speech on new words

British Council

Ten ways to learn new words as a language learner, by svetlana kandybovich, 16 february 2017 - 16:00.

'Remembering and using new words in speech is often a challenge for language learners.' Image © Pierre Metivier, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 and adapted from the original

Pierre Metivier, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 and adapted from the original .

Teacher and teacher trainer Svetlana Kandybovich, our latest TeachingEnglish blog award winner, shares her top tips for remembering new words.

As a language learner, you work hard to expand your vocabulary. You plough through new words every day, make long lists of words and practise with flashcards. However, when it comes to speaking, the new words seem to fall out of your head, so you resort to your old friends – words you already know and have used many times – again and again.

Remembering and using new words in speech is often a challenge for language learners. Here are ten strategies to help you make words stick in your mind and use them in conversation.

1. No random words

We remember what is relevant to us. Making lists or index cards with random words is not usually an effective way to remember and use these words later. Word lists and index cards are great for revisiting vocabulary you have already learned, but to make a new word stick in your mind, try linking it with something meaningful to you. You will be more likely to remember a new word if it is used in a context you find interesting or are passionate about. For example, if you are a football fan, there are more chances you will remember the word 'unstoppable' in a sentence, such as 'Messi is unstoppable', rather than just as a single word or in a generic sentence, e.g. 'Some people are unstoppable'.

Tip: The British Council LearnEnglish website features tons of interactive videos, games and podcasts. No matter what topic interests you, you will always find something there. There are also discussion boards under activities, so you can share your ideas with other learners.

2. Learn in chunks and scripts

We retain words better when we learn them in small ‘chunks’ (i.e. small phrases that combine several words) and ‘scripts’ (i.e. typical dialogues). For example, instead of memorising the phrasal verb ‘to come up with’, memorise it as part of the phrase ‘to come up with an idea’. This way, you make sure that you know how to actually use this verb in at least one sentence. Similarly, instead of memorising 33 ways of saying ‘hello’, learn it in a script, such as: ‘Hello, how are you? – I’m fine, thank you’.

Tip: If you are into learning with video, TV and films, try FluentU . There are interactive captions, so if you tap on any word, you will see an image, definition and useful examples. You can also find other interesting resources featuring words in context. For example, this ' SpeakSmart' collection on Instagram has different scenes from popular television series giving examples of particular words and phrases in use. If you love reading, try reading short texts, such as cartoon strips. There are many comics available online, including those for language learners, like Grammarman , which you can also listen to while you read.

3. Use your inner voice

Learning is essentially an internal process. To learn a word, you need to get into the world of your inner voice. Try the following: listen to a word/phrase once, now listen to it inside your head, then say it inside your head, then say it aloud. Record yourself saying it and listen to the recording. Does it sound the way you heard it with your inner ear?

Tip: On Forvo , you can listen to native and non-native speakers from different parts of the world pronouncing different words and phrases. Just type in the word, choose the speaker and practise.

4. Visualise what the word or phrase looks like

Drawing what the word means, either on paper or in your imagination, will help you recall the meaning of the word whenever you hear it. This method works well with idioms, such as 'to keep one’s mouth shut' (informal), meaning, 'to not talk about something'.

Tip: In addition to the image of the word, look at word associations in the visual dictionary and thesaurus Visuwords .

5. Create mnemonics

Try to create a funny phrase or story that will strengthen the connection between the word and its meaning (known as a mnemonic). I find this technique especially effective when I need to recall words that are hard to spell.

Here are a few mnemonics created by my students:

‘career’ – car and beer

‘island’ – is land

‘to lose’ – uh-oh, I’ve lost an ‘o’

Tip: There are a lot of mnemonics available online, such as the ‘mems’ created by users in Memrise , but you will have a better chance of remembering the word if you invent your own.

6. Use spaced repetition

Repetition fixes new words in your memory. However, repeating them a hundred times over the course of one day will not be as effective as repeating them a few times over a period of several days or weeks (i.e., spaced repetition).

Use the new word immediately. Then try to recall it in an hour. Review it shortly before you go to bed. Use it again one day later. Finally, review it in a couple of days after that.

Tip: In addition to 'spaced repetition' platforms and online software (e.g., Anki , where you can practise with full sentences), you can schedule revision on your own. Make index cards with your words (use it in a sentence on one side and put the definition/translation/image on the other), then set up a schedule for revising them. Flick through the cards and sort them into three categories: ‘green’ – words to revisit less frequently in the future, ‘yellow’ – words to repeat from time to time, and ‘red’ – words for ‘frequent visits’.

7. Dive deeper into etymology

Before you look up the word in the dictionary, try to guess what it means. Look at its root, suffixes and prefixes. If you know a few languages, you will start recognising new words that share roots. Researching the origin of new words may help you retain new words better.

For example, did you know that the word 'tea' comes from Chinese 't'e' (Amoy dialect), which corresponds to Mandarin 'ch'a'? The English word ‘tea’ (just as in French, Spanish or German) derives from the Amoy form (through the Dutch East India Company that introduced the leaves to Europe). Meanwhile, Russian chai (just as in Serbian, Persian, Greek, Arabic and Turkish) all came overland from the Mandarin form. Now, whenever you hear ‘tea’ or ‘chai’, you will see a lovely cup of steaming tea and know how it got to the country.

Tip: Whether you are looking for the origin of idioms or individual words, the Online Etymology Dictionary may be quite helpful.

8. Challenge yourself with word games

The perception of a challenge stimulates the brain. Games that help you discover new meanings and new words are a fun way to expand your vocabulary.

Tip: You can find tons of quizzes and games on Quizlet.com

9. Write it down

Writing down a new word (or, ideally, a sentence using the new word) helps fix both its meaning and spelling in your memory. Make the sentences true about you or someone you know.

Tip: Instead of keeping these sentences to yourself, you can use them in writing games such as the Folding Story . This is an online version of the popular writing game where each player writes one line of a story and passes it on to another player to add to it. In the online version, each player gets just three minutes to write a line and scores points by the number of likes they receive for their lines.

10. Speak it into reality

It is not easy to actively recall a new word or phrase in the moment, even if you have tried hard to memorise it. To change this, record yourself speaking for two to four minutes without stopping. You could describe the world around you, or give your opinion on a particular topic. Next, listen to the recording of your speech and notice which words you used. Did you use any of the new words you’d like to activate? Did you use any familiar words that could be replaced with the new words? Afterwards, make a new recording. Is it any better?

Tip: Join an online community of language learners such as The Polyglot Club , where you can ask questions and practise with native speakers from all over the world.

These are my top ten tips, but you might find that other techniques work better for you. Try to experiment with these tips to see what works for you. Stay positive and enjoy the ride.

Svetlana Kandybovich is a teacher, teacher trainer and blogger who loves to share her ideas about teaching, learning and professional development. Her blog is ELT-CATION .

Find further information about learning resources and opportunities on the British Council's LearnEnglish site or, if you're a teacher, join our community of English language teachers on Facebook .

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History of English

How New English Words are Created

By Creating from Scratch

Many of the new words added to the ever-growing lexicon of the English language are just created from scratch, and often have little or no etymological pedigree. A good example is the word dog , etymologically unrelated to any other known word, which, in the late Middle Ages, suddenly and mysteriously displaced the Old English word hound (or hund ) which had served for centuries. Some of the commonest words in the language arrived in a similarly inexplicable way (e.g. jaw , askance , tantrum , conundrum , bad , big , donkey , kick , slum , log , dodge , fuss , prod , hunch , freak , bludgeon , slang , puzzle , surf , pour , slouch , bash , etc).

Words like gadget , blimp , raunchy , scam , nifty , zit , clobber , boffin , gimmick , jazz and googol have all appeared in the last century or two with no apparent etymology, and are more recent examples of this kind of novel creation of words. Additionally, some words that have existed for centuries in regional dialects or as rarely used terms, suddenly enter into popular use for little or no apparent reason (e.g. scrounge and seep , both old but obscure English words, suddenly came into general use in the early 20th Century).

Sometimes, if infrequently, a “nonce word” (created “for the nonce”, and not expected to be re-used or generalized) does become incorporated into the language. One example is James Joyce’s invention quark , which was later adopted by the physicist Murray Gell-Mann to name a new class of sub-atomic particle, and another is blurb , which dates back to 1907.

By Adoption or Borrowing

Loanwords, or borrowings, are words which are adopted into a native language from a different source language. Such borrowings have shaped the English language almost from its beginnings, as words were adopted from the classical languages as well as from successive wave of invasions (e.g. Vikings, Normans). Even by the 16th Century, long before the British Empire extended its capacious reach around the world, English had already adopted words from an estimated 50 other languages, and the vast majority of English words today are actually foreign borrowings of one sort or another.

Sometimes these adoptions have come by a circuitous route (e.g. the word orange originated with the Sanskrit naranj or naranga or narangaphalam or naragga , which became the Arabic naranjah and the Spanish naranja , entered English as a naranj , changed to a narange , then to an arange and finally an orange ; the word garbage came to English originally from Latin, but only arrived via Old Italian, an Italian dialect and then Norman French). Sometimes the tortuous route and degrees of filtering through other languages can modify words so much that their original derivations are all but indiscernible (e.g. both coy and quiet come from the Latin word quietus ; sordid and swarthy both come from the Latin sordere ; entirety and integrity both derive from the Latin integritas ; salary and sausage both originate with the Latin word sal ; grammar and glamour are both descended from the same Greek word gramma ; and gentle , gentile , genteel and jaunty all come from the Latin gentilis ; etc).

Since the expansion of global trade, and particularly since British colonialism opened up rich new sources (see the page on Late Modern English ), a huge number of words have been adopted into English from a great diversity of different languages. In a reverse process, many English words have also been adopted by other countries (see the section on Reverse Loanwords in English Today ).

By Adding Prefixes and Suffixes

The ability to add affixes, whether prefixes (e.g. com- , con- , de- , ex- , inter- , pre- , pro- , re- , sub- , un- , etc) and suffixes (e.g. -al , -ence , -er , -ment , -ness , -ship , -tion , -ate , -ed , -ize , -able , -ful , -ous , -ive , -ly , -y , etc) makes English extremely flexible. This process, referred to as agglutination, is a simple way to completely alter or subtly revise the meanings of existing words, to create other parts of speech out of words (e.g. verbs from nouns, adverbs form adjectives, etc), or to create completely new words from new roots. There are very few rules in the addition of affixes in English, and Anglo-Saxon affixes can be attached to Latin or Greek roots, or vice versa. An extreme example is the word incomprehensibility , which is based on the simple root -hen- (original from Indo-European root word ghend- meaning to grasp or seize) with no less than 5 affixes: in- (not), com- (with), pre- (before), -ible (capable) and -ity (being).

However, the sheer variety and number of possible affixes in English can lead to some confusion. For instance, there is no single standard method for something as basic as making a noun into an adjective ( -able , -al , -ous and -y are just some of the possibilities). There are at least nine different negation prefixes ( a- , anti- , dis- , il- , im- , in- , ir- , non- and un- ), and it is almost impossible for a non-native speaker to predict which is to be used with which root word. To make matters worse, some apparently negative forms do not even negate the meanings of their roots (e.g. flammable and inflammable , habitable and inhabitable , ravel and unravel ).

Some affix additions are surprisingly recent. Officialdom and boredom joined the ancient word kingdom as recently as the 20th Century, and apolitical as the negation of political did not appear until 1952. Adding affixes remains the simplest and perhaps the commonest method of creating new words.

By Truncation or Clipping

Some words arise simply as shortened forms of longer words ( exam , gym , lab , bus , van , vet , fridge , bra , wig , curio , pram , taxi , rifle , canter , phone and burger are some obvious and well-used examples). Perhaps less obvious is the derivation of words like mob (from the Latin phrase mobile vulgus , meaning a fickle crowd), goodbye (a shortening of God-be-with-you ) and hello (a shortened form of the Old English for “ whole be thou ”).

Leaving aside the common English practice of contracting multiple words like do not , you are , there will and that would into the single words don’t , you’re , there’ll and that’d , there are many other examples where multiple words or phrases have been contracted into single words (e.g. daisy was once a flower called day’s eye ; shepherd was sheep herd ; lord was originally loaf-ward ; fortnight was fourteen-night ; etc).

Acronyms are another example of this technique. While most acronyms (e.g. USA , IMF , OPEC , etc) remain as just a series of initial letters, some have been formed into words (e.g. laser from l ight a mplification by s timulated e mmission of r adiation , radar from ra dio d etection a nd r anging ); quasar from qua si-stell ar radio source ; scuba from s elf- c ontained u nderwater b reathing a pparatus ; etc).

By Fusing or Compounding Existing Words

Like many languages, English allows the formation of compound words by fusing together shorter words (e.g. airport , seashore , fireplace , footwear , wristwatch , landmark , flowerpot , etc), although it is not taken to the extremes of German or Dutch where extremely long and unwieldy word chains are commonplace. The concatenation of words in English may even allow for different meanings depending on the order of combination (e.g. houseboat / boathouse , basketwork / workbasket , casebook / bookcase , etc).

The root words may be run together with no separation (as in the examples above), or they may be hyphenated (e.g. self-discipline , part-time , mother-in-law ) or even left as separate words (e.g. fire hydrant , commander in chief ), although the rules for such constructions are unclear at best.

