The Big Book of Words You Should Know: Over 3,000 Words Every Person Should be Able to Use

by David Olsen, Michelle Bevilacqua, Justin Cord Hayes

Do you know what "quatrefoil" and "impolitic" mean? What about "halcyon" or "narcolepsy"?

This book is a handy, easy-to-read reference guide to the proper parlance for any situation. In this book you will find: Words You Absolutely Should Know (covert, exonerate, perimeter); Words You Should Know But Probably Don't (dour, incendiary, scintilla); Words Most People Don't Know (schlimazel, thaumaturgy, epergne); Words You Should Know to Sound Overeducated (ad infinitum, nugatory, garrulity); Words You Probably Shouldn't Know (priapic, damnatory, labia majora); and more.

Whether writing an essay, studying for a test, or trying to impress friends, family, and fellow cocktail party guests with their prolixity, you will achieve magniloquence, ebullience, and flights of rhetorical brilliance.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Language, Writing, Words, Communication, Linguistics

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't read every page but it's a reference book so I picked out the words I was interested in. I was surprised by how many words I knew AND didn't know AND a few I've been using incorrectly-oops.

[Sterling Badon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remembering every word you could use is daunting and many times, searching for the right word to use seems very quixotic. Not that anyone should use a word like quixotic, but that is the point. A reminder of words that help define a story and also have references to the meaning. This book does not have every word you should or shouldn't use. It is a helpful tool. Searching online isn't always the answer. I am the person who will use the word Nialistic in a particular context. The problem is that the only online definition means something else and dark, which shortchanges a helpful dynamic word. So I would offer more context to support the rising use of a more powerful word than its chosen definition. Many words have multiple meanings and use. This book is a tool and not a fix-it-all. Word creating and use is guided by the public use and those writing. It is a changing process.

[Blake Townes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personally, this was my favorite vocabulary building book. There are some superfluous words, but the words that are practical will make you smarter, or at the very least sound smarter. I really enjoyed how they separated the sections in this book ('Words You Absolutely Should Know', 'Words You Should Know but Probably Don't', etc.) There are a plethora of different words to learn that sound mellifluous once mastered. I created notecards with these words in an Anki deck which immensely helped with studying.

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection has many more adjectives than others I have reviewed. It’s jam packed which is a blessing and a curse. It’s overwhelming at points if you try to read cover to cover. Definitions are easily understood and pronounceable guidance is there as well.
Not a bad book but I did like 500 words you should know by Taggart better

[Ravyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know some of the words but it taught me about words I didn't know 👍

[Kioyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

If a dictionary and a thesaurus had a baby.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good grief, that was a tedious read. But I saw some words that I could not recall ever seeing before. I might even remember some of them. I also learned I had been mispronouncing some obscure words that I only ever see in print - given that few people are pompous enough to use such words in ordinary speech.

But returning to the tedium aspect, I found it surprising how reading a few pages of this book usually destroyed my concentration. The biggest distraction seemed to be the usage example sentences below each word entry. Every example sentence was pretty much random and disjointed from all the rest. I could read through at most perhaps a dozen before my mind completely drifted off and I had to consciously jolt myself back to paying attention to the book.

I recently read about the principle of "directed practice" in So Good They Can't Ignore You - Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love. The principle says we should constantly push ourselves out of our comfort zones and work on our areas of greatest weakness. Maintaining focus while reading a dictionary of obscure words and utterly disjointed example sentences is not my area of strength.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so helpful! I love learning what new words mean and how to use them, so this book was absolutely perfect. It's not just a dictionary, it shows over 3,000 words that are rarely known and I am so excited that I know them now! It would be ideal if I could memorize this, but it was still very helpful. I recommend this book because it will help you speak in a sophisticated way and I know it will be very helpful when I have to write essays and important assignments. I didn't know what onus meant, but now I know that it is the burden of performing a task or duty. There are so many words that are very well-explained and I adore this book! I didn't know what pedagogue meant, but it means an educator or schoolteacher! I am obsessed with this book. It's not a novel, but it was very exciting to learn words that I didn't even know existed. I highly recommend that everybody should read this book by senior year, because then you can know so many words and you can give off a very good impression!

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not even close to done reading this book but I don't need to finish it to inform you that it is garbage.

1) So many of the words here are just... overtly tailored to a specific situation. That is, many of the definitions are distorted from the more general meaning of the term and might give you a slanted or even inaccurate view.

2) It is not stated what level of reader this book is for, but most of the words are very elementary. E.g., the word "accept" was featured, and that's just one example of MANY.

3) Seeing an unfamiliar vocabulary word "in the wild" is simply irreplicable by a book such as this... But I thought I'd give it a shot.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little vocabulary refresher, giving a most useful definitions and a sample sentence. Book is broken up into thematic sections, and includes a foreign word and idiom section. Read two pages a day.

[Bob Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep this book on my coffee table and open it daily to find new / interesting words. It's a wonderful tool to keep your vocabulary active and growning. Excellent format, easy to read and great to pick random pages / words. Enjoy

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good vocab builder

[Deb]

I got this for Christmas and I think I will be perusing it for a while. Thankfully, I have gotten through the A's knowing all the words already.

[Zulayka.reidn · Rating 5 out of 5]

practical

[Christine D · Rating 5 out of 5]

super fun! I love how so many fun words are crammed into this condensed book. it's not dictionary heavy, but it's just big enough to astound people with your vase vocabulary!

[Chingiz Abishev · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know

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