The Words You Should Know to Sound Smart Read online

  argosy (are-guh-SEE), noun

  A rich, seemingly endless, supply.

  The deceased hermit’s home turned out to be an ARGOSY of Cuban cigars, Swiss timepieces, and historical erotica.

  artifice (ARE-ti-fis), noun

  The use of clever strategies and cunning methods to fool or best others and tip an outcome in your favor.

  “Every art and ARTIFICE has been practiced and perpetrated to destroy the rights of man.” – Robert Ingersoll, American orator

  ascetic (uh-SET-ik), noun

  A person who deliberately chooses to live a plain and simple life; characterized by lack of material possessions and strong self-discipline in all matters of behavior.

  When Steve Jobs started Apple, a magazine profile portrayed him as an ASCETIC, noting that he had no furniture in his apartment.

  asperity (a-SPARE-ih-tee), noun

  Something hard to endure.

  Sorry, I can’t handle the ASPERITY of a ballet. Could we watch football instead?

  assiduously (ah-SID-you-us-lee), adverb

  Diligent and persistent, especially in an effort to help others, achieve a goal, or deliver on one’s promises.

  David worked ASSIDUOUSLY to complete his first novel, writing for three hours a night after work and dinner.

  assuage (ah-SWAYJ), verb

  To put someone at ease; to comfort or soothe; to erase doubts and fears.

  “But history must not yet tell the tragedies enacted here; let time intervene in some measure to ASSUAGE and lend an azure tint to them.” – Henry David Thoreau, American author and transcendentalist

  asunder (ah-SUN-derr), adjective

  A whole that has been split into parts; a union that has been eliminated, leaving the people or things once joined now separate.

  His marriage torn ASUNDER, Mike decided to quit his job, move to Tangiers, and become a year-round beach bum.

  asynchronous (aye-SINK-crow-nuss), adjective

  Acting or functioning with no regularity or discernible time schedule.

  Maggie’s ASYNCHRONOUS habits drive her friends crazy because they can never make advance plans with her.

  augur (AW-ger), verb

  To predict or foretell the future.

  The three witches of Shakespeare’s Macbeth AUGUR the cataclysmic fate of the play’s titular character.

  auspicious (awe-SPIH-shus), adjective

  A good beginning giving rise to the belief that the venture, journey, or activity will end in success.

  The blind date did not have an AUSPICIOUS start because Max kept calling his friend’s cousin “Mallory” instead of “Mary.”

  austere (aw-STEER), adjective

  Stern; grim and lacking humor or warmth; clean and unornamented; severe or strict in manner.

  In the movie Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams clashes with an AUSTERE headmaster at a private boy’s school.

  autodidact (AW-toe-dih-dakt), noun

  A self-educated person.

  In the twentieth century, the library was the university of the AUTODIDACT; in the twenty-first century, it is the Internet.

  autonomy (aw-THAN-ah-mee), noun

  Maintaining independent thought and action; free; self-governing; without dependence on, or under control of, a higher authority.

  Herb claims he wants AUTONOMY, but he goes absolutely nuts whenever his boss gives him unstructured assignments.

  avant-garde (AH-vant-GARD), noun, adjective

  New and experimental; especially referring to art, writing, architecture, and music.

  “AVANT-GARDE art jousts with propriety, but takes care never to unseat.” – Mason Cooley, American aphorist

  avarice (AH-ver-iss), noun

  The insatiable desire to have a lot of money, greed.

  “What you call AVARICE,” Mary said, “I just call getting my share.”

  aver (uh-VER), verb

  To assert the truthfulness of a statement.

  “‘Has she no faults, then (Envy says), sir?’ / Yes, she has one, I must AVER: / When all the world conspires to praise her, / The woman’s deaf, and does not hear.” – Alexander Pope, British poet

  avuncular (a-VUN-cue-lar), adjective

  Kind, genial, benevolent, like an uncle.

  Myron’s AVUNCULAR personality makes women think of him as a friend, not as a lover.

  axiom (AKS-e-um), noun

  A truth or fact that is seen as self-evident, leaving no room for question or debate.