During the English Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution, compounding classical elements of Greek and Latin (e.g. photograph , telephone , etc) was a very common method of English word formation, and the process continues even today. A large part of the scientific and technical lexicon of English consists of such classical compounds.

Sometimes words or phonemes are blended rather than combined whole, forming a “portmanteau word” with two meanings packed into one word, or with a meaning intermediate between the two constituent words (e.g. brunch , which blends breakfast and lunch ; motel , which blends motor and hotel ; electrocute , which blends electric and execute ; smog , which blends smoke and fog ; guesstimate , which blends guess and estimate ; telethon , which blends telephone and marathon ; chocoholic , which blends chocolate and alcoholic ; etc). Lewis Carroll was perhaps the first to deliberately use this technique for literary effect, when he introduced new words like slithy , frumious , galumph , etc, in his poetry in the 19th Century.

By Changing the Meaning of Existing Words

The drift of word meanings over time often arises, often but not always due to catachresis (the misuse, either deliberate or accidental, of words). By some estimates, over half of all words adopted into English from Latin have changed their meaning in some way over time, often drastically. For example, smart originally meant sharp, cutting or painful; handsome merely meant easily-handled (and was generally derogatory); bully originally meant darling or sweetheart; sad meant full, satiated or satisfied; and insult meant to boast, brag or triumph in an insolent way. A more modern example is the changing meaning of gay from merry to homosexual (and, in some circles in more recent years, to stupid or bad).

Some words have changed their meanings many times. Nice originally meant stupid or foolish; then, for a time, it came to mean lascivious or wanton; it then went through a whole host of alternative meanings (including extravagant, elegant, strange, slothful, unmanly, luxurious, modest, slight, precise, thin, shy, discriminating and dainty), before settling down into its modern meaning of pleasant and agreeable in the late 18th Century. Conversely, silly originally meant blessed or happy, and then passed through intermediate meanings of pious, innocent, harmless, pitiable, feeble and feeble-minded, before finally ending up as foolish or stupid. Buxom originally meant obedient to God in Middle English, but it passed through phases of meaning humble and submissive, obliging and courteous, ready and willing, bright and lively, and healthy and vigorous, before settling on its current very specific meaning relating to a plump and well-endowed woman.

Some words have become much more specific than their original meanings. For instance, starve originally just mean to die, but is now much more specific; a forest was originally any land used for hunting, regardless of whether it was covered in trees; deer once referred to any animal, not just the specific animal we now associate with the word; girl was once a young person of either sex; and meat originally covered all kinds of food (as in the phrase “meat and drink”).

Some words came to mean almost the complete opposite of their original meanings. For instance, counterfeit used to mean a legitimate copy; brave once implied cowardice; crafty was originally a term of praise; cute used to mean bow-legged; enthusiasm and zeal were both once disparaging words; manufacture originally meant to make by hand; awful meant deserving of awe; egregious originally connoted eminent or admirable; artificial was a positive description meaning full of skilful artifice; etc.

A related category is where an existing word comes to be used with another grammatical function, often a different part of speech, a process known as functional shift. Examples include: the creation of the nouns a commute , a bore and a swim from the original verbs to commute , to bore and to swim ; the creation of the verbs to bottle , to catalogue and to text from the original nouns bottle , catalogue and text ; the creation of the verbs to dirty , to empty and to dry from the original adjectives dirty , empty and dry , etc. Modern language purists often condemn such developments, although they have occurred throughout the history of English, and in some cases may even reclaim the original sense of a word (e.g. impact was originally introduced as a verb, then established itself predominantly as a noun, and has only recently begun to be used a verb once more).

According to the “Oxford English Dictionary” , there are at least 350 words in English dictionaries (most of them thankfully quite obscure) that owe their existence purely to typographical errors or other misrenderings.

There are many more words, often in quite common use, that have arisen over time due to mishearings (e.g. shamefaced from the original shamefast , penthouse from pentice , sweetheart from sweetard , buttonhole from button-hold , etc).

Mrs. Mapalprop, a character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1775 play “The Rivals” , was famous for her “malapropisms” like illiterate , reprehend , etc, but these never gained common currency. Likewise, it seems unlikely that “Bushisms” (named for US President Bush’s unfortunate tendency to mangle the language) like misunderestimate , or Sarah Palin’s refudiate will ever become part of the everyday language, although there are many who would argue that they deserve to.

Many misused words (as opposed to newly-coined words) have, for better or worse, become so widely used in their new context that they may be considered to be generally accepted, particularly in the USA, although many strict grammarians insist on their distinctness (e.g. alternate to mean alternative , momentarily to mean presently , disinterested to mean uninterested , i.e. to mean e.g. , flaunt to mean flout , historic to mean historical , imply to mean infer , etc).

By Back-Formation

Some words are “back-formed”, where a new word is formed by removing an actual, or often just a supposed or incorrectly identified, affix. A good example of back-formation is the old word pease , which was mistakenly assumed to be a plural, and thus led to the creation of a new “singular” word, pea . Similarly, asset was back-formed from the singular noun assets (originally from the Anglo-Norman asetz ).

More often, though, a new word for a different part of speech is derived form an older form (e.g. laze from lazy , beg from beggar , greed from greedy , rove from rover , burgle from burglar , edit from editor , difficult from difficulty , resurrect from resurrection , insert from insertion , project from projection , grovel from groveling , sidle from sideling or sidelong , etc).

By Imitation of Sounds

Words may be formed by the deliberate imitation of sounds they describe (onomatopoeia). Often this kind of onomatopoeic formation is surprisingly ancient, and Old English literature is usually described as highly onomatopoeic, alliterative and percussive. Sometimes, the imitation may have originally occurred in a source language, and only later borrowed into English, and by its very nature sound imitation tends to result in similar cognates in several languages. Some philologists have suggested that the first human languages developed as imitations of natural sounds (so-called “bow-wow theories”), and imitative abilities certainly seem to have played some role in the evolution of language.

Examples include boo , bow-wow , tweet , boom , tinkle , rattle , buzz , click , hiss , bang , plop , cuckoo , quack , beep , etc, but there are many many more. Some words, like squirm for example, are not strictly onomatopoeic but are nevertheless imitative to some extent (e.g like a worm)

By Transfer of Proper Nouns

A surprising number of words have been created by the transfer of the proper names of people, places and things into words which then become part of the generalized vocabulary of the language, also known as eponyms. Examples include maverick (after the American cattleman, Samuel Augustus Maverick); saxophone (after the Belgian musical-instrument maker, Adolphe Sax); quisling (after the pro-Nazi Norwegian leader, Vidkun Quisling); sandwich (after the fourth Earl of Sandwich); silhouette (after the French finance minister, Etienne de Silhouette); kafkaesque (after the Czech novelist, Franz Kafka); quixotic (after the romantic, impractical hero of a Cervantes novel); boycott (after Charles Boycott, the shunned Irish land agent for an absentee landlord); etc. Other common eponyms include biro , bloomers , boffin , chauvinism , diesel , galvanize , guillotine , leotard , lesbian , lynch , marathon , mesmerize , svengali , mentor , odyssey , atlas , sadism , shrapnel , spartan , teddy , wellington , etc, as well as some less obvious ones like panic , maudlin , dunce , bugger , currant , tawdry , doily and hooligan .

Many terms for political, philosophical or religious doctrines are based on the names of their founders or chief exponents (e.g. Marxism , Aristotelianism , Platonic , stoic , Christianity , etc). Similarly, many scientific terms and units of measurement are named after their inventors (e.g. ampere , angstrom , joule , watt , etc).> Increasingly, in the 20th Century, specific brand names have become generalized descriptions (e.g. hoover , kleenex , xerox , aspirin , google , etc).

Sometimes, portmanteau words (see Fusing and Compounding Words above) may be produced by joining together proper nouns with common nouns, such as in the case of gerrymandering , a word combining the politically-contrived re-districting practices of Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry with the salamander -shaped outline one of the districts he created.

Richard is an English teacher with over 25 years of experience. He has dedicated his life and career to his passion for English, literature, and pedagogy, guiding multiple generations of students on their journey to discovery.

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6.6 Creating New Words

Check Yourself

Video script.

Back in Chapter 1 we learned that mental grammar is generative , that is, it allows users to create, or generate, brand new words and sentences that have never been spoken before. And in fact, one of the fastest ways that languages change, and the easiest way to observe, is by new words entering the language.

There are all kinds of different ways that new words can make their way into a language. It’s possible to coin a new word, that is, to create a completely new form that hasn’t existed before. So I made up this form vrang ; I don’t know what it means because I just made it up. But that was pretty hard to do — any new form I tried to make up turned out to have some obscure definition. So brand new coinages are possible, but they don’t actually happen very often.

One way that English gets a lot of new words is by borrowing them from other languages. For example, the Welsh word hiraeth means longing or yearning. It’s become common enough for English-speakers to use this Welsh word that in 2020, the Oxford English Dictionary added it. You can probably think of many other common English words that started out as borrowings from other languages and became deeply embedded in the English lexicon, like anime , from Japanese, limousine from French, and boomerang from Australian Indigenous languages.

Of course, one of the most obvious ways to derive a new words is with an affix. You might recognize the suffix – ology , which usually means “the study of”. So mythology involves studying myths, criminology is the study of criminality, and epidemiology is the study of epidemics. The Oxford English Dictionary recently added garbageology , the study of a society or community by investigating what people consider to be garbage.

In English, affixation is one of the most productive ways to derive new words: No matter what the word is, you can almost always add an affix to derive a new, related word from it. Some other new affixed words that have found their way into the dictionary are enoughness , farmette (a small farm), and unfathom .

Another extremely productive way of deriving new words in English is by compounding , that is, by taking two existing words, both of which are free morphemes, and sticking them together. For example, the year 2020 saw the words plant-based , jerkweed , and delete key added to the dictionary. You can learn more about compounds in Chapter 7.

So we can say that productivity is a property of morphological processes in the grammar of a language. A given process is productive if it’s one that the language uses a lot, and uses to generate new forms. For example, in English the plural morpheme spelled – s is extremely common, and we see it on words like socks , cars , bananas , stars , and thousands of others. In contrast, a plural affix – en is very rare in English: we see it on the plural forms children , oxen , and the very old-fashioned word brethren , but pretty much nowhere else. And if we coin a new word, like vrang , and then decide we have more than one vrang, the plural we use is going to be vrangs , not vrangen .

If you look through the lists of new words that get added to dictionaries each year, you’ll see that besides affixation and compounding, there are other morphological processes that occur in English. Here are some of them.

One thing that English does a lot is take a word from one syntactic category and just move it to another category with a new meaning. For example, the old meaning of ghost is the noun meaning, and then there’s the newer verb meaning, where if you ghost someone you just stop replying to their messages and kind of disappear from their life. Not very nice! Likewise, catfish and sundown have newer, verb meanings that are different from their original compound noun meanings.

Acronyms pretty frequently make their way into English and some of them stick around, especially in typed form online, like a link that’s not-safe-for-work, the classic LOL , and of course, “too long ,didn’t read”.

Clipping happens when we take a long word and just clip part of it off. Usually the meaning doesn’t change, but often the clipped form becomes much more frequent then the long form. Does anyone even know that fax is shortened from facsimile? And certainly no-one talks about electronic mail anymore.

A few years ago clipping had a brief moment in the way some young people talked, so you might have an outfit that’s totes adorbs , or a relaish that’s not serious, just cazh . This trend seems to have lost its popularity, the way language fads often do.

The word-formation process that I’ve left for last is my favourite because I find a lot of them so funny. That’s the blend , or portmanteau , the process whereby two words are kind of jammed together, but not in a compound. Instead some parts of the two words overlap with each other, like when spoon and fork combine to make spork . The best blends, the ones that stick around in the language and become permanent, seem to share a syllable like the second syllable in both hungry and angry , or at least share some segments and the rhythmic pattern, like athleisure . And then there are some that just seem to be trying too hard, peanutritious , Christmasketball , and (shudder) covidpreneur . I’m no prescriptivist, but I hope these words die a quick death.

All these words are examples of the generativity of grammar. Languages are constantly adding new words, using the productive morphological processes that are part of the grammar. Pay attention to the new words you discover as you read and listen, and see if you can figure out how they’re formed.

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51 6.6 Creating New Words

Check Yourself

Video script.

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How to Build Vocabulary You Can Actually Use in Speech and Writing?

Updated on Nov 12, 2023

This post comes from my experience of adding more than 8,000 words and phrases to my vocabulary in a way that I can actually use them on the fly in my speech and writing. Some words, especially those that I haven’t used for long time, may elude me, but overall the recall & use works quite well.

That’s why you build vocabulary, right? To use in speech and writing. There are no prizes for building list of words you can’t use. (The ultimate goal of vocabulary-building is to use words in verbal communication where you’ve to come up with an appropriate word in split second. It’s not to say that it’s easy to come up with words while writing, but in writing you can at least afford to think.)

This post also adopts couple of best practices such as

Spaced repetition,
Deliberate Practice,
Begin with end in mind, and
Build on what you already know

In this post, you’ll learn how you too can build such vocabulary, the one you can actually use. However, be warned. It’s not easy. It requires consistent work. But the rewards are more than worth the squeeze.

