Word of the Day
If you want to build your vocabulary, start learning a new “Word of the Day” every day. At the start of each day, look up a word of the day and learn how to use that word. Then try to sprinkle that word into conversation in the proper context a few times that day, just for practice. Sometimes, using a word of the day is going to be easier than other days. At the very least, mention to a friend that you have a word of the day that’s particularly hard to fit into conversation.
So how do you select a “Word of the Day”?
There are a number of ways. Here’s a few ideas.
Dictionary Dot Com Word of the Day
Dictionary.com has its own word of the day. You’ll be able to read the word and its definition, along with an audio pronunciation guide. Along with that, you’ll see a collection of “example quotes” and an “example sentence”, along with a discussion of the etymology of the word.
Today’s word of the day is “hortatory”, which is one I’m unfamiliar with. “Hortatory” is an adjective that suggests something “marked by a strong urging” and “serving to encourage or incite”. It often is used to define oration, such as “a hortatory speech”.
The three example quotes are taken from The American Novel by Carl Van Doren, Symptoms of Culture by Marjorie Garber and “Carrot and Sticks”, a 1986 New York Times article by Tamar Jacoby. Strangely, the example sentence comes from The 3rd Generation Prius, where a mayor’s hortatory speech encourages the speaker to organize carpools using his Prius.
All of the ads on the word of the day page are “3rd Generation Prius” advertisements, which makes me wonder if the Dictionary Dotcom Word of the Day has an official sponsor. I’ll be checking out tomorrow to find out. Stay tuned.
One cool feature of Dictionary’s word of the day is you can check out “yesterday’s word” and “previous words”, so you never have to miss your word of the day.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary has a word of the day feature. On the home page, you can click on word of the day and be taken to a randomly selected word. You’ll see the spelling and definition, and also be given an audio pronunciation. This is a great feature, so you’ll learn the new word and be able to pronounce it correctly.
Today’s Word of the Day on Merriam-Webster: “Melee”. A melee is a confused struggle or a hand-to-hand fight among several people. It is associated with words like fray, brawl, fracas and donnybrook.
Okay, so most of us probably had a good idea what a melee is. You’ll know some of the words and not know some others. This is a good way to affirm your vocabulary, though, because you can take pride (or even a running tally) of the days you know the word of the day. Also, you’ll often learn something you didn’t know about the word, or learn your understanding made sense in context, but wasn’t quite right.
Word of the Day – The Old-Fashioned Way
One of my favorite ways to select a word of the day is to flip through an old-fashioned dictionary. The advantage of this is that you can keep searching through words until you find one you’re unfamiliar with. When you do, you’ve found your word of the day. Selecting words of the day the old-fashioned way assures you learn a new word every single day.
Find it randomly, though. At the start of each day (or a quiet moment sometime during it), open your dictionary to a random page. This will be your random selection. Then, scan through the words on that page until you find one that you aren’t familiar with. If you don’t find a word on that page you don’t know, keep going until you do.
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