  Much to the chagrin of his creditors, Max adopted the AXIOM of those who have amassed great wealth: “Pay yourself first.”

  “A woman moved is like a

  fountain troubled. / Muddy,

  ill-seeming, thick, BEREFT of

  beauty, / And while it is so, none

  so dry or thirsty / Will deign to

  sip or touch one drop of it.”

  William Shakespeare

  B

  bacchanal (bah-kan-AL), noun

  A wild celebration; a party at which the partygoers are loud and out of control, often fueled by excess alcohol consumption.

  The initiation ceremony at the fraternity turned into a full-blown BACCHANAL requiring the intervention of the campus police to restore order.

  badinage (BAH-dih-nadge), noun

  Light, good-natured, even playful banter.

  “If you don’t care for me, you can move out now. I’m frankly not up to BADINAGE.” – Harlan Ellison, American author

  bailiwick (BALE-ee-wick), noun

  A person’s specific area of expertise, experience, skill, knowledge, education, or authority.

  Foreign language is not my BAILIWICK, I soon realized after failing out of Hebrew School.

  basilisk (BAH-sill-isk), noun

  A mythical reptile with a lethal stare or breath.

  With poisonous saliva that can kill a man with one bite, the Komodo Dragon is truly a modern-day BASILISK.

  bastion (BAS-tee-uhn), noun

  An institution, individual, or something else protecting or preserving a particular way of life, society, set of beliefs, or moral code.

  Cliff, a Yale BASTION, continuously quibbles with Irene, who graduated summa cum laude from Harvard.

  bathos (BAY-thoss), noun

  A sudden change in mood from the solemn and serious to a more light-hearted, relaxed, and humorous outlook.

  When the clock ticked at midnight on December 31, 1999, and we moved into the new century without the computers shutting down, the grim look and worried faces disappeared, and the IT department was suddenly enveloped in a feeling of BATHOS.

  beatitude (bee-AT-it-tood), noun

  Being in the highest possible state of happiness, good humor, and contentment.

  “Kindness is a virtue neither modern nor urban. One almost unlearns it in a city. Towns have their own BEATITUDE; they are not unfriendly; they offer a vast and solacing anonymity or an equally vast and solacing gregariousness.” – Phyllis McGinley, American author and poet

  beguiling (bee-GUY-ling), adjective

  Charming; bewitching; enchanting.

  The BEGUILING charm Monica learned at finishing school more than makes up for her vapid personality.

  beleaguer (beh-LEE-gir), verb

  To persistently surround, harass, or pester until you get what you want.

  To the embarrassment of her friends, Kristen BELEAGUERED the sommelier until he brought her a satisfactory Bordeaux.

  belie (bee-LYE), verb

  To contradict or misrepresent.

  Luther’s mild-mannered, almost sickly appearance BELIED his physical conditioning and surprising strength.

  belles lettres (BELL-LET-truh), noun

  Novels, short stories, poems, and other writings read for their grace and literary style and not necessarily their content.

  “Learning has been as great a Loser by being … secluded from the World and good Company. By that Means, every Thing of what we call BELLES LETTRES became totally barbarous,
being cultivated by Men without any Taste of Life or Manners.” – David Hume, Scottish philosopher

  bellicose (BELL-ih-kose), adjective

  Belligerent, surly, ready to argue or fight at the slightest provocation.

  Doug is so touchy about his new Jaguar that he’ll instantly grow BELLICOSE if you so much as brush against it.

  bellwether (BELL-weather), noun

  A leading indicator or factor in determining a course of action or outcome.

  The fact that Robert got thrown out of Groton and Exeter was a BELLWETHER for his lackadaisical years at Dartmouth.

  beneficent (be-NE-fih-sent), adjective

  Kindly in action, purpose, or speech.

  In a BENEFICENT gesture, the neighborhood raised $10,000 to help pay for the young boy’s leukemia treatments.

  benighted (bee-NYE-ted), adjective

  To be lost, ignorant, or unenlightened.

  The Medieval period was a BENIGHTED era of superstition.

  benign (beh-NINE), adjective

  Kindly, gentle, generous of spirit, not harmful.

