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Tue 28 Feb, 2006 04:16 am
Am planning to expand vocabulary.
so post here best word that makes you look sophisticated. With definition, obviously.
commensurate (look it up)
hmmmmm.....(no definition required) :wink:
Seriously, I'll have to think about this.
I don't think long cumbersome words equals sophistication.
Clarity is what I'd look for.
In that vein, if I was going to use a word that I feel the listener may not be familiar with, I'd try to inject it into the conversation so that its meaning is apparant in the context of the conversation.
Otherwise, you don't look intellectual/sophisticated, you look like a pompous poop head.
Good subject, I'll have to think of some of my favorite words.
nabob
NOUN: An important, influential person: character, dignitary, eminence, leader, lion, notability, notable, personage. Informal : big-timer, heavyweight, somebody, someone, VIP. Slang : big shot, big wheel, bigwig, muckamuck. See IMPORTANT
Ms Tea is correct imo.
Where's Spendius when you need him?
Your vocabulary does not make you "sophisticated". It is the way you put your thoughts into words and how well you can make your ideas coherent to others.
The word "sophisticated" is based on the Greek word meaning "wisdom". So it might help you to look into the etymology (fr. Gk.) of each word you acquire in your expanding vocabulary. Your "sophistication" will evolve the better you understand the words you are using.
My favorite is banausic (Adj., meaning ordinary, mundane.)
Example: I find that architect's work to be boring, perhaps even banausic.
Another good one is corybantic, Adj., meaning frenzied. Comes from a noun, corybant, derived from a sect's emotional rites.
A fun word to use is carfuffle or kerfuffle, spelling depends on where you live. I had read the word when I lived in the UK but had never heard it used until a fishing guide in New Zealand dropped it into ordinary conversation. It is slang or colloquial for a dust-up or a controversy.
(Phoenix, I don't think you can use exacerbate in that way. It is a transitive verb. :wink: )
Quote:Kara wrote:
(Phoenix, I don't think you can use exacerbate in that way. It is a transitive verb. )
Since most people don't know what I am talking about, it really doesn't matter, does it!
Well, if you use it when speaking to people who do know how what the word means and how it is correctly used (and there are more of them than you may think, including the whole medical profession) they will write you off as a pretentious-but-ignorant twit. If you save it for people who don't understand the word, they will just think you are a pretentious twit. If that really doesn't matter to you, carry right on!
Phoenix32890 wrote:Kara wrote:(Phoenix, I don't think you can use exacerbate in that way. It is a transitive verb. :wink: )
Since most people don't know what I am talking about, it really doesn't matter, does it! 
You are exacerbating my rather considerable opposition to people who hold in abysmal contempt those whose semiology skills do not fit in their criteria... :wink:
fecundate
One entry found for fecundate.
Main Entry: fe·cun·date
Pronunciation: 'fe-k&n-"dAt, 'fE-
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -dat·ed; -dat·ing
Etymology: Latin fecundatus, past participle of fecundare, from fecundus
1 : to make fecund
2 : IMPREGNATE
- fe·cun·da·tion /"fe-k&n-'dA-sh&n, "fE-/ noun
Now, there's a useful word, EB.
I've always been partial to discombobulate.
Paradigm.
It's kind of the uber-intellectual word. I don't like it for that reason, although sometimes I can't think of anything else to use.
Extirpate. Goes especially well with Circumlocution.
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