Since building such vocabulary is one of the most challenging aspects of English Language, you’ll stand out in crowd when you use precise words and, the best part, you can use this sub-skill till you’re in this world, long after you retire professionally. (Doesn’t this sound so much better when weighed against today’s reality where most professional skills get outdated in just few years?)

You may have grossly overestimated the size of your vocabulary

Once your understand the difference between active and passive vocabulary, you’ll realize that size of your vocabulary isn’t what you think it to be.

Active vs. Passive vocabulary

Words that you can use in speech and writing constitute your active vocabulary (also called functional vocabulary). You, of course, understand these words while reading and listening as well. Think of words such as eat , sell , drink , see , and cook .

But how about words such as munch , outsmart , salvage , savagery , and skinny ? Do you use these words regularly while speaking and writing? Unlikely. Do you understand meaning of these words while reading and listening? Highly likely. Such words constitute your passive vocabulary (also called recognition vocabulary). You can understand these words while reading and listening, but you can’t use them while speaking and writing.

Your active vocabulary is a tiny subset of your passive vocabulary:

(While the proportion of the two inner circles – active and passive vocabulary – bears some resemblance to reality, the outer rectangle is not proportionate because of paucity of space. In reality, the outer rectangle is much bigger, representing hundreds of thousands of words.)

Note : Feel free to use the above and other images in the post, using the link of this post for reference/attribution.

Many mistakenly believe that they’ve strong vocabulary because they can understand most words when reading and listening. But the real magic, the real use of vocabulary is when you use words in speech and writing. If you evaluate your vocabulary against this yardstick – active vs. passive – your confidence in your vocabulary will be shaken.

Why build vocabulary – a small exercise?

You would be all too aware of cases where people frequently pause while speaking because they can’t think of words for what they want to say. We can easily spot such extreme cases.

What we fail to spot, however, are less extreme, far more common cases where people don’t pause, but they use imprecise words and long-winding explanations to drive their message.

The bridge was destroyed (or broken) by the flooded river.

The bridge was washed away by the flooded river.

Although both convey the message, the second sentence stands out because of use of precise phrase.

What word(s) best describe what’s happening in the picture below?

Image source

Not the best response.

A better word is ‘emptied’. Even ‘dumped’ is great.

A crisp description of the above action would be: “The dumper emptied (or dumped) the stones on the roadside.”

What about this?

‘Took out grapes’.

‘Plucked grapes’ is far better.

If you notice, these words – wash away , empty , dump , and pluck – are simple. We can easily understand them while reading and listening, but rarely use them (with the possible exception of empty ) in speech or writing. Remember, active vs. passive vocabulary?

If you use such precise words in your communication you’ll stand out in crowd.

Little wonder, studies point to a correlation between strength of vocabulary and professional success. Earl Nightingale, a renowned self-help expert and author, in his 20-year study of college graduates found :

Without a single exception, those who had scored highest on the vocabulary test given in college, were in the top income group, while those who had scored the lowest were in the bottom income group.

He also refers to a study by Johnson O’Connor, an American educator and researcher, who gave vocabulary tests to executive and supervisory personnel in 39 large manufacturing companies. According to this study:

Presidents and vice presidents averaged 236 out of a possible 272 points; managers averaged 168; superintendents, 140; foremen, 114; floor bosses, 86. In virtually every case, vocabulary correlated with executive level and income.

Though there are plenty of studies linking professional success with fluency in English overall, I haven’t come across any study linking professional success with any individual component – grammar and pronunciation, for example – of English language other than vocabulary.

You can make professional success a motivation to improve your active vocabulary.

Let’s dive into the tactics now.

How to build vocabulary you can use in speech and writing?

(In the spirit of the topic of this section, I’ve highlighted words that I’ve shifted from my passive to active vocabulary in red font . I’ve done this for only this section, lest the red font become too distracting.)

Almost all of us build vocabulary through the following two-step process:

Step 1 : We come across new words while reading and listening. Meanings of many of these words get registered in our brains – sometimes vaguely, sometimes precisely – through the context in which we see these words. John Rupert Firth, a leading figure in British linguistics during the 1950s, rightly said , “You shall know a word by the company it keeps.”

Many of these words then figure repeatedly in our reading and listening and gradually, as if by osmosis , they start taking roots in our passive vocabulary.

Step 2 : We start using some of these words in our speech and writing. (They are, as discussed earlier, just a small fraction of our passive vocabulary.) By and large, we stay in our comfort zones, making do with this limited set of words.

Little wonder, we add to our vocabulary in trickle . In his book Word Power Made Easy , Norman Lewis laments the tortoise-like rate of vocabulary-building among adults:

Educational testing indicates that children of ten who have grown up in families in which English is the native language have recognition [passive] vocabularies of over twenty thousand words. And that these same ten-year-olds have been learning new words at a rate of many hundreds a year since the age of four . In astonishing contrast, studies show that adults who are no longer attending school increase their vocabularies at a pace slower than twenty-five to fifty words annually .

Adults improve passive vocabulary at an astonishingly meagre rate of 25-50 words a year. The chain to acquire active vocabulary is getting broken at the first step itself – failure to read or listen enough (see Step 1 we just covered). Most are not even reaching the second step, which is far tougher than the first. Following statistic from National Spoken English Skills Report by Aspiring Minds (sample of more than 30,000 students from 500+ colleges in India) bears this point:

State of vocabulary among college students

Only 33 percent know such simple words! They’re not getting enough inputs.

Such vocabulary-acquisition can be schematically represented as:

Limited inputs = Small Active Vocabulary

The problem here is at both the steps of vocabulary acquisition:

Not enough inputs (represented by funnel filled only little) and
Not enough exploration and use of words to convert inputs into active vocabulary (represented by few drops coming out of the funnel)

Here is what you can do to dramatically improve your active vocabulary:

1. Get more inputs (reading and listening)

That’s a no-brainer. The more you read,

the more new words you come across and
the more earlier-seen words get reinforced

If you’ve to prioritize between reading and listening purely from the perspective of building vocabulary, go for more reading, because it’s easier to read and mark words on paper or screen. Note that listening will be a more helpful input when you’re working on your speaking skills .

So develop the habit to read something 30-60 minutes every day. It has benefits far beyond just vocabulary-building .

If you increase your inputs, your vocabulary-acquisition funnel will look something like:

More inputs but no other steps result in larger active vocabulary.

2. Gather words from your passive vocabulary for deeper exploration

The reading and listening you do, over months and years, increase the size of your passive vocabulary. There are plenty of words, almost inexhaustible, sitting underutilized in your passive vocabulary. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could move many of them to your active vocabulary? That would be easier too because you don’t have to learn them from scratch. You already understand their meaning and usage, at least to some extent. That’s like plucking – to use the word we’ve already overused – low hanging fruits.

While reading and listening, note down words that you’re already familiar with, but you don’t use them (that is they’re part of your passive vocabulary). We covered few examples of such words earlier in the post – pluck , dump , salvage , munch , etc. If you’re like most, your passive vocabulary is already large, waiting for you to shift some of it to your active vocabulary. You can also note down completely unfamiliar words, but only in exceptional cases.

To put what I said in the previous paragraph in more concrete terms, you may ask following two questions to decide which words to note down for further exploration:

Do you understand the meaning of the word from the context of your reading or listening?
Do you use this word while speaking and writing?

If the answer is ‘yes’ to the first question and ‘no’ to the second, you can note down the word.

3. Explore the words in an online dictionary

Time to go a step further than seeing words in context while reading.

You need to explore each word (you’ve noted) further in a dictionary. Know its precise meaning(s). Listen to pronunciation and speak it out loud, first individually and then as part of sentences. (If you’re interested in the topic of pronunciation, refer to the post on pronunciation .) And, equally important, see few sentences where the word has been used.

Preferably, note down the meaning(s) and few example sentences so that you can practice spaced repetition and retain them for long. Those who do not know what spaced repetition is, it is the best way to retain things in your long-term memory . There are number of options these days to note words and other details about them – note-taking apps and good-old word document. I’ve been copying-pasting on word document and taking printouts. For details on how I practiced spaced repetition, refer to my experience of adding more than 8,000 words to my vocabulary.

But why go through the drudgery of noting down – and going through, probably multiple times – example sentences? Why not just construct sentences straight after knowing the meaning of the word?

Blachowicz, Fisher, Ogle, and Watts-Taffe, in their paper , point out the yawning gap between knowing the meaning of words and using them in sentences:

Research suggests that students are able to select correct definitions for unknown words from a dictionary, but they have difficulty then using these words in production tasks such as writing sentences using the new words.

If only it was easy. It’s even more difficult in verbal communication where, unlike in writing, you don’t have the luxury of pausing and recalling appropriate words.

That’s why you need to focus on example sentences.

Majority of those who refer dictionary, however, restrict themselves to meaning of the word. Few bother to check example sentences. But they’re at least as much important as meaning of the word, because they teach you how to use words in sentences, and sentences are the building blocks of speech and writing.

If you regularly explore words in a dictionary, your vocabulary-acquisition funnel will look something like:

More inputs + Exploration in a dictionary = Larger Active Vocabulary

More inputs combined with exploration of words result in even larger active vocabulary.

After you absorb the meaning and example sentences of a word, it enters a virtuous cycle of consolidation. The next time you read or listen the word, you’ll take note of it and its use more actively , which will further reinforce it in your memory. In contrast, if you didn’t interact with the word in-depth, it’ll pass unnoticed, like thousands do every day. That’s cascading effect.

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4. Use them

To quote Maxwell Nurnberg and Morris Rosenblum from their book All About Words :

In vocabulary building, the problem is not so much finding new words or even finding out what they mean. The problem is to remember them, to fix them permanently in your mind. For you can see that if you are merely introduced to words, you will forget them as quickly as you forget the names of people you are casually introduced to at a crowded party – unless you meet them again or unless you spend some time with them.

This is the crux. Use it or lose it.

Without using, the words will slowly slip away from your memory.

Without using the words few times, you won’t feel confident using them in situations that matter.

If you use the words you explored in dictionary, your vocabulary-acquisition funnel will look something like:

More inputs + Exploration + Use = Largest Active Vocabulary

More inputs combined with exploration of words and use of them result in the largest active vocabulary.

Here is a comparison of the four ways in which people acquire active vocabulary:

The big question though is how to use the words you’re exploring. Here are few exercises to accomplish this most important step in vocabulary-building process.

Vocabulary exercises: how to use words you’re learning

You can practice these vocabulary activities for 10-odd minutes every day, preferably during the time you waste such as commuting or waiting, to shift more and more words you’ve noted down to your active vocabulary. I’ve used these activities extensively, with strong results to boot.

1. Form sentences and speak them out during your reviews

When you review the list of words you’ve compiled, take a word as cue without looking at its meaning and examples, recall its meaning, and, most importantly, speak out 4-5 sentences using the word. It’s nothing but a flashcard in work. If you follow spaced repetition diligently, you’ll go through this process at least few times. I recommend reading my experience of building vocabulary (linked earlier) to know how I did this part.

Why speaking out, though? (If the surroundings don’t permit, it can be whisper as well.)

Speaking out the word as part of few sentences will serve the additional purpose of making your vocal cords accustomed to new words and phrases.

2. Create thematic webs

When reviewing, take a word and think of other words related to that word. Web of words on a particular theme, in short, and hence the name ‘thematic web’. These are five of many, many thematic webs I’ve actually come up in my reviews:

(Note: Name of the theme is in bold. Second, where there are multiple words, I’ve underlined the main word.)

If I come across the word ‘gourmet’ in my review, I’ll also quickly recall all the words related with food: tea strainer, kitchen cabinet, sink, dish cloth, wipe dishes, rinse utensils, immerse beans in water, simmer, steam, gourmet food, sprinkle salt, spread butter, smear butter, sauté, toss vegetables, and garnish the sweet dish

Similarly, for other themes:

Prognosis, recuperate, frail, pass away, resting place, supplemental air, excruciating pain, and salubrious

C. Showing off

Showy, gaudy, extravaganza, over the top, ostentatious, and grandstanding

D. Crowd behavior

Restive, expectant, hysteria, swoon, resounding welcome, rapturous, jeer, and cheer

E. Rainfall

Deluge, cats and dogs, downpour, cloudburst, heavens opened, started pouring , submerged, embankment, inundate, waterlogged, soaked to the skin, take shelter, run for a cover, torrent, and thunderbolt

(If you notice, words in a particular theme are much wider in sweep than just synonyms.)

It takes me under a minute to complete dozen-odd words in a theme. However, in the beginning, when you’re still adding to your active vocabulary in tons, you’ll struggle to go beyond 2-3 simple words when thinking out such thematic lists. That’s absolutely fine.

Why thematic web, though?

Because that’s how we recall words when speaking or writing. (If you flip through Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis, a popular book on improving vocabulary, you’ll realize that each of its chapters represents a particular idea, something similar to a theme.) Besides, building a web also quickly jogs you through many more words.

3. Describe what you see around

In a commute or other time-waster, look around and speak softly an apt word in a split second for whatever you see. Few examples:

If you see grass on the roadside, you can say verdant or luxurious .
If you see a vehicle stopping by the roadside, you can say pull over .
If you see a vehicle speeding away from other vehicles, you can say pull away .
If you see a person carrying a load on the road side, you can say lug and pavement .

