The Words You Should Know to Sound Smart Read Free

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),