The 4000 Words Essential for an Educated Vocabulary.pdf

Contents

ABOUT THIS BOOK ................................

THE WORDS.............................................

WORD ANALYSIS ...............................

103

IDIOM AND USAGE ............................

117

About This Book

English offers perhaps the richest vocabulary of all languages, in

part because its words are culled from so many languages. It is a

shame that we do not tap this rich source more often in our daily

conversation to express ourselves more clearly and precisely.

There are of course thesauruses but they mainly list common

words. Other vocabulary books list difficult, esoteric words that we

quickly forget or feel self-conscious using. However, there is a

bounty of choice words between the common and the esoteric that

often seem be just on the tip of our tongue. Vocabulary 4000 brings

these words to the fore.

Whenever possible, one-word definitions are used. Although

this makes a definition less precise, it also makes it easier to

remember. Many common words appear in the list of words, but

with their less common meanings. For example, the common

meaning of champion is “winner.” A less common meaning for

champion is to support or fight for someone else. (Think of the

phrase “to champion a cause.”) This is the meaning that would be

used in the list.

As you read through the list of words, mark any that you do not

know with a check mark. Then when you read through the list again,

mark any that you do not remember with two checks. Continue in

this manner until you have learned the words.

There are four types of quizzes interspersed in the word list:

Matching, Antonyms, Analogies, and Sentence Completions. The

Matching quizzes, review words that were just introduced. All the

other quizzes contain words from any part of the list.