Key is to come up with these words in a flash. Go for speed, not accuracy. (After all, you’ll have similar reaction time when speaking.) If you can’t think of an appropriate word for what you see instantaneously – and there will be plenty in the beginning – skip it.

This vocabulary exercise also serves an unintended, though important, objective of curbing the tendency to first think in the native language and then translating into English as you speak. This happens because the spontaneity in coming up with words forces you to think directly in English.

Last, this exercise also helps you assess your current level of vocabulary (for spoken English). If you struggle to come up with words for too many things/ situations, you’ve job on your hands.

4. Describe what one person or object is doing

Another vocabulary exercise you can practice during time-wasters is to focus on a single person and describe her/ his actions, as they unfold, for few minutes. An example:

He is skimming Facebook on his phone. OK, he is done with it. Now, he is taking out his earphones. He has plugged them into his phone, and now he is watching some video. He is watching and watching. There is something funny there in that video, which makes him giggle . Simultaneously, he is adjusting the bag slung across his shoulder.

The underlined words are few of the new additions to my active vocabulary I used on the fly when focusing on this person.

Feel free to improvise and modify this process to suit your unique conditions, keeping in mind the fundamentals such as spaced repetition, utilizing the time you waste, and putting what you’re learning to use.

To end this section, I must point out that you need to build habit to perform these exercises for few minutes at certain time(s) of the day. They’re effective when done regularly.

Why I learnt English vocabulary this way?

For few reasons:

1. I worked backwards from the end result to prepare for real-world situations

David H. Freedman learnt Italian using Duolingo , a popular language-learning app, for more than 70 hours in the buildup to his trip to Italy. A week before they were to leave for Rome, his wife put him to test. She asked how would he ask for his way from Rome airport to the downtown. And how would he order in a restaurant?

David failed miserably.

He had become a master of multiple-choice questions in Italian, which had little bearing on the real situations he would face.

We make this mistake all the time. We don’t start from the end goal and work backwards to design our lessons and exercises accordingly. David’s goal wasn’t to pass a vocabulary test. It was to strike conversation socially.

Coming back to the topic of vocabulary, learning meanings and examples of words in significant volume is a challenge. But a much bigger challenge is to recall an apt word in split second while speaking. (That’s the holy grail of any vocabulary-building exercise, and that’s the end goal we want to achieve.)

The exercises I described earlier in the post follow the same path – backwards from the end.

2. I used proven scientific methods to increase effectiveness

Looking at just a word and recalling its meaning and coming up with rapid-fire examples where that word can be used introduced elements of deliberate practice, the fastest way to build neural connection and hence any skill. (See the exercises we covered.) For the uninitiated, deliberate practice is the way top performers in any field practice .

Another proven method I used was spaced repetition.

3. I built on what I already knew to progress faster

Covering mainly passive vocabulary has made sure that I’m building on what I already know, which makes for faster progress.

Don’t ignore these when building vocabulary

Keep in mind following while building vocabulary:

1. Use of fancy words in communication make you look dumb, not smart

Don’t pick fancy words to add to your vocabulary. Use of such words doesn’t make you look smart. It makes your communication incomprehensible and it shows lack of empathy for the listeners. So avoid learning words such as soliloquy and twerking . The more the word is used in common parlance, the better it is.

An example of how fancy words can make a piece of writing bad is this review of movie , which is littered with plenty of fancy words such as caper , overlong , tomfoolery , hectoring , and cockney . For the same reason, Shashi Tharoor’s Word of the Week is not a good idea . Don’t add such words to your vocabulary.

2. Verbs are more important than nouns and adjectives

Verbs describe action, tell us what to do. They’re clearer. Let me explain this through an example.

In his book Start with Why , Simon Sinek articulates why verbs are more effective than nouns:

For values or guiding principles to be truly effective they have to be verbs. It’s not ‘integrity’, it’s ‘always do the right thing’. It’s not ‘innovation’, it’s ‘look at the problem from a different angle’. Articulating our values as verbs gives us a clear idea… we have a clear idea of how to act in any situation.

‘Always do the right thing’ is better than ‘integrity’ and ‘look at the problem from a different angle’ is better than ‘innovation’ because the former, a verb, in each case is clearer.

The same (importance of verb) is emphasized by L. Dee Fink in his book Creating Significant Learning Experiences in the context of defining learning goals for college students.

Moreover, most people’s vocabulary is particularly poor in verbs. Remember, the verbs from the three examples at the beginning of the post – wash away , dump , and pluck ? How many use them? And they’re simple.

3. Don’t ignore simple verbs

You wouldn’t bother to note down words such as slip , give , and move because you think you know them inside out, after all you’ve been using them regularly for ages.

I also thought so… until I explored few of them.

I found that majority of simple words have few common usages we rarely use. Use of simple words for such common usages will stand your communication skills out.

An example:

a. To slide suddenly or involuntarily as on a smooth surface: She slipped on the icy ground .

b. To slide out from grasp, etc.: The soap slipped from my hand .

c. To move or start gradually from a place or position: His hat slipped over his eyes .

d. To pass without having been acted upon or used: to let an opportunity slip .

e. To pass quickly (often followed by away or by): The years slipped by .

f. To move or go quietly, cautiously, or unobtrusively: to slip out of a room .

Most use the word in the meaning (a) and (b), but if you use the word for meaning (c) to (f) – which BTW is common – you’ll impress people.

Another example:

a. Without the physical presence of people in control: an unmanned spacecraft .

b. Hovering near the unmanned iPod resting on the side bar, stands a short, blond man.

c. Political leaders are vocal about the benefits they expect to see from unmanned aircraft.

Most use the word unmanned with a moving object such as an aircraft or a drone, but how about using it with an iPod (see (b) above).

4. Don’t ignore phrasal verbs. Get at least common idioms. Proverbs… maybe

4.1 phrasal verbs.

Phrasal verbs are verbs made from combining a main verb and an adverb or preposition or both. For example, here are few phrasal verbs of verb give :

We use phrasal verbs aplenty:

I went to the airport to see my friend off .

He could see through my carefully-crafted ruse.

I took off my coat.

The new captain took over the reins of the company on June 25.

So, don’t ignore them.

Unfortunately, you can’t predict the meaning of a phrasal verb from the main verb. For example, it’s hard to guess the meaning of take over or take off from take . You’ve to learn each phrasal verb separately.

What about idioms?

Compared to phrasal verbs, idioms are relatively less used, but it’s good to know the common ones. To continue the example of word give , here are few idioms derived from it:

Give and take

Give or take

Give ground

Give rise to

Want a list of common idioms? It’s here: List of 200 common idioms .

4.3 Proverbs

Proverbs are popular sayings that provide nuggets of wisdom. Example: A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

Compared to phrasal verbs and idioms, they’re much less used in common conversation and therefore you can do without them.

For the motivated, here is a list of common proverbs: List of 200 common proverbs .

5. Steal phrases, words, and even sentences you like

If you like phrases and sentences you come across, add them to your list for future use. I do it all the time and have built a decent repository of phrases and sentences. Few examples (underlined part is the key phrase):

The bondholders faced the prospect of losing their trousers .

The economy behaved more like a rollercoaster than a balloon . [Whereas rollercoaster refers to an up and down movement, balloon refers to a continuous expansion. Doesn’t such a short phrase express such a profound meaning?]

Throw enough spaghetti against the wall and some of it sticks .

You need blue collar work ethic to succeed in this industry.

He runs fast. Not quite .

Time to give up scalpel . Bring in hammer .

Note that you would usually not find such phrases in a dictionary, because dictionaries are limited to words, phrasal verbs, idioms, and maybe proverbs.

6. Commonly-used nouns

One of my goals while building vocabulary has been to learn what to call commonly-used objects (or nouns) that most struggle to put a word to.

To give an example, what would you call the following?

Answer: Tea strainer.

You would sound far more impressive when you say, “My tea strainer has turned blackish because of months of filtering tea.”

Than when you say, “The implement that filters tea has turned blackish because of months of filtering tea.”

What do you say?

More examples:

Saucer (We use it every day, but call it ‘plate’.)

Straight/ wavy/ curly hair

Corner shop

I’ll end with a brief reference to the UIDAI project that is providing unique biometric ID to every Indian. This project, launched in 2009, has so far issued a unique ID (popularly called Aadhaar card) to more than 1.1 billion people. The project faced many teething problems and has been a one big grind for the implementers. But once this massive data of billion + people was collected, so many obstinate, long-standing problems are being eased using this data, which otherwise would’ve been difficult to pull off. It has enabled faster delivery of scores of government and private services, checked duplication on many fronts, and brought in more transparency in financial and other transactions, denting parallel economy. There are many more. And many more are being conceived on top of this data.

At some level, vocabulary is somewhat similar. It’ll take effort, but once you’ve sizable active vocabulary, it’ll strengthen arguably the most challenging and the most impressive part of your communication. And because it takes some doing, it’s not easy for others to catch up.

Anil is the person behind content on this website, which is visited by 3,000,000+ learners every year. He writes on most aspects of English Language Skills. More about him here:

Such a comprehensive guide. Awesome…

I am using the note app and inbuilt dictionary of iPhone. I have accumulated over 1400 words in 1 year. Will definitely implement ideas from this blog.

Krishna, thanks. If you’re building vocabulary for using, then make sure you work it accordingly.

Building solid vocabulary is my new year’s resolution and you’ve perfectly captured the issues I’ve been facing, with emphasis on passive vocabulary building. So many vocab apps are multiple choice and thereby useless for this reason. Thanks so much for the exercises! I plan to put them to use!

It was everything that I need to boost my active vocabulary. Thank you so much for sharing all these precious pieces of information.

Anil sir, I am quiet satisfied the way you laid out everything possible that one needs to know from A-Z. Also, thanks for assuring me from your experience that applying this will work.

This post definitely blew me away…. I am impressed! Thank you so much for sharing such valuable information. It was exactly what I needed!

Amazing post! While reading this post, I am thinking about the person who developed this. I wanna give a big hug and thank you so much.

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33 Trending Words in English [2024]

The English language is very much alive and growing, with more new words added to the dictionary every year. Today, we’re going to learn 33 trending cool words in English that native speakers use all the time.

In this post, you’ll find a list of stylish English verbs, adverbs, nouns and adjectives along with their meanings and examples of how you can use them in real-life conversations.

1. To Chillax

4. facepalm, 5. binge watch, 6. mansplain, 9. weak sauce, 10. stan / to stan, 13. sriracha, 15. manspread, 17. fitspiration, 18. lookbook, 20. photobomb, 21. glamping, 22. side-eye, 23. staycation, 24. hellacious, 25. awesomesauce, 26. sober-curious, 28. agender, collocations, 29. sjw ( social justice warrior ), 30. mic drop, 31. beer o’clock, 32. dark web, 33. fast fashion.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

If you blend (mix) the words chill (relaxed) and relax , you get the verb to chillax.

This word has become more and more common on the internet over the past couple of years, and it simply means to relax, to become calm or to take it easy.

Although people use it almost with the same meaning as to relax, I find chillax has more of a sarcastic meaning, as in “wow, calm down, this isn’t so serious, you’re overreacting.”

No matter the meaning it can have for different people, remember that this word is used in slang, so don’t go telling your boss or your teacher to chillax!

Hey man, just chillax! It’s just a horror movie, not the end of the world!

Have you ever heard someone say something so embarrassing you even felt sorry for them?

Have you been present in a situation where someone was acting so awkwardly (strangely, embarrassingly, gracelessly) that you wished you were not there?

If so, then you were cringing big time!

To cringe means to feel embarrassed and ashamed about what someone is doing or saying. You can even cringe at yourself, but let’s be honest here, we normally cringe at other people.

His mum was dancing with his best friend and he couldn’t help but cringe.

I cringe every time I read her lovey-dovey comments.

In more recent times, you can even use cringe instead of the adjective cringy to describe something that makes you cringe:

That outfit is so cringe.

The meaning of the word ghost (when used as a noun) that most of us are familiar with is the spirit of a dead person, like the kind we often see appearing and disappearing in movies. Now the word ghost has a new, informal meaning that has to do with disappearing .

Used as a verb, to ghost means to suddenly cut off contact completely with someone (usually a romantic partner) by not answering their phone calls and text messages.

You’ll often hear it used in the past tense (ghosted)… since you don’t know you’ve been ghosted until it’s too late!

I haven’t heard from her in more than a week. She totally ghosted me.

Facepalm (you’ll also see it spelled as two words: face an d palm) is a new word that describes the act of covering your face with your hand when you’re in difficult or uncomfortable situations. It’s a pretty natural thing to do when we’re feeling embarrassed, frustrated or very disappointed.

He had to facepalm when his boss pointed out typos in his report after he’d checked it three times.

To binge watch is to watch many episodes of a TV series one after another without stopping. The word binge by itself means to overdo something.

I spent the whole weekend binge watching the TV series “Billions” with my roommate.

Similar to manspreading , the word mansplain (man + explain) refers to how some men explain things to a woman in a condescending (superior-seeming) way that sounds like he’s either better than her or he knows more than her.

Whenever he starts mansplaining , all the women in the room roll their eyes and stop paying attention.

