Language specialists confirm that people with a good education, those who read more, and those who like to explore new things have a bigger and richer vocabulary. You might think this automatically means that using big words makes you intelligent. Well no, that’s not how it works. It often happens that people use big words to sound smart without even understanding what that word means. Needless to say, the effect is quite often the opposite.
But besides knowing the meaning of words, you should also be aware of the appropriate situations to use them in. For one, even though the more common and the fancy word might have the same general meaning, a small nuance often makes them inapplicable in certain situations. On top of that, using high vocabulary words that belong in a textbook or a novel when you order a coffee or explain to a friend why you liked the movie you watched last night, sounds ridiculous, to say the least. Similarly, special words that are only understandable to people of a certain profession shouldn’t be forced into a conversation if you are not talking to your colleagues. They don’t make you sound smarter; they make you sound incomprehensible.
That said, it absolutely does not mean that you should always stick to basic vocabulary. There are hundreds of beautiful words in English, same as in any other language, that can expand your vocabulary and make you an interesting and pleasant counterpart. Remember that the actual goal of every conversation is to find the perfect words to describe your thoughts and feelings, not to dazzle the person you are talking to with some long and arguably unnecessary words.
Below you will find a lot of interesting words with their definitions to help you expand your English vocabulary. How many of them did you already know? Make sure you use them responsibly and also tell us in the comments if there are any fancy words you especially enjoy.
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Effervescent
Meaning: having the property of forming bubbles.
Used in Schweppes ads as schweppervescent which for some reason annoys me more than it should
Aeonian
Meaning: lasting for an immeasurably or indefinitely long period of time.
Now I miss buying my readers digest. But it only came out once a month and took 30 to 40 minutes to read, except my special pages that were the funnies and word challenge. Oh, it's really been a while.
Flabbergast
Meaning: to overwhelm with shock, surprise, or wonder.
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobic
Meaning: someone with a fear of long words.
"Doc, I think I have a fear of long words" "Yep, well, I think you might be Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobic" "aaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhhhhh!!!!"
Floccinaucinihilipilification
Meaning: the act or habit of assessing something as worthless.
I generally try and avoid words that require an additional breath to complete!
Magnanimous
Meaning: showing or suggesting a lofty, courageous, noble spirit.
Erudite
Meaning: having or showing knowledge that is gained by studying.
Might derive from old Albanian: ERA- wind, like dhe wind and DITA- meaning rhe Daylight.
Myriad
Meaning: a great number / countless.
Repertoire
Meaning: a person’s list of talents and skills; a list or supply of dramas, operas, pieces, or parts that a company or person is prepared to perform.
Transcendent
Meaning: extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience, being beyond comprehension.
Ebullience
Meaning: the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts or feelings.
Brobdingnagian
Meaning: marked by tremendous size.
From Gulliver's travels. Brobdingnag was the island of giants. Opposite is Liliputian, tiny in stature, after the most famous of the islands, Liliput.
Obsequious
Meaning: subservient (useful in an inferior capacity); marked by a fawning attentiveness.
Statuesque
Meaning: resembling a statue especially in dignity, shapeliness, or stillness.
Pulchritudinous
Meaning: physically beautiful.
Rococo
Meaning: an artistic style especially of the 18th century characterized by fanciful curved asymmetrical forms and elaborate ornamentation.
Doesn't everybody learn about this at school? Renaissance, Mänierism, Baroque, Rococo we had to write so many tests about these 🤠
Mellifluous
Meaning: having a smooth rich flow; filled with something (such as honey) that sweetens.
Often used metaphorically to describe a sweet sound - "he had a mellifluous speaking voice"
Diminutive
Meaning: a word or name usually indicating small size.
Circumlocution
Meaning: the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea.
Or how to write a 2000 word essay when you only need 500 words to get all the information conveyed.
Incisive
Meaning: impressively direct and decisive (as in manner or presentation).
Latent
Meaning: present and capable of emerging or developing but not now visible, obvious or active. In other words - there, but not there.
Immaculate
Meaning: having or containing no flaw or error.
A large number of Catholic churches are named Our Lady of the Immaculate Heart
Aesthetic
Meaning: pleasing in appearance, attractive.
Junoesque
Meaning: marked by stately beauty.
Phenomenal
Meaning: highly extraordinary, exceptional, remarkable.
Malaise
Meaning: physical discomfort or a general feeling of being under the weather.
Quiddity
Meaning: whatever makes something the type that it is; the essence.
From the Latin quid, meaning "this". Literally the thisness of a thing.
Usufruct
Meaning: the legal right of using and enjoying the fruits or profits of something belonging to another.
Well, I DO want to thank you all at Bored Panda for giving us all respite here against being overwhelmed by the news media even if we are pouting and/or ranting. It's really nice to laugh at this thread. We are all "Usufructing" from you now, We really do appreciate it all.
Confluence
Meaning: used when discussing a meeting of minds, a group of ideas, or a coming together of diverse people for a gathering.
Or generally any point where things come together; a confluence of rivers.
Granular
Meaning: finely detailed. Can also help describe a meticulous level of detail in your own work, thinking, or planning.
Literally, made up of grains. In medicine, part of the healing process when the wound begins to stitch itself back together.
Sesquipedalian
Meaning: loving of long words.
I love how this word is significantly shorter than the word for "fear of long words".
Boondoggle
Meaning: work that you do just so that you look busy, but it isn't actually useful.
Deferential
Meaning: showing or expressing respect and high regard due a superior or an elder.
Taciturn
Meaning: temperamentally disinclined (unwilling because of mild dislike or disapproval) to talk.
Ingenious
Meaning: having or showing an unusual aptitude for discovering, inventing, or contriving.
Canonize
Meaning: to treat as illustrious, preeminent, or sacred.
Endearment
Meaning: a word or an act (such as a caress) expressing affection.
Halcyon
Meaning: characterized by happiness, great success, and prosperity.
Most commonly encountered in the phrase "halcyon days", meaning a lost golden age.
Coruscate
Meaning: to be brilliant or showy in technique or style.
Acumen
Meaning: keenness and depth of perception, discernment, or discrimination especially in practical matters.
Gasconade
Meaning: to brag or boast.
Basic conversation should avoid a cacophony of gratuitous words so that speakers may have equitable rapport.
Parlance
Meaning: formal debate or parley.
Also just a synonym of speech. That's how it's used in common parlance.
Despondent
Meaning: feeling or showing extreme discouragement, dejection (lowness of spirits), or depression.
Lucid
Meaning: comes from the Latin adjective lucidus (shining), a more fancy word to define a person for his intelligent thinking, capability of being understood or comprehended.
Clarity, especially in thought: "despite encroaching Alzheimer's, she had lucid periods"
Elucidate
Meaning: to explain very clearly.
Astute
Meaning: having or showing shrewdness and an ability to notice and understand things clearly, mentally sharp.
Reverence
Meaning: honor or respect felt or shown, especially profound adoring awed respect.
Infatuated
Meaning: filled with or marked by a foolish or extravagant love or admiration.
Besottedness
Meaning: blindly or utterly infatuated.
Besotted means blindly infatuated. Besottedness is the condition of being blindly infatuated.
Scintillating
Meaning: brilliantly lively, stimulating, or witty.
Gratuitous
Meaning: unnecessary, uncalled-for.