  We thought Amanda BENIGN until she began to inflate her family pedigree.

  bereaved (beh-REEVD), adjective

  To be in a state of grief as the result of the death of someone you love or care deeply about.

  “Laughter would be BEREAVED if snobbery died.” – Peter Ustinov, British writer and dramatist

  bereft (Beh-REFT), adjective

  Lacking a certain characteristic, possession, or trait; isolated and lonely.

  “A woman moved is like a fountain troubled. / Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, BEREFT of beauty, / And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty / Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it.” – William Shakespeare

  besotted (bih-SOTT-ed), adjective

  Made foolish, stupid, or dull due to an infatuation with love, money, the pursuit of power, etc.

  Aline thinks Jake is BESOTTED with her, but he’s really BESOTTED with her father’s stock portfolio.

  bespoke (bih-SPOHK), adjective

  Clothes, shoes, and other goods custom-made for a particular client.

  Taylor’s big secret is that though he wears BESPOKE clothing, he’s only leasing his new Lexus.

  bête noire (Bett-NWAR), noun

  A thing for which one has an intense dislike or great fear; a dreaded enemy or foe.

  Sunlight was Dracula’s greatest BÊTE NOIRE.

  betoken (bee-TOE-ken), verb

  To serve as a warning.

  For Mary and Paul, the breakdown of their new Porsche while they were still two hours away from their summer home BETOKENED a disastrous vacation.

  bibelot (BIB-low), noun

  A small object of beauty or rarity.

  The Rossington’s collection of BIBELOTS contains numerous Faberge eggs.

  bibliomania (bib-lee-oh-MAY-nee-uh), noun

  A preoccupation with the acquisition and ownership of books.

  Lauren’s BIBLIOMANIA extends only to her stockpile of catalogues for exclusive shops.

  bibulous (BIB-yuh-luss), adjective

  Related to drinking or to drunkenness.

  Arthur thinks he’s “fine,” but his BIBULOUS activities are causing the club to consider permanent expulsion.

  bicameral (by-KAM-er-el), adjective

  A government or parliament with two chambers or houses.

  With a Senate and a House of Representatives, the United States has a BICAMERAL legislature.

  bifurcate (BYE-fur-kate), verb

  To divide something into two branches or forks.

  “François Truffaut defined a great movie as a perfect blend of truth and spectacle. Now it’s become BIFURCATED. Studio films are all spectacle and no truth, and independent films are all truth and no spectacle.” – Howard Franklin, American screenwriter and director

  bilateral (by-LAT-ur-ul), adjective

  Touching, existing on, or having or being agreed to by two sides.

  The president signed a BILATERAL disarmament agreement with the nation bordering to the north.

  bildungsroman (BILL-dungs-roh-man), noun

  A coming-of-age novel, such as The Catcher in the Rye or A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

  Alex has started writing a BILDUNGSROMAN about his experiences in prep school.

  bilious (BILL-yuss), adjective

  Having a nasty temperament or disagreeable disposition; to be “full of bile” and hatred.

  The polo team’s BILIOUS captain made his team miserable as he proceeded to criticize their every move.

  billet (BILL-uht), noun

  A job, position, or appointment.

  With his wealthy father’s influence, Miles was able to secure a lucrative BILLET in a major brokerage house.

  blandishments (BLAN-dish-ments), noun

  Compliments rendered primarily to influence and gain favor with the person you are praising.

  The BLANDISHMENTS heaped upon the consultant by his client were not sufficient to persuade him to take a staff position with them.

  blazon (BLAY-zuhn), noun or verb

  A coat of arms; or, to proclaim something widely.

  You’ll find the Rutherford’s family BLAZON on every one of Prescott’s ties.

  bloviate (BLOH-vee-ayt), verb

  To speak pompously and at length

  Maxwell BLOVIATES about his “excellent” golf game, but everyone knows he inflates his handicap exponentially.

  bona fide (BO-nah-fyed), adjective

  Legitimate, the real thing, the genuine article.