Whatevs is an informal word that means whatever .

I’ve normally seen it used in sentences in which the speaker wants to express irony and show they don’t care about what’s happening or being said.

You’ll normally see whatevs as a standalone interjection or at the end of sentences:

“I don’t love you anymore.” “Whatevs… Bye!”

She didn’t give me the lipstick back, but whatevs.

Freegans and freeganism have been popular for years, but it’s only recently that we’ve gotten a word to describe who and what they are.

Simply put, a freegan is a person who tries to buy a little as possible, uses discarded things and/or (especially) food, and recycles everything they can. They’re environmentally conscious and friendly, and they do their best to reduce waste.

Although this is a positive thing for the Earth, some people take it to the extreme. It’s because of this that the words freegan and freeganism are normally surrounded by negative connotations (associations, suggestions).

He became a freegan five years ago and hasn’t bought food ever since.

You do not want to hear people calling you this.

It means something that is not good quality, or something that does not perform well.

The expression originates from the mild hot sauce at Taco Bell. It is a wanna-be sauce, since it is so weak that the spicy flavor is unnoticeable. It does not meet people’s expectations for hot sauce.

So, how was your date yesterday, man? Weak sauce , my man, weak sauce …

Stan can be used as a noun to describe a person and as a verb to describe an action.

A stan is a person who idolizes, loves to the point of obsession or is an overzealous (very devoted and loyal) celebrity fan.

To stan means to idolize, love obsessively or be an overzealous fan of a celebrity.

The slang word comes from the 2000 Eminem song titled “Stan,” which is about an obsessive fan whose love for a celebrity… well, let’s just say that it doesn’t end well.

Recently, this word has become much more common, and it can now be used in any context or situation where you want to say you love someone or something.

OMG (Oh My God)! I stan those clothes, Jenni!

I stan Katy. She’s my role model.

Sometimes, you might even see someone (usually online) say “we stan,” showing collective support (that is, support from everyone in the community).

B-day is just an informal shortened version of the word birthday. You can see it written on social media quite a lot, especially when wishing someone a happy birthday:

Happy b-day, John! Hope you have an awesome one!

The way to pronounce this word is BEE-dey .

A beardo is a person with a beard. Simple.

However, as often happens with other words like weirdo (an odd or eccentric person) it can have a pejorative (negative and unkind) meaning, especially if you put those two words together: weirdo beardo .

A weirdo beardo is a person with a beard who doesn’t have the best hygiene habits and is socially odd and awkward:

That weirdo beardo really needs a haircut!

If you love spicy food, you’ve probably heard of sriracha . It’s a Thai-inspired sauce made from a blend of hot chili peppers, garlic and spices that’s commonly used in cooking or as a dipping sauce.

Sriracha really adds a kick to your hamburger, but be sure you have a glass of water nearby!

Try saying “extra virgin olive oil” a few times. This is a type of high-quality oil that makes Italian food so very delicious, and it’s quite a mouthful to say, isn’t it?

But no worries, now we can shorten it to EVOO with the first letters of those words. Ah there, isn’t that easier to say?

Remember to grab a bottle of EVOO on your way home. I’m making pasta tonight.

Ever notice how some men sit with their legs so wide apart in public places that they take up more than one seat?

This behavior, commonly observed on public transportation such as trains and buses and in public waiting areas, is known as manspreading (man + spreading).

Wouldn’t it be nice if people would be more considerate about manspreading during busy times of the day?

Here’s another new word that has to do with food: froyo. That’s right, it’s not hard to figure out that froyo is short for frozen yogurt, a cold dessert that’s similar to ice cream and a bit healthier.

On a hot day, you can call me up for a froyo any time.

Every end of the year, we take time out to plan our goals for the new year. What can we do? Eat healthier? Work out more? Get more fit? Yes, but we need inspiration!

So we look around and, yes, we have a new word for that .

Fitspiration (fitness + inspiration) refers to the people, pictures and social media posts that inspire us to keep pushing ourselves and staying committed to our fitness goals.

I was pretty impressed that my co-worker had stuck a picture of Chris Hemsworth on his office wall for fitspiration .

Fashion designers make lookbooks —sets of photographs that promote their collections. The negative meaning can also indicate the photographs of pretentious people who can think only about fashion.

I saw your lookbook for this autumn. Everything looks beautiful!

You want to sound like you really know your coffee? Use this word, which is originally from Italian. It refers to the brownish, milky foam formed on the top of your fresh, hot, heavenly espresso. Latte artists make pretty designs out of crema .

One espresso with crema on top, please!

Remember the time you posed for that perfect photo (or so you thought!) only to find that someone spoiled it by appearing in view when the photo was taken?

That’s a photobomb . The unintended person is a photobomber . They could be either a random stranger just walking by, or a prankster deliberately photobombing you.

You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to avoid photobombs when we were taking pictures at the beach.

Those who don’t fancy camping in the outdoors with no proper facilities like toilets, etc. will be happy to know that there’s now a thing called glamping .

Glamping (glamorous + camping) refers to camping that comes with all of the modern facilities that you can think of like nice bathrooms, etc.

No, I won’t go camping with you. But if it’s glamping , I’m in.

Have you ever given someone a disapproving look with sideways glances of your eyes? This is called giving someone the side-eye to show you’re annoyed and don’t approve of them or their behavior.

I had good reason to give him the side-eye . He just kept yawning in front of me with his mouth open.

Ever taken vacation days from work and have nowhere to go? Well, if you have no travel plans, then spend your vacation at home and have a staycation (stay + vacation).

I go see the world every chance I get. So everyone was surprised that I’m having a staycation this holiday.

This word is a mix of the word hell and the suffix -cious, which is quite common in English (delicious, conscious, audacious, tenacious, etc.).

Hellacious can have different meanings, but it is normally used as an adjective meaning astonishing, remarkable or very difficult.

This word is obviously slang, so use it only in the appropriate contexts!

He got a hellacious amount of hate from his last post.

They got a hellacious time trying to leave the country in one piece.

Put together the words awesome and sauce and you will get awesomesauce, which basically has the same meaning as awesome with a pinch of even more awesomeness.

This slang word can be used in any informal situation, and it works like a normal adjective:

I’m reading an awesomesauce book about the influence of slang words in the English language. How am I doing?

This word is wonderful in a terrible sort of way. You could even say it makes you cringe.

Sober-curious can be used to describe a person who questions their drinking habits or wants to try to change them because of health or mental reasons.

I’ve only seen it used in very specific contexts and always related to drinking habits and alcoholism, so hopefully, you won’t have to use it very often.

He’s sober-curious and wants to try to not drink for one week.

Have you ever been hangry? I know I have. Hangry (hungry + angry) is when you’re in a bad mood and feeling frustrated because you need to eat right now.

I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. I’m hangry and you’re not going to like me very much.

People identify themselves as agender when they do not identify as male or female. They may identify with some male and female characteristics, or they may not identify with any gender characteristics at all.

I identify as agender .

The list of the new cool words in English doesn’t stop here, let’s look at the stylish English words known as collocations.

This is a noble term, but it is mostly used as a rude or sarcastic way to label activists, bloggers and social media commenters who get into hot debates with the aim to awaken other people.

These people usually promote socially progressive views. Socially progressive people usually want people to have more freedom, more justice and more equality. They believe that government and society exists to provide support and opportunities to people who need help.

However, social justice warriors are often said to take their opinions to extremes, argue aggressively and be offensive to people who do not agree with them. Of course, this is not always true.

Do you know that by refusing to neuter street cats in your area, you are responsible for the deaths of the kittens they will have? These little creatures will die of hunger and get killed by cars in traffic. You are a killer!

Oh, come on, don’t be such a SJW ! What have you done to help?

The term describes an act of intentionally dropping the microphone (also called a mic for short) after an impressive performance. In its metaphorical meaning, it means leaving a discussion after you achieve an absolute victory.

Just do not forget that “mic” is pronounced like the English first name “Mike.”

My presentation was so successful. It was the ultimate mic drop .

It’s the right time of day to start drinking beer. It usually indicates the end of working hours, but for some people it may be at any time of the day.

It’s almost beer o’clock , let’s finish all our work so we can leave, people!

This is the dark, scary part of the Internet we would all sometimes love to see. However, it is intentionally hidden from search engines with masked IP addresses. It is only accessible from a special web browser. This network exists between Tor servers and their clients.

If you do not understand those specific terms related to the Internet, that is okay. You will find many illegal and sketchy (weird, scary) things there, so you probably do not want to go anyway.

You are so mysterious. You look like someone who has access to the dark web .

In the ever-changing world of fashion, the term fast fashion refers to the concept of big-name designers and manufacturers such as H&M, Esprit and Levi’s introducing the latest fashion trends to stores at affordable prices.

It seems she’s on a tight budget and can’t afford anything but fast fashion .

So there you go, a list of exciting new cool words in English for you to start using today. Challenge yourself to master these stylish English words as quickly as possible. Remember, practice makes perfect. Happy practicing!

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127 big fancy words to sound smart and boost your eloquence

Karolina Assi

Everyone wants to sound smart and come across as someone that can express their thoughts eloquently. And even though you might have this fantastic ability in your native language, you may feel limited doing this in English if you’re beginning your journey in expanding your vocabulary with unusual or rarer words.

Fortunately, the English language has thousands of big words that will make you sound instantly more eloquent and knowledgeable.

These words will help you express yourself in a more elegant way by substituting the basic, everyday words with their more fancy synonyms. Learning those “big” words in English is also a great way to impress those around you - whether it’s at school, at work, or during your next date.

To help you take your English vocabulary to the next level, we’re prepared a list of 120+ big words to sound smart, with their meaning and an example of how to use them in context.

The do’s and don'ts of using big words in English

Throwing in a few fancy words into your conversations or monologue is a good idea to sound more eloquent and impress everyone around you.

It’s also a great way to sound smart when you don’t know what to say on a specific topic but want to make a good impression and appear more knowledgeable than you are (like this English student during his literature class ).

But there’s a fine line between using fancy words that truly make you sound eloquent and those that make you sound like you’re trying too hard.

Sometimes, using big words to sound smart may backfire, especially if you don’t really know what they mean. Then, you may end up saying something that makes no sense and leaving everyone in the room perplexed. Plus, using complex words you don’t understand can make you sound pompous - so tread the line between careful and carefree.

Use them only if you truly understand their meaning and know what context to use them in. But don’t use them mindlessly as it will result in an opposite effect to what you intended.

Aside from learning those fancy words and their meaning, another challenge lies in their pronunciation. If you choose those big words that are also hard to pronounce , like “epitome” or “niche,” you might end up saying something that makes everyone laugh (it wouldn’t be such a bad scenario!).

The point is: if you’re going to use fancy words to sound smart, learn their meaning, understand how to use them in context, and practice their pronunciation first.

Big words to sound smart and their meaning

The smartest way of sounding more eloquent when expressing yourself in English is to change basic, everyday words for their fancier versions. For instance, instead of saying “very big,” say “massive.” Instead of saying “detailed.” say “granular,” and instead of saying “not interesting,” say “banal.”

See? Using the word “granular” in a sentence will inevitably add more elegance to your speech and make you appear more fluent and eloquent.

The words we’ve chosen to include in the tables below follow this exact principle. Most of them are just a fancier version of a basic, simple word you’d normally use. Others are words used in a professional or academic setting that simply add more articulacy to your statement.

Fancy words you can use at work

The question isn’t whether you should learn a couple of fancy words you can use at work to impress your boss and coworkers. The question is, how do you use them without coming across as a pompous know-it-all, irritating everyone around you?

Well, it’s all about using them wisely. Don’t cram 10 fancy words into a simple sentence just to sound smarter. Only use them when they help you get your message across. If they don’t bring any value to your sentence, simply don’t use them.

In other words - don’t force it! Be natural.

With that said, here are some big words you can use at work.

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Clever words you might use academically

The academic setting does not only encourage you to sound smart. It forces you to. To get higher grades and convince your professors of your knowledge and eloquence, you need to elevate your vocabulary.

Whether it’s in written or spoken assignments, these words will help you express yourself in a more intelligent and elegant way while impressing your colleagues and professors.

Big interesting words you might use socially

Being the smartest person among your friends is surely a great boost for your ego. It can help you gain their approval, receive compliments, and maybe even get a date or two while hanging out at the bar with your friends.

But the other side of the coin is that using overly sophisticated words in a casual, social setting can make you appear pretentious and out of place. That’s why you need to be careful and not overdo it! If you do, you might only end up humiliating yourself, and that’s a terrible place to be in.

Here are 20+ big words in English you can use in social situations with their meaning and an example of a sentence you could say.

Impressive words you might use romantically

Even if you’re not a very romantic person, some occasions require a bit of romanticism. Using elegant words in your expressions of love and affection can make your romantic conversations and gestures more special and memorable.

Still, don’t use big words if you don’t mean them! You should always be sincere and genuine in your expressions. Remember that words hold tremendous power in inspiring emotions in those who receive them.

With that said, here are 30 big words you can use in a romantic setting to express your love and affection for your significant other or to take your relationship with the person you’re currently dating to the next level (congrats!).

Sophisticated words you might use when discussing art and literature

Are you an art or literature? These two areas often require eloquent vocabulary to describe them. At least, that is the sort of language that people expect to hear from someone who’s an avid reader and art connoisseur.

