The Power Vocabulary

By

Johnie H. Scott, M.A., M.F.A.

Associate Professor of Pan African Studies

California State University, Northridge

No vocabulary book can present you with all the words you need or want to know. At the same time, we know than an extensive vocabulary allows one to speak, read and write clearly with interest and power. The thirty-six words listed below are called power words. This is because they give you the power to be precise in reading and writing. A number of reading scholars have contributed to the development of this list. What you are to do is research the meaning of each word and write down the meaning. Make certain to actually use a dictionary for this effort. Do not go by memory! – see what the denotative meaning of the word is. That meaning might well differ from you think or believe.

Next, write the antonym (i.e., a word meaning the opposite) of the power word along with the meaning of that particular antonym you discover. Finally, you are to write a single, complete sentence containing a subject and verb in which you use the original power word. Commit that “power word” to memory. Moreover, develop the habit of looking up words that are unfamiliar to you and conceptualize the antonym as well, using these as indicated here.

Remember that for 90 percent of the American public, the vocabulary “stops development” when that person reaches 18 years of age – the age when most graduate from high school. For those going on to attend college, an new window opens so that the “base” vocabulary can be expected to grow until the age of 22 when the undergraduate education is completed – accounting for 95 percent of all Americans. Beyond that, vocabulary becomes a matter of sophistication, nuances and true power.

Good luck!

1. smug:

Antonym:

Sentence:

2. volubility:

Antonym:

Sentence:

3. fluctuate:

Antonym:

Sentence:

4. gullible:

Antonym:

Sentence:

5. Anachronism:

Antonym:

Sentence:

6. disparage:

Antonym:

Sentence:

7. adroit:

Antonym:

Sentence:

8. infidel:

Antonym:

Sentence:

9. enervate:

Antonym:

Sentence:

10. complacent:

Antonym:

Sentence:

11. anomaly:

Antonym:

Sentence:

12. pinnacle:

Antonym:

Sentence:

13. placid:

Antonym:

Sentence:

14. engross:

Antonym:

Sentence:

15. magnanimous:

Antonym:

Sentence:

16. erudite:

Antonym:

Sentence:

17. assiduous:

Antonym:

Sentence:

18. ubiquitous:

Antonym:

Sentence:

19. consummate:

Antonym:

Sentence:

20. diffident:

Antonym:

Sentence:

21. blatant:

Antonym:

Sentence:

22. gratuitous:

Antonym:

Sentence:

23. ephemeral:

Antonym:

Sentence:

24. implacable:

Antonym:

Sentence:

25. ingenuous:

Antonym:

Sentence:

26. esoteric:

Antonym:

Sentence:

27. facile:

Antonym:

Sentence:

28. impervious:

Antonym:

Sentence:

29. sanguine:

Antonym:

Sentence:

30. stoic:

Antonym:

Sentence:

31. pernicious:

Antonym:

Sentence:

32. sedentary:

Antonym:

Sentence:

33. remonstrate:

Antonym:

Sentence:

34. evoke:

Antonym:

Sentence:

35. equivocal:

Antonym:

Sentence:

36. resilient:

Antonym:

Sentence:

Findings and Comments:

1. How many new words (exactly) did you discover as a result of completing this exercise?

2. What specific observations do you have as a result of completing this exercise? What steps are you planning to make so as to insure these words become a part of your working, college and professional vocabulary?