and articulately.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateOct 4, 2006
    ISBN9780547350189
    100 Words To Make You Sound Smart

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      Book preview

      100 Words To Make You Sound Smart - American Heritage Dictionaries

      EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE

      American Heritage® Dictionaries

      MARGERY S. BERUBE, Vice President, Publisher of Dictionaries

      JOSEPH P. PICKETT, Vice President, Executive Editor

      STEVEN R. KLEINEDLER, Senior Editor

      SUSAN I. SPITZ, Senior Editor

      CATHERINE PRATT, Editor

      NICHOLAS A. DURLACHER, Associate Editor

      ERICH M. GROAT, Associate Editor

      UCHENNA C. IKONNÉ, Associate Editor

      ROBERT KNIPPEN, Associate Editor

      PATRICK TAYLOR, Associate Editor

      THE 100 WORDS® is a registered trademark of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

      Copyright © 2006 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this work maybe reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Address inquiries to Reference Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 125 High Street, Boston, MA 02110.

      Visit our websites: ahdictionary.com and hmhco.com

      ISBN-13: 978-0-544-91364-6

      THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE PRINT EDITION AS FOLLOWS:

      100 words to make you sound smart / from the editors of the American Heritage dictionaries.

      p. cm.—(100 words)

      ISBN-13: 978-0-618-71488-9

      ISBN 10: 0-618-71488-X

      1. Vocabulary. 2. English language—Etymology. I. Title: One hundred words to make you sound smart.

      PE 1449. A147 2006

      422--dc22

      2006018817

      Cover design by Christopher Moisan © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

      eISBN 978-0-547-35018-9

      v1.0317

      Preface

      Like its predecessors in our popular 100 Words series, 100 Words to Make You Sound Smart is a handy treasury of words that have been handpicked by the editors of the American Heritage® dictionaries. This highly informative and entertaining book, the sixth in the series, offers words that can imbue everyday conversation with exceptional precision and eloquence.

      The words in this book have been carefully chosen because each conveys a specific meaning in a way that enlivens everyday speaking and writing. Just as a single picture can often be an efficient substitute for many sentences of text, each of the 100 words, such as finagle, cloying, and epitome, is concisely and colorfully expressive. These words are not technical or obscure, nor are they pompous or intimidating. Rather, they are extraordinarily effective in ordinary situations.

      While many people are familiar with these words and will have encountered them in their reading, they may not know how to incorporate them into conversation. We have therefore chosen nearly 200 passages from magazines, books, newspapers, movies, TV shows, and speeches that show how the words have been used by contemporary and historical speakers and writers. These quotations are intended to illustrate clearly how the selected words can enhance communication in almost any setting—in the workplace, at home, or among friends.

      The richness and variety of English is reflected in this engaging selection that is also eminently useful. These words come from popular culture (Catch-22) and from classical antiquity (spartan, stoic). There are words named after famous people (Freudian slip, Machiavellian), words borrowed from other languages (carte blanche, kitsch), words that have multiple syllables (equivocate, quintessential), and words that have only one (glib, waft). Words with interesting histories are discussed further in detailed notes that describe how their meanings have developed over time.

      Language is nothing less than an essential conduit for our most intriguing ideas, cherished hopes, and powerful passions. We hope that these words will help readers to explain, to persuade, and even to enchant as they pursue the worthy endeavor of self-expression.

      —Susan Spitz,

      Senior Editor

      Guide to the Entries

      ENTRY WORDS The 100 words in this book are listed alphabetically. The pronunciation of the word follows the entry word (see page ix for a pronunciation key). At least one part of speech follows each entry word. All entry words are clearly defined. Some entries have more than one sense, or meaning. Multiple senses are numbered.

      QUOTATIONS Each definition is followed by quotations from speeches, books, films, articles, or other sources to show the word’s usage. In each case, the author or speaker, the title of the source, and its date are indicated. The order of the quotations corresponds to the order of senses presented. The quotations were chosen to encompass a wide spectrum of ideas and beliefs expressed by a diverse group of speakers and authors.

      ETYMOLOGIES (WORD HISTORIES) Most words have etymologies that appear in square brackets following the quotations. An etymology traces the history of a word as far back in time as can be determined with reasonable certainty. The stage most closely preceding Modern English is given first, with each earlier stage following in sequence. A language name, linguistic form (in italics), and brief definition of the form are given for each stage of the derivation. To avoid redundancy, a language or definition is not repeated if it is identical to the corresponding item in the immediately preceding stage. Occasionally, a form will be given that is not actually preserved in written documents but which scholars are confident did exist; such a form will be marked by an asterisk (*). The word from is used to indicate origin of any kind: by inheritance, borrowing, or derivation. When an etymology splits a compound word into parts, a colon introduces the parts and each element is then traced back to its origin, with those elements enclosed in parentheses.

      NOTES Some entries include notes that present additional interesting information regarding the history of the word, including the process by which it entered English from other languages. These notes discuss the historical, cultural, or literary origins of the word and ways that it is used in addition to the senses that have been presented. Some compound words have word history notes instead of explicit etymologies.

      Pronunciation Guide

      Pronunciations appear in parentheses after boldface entry words. If a word has more than one pronunciation, the first pronunciation is usually more common than the other, but often they are equally common. Pronunciations are shown after inflections and related words where necessary.

      Stress is the relative degree of emphasis that a word’s syllables are spoken with. An unmarked syllable has the weakest stress in the word. The strongest, or primary, stress is indicated with a bold mark (′). A lighter mark (′) indicates a secondary level of stress. The stress mark follows the syllable it applies to. Words of one syllable have no stress mark because there is no other stress level that the syllable can be compared to.

      The key on page ix shows the pronunciation symbols used in this book. To the right of the symbols are words that show how the symbols are pronounced. The letters whose sound corresponds to the symbols are shown in boldface.

      The symbol (ə) is called schwa. It represents a vowel with the weakest level of stress in a word. The schwa sound varies slightly according to the vowel it represents or the sounds around it:

      Pronunciation Key

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