  He may not come across as particularly intelligent, but Brian’s Phi Beta Kappa key is, in fact, BONA FIDE.

  bonhomie (bon-uh-MEE), noun

  A good-natured, genial manner.

  Even though he has no family pedigree, Walker is accepted into our group because of his contagious BONHOMIE.

  bourgeois (boor-ZHWAH), adjective

  Pertaining or relating to the middle class, as opposed to the upper class or royalty on one end and the peasants or common laborers on the other.

  “The representation of the garrison thus turned out to be incomparably more moderate and BOURGEOIS than the soldier masses.” – Leon Trotsky, Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist

  bovine (BO-vyne), adjective

  Anything related to or reminiscent of cows or other dull, docile, slow-moving, grazing mammals.

  “The cow is of the BOVINE ilk; One end is moo, the other, milk.” – Ogden Nash, American poet

  bowdlerize (BOWED-ler-eyes), verb

  To remove obscenity, violence, and other inappropriate content from a novel, play, or story so as to make it appropriate for a younger reader.

  Hollywood BOWDLERIZED his script so, instead of being R-rated, the film was rated PG-13.

  braggadocio (brag-uh-DOH-see-oh), noun

  Empty boasting or bragging.

  Eric claims he is a consummate wine connoisseur, but it is just BRAGGADOCIO.

  breviary (BREE-vee-air-ee), noun

  A brief summary or abridgement.

  She called it a BREVIARY, but Lana’s recounting of her family’s month on the Riviera was anything but short.

  Brobdingnagian (brahb-ding-NAG-ian), adjective

  Describes a thing or person of enormous size; huge.

  Andre the Giant was a man of BROBDINGNAGIAN proportions, standing seven-foot-five-inches and weighing over 500 pounds.

  brouhaha (BREW-ha-ha), noun

  A confusing, exciting, and turmoil-rife event.

  Madeline caused a BROUHAHA when she told her parents she was eschewing Harvard for a state school in order to be closer to her boyfriend.

  bromide (BRO-mide), noun

  A cliché or tired saying used to express an idea without any thought or originality.

  Helen’s Harvard education does not stop her from peppering her speech with insipid BROMIDES.

  brummagem (BRUHM-uh-juhm), noun or adjective

  Describes something that look
s great but performs poorly.

  “Our press is certainly bankrupt in … reverence for nickel plate and brummagem.” – Mark Twain

  bucolic (byoo-KOL-ick), adjective

  A peaceful, serene, rural object, place, or environment.

  We bought a weekend place in a BUCOLIC little village in the country.

  bugaboo (BUHG-uh-boo), noun

  Something that causes fear and worry, often needlessly.

  Angela caused a BUGABOO when she informed her family that she was leaving the Episcopal Church.

  bulwark (bull-WARK), noun

  A defensive, protective barrier, wall, or force.

  “Since he aims at great souls, he cannot miss. But if someone should slander me in this way, no one would believe him. For envy goes against the powerful. Yet slight men, apart from the great, are but a weak BULWARK.” – Sophocles, Greek tragedian

  bumptious (BUMP-shuss), adjective

  Loud and assertive in a crude way.

  The club’s golf pro was fired due to his BUMPTIOUS behavior on the links.

  burgeon (BURR-jin), verb

  To sprout, to grow; to blossom and flourish.

  Natalia does her part for the BURGEONING “green” movement by having her gardener turn manure from her stables into fertilizer.

  byzantine (biz-ann-TEEN), adjective

  A convoluted plan; a scheme that is overly complicated; a puzzle or task that’s difficult to figure out because of its complexity.

  We found it impossible to follow the BYZANTINE plot of how Eileen made Mariah a laughingstock by replacing her Prada shoes with nearly identical knockoffs.

  “We romped until the pans /

  Slid from the kitchen shelf; / My

  mother’s COUNTENANCE /

  Could not unfrown itself.”

  Theodore Roethke, American poet

  C

  cabal (kah-BAHL), noun

  An underground society, secret religious sect, or other private group assembled for purposes hidden from those around them.

  I was shocked when our neighbor asked us to join a CABAL of devil worshippers; after all, he is a deacon at the local church!