You might want to express how the allegory in that poem made you feel or the way the plot of the book has enthralled you to keep reading but lack the right words to do it. If so, here’s a list of 20+ words you can use to talk about art and literature in different contexts.

Fancy words you might use when talking about your hobbies

When talking about our hobbies, we want to come across as more knowledgeable than others. After all, they’re our special interests, and we naturally possess a greater deal of expertise in these areas.

Whether you’re into literature, movies, or sports, here are some fancy words you can use to describe your interests.

Make the Thesaurus your new best friend

In this article, we’ve only covered 126 big words. Understandably, we can’t include all the fancy words you might need in one article. There are simply too many!

But luckily, there’s a free online tool you can use to find the synonyms of everyday words to expand your vocabulary and make yourself sound smarter.

Can you take a guess?

That’s right - it’s the online Thesaurus . You’ve surely heard about it from your English teacher, but in case you haven’t, Thesaurus is a dictionary of synonyms and related concepts. It’s a great way to find synonyms of different words to spice up your oral or written statements and avoid repeating the same old boring words time and time again.

Choose your words wisely

Whether you’re using simple, everyday words in casual conversations or those big, fancy words in a professional or academic environment, remember one thing: words have power.

They’re spells that you cast (there’s a reason why it’s called “spelling”) onto yourself and those who you speak them to. The words you speak inspire emotions and shape how other people perceive you. But they also influence your own emotions and shape how you perceive yourself.

So choose them wisely.

Learn more about the fascinating English language on our English language blog here.

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20 new English words to improve your vocabulary in 2024

Expanding your vocabulary not only enhances your communication skills but also allows you to articulate your thoughts more precisely. As we step into 2024, it’s the perfect time to discover and incorporate new words into your lexicon.

In this blog post, we’ll introduce you to 20 intriguing English words that can elevate your language proficiency. Let’s dive in!

Serendipity (noun)

Definition: The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

I experienced serendipity when I found a rare book at the secondhand store.
Our meeting was pure serendipity; we never expected to cross paths in that small cafe.

How to use it:

I hope to encounter some serendipity during my travels this year.

Mellifluous (adjective)

Definition: (of a voice or words) Sweet or musical; pleasant to hear.

Her mellifluous voice captivated the audience during the concert.
The poet’s mellifluous verses resonated with the listeners.

The mellifluous melody of the song made it an instant favorite.

Ephemeral (adjective)

Definition: Lasting for a very short time.

The beauty of the cherry blossoms is ephemeral, lasting only a few weeks.
His fame proved to be ephemeral after the incident.

Life’s most precious moments can sometimes feel ephemeral.

Pernicious (adjective)

Definition: Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.

Gossip can have a pernicious impact on relationships.
The pernicious influence of social media on mental health is a growing concern.

It’s essential to be aware of pernicious habits that can negatively affect your well-being.

Quixotic (adjective)

Definition: Extremely idealistic; unrealistic and impractical.

His quixotic vision of a utopian society faced criticism for its impracticality.
Embarking on a quixotic quest, she aimed to change the world with kindness.

While his goals were noble, some considered them quixotic given the challenges ahead.

Nefarious (adjective)

Definition: Wicked, villainous, or criminal.

The nefarious plot of the movie’s antagonist kept viewers on the edge of their seats.
Uncovering the nefarious activities of the criminal organization required extensive investigation.

The detective was determined to expose the nefarious schemes of the elusive mastermind.

Ineffable (adjective)

Definition: Too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words.

The view from the mountaintop was ineffable, leaving us in awe.
The artist’s masterpiece conveyed an ineffable sense of beauty and emotion.

The joy of witnessing the sunrise over the ocean was truly ineffable.

Bibliopole (noun)

Definition: A person who buys and sells books, especially rare ones.

The bibliopole had an impressive collection of first editions and rare manuscripts.
As a dedicated bibliopole, she scoured book fairs for hidden literary gems.

If you’re a book enthusiast, consider becoming a bibliopole and exploring the world of rare books.

Ephemeralize (verb)

Definition: To make or become increasingly efficient and concise, achieving more with fewer resources.

The company aimed to ephemeralize its production processes to reduce environmental impact.
Innovations in technology often lead to the ephemeralization of once complex tasks.

The ongoing effort to ephemeralize our energy consumption is crucial for a sustainable future.

Sonorous (adjective)

Definition: Imposing or impressive in sound; having a full, deep, or rich sound.

The sonorous notes of the cathedral’s organ echoed through the grand hall.
The actor’s sonorous voice lent gravitas to the Shakespearean soliloquy.

The sonorous melody of the orchestra filled the auditorium with a sense of grandeur.

Petrichor (noun)

Definition: The earthy, pleasant smell after rain.

The petrichor hung heavy in the air, mingling with the scent of blooming jasmine.

Walking in the rain after a long drought always brings a refreshing wave of petrichor.

Sonder (noun)

Definition: The realization that each passerby has a life as vivid and complex as your own.

The bustling city crowd swarmed around me, each face a vessel of sonder, a universe unto itself.

Lost in a train ride, I felt a wave of sonder, imagining the stories behind each closed eyelid.

Numinous (adjective)

Definition: Inspiring awe or spiritual elevation.

Standing beneath the star-studded sky, I felt a numinous reverence wash over me.

The ancient cathedral, bathed in candlelight, exuded a numinous atmosphere.

Weltschmerz (noun)

Definition: A melancholic longing for something unattainable, a deep sadness about the state of the world.

The artist poured her weltschmerz into her abstract paintings, expressing a yearning for a lost utopia.

Reading war poetry evoked a profound weltschmerz, a sorrow for the beauty lost in conflict.

Kerfuffle (noun)

Definition: A noisy commotion or fuss.

The classroom erupted in a kerfuffle as a squirrel scampered through the open window.

The lost keys caused a minor kerfuffle, but we eventually found them under the sofa.

Languid (adjective)

Definition: Pleasantly relaxed and sluggish.

She spent the afternoon languidly reclining in a hammock, swaying gently in the breeze.

After a long hike, I sank into a languid bath, feeling the tension melt away.

Vellichor (noun)

Definition: The scent of old books.

The library was infused with the intoxicating vellichor of ancient tomes and forgotten stories.

The smell of vellichor always transports me back to childhood afternoons spent curled up with a good book.

Mamihlapinatapai (noun)

Definition: A look shared by two people, each wishing that the other would initiate something they both desire but are unwilling to start.

A mamihlapinatapai passed between their eyes, conveying unspoken longing and unspoken hesitation.

Their fingers brushed as they reached for the same book, a mamihlapinatapai hanging in the air.

Mudita (noun)

Definition: Joy experienced at another’s good fortune.

Her heart swelled with mudita as she witnessed her daughter’s graduation, radiating pride and happiness.

Instead of envy, he felt a genuine mudita for his friend’s success, celebrating their accomplishment.

Kenopsia (noun)

Definition: The eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that is usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet.

The empty amusement park, shrouded in shadows, emanated a strange kenopsia, sending shivers down my spine.

Walking through the deserted marketplace at dawn, I felt the unsettling kenopsia of a city holding its breath.

Incorporating these words into your vocabulary can not only make your language more vibrant but also help you express ideas more precisely. Experiment with these words in your daily conversations and writing to make them a natural part of your linguistic repertoire.

Happy learning!

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FAQ’s on New English words to improve your vocabulary

Where can I find more new words?

Dictionaries: Updated dictionaries often highlight “new words” or recent additions. Online dictionaries like Words coach and Oxford English Dictionary regularly add new entries. Word of the Day apps and websites: These platforms offer daily vocabulary lessons with definitions, examples, and etymology. Try Wordtune, words coach , or wordcoach.co . Language blogs and publications: Websites like The Oatmeal, Grammar Girl, and Language Log keep you updated on interesting new words and linguistic trends. Reading and listening: Expose yourself to diverse writing styles and genres. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and audiobooks can all introduce you to new vocabulary.

How do I remember new words effectively?

Use them in conversation: Actively try to incorporate new words into your daily discussions. The more you use them, the better you’ll remember them. Create flashcards or mind maps: Utilize visual aids to associate words with definitions and examples. Write sentences and short stories: Practice using the new words in creative writing to solidify their meaning in context. Play word games: Scrabble, crossword puzzles , and word-building games can make learning new words fun and engaging.

Are all “new words” actually new?

Not all words labeled as “new” are freshly invented. Some might be older words gaining popularity, foreign words entering the mainstream, or slang terms transitioning into general vocabulary. However, they still serve the purpose of enriching your language skills.

Is using too many new words bad?

Clarity and communication are paramount. While expanding your vocabulary is great, don’t force unnecessary complexity. Use new words thoughtfully, ensuring they enhance your message and don’t alienate your audience.

How can I avoid sounding pretentious?

Focus on naturalness and flow. Introduce new words when they genuinely resonate with the context, not just to show off. Strike a balance between expanding your vocabulary and being a clear and engaging communicator.

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100+ Daily Use English Words for Fluent Communication

Clapingo Team

15 min read

· spoken english

Enhance Your English Vocabulary For Fluent Communication

Basic english words , commonly used phrases , mastering pronunciation through tongue twisters, advanced vocabulary for fluent communication , business vocabulary: key to professional success, essential business words and phrases, conversation starters:, importance of daily used english words for fluent communication .

An image of two learners communicating with each other

Daily use of English words is essential in developing fluency and effective communication skills. By incorporating new words into your daily life conversations, you can expand your vocabulary and improve your ability to express yourself clearly.

Whether you are speaking with friends, colleagues, or clients, having a wide range of vocabulary at your disposal allows you to convey your thoughts and ideas more precisely.

Using simple and common vocabulary is particularly relevant in everyday conversations. Rather than relying on complex or technical terms, using everyday language helps ensure that your message is easily understood by others. It also makes it easier for you to comprehend what others are saying. By using simple words, you can avoid confusion and foster better communication.

The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive list of practical common words for fluent communication. This list will encompass a variety of topics, ranging from basic vocabulary to advanced terms, idioms, and phrases commonly used in different contexts. Each word will be accompanied by its meaning and contextual examples to help you understand how it can be used in real-life situations.

To further support your journey towards English fluency, Clapingo has published an article titled " Learn 10 Ways To Improve Your English Fluency Without Resorting To Grammar. "

This article offers valuable insights and practical tips on improving fluency through techniques that go beyond grammar rules alone, emphasizing strategies to speak English fluently and effectively.

Learning basic common English words is fundamental for daily use and effective communication. These words form the building blocks of your vocabulary and are frequently used in various situations. Familiarizing yourself with them will greatly enhance your ability to engage in conversations confidently.

Here are some essential basic common English words to get you started:

1. Numbers : One, two, three, four, five...

2. Colors : Red, blue, green, yellow...

3. Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...

4. Months : January, February, March...

5. Family members : Mother, father, brother...

6. Food items: Apple, banana, bread...

7. Animals: Dog, cat, bird...

By incorporating these words into your daily life conversations and practicing their pronunciation and usage regularly, you will quickly develop a strong English vocabulary.

Remember that consistent practice is key to retaining and expanding your vocabulary. To further reinforce your learning journey with additional resources, interactive exercises for basic English common words, and many more topics related to English language skills development, visit Clapingo's YouTube channel here.

Learning commonly used phrases is crucial for effective communication. While having a robust vocabulary is important, using everyday phrases in the right context can greatly enhance your ability to communicate fluently and naturally. Here are some reasons why learning commonly used phrases is significant:

1. Improved Fluency : Incorporating commonly used phrases into your conversations helps you sound more fluent and natural in English. It allows you to express yourself effortlessly without thinking too much about constructing sentences.

2. Cultural Understanding: Commonly used phrases often have cultural nuances and show familiarity with the language. By learning these phrases, you gain a deeper understanding of the culture and can connect with native English speakers more personally.

3. Politeness and Etiquette: Using appropriate greetings, expressions of gratitude, and other polite phrases shows respect for others and helps build positive relationships. It allows you to navigate social situations with ease.

4. Confidence Booster: You feel more confident in conversations when you know commonly used phrases. This confidence lets you express yourself effectively, convey your thoughts clearly, and engage in meaningful discussions.

Now let's dive into a comprehensive list of everyday phrases that will be useful for various situations:

- Good morning/afternoon/evening

- How are you?

- Nice to meet you

- Have a great day!

Expressions of Gratitude:

- Thank you

- I appreciate it

- You're welcome

- I'm grateful for your help

Asking for Directions:

- Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to...?

- Can you please show me the way to...?

- Is there a nearby...?

Ordering Food or Drinks:

- I'd like...

- Could I have...?

- What do you recommend?

Making Apologies:

- I'm sorry

- My apologies

- I didn't mean to...

Asking for Help:

- Can you please assist me with...?

- Could you lend me a hand?

- I need some help with...

Giving Instructions:

- First, you need to...

- Then, you should...

- Finally, make sure to...

Expressing Preferences:

- I prefer...

- I would rather...

- I'm more inclined towards...

