Words That Can Make You Sound Smart
Whether you have a job interview or you just want to impress your boss,
these words will show people you’re a savvy, capable person.
Some of us really are smart, but many of us have to fake it.
It just got easier thanks to a book from the editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries called “100 Words to Make You Sound Smart.”
So what kind of words are on this list?
They are real words. Words that you can actually use in conversation and writing that do sound smart, but not ostentatious.
Here are 20 of the 100 words that will make you sound smart:
1. Acrimony
(noun): rancor, spite, bitterness, hostility, ill will
2. Dichotomy
(noun): division into two contradictory or exclusive entities; something with two contradictory qualities
3. Equivocate
(verb): prevaricate, beat around the bush, vacillate
4. Esoteric
(adjective): obscure, mysterious, cryptic, arcane
5. Euphemism
(noun): inoffensive or agreeable substitute for an expression that may be distasteful or offensive
6. Fastidious
(adjective): fussy, finicky, particular
7. Finagle
(verb): obtain by indirect or convoluted means or through trickery
8. Glib
(adjective): persuasive, smooth, slick
9. Harbinger
(noun): herald, portent, omen, forerunner
10. Idiosyncratic
(adjective): individual, personal, distinctive, eccentric, peculiar
11. Insidious
(adjective): sinister, menacing
12. Lurid
(adjective): shocking, explicit, vivid, sensational
13. Maudlin
(adjective): overly sentimental, mawkish, soppy
14. Non Sequitur
(noun): a response unrelated to or not following logically from a previous statement
15. Ostentatious
(adjective): showy, flamboyant, pretentious, grandiose
16. Ostracize
(verb): exclude, shun, snub
17. Panacea
(noun): cure-all, magic potion, universal remedy
18. Sycophant
(noun): flatterer, toady
19. Ubiquitous
(adjective): everywhere, ever-present, omnipresent
20. Zealous
(adjective): enthusiastic, passionate, fervent, ardent, obsessive, fanatical, extreme
–From the Editors at Netscape
article source http://netscape.compuserve.com/pf/package.jsp?name=fte/soundsmart/soundsmart
photo source Google Images
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vdxZVe8m8A
Book Review
100 Words to Make You Sound Smart
from the editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries
The newest title in the popular 100 Words series is an informative and entertaining resource that can help anyone be right on the money when looking for words that will make a point, seal the deal, or just keep folks listening. Chosen by the editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries, these words will appeal to anyone who wants to be a more compelling communicator—as a worker, consumer, advocate, friend, dinner companion, or even as a 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 contemporary sources: magazines, newspapers, broadcast media, movies, and television. For many words, quotations from distinguished authors and speakers are also given and word histories are explained.
Like its predecessors in this successful series, 100 Words to Make You Sound Smart provides an affordable and enjoyable way to communicate more effectively. It offers the coveted gift of gab to anyone who needs to “say it right”—and to anyone who wants to sound more articulate.
