Vocabulary Dictionary and Workbook: 2,856 Words You Must Know

by Mark Phillips

Vocabulary Dictionary and Workbook is an easy-to-use self-teaching tool for expanding one's English vocabulary. 2,856 vocabulary words are presented in alphabetical order, 12 per chapter. Each word is defined, explained, and used in an illustrative sentence (often a quotation from a celebrity or historical figure). Pronunciations and parts of speech are included. Word games and puzzles, for reinforcement, appear at the end of each chapter. Includes: the best words for SATs and other standardized tests; power words for business and everyday conversation. Features: easy but thorough definitions and explanations; memorable (and often funny or enlightening) illustrative sentences; entertaining games and puzzles.

Sample definitions:
(from Chapter 169: prerogative–prevaricate)

prerogative (pri-ROG-uh-tiv) n. A prerogative is an exclusive right, power, or privilege (to decide, judge, make rules, etc., or to behave in a certain way) granted a particular person by virtue of his position, office, rank, title, etc. (as in the prerogative of a school principal to suspend a student or the prerogative of a parent to set a bedtime). In 1987 the London Times said that it is the “prerogative of [a politician’s] wife to cough noisily when [her husband] goes on too long at the [speaker’s platform].”

presage (PRES-ij) vb., n. To presage is to foreshadow (indicate or suggest beforehand) or foretell (predict), as in dark clouds presaged the downpour. The emotional intensity of (19th century German composer) Robert Schumann’s orchestral works presaged his later nervous breakdown. As a noun, a presage is something that foreshadows or foretells.

prescient (PREE-shee-ənt, PREE-shənt, PRESH-ee-ənt, PRESH-int) adj. If you’re prescient, you have foresight; you have knowledge of things before they happen. The word can refer to either a supernatural foreknowing (as in fortunetellers in fairy tales are prescient about future events) or to a natural foresight (as in a good financial advisor is prescient about coming stock market trends). The noun is “prescience.” Jules Verne’s prescient 19th-century science fiction novels anticipated many aspects of 20th-century technology.

presentiment (pri-ZEN-tə-mənt) n. A presentiment is a feeling or sense that something (often, but not always, something bad) is about to happen. In the Bible, the Queen of Sheba (the ruler of an ancient Arabian country) tells (ancient Israel’s) King Solomon that she has a presentiment that Jesus will be nailed to the True Cross (sacred wood that was originally a branch of the Tree of Knowledge).

Sample Word Games:

Use the following words to fill in the blanks in the sentences below:
prerogative, prestige, pretext

1. A degree from Harvard University carries great __________.
2. The embittered employees absented themselves from work on the __________ of illness.
3. It is the __________ of a presidential nominee to choose a running mate.

482 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 23, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
(8)music & verbal instruction
Phillips, Mark, 1947-
per Library of Congress website

Reviews

[Madschid · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so excellent.

[hue tat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

All in all, it's a decent book for someone who wants to learn more vocabulary. The explanation is not that clear.