These are just a few examples of commonly used phrases. Remember to practice using them in context to improve your fluency and confidence in everyday conversations. For a more extensive list of daily use more words and phrases, you can refer to the following

Tongue twisters are a fun and effective way to improve pronunciation, focus on enunciation, and tackle those tricky sounds that often slip through the cracks of daily conversation. From the whimsical " wonder wood word work " that challenges our Ws and Rs, to the complex " track transport treat tree, " which tests our ability to transition smoothly between similar sounds, each tongue twister in this collection is designed to refine your speech clarity and speed.

Dive into the dynamic " team teenage television tell ," perfect for practicing T sounds, or try the sibilant " size skill sky sleep " to master the subtle differences between Ss and SKs. The robust " strong sudden suffix sun " rolls off the tongue, pushing your pronunciation to new strengths, while "secure security sentence" focuses on S and C sounds, essential for clear communication.

Moving on to more challenging sounds, " film fine finish fire " and " chief child children " are great for F and Ch sounds, helping you articulate with precision. For those looking to enhance their shadowing skills, " shade shadow shape share " and " deep defeat detail " offer a rich practice ground. " Energy entertainment evening " brings in the E sounds, pushing the envelope of evening elocutions.

On the emotional spectrum, " sad safe sail sand " and " steel story street " evoke vivid scenarios requiring careful articulation. And for the automotive enthusiast, " car cardiac careless carnival " provides a fun ride through hard C and R sounds. Meanwhile, " fake family fan " and " solid something song " explore F and S sounds in familial contexts, adding a personal touch to practice sessions.

For the builders and makers, " too tools " and " cold colour column " are not just practical but also a test of fluid transition between similar sounding words. " Feet fever figure " and " brother bucket building " challenge your ability to maintain rhythm and pace, while " bottle boy branches ," " cow craft cravings ," and " cap capital captain " turn everyday objects into a verbal playground.

Finally, the adventurous " first fish flowers ," " west wet wheels ," " win wings winner ," wrap up our collection with a celebration of victory, be it in mastering the sounds of English or just getting through these tongue-twisting trials with fewer stumbles. Each twist and turn in these phrases is a step towards more fluent, confident speech. So take a deep breath, and let's twist our way to clearer communication!

Incorporating advanced vocabulary into your daily life conversations can significantly enhance your language and communication skills. Here are some benefits of using advanced vocabulary:

1. Precision and Clarity: Advanced vocabulary allows you to express yourself precisely and convey your thoughts accurately. It helps you articulate complex ideas and concepts with clarity.

2. Impressiveness: Using advanced vocabulary demonstrates your command over the language and can leave a lasting impression on others. It showcases your intelligence, sophistication, and ability to communicate effectively.

3 . Enhances Writing Skills: Learning advanced vocabulary not only improves your spoken communication but also enhances your writing skills. It enables you to write with finesse, choose the right words, and communicate your ideas more effectively.

4. Better Reading Comprehension: As you expand your vocabulary, you will find it easier to comprehend and understand a wider range of texts. Advanced vocabulary exposes you to different writing styles and helps you grasp complex ideas in various domains.

To help you enrich your vocabulary, here is a diverse range of advanced words along with their meanings and contextual examples:

Remember to incorporate these words into your daily life conversations and writing to reap the benefits of an enhanced vocabulary.

Learning idioms and phrasal verbs is crucial for achieving fluency in English. While grammar and vocabulary are important, understanding and using idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs can take your language skills to the next level.

Here's why:

- Idioms and phrasal verbs are commonly used in everyday English conversations. By learning them, you'll be able to understand native speakers better and communicate more effectively.

- Idiomatic expressions add color, depth, and nuance to your language. They can help you express yourself more naturally and sophisticatedly, making your speech sound more native-like.

- Phrasal verbs, which consist of a verb followed by a preposition or an adverb, are an integral part of spoken English. They often have different meanings than their individual components, so understanding them is essential for comprehension.

Now let's dive into some commonly used idioms and phrasal verbs along with their meanings and examples:

1. Break the ice - to initiate a conversation or friendship.

Example: "We played a game to break the ice at the team-building event."

2. Hit the nail on the head - to accurately identify or address a problem.

Example: "Sarah hit the nail on the head when she suggested that we need better time management."

3. Let the cat out of the bag - to reveal a secret.

Example: "Don't let the cat out of the bag about our surprise party!"

Phrasal Verbs:

1. Call off - to cancel something.

Example: "They called off the meeting due to bad weather."

2. Look forward to - to anticipate or be excited about something in the future.

Example: "I'm really looking forward to my vacation next month."

3. Put up with - to tolerate or endure something unpleasant.

Example: "I can't put up with his constant complaining anymore."

These are just a few examples, but there are hundreds of idioms and phrasal verbs in English. Practice using them in context to become more fluent and confident in your English communication. For a comprehensive list of idioms and phrasal verbs, check out the following video

Business English Vocabulary For Fluent Communication

In the fast-paced and competitive world of business, effective communication is crucial. One key aspect of successful communication is having a strong grasp of business vocabulary. Whether you are participating in meetings, giving presentations, or negotiating deals, using the right words and phrases can make all the difference.

In this section, we will explore the importance of business vocabulary and provide you with a list of essential words and phrases commonly used in professional settings.

Having a wide range of business vocabulary is essential for several reasons. Firstly, it enhances your credibility and professionalism. When you use appropriate terminology in your conversations and written communications, you demonstrate that you understand the industry and know how to navigate within it.

Secondly, having a strong business vocabulary allows for clear and concise communication. In professional settings, time is often limited, and being able to express yourself accurately and succinctly is highly valued. Using the right words helps avoid misunderstandings and ensures that your message is effectively conveyed.

Lastly, mastering business vocabulary enables you to build rapport with colleagues and clients. Speaking their language shows that you understand their needs, concerns, and challenges. It establishes trust and fosters stronger relationships.

To help you on your journey to becoming fluent in business English, here is a comprehensive list of essential words and phrases commonly used in various professional settings:

These are just a few examples of the many words and phrases used in business settings. You can find a more extensive list of essential business vocabulary on the Clapingo website.

By familiarizing yourself with these words and phrases, you'll be able to navigate professional environments with confidence and communicate effectively. Incorporate them into your daily conversations, emails, and presentations to enhance your professional image and improve your chances of success.

Remember, mastering business vocabulary takes time and practice. Make it a habit to learn a few new words or phrases every day. Soon enough, you'll notice a significant improvement in your communication skills, leading to better opportunities in your career.

So, don't hesitate! Start expanding your business vocabulary today and watch as your professional prospects soar.

5 Importance Tips of Mastering the English Language

Socializing and Small Talk

Socializing and small talk play a crucial role in building relationships. Engaging in casual conversations helps to establish connections, create rapport, and foster a sense of community. When you engage in small talk, you show interest in the other person's life and make them feel valued. It is also an effective way to break the ice and initiate conversations with new acquaintances or colleagues. Here are some common conversation starters, questions, and responses for social situations:

1. "Hi, I'm [Name]. What's your name?"

2. "Nice weather we're having today, isn't it?"

3. "Have you been to this event before?"

4. "What do you do for a living?"

5. "Where are you from?"

1. "How was your weekend?"

2. "Are you enjoying the event so far?"

3. "What brings you here today?"

4. "Do you have any exciting plans for the upcoming holidays?"

5. "What are your hobbies or interests?"

1. "Yes, I had a great weekend! How about you?"

2. "Yes, it's my first time here too! Are you enjoying it?"

3. "I'm here because I'm interested in [topic/event]."

4. "I'm planning to visit my family during the holidays."

5. "I enjoy reading and hiking in my free time."

Remember, small talk should be light-hearted and non-controversial to keep the conversation pleasant and enjoyable for both parties involved.

Must read: Can listening to songs help you improve your Spoken English?

Recapping the importance of daily used English words for fluent communication, consistent practice, and exposure to new vocabulary are key factors in language development. By incorporating English vocabulary words into your conversations daily, you become more comfortable and confident in expressing yourself fluently. Daily practice helps you expand your vocabulary and improve your sentence formation.

To effectively develop your language skills, engaging with various resources that offer support for English learners is important. Clapingo is an exceptional online platform that provides resources tailored specifically for Indian learners. With its vast collection of articles, videos, and interactive exercises, Clapingo offers a wealth of learning opportunities to enhance your spoken English skills.

By making a conscious effort to use daily use English vocabulary words regularly, you will notice significant improvements in your communication abilities. Consistency is key in language learning, so strive to incorporate new vocabulary into your daily conversations and interactions. With time and practice, you will become more proficient in expressing yourself fluently and confidently.

Remember, building a strong foundation in the daily used English words is essential for effective communication. Setting clear goals can help achieve the desired or intended result of enhancing your vocabulary and language skills. Regular practice and exposure to new vocabulary will undoubtedly contribute to your overall language development.

Spoken English Words List To Learn English Under 15 Days!

1. Why is it important to learn daily use English words?

Using English words daily is essential for developing fluency in the language. By incorporating these words into your vocabulary, you can express yourself more clearly and effectively in everyday conversations.

2. What are some examples of simple English words for daily use?

Simple common English words for daily use include common nouns like "house," "car," and "book," as well as verbs such as "eat," "sleep," and "read." These basic words form the foundation of communication and should be mastered by all learners.

3. Can you provide some new words in English for daily use?

Certainly! Here are a few new words that you can incorporate into your everyday conversations:

a) Serendipity - The occurrence of finding something pleasant or valuable by chance.

b) Resilience - The ability to bounce back or recover quickly from difficulties.

c) Equanimity - Mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper.

d) Ubiquitous - Present or found everywhere.

e) Pernicious - Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.

4. What are some examples of the daily use of basic English words?

Daily use basic English words, including numbers (one, two, three), colors (red, blue, green), days of the week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday), months (January, February, March), and common greetings (hello, goodbye).

5. Can you suggest some advanced English words for daily use?

Certainly! Here are a few advanced English words that can elevate your vocabulary:

a) Eloquent - Fluent or persuasive in speaking or writing.

b) Ubiquitous - Present or found everywhere.

c) Tenacious - Tending to keep a firm hold of something; persistent.

d) Acumen - The ability to make good judgments and quick decisions.

e) Mitigate - To make (something) less severe, serious, or painful.

Fluent communication

Daily Use English

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Clapingo connects you with fluent and dynamic English Speakers from India with diverse backgrounds and professions. Practice English conversation over live video calls. Transform your English speaking skills by talking to excellent English speakers over 1-on-1 video calls.

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Fuel Your English Fluency: Motivational Proverbs for Language Growth

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60+ new words in English with meanings!

As we navigate through 2023, enriching our vocabulary remains a crucial aspect of effective communication in any language. To keep pace with evolving language trends, here are 60 contemporary English words with meanings for you to integrate into your lexicon today!

An overview of new words in english, importance of new words in english, new words in english (a-e), new words in english (f-j), new words in english (k-o), new words in english (p-t), bonus words, key takeaways .

Did you know? The Global Language Monitor (GLM) has unveiled a fascinating insight: the English language boasts roughly 1,019,729 words! What’s more captivating? A novel word emerges almost every 98 minutes globally! Keeping pace with fresh additions to recent dictionary editions isn’t just enlightening; it’s a potent way to supercharge your vocabulary. For educators globally, vocabulary is neatly compartmentalized into four pivotal categories: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Dive into the world of words!

For those aspiring to study abroad, especially in English speaking countries, having a robust vocabulary is indispensable. Not only does it enhance comprehension and expression in academic settings, but it also facilitates smoother integration into diverse cultural and social environments. Knowing a broad range of words can be advantageous in scoring higher in language proficiency tests, a critical component for many university admissions.

In today’s digitally-connected world, the power of clear, concise, and efficient communication is more crucial than ever. With much of our daily life intertwined with online interactions, possessing a stellar repertoire of English words can elevate your language skills to new heights. Dive into the realm of eloquence and make every word count!

If you have decided to update your current vocabulary, here are 60 new words to learn in English with meanings to help you refine your language skills!

Abrogate – To revoke something formally.
Abstruse – Difficult to understand.
Accede- Yield to anothers’ wish or opinion.
Blandishment – Flattery intended to persuade.
Calumny – A false accusation of an offense.
Circumlocution – An indirect way of expressing something
Demagogue – A leader who seeks support by appealing to popular passions
Enervate – Weaken physically, emotionally, or morally.
Sesquipedalian – A foot and a half long.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – Something that is extraordinarily good.
There is a constant introduction of new words in English added to dictionaries every year.
Updating your new vocabulary words is an excellent way to communicate effectively.
Vocabulary is recognized as of four types – reading, speaking, listening, and writing.
The above list of words is a great way to improve your all-rounded vocabulary and knowledge of new English words!

We hope you enjoyed reading this blog. In case of any queries, reach out to us or drop a comment below!

Liked this blog? Read 5 English learning books to boost your language skills

Q1. How can I learn new words daily?

Answer – Reading different kinds of material and literature is an excellent way to learn new words. Keep a dictionary handy, so you can refer to the meanings of the words. This can also help you remember them easily.

Q2. Why has there been a surge in the new words added to dictionaries every year?

Answer – Technology has played a significant role in promoting the spontaneous coining of new words. This is largely due to the need to communicate quickly and efficiently.

Q3. What are ‘portmanteau’ words?

Answer – ‘Portmanteau’ words or ‘blended’ words are words that combine the meaning of two discrete terms. For example – the word ‘bromance’ is a blend of the words ‘brother’ and ‘romance.’

