100 Words

This title in the popular 100 Words series is an informative and entertaining resource that can help anyone be right on the money when looking for words that will make a point, seal the deal, or just keep folks listening. Chosen by the editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries, these words will appeal to anyone who wants to be a more compelling communicator-as a worker, consumer, advocate, friend, dinner companion, or even as a romantic prospect. The book includes a colorful variety of words, including handy words of just one syllable (such as glib) and words derived from the names of famous people (such as Freudian slip and Machiavellian). There are expressions from popular culture (Catch-22) and words that date back to classical civilization (spartan and stoic). Each word is clearly defined and shown in context with quotations from magazines, newspapers, broadcast media, movies, and television. For many words, quotations from distinguished authors and speakers are also given and word histories are explained. 100 Words to Make You Sound Smart provides an affordable and enjoyable way to communicate more effectively. It offers the coveted gift of gab to anyone who needs to "say it right"-and to anyone who wants to sound more articulate.

Avoid vocabulary mistakes with this fun guide to tricky and troublesome words! With concise and authoritative usage notes from the editors of the American Heritage® Dictionaries, this guide explains common English-language errors-whether it's mixing up affect and effect; blatant and flagrant; or disinterested and uninterested, or stumbling over sound-alikes including discrete/discreet or principal/principle. Other notes tackle such classic irritants as hopefully, impact, and aggravate, as well as problematic words like peruse and presently. A great read for anyone who cares about getting it right, 100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses and Misuses can help keep writers and speakers on the up-and-up!

Eliminate mistakes and improve your vocabulary with this engaging guide to the world's most misused words. Do you know your delegate from your relegate, your cachet from your cache? At one time or another we've all suffered the embarrassment of having our remarks corrected by a family member, colleague, or stranger. 100 Words Almost Everyone Mixes Up or Mangles presents fifty pairs of words that people have trouble getting right and keeping straight-words that tend to get corrected when we're least expecting it. These words include near-synonyms-words with subtle but important distinctions in meaning-like baleful vs. baneful, and effectual vs. efficacious. Other pairings bring together notorious sound-alikes, like faze (bother) vs. phase (stage), pour (put in fluid) vs. pore (read closely), and waive (forgo) vs. wave (say hello). The book also addresses some classic spelling blunders and "nonwords," like beyond the pail, full reign, injust, and inobstrusive. Each word has a definition and a pronunciation, and most have etymologies explaining the word's origin. The mix-ups themselves are described in fun-to-read notes that provide clear solutions to help readers avoid making needless, uncomfortable gaffes. 100 Words Almost Everyone Mixes Up or Mangles gives readers the chance to improve their command of words that are often heard but just as often misused.

What should the vocabulary of a well-rounded high school graduate be like? These 100 words provide the starting point in answering that question. The list is representative of the words that serious students will encounter in their coursework and will come to use as adults, whether in conversation or while reading the daily newspaper. Each word is fully defined and shown in context with example sentences from well-known authors. 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know is a must-have for every grad, perfect for building vocabulary, quizzing friends and family - and just having fun.

Following the success of 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know, the editors of the American Heritage® Dictionaries have developed this new book of 100 words tailored especially to high school freshmen. This second book in the 100 Words series focuses on the kinds of words that a successful middle school graduate can learn from rigorous coursework in a variety of subjects and that nearly every freshman will encounter over the course of the school year. The words have been chosen with various criteria in mind. Some represent key concepts in important areas of the curriculum, while others are more familiar in meaning but present challenges of spelling or usage. All are words that students can expect to see regularly in their high school reading and beyond. And each word is fully defined as well as shown in typical contexts with example sentences and quotations, many of which are taken from award-winning authors such as Harper Lee, George Orwell, Katherine Paterson, and John Knowles. Together, these 100 words represent the increasingly sophisticated and complex vocabulary that freshmen must master as they continue their education at the next level. To learn them is not only to gain useful knowledge - it is to step into a broader world.

This A-to-Z reference is a fun way for elementary-school kids to improve their vocabulary-and become better readers and writers. With 100 Words Every Fourth Grader Should Know, parents and teachers can present new and challenging words that will prepare kids to excel in their classes and in their reading. From accommodate to zest, each entry includes the word's pronunciation, clear definitions of its various senses, and one or more short example sentences-along with longer quotations from such literary sources as The Hobbit and Island of the Blue Dolphins showing how the word is used in a broader context.