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Words for Speaking: 30 Speech Verbs in English (With Audio)

Speaking is amazing, don’t you think?

Words and phrases come out of our mouths — they communicate meaning, and we humans understand each other (well, sometimes)!

But there are countless different ways of speaking.

Sometimes, we express ourselves by speaking quietly, loudly, angrily, unclearly or enthusiastically.

And sometimes, we can express ourselves really well without using any words at all — just sounds.

When we describe what someone said, of course we can say, “He said …” or “She said …”

But there are so many alternatives to “say” that describe the many different WAYS of speaking.

Here are some of the most common ones.

Words for talking loudly in English

Shout / yell / scream.

Sometimes you just need to say something LOUDLY!

Maybe you’re shouting at your kids to get off the climbing frame and come inside before the storm starts.

Or perhaps you’re just one of those people who just shout a lot of the time when you speak. And that’s fine. I’ve got a friend like that. He says it’s because he’s the youngest kid in a family full of brothers and sisters — he had to shout to make sure people heard him. And he still shouts.

Yelling is a bit different. When you yell, you’re probably angry or surprised or even in pain. Yelling is a bit shorter and more “in-the-moment.”

Screaming is similar but usually higher in pitch and full of fear or pain or total fury, like when you’ve just seen a ghost or when you’ve dropped a box of bricks on your foot.

Comic-style drawing of a man who has just dropped a brick on his foot. He's screaming and "Argh!" is written in large black letters.

“Stop yelling at me! I’m sorry! I made a mistake, but there’s no need to shout!”

Bark / Bellow / Roar

When I hear these words, I always imagine something like this:

These verbs all feel rather masculine, and you imagine them in a deep voice.

I always think of an army general walking around the room telling people what to do.

That’s probably why we have the phrase “to bark orders at someone,” which means to tell people what to do in an authoritative, loud and aggressive way.

“I can’t stand that William guy. He’s always barking orders at everyone!”

Shriek / Squeal / Screech

Ooooohhh …. These do not sound nice.

These are the sounds of a car stopping suddenly.

Or the sound a cat makes when you tread on her tail.

Or very overexcited kids at a birthday party after eating too much sugar.

These verbs are high pitched and sometimes painful to hear.

“When I heard her shriek , I ran to the kitchen to see what it was. Turned out it was just a mouse.”

“As soon as she opened the box and saw the present, she let out a squeal of delight!”

Wailing is also high pitched, but not so full of energy.

It’s usually full of sadness or even anger.

When I think of someone wailing, I imagine someone completely devastated — very sad — after losing someone they love.

You get a lot of wailing at funerals.

“It’s such a mess!” she wailed desperately. “It’ll take ages to clear up!”

Words for speaking quietly in English

When we talk about people speaking in quiet ways, for some reason, we often use words that we also use for animals.

In a way, this is useful, because we can immediately get a feel for the sound of the word.

This is the sound that snakes make.

Sometimes you want to be both quiet AND angry.

Maybe someone in the theatre is talking and you can’t hear what Hamlet’s saying, so you hiss at them to shut up.

Or maybe you’re hanging out with Barry and Naomi when Barry starts talking about Naomi’s husband, who she split up with last week.

Then you might want to hiss this information to Barry so that Naomi doesn’t hear.

But Naomi wasn’t listening anyway — she was miles away staring into the distance.

“You’ll regret this!” he hissed , pointing his finger in my face.

To be fair, this one’s a little complicated.

Whimpering is a kind of traumatised, uncomfortable sound.

If you think of a frightened animal, you might hear it make some kind of quiet, weak sound that shows it’s in pain or unhappy.

Or if you think of a kid who’s just been told she can’t have an ice cream.

Those sounds might be whimpers.

“Please! Don’t shoot me!” he whimpered , shielding his head with his arms.

Two school students in a classroom whispering to each other with the text "gossip" repeated in a vertical column

Whispering is when you speak, but you bypass your vocal cords so that your words sound like wind.

In a way, it’s like you’re speaking air.

Which is a pretty cool way to look at it.

This is a really useful way of speaking if you’re into gossiping.

“Hey! What are you whispering about? Come on! Tell us! We’ll have no secrets here!”

Words for speaking negatively in English

Ranting means to speak at length about a particular topic.

However, there’s a bit more to it than that.

Ranting is lively, full of passion and usually about something important — at least important to the person speaking.

Sometimes it’s even quite angry.

We probably see rants most commonly on social media — especially by PEOPLE WHO LOVE USING CAPS LOCK AND LOTS OF EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!!

Ranting always sounds a little mad, whether you’re ranting about something reasonable, like the fact that there’s too much traffic in the city, or whether you’re ranting about something weird, like why the world is going to hell and it’s all because of people who like owning small, brown dogs.

“I tried to talk to George, but he just started ranting about the tax hike.”

“Did you see Jemima’s most recent Facebook rant ? All about how squirrels are trying to influence the election results with memes about Macaulay Culkin.”

Babble / Blabber / Blather / Drone / Prattle / Ramble

Woman saying, "Blah blah blether drone ramble blah blah." Two other people are standing nearby looking bored.

These words all have very similar meanings.

First of all, when someone babbles (or blabbers or blathers or drones or prattles or rambles), it means they are talking for a long time.

And probably not letting other people speak.

And, importantly, about nothing particularly interesting or important.

You know the type of person, right?

You run into a friend or someone you know.

All you do is ask, “How’s life?” and five minutes later, you’re still listening to them talking about their dog’s toilet problems.

They just ramble on about it for ages.

These verbs are often used with the preposition “on.”

That’s because “on” often means “continuously” in phrasal verbs .

So when someone “drones on,” it means they just talk for ages about nothing in particular.

“You’re meeting Aunt Thelma this evening? Oh, good luck! Have fun listening to her drone on and on about her horses.”

Groan / Grumble / Moan

These words simply mean “complain.”

There are some small differences, though.

When you groan , you probably don’t even say any words. Instead, you just complain with a sound.

When you grumble , you complain in a sort of angry or impatient way. It’s not a good way to get people to like you.

Finally, moaning is complaining, but without much direction.

You know the feeling, right?

Things are unfair, and stuff isn’t working, and it’s all making life more difficult than it should be.

We might not plan to do anything about it, but it definitely does feel good to just … complain about it.

Just to express your frustration about how unfair it all is and how you’ve been victimised and how you should be CEO by now and how you don’t get the respect you deserve and …

Well, you get the idea.

If you’re frustrated with things, maybe you just need to find a sympathetic ear and have a good moan.

“Pietor? He’s nice, but he does tend to grumble about the local kids playing football on the street.”

Words for speaking unclearly in English

Mumble / murmur / mutter.

These verbs are all very similar and describe speaking in a low and unclear way, almost like you’re speaking to yourself.

Have you ever been on the metro or the bus and seen someone in the corner just sitting and talking quietly and a little madly to themselves?

That’s mumbling (or murmuring or muttering).

What’s the difference?

Good question!

The differences are just in what type of quiet and unclear speaking you’re doing.

When someone’s mumbling , it means they’re difficult to understand. You might want to ask them to speak more clearly.

Murmuring is more neutral. It might be someone praying quietly to themselves, or you might even hear the murmur of voices behind a closed door.

Finally, muttering is usually quite passive-aggressive and has a feeling of complaining to it.

“I could hear him muttering under his breath after his mum told him off.”

Drunk-looking man in a pub holding a bottle and speaking nonsense.

How can you tell if someone’s been drinking too much booze (alcohol)?

Well, apart from the fact that they’re in the middle of trying to climb the traffic lights holding a traffic cone and wearing grass on their head, they’re also slurring — their words are all sort of sliding into each other. Like this .

This can also happen if you’re super tired.

“Get some sleep! You’re slurring your words.”

Stammer / Stutter

Th-th-th-this is wh-wh-when you try to g-g-g-get the words ou-ou-out, but it’s dif-dif-dif-difficu-… hard.

For some people, this is a speech disorder, and the person who’s doing it can’t help it.

If you’ve seen the 2010 film The King’s Speech , you’ll know what I’m talking about.

(Also you can let me know, was it good? I didn’t see it.)

This can also happen when you’re frightened or angry or really, really excited — and especially when you’re nervous.

That’s when you stammer your words.

“No … I mean, yeah … I mean no…” Wendy stammered .

Other words for speaking in English

If you drawl (or if you have a drawl), you speak in a slow way, maaakiiing the voowweeel sounds loooongeer thaan noormaal.

Some people think this sounds lazy, but I think it sounds kind of nice and relaxed.

Some regional accents, like Texan and some Australian accents, have a drawl to them.

“He was the first US President who spoke with that Texan drawl .”

“Welcome to cowboy country,” he drawled .

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

That’s my impression of a dog there.

I was growling.

If you ever go cycling around remote Bulgarian villages, then you’re probably quite familiar with this sound.

There are dogs everywhere, and sometimes they just bark.

But sometimes, before barking, they growl — they make that low, threatening, throaty sound.

And it means “stay away.”

But people can growl, too, especially if they want to be threatening.

“‘Stay away from my family!’ he growled .”

Using speaking verbs as nouns

We can use these speaking verbs in the same way we use “say.”

For example, if someone says “Get out!” loudly, we can say:

“‘Get out!’ he shouted .”

However, most of the verbs we looked at today are also used as nouns. (You might have noticed in some of the examples.)

For example, if we want to focus on the fact that he was angry when he shouted, and not the words he used, we can say:

“He gave a shout of anger.”

We can use these nouns with various verbs, usually “ give ” or “ let out .”

“She gave a shout of surprise.”

“He let out a bellow of laughter.”

“I heard a faint murmur through the door.”

There you have it: 30 alternatives to “say.”

So next time you’re describing your favourite TV show or talking about the dramatic argument you saw the other day, you’ll be able to describe it more colourfully and expressively.

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8 thoughts on “ Words for Speaking: 30 Speech Verbs in English (With Audio) ”

Always enlighten and fun.. thank you

Great job! Thank you so much for sharing with us. My students love your drawing and teaching very much. So do I of course.

Good news: I found more than 30 verbs for “speaking”. Bad news, only four of them were in your list. That is to say “Good news I’m only 50 I still have plenty of time to learn new things, bad news I’m already 50 and still have so much learn. Thanks for your posts, they’re so interesting and useful!

Excellent. Can I print it?

Thanks Iris.

And yes — Feel free to print it! 🙂

Thanks so much! It was very interesting and helpful❤

Great words, shouts and barks, Gabriel. I’m already writing them down, so I can practise with them bit by bit. Thanks for the lesson!

Thank you so much for sharing with us. .It is very useful

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New words in English with meaning | 60 trending words!

Do you sometimes feel like there’s an infinite number of words out there in the english language and new ones keep coming up all the time you’re not wrong here is a list of new words in english with meanings that can assist you in broadening your vocabulary. read away – these are sure to give your vocabulary a much-needed refresh, table of contents, new words in english with meaning | an introduction, new english words | ace the language proficiency exam, 30 more to go…, 10 more to go…, 10 meaningful english trending words in 2023, tips and tricks to improve your vocabulary, key takeaways.

Learning new words in English with meaning and broadening one’s vocabulary can serve as a springboard for greater degrees of language fluency. A large vocabulary is linked to improved academic achievement. We’ve compiled a list of the new words that we can be fairly certain will enter your conversational vocabulary in the next decade. We’ll tell you what they mean, how to pronounce them, and how to use them correctly.

Many ESL students study English to enter an English-speaking institution, thrive at higher level studies, and obtain a well-paying job. A large vocabulary can assist them in doing so. As previously stated, having a large vocabulary is connected with improved performance in all elements of language learning, including speaking, reading, writing, and listening.

Applicants who want to study abroad frequently take numerous tests (depending on the university’s preference) that qualify them to study and apply to international universities. These language proficiency exams like IELTS and TOEFL require a large amount of vocabulary . Good vocabulary helps in both the listening and reading sections. A good vocabulary will help you develop better sentences and communicate your ideas more effectively when speaking and writing. A larger vocabulary will improve your capacity to grasp what is being said in the listening part. Reading and answering questions, utilizing synonyms, antonyms , and connecting concepts are all advantages of having a large vocabulary.

New words in English with meaning in 2023

The following list provides you with 50 new words in English that we will be using in 2023.

Abrogate- To revoke
Anachronism- Something out of place for the time period
Arrant- Entirely and completely
Artless- Without deception
Asperity- Harsh in tone
Belie- To convey a misleading impression of; to distort
Byzantine- Convoluted and complicated
Cajole- Persuade through flattery or coaxing.
Conciliate- To reach an agreement with
Connecticutian- A native of Connecticut
Consanguineous- Of the same ancestry or origin
Copypasta- Data (including text) copied and pasted from the internet
Demagogue- A political leader who employs rhetoric to appeal to regular individuals’ preconceptions and wants.
Diatribe- A verbal assault against another person
Dilatory- Wasting time
Embourgeoisement- The adoption of bourgeois values and practices
Equivocate- To speak ambiguously in order to deceive someone
Fatuous- Without intelligence
Gaffe- An inconvenient social act
Garrulous- Talking excessively

New words in English with meaning | 60 trending words!

Hoi Polloi- The common people generally
Hubris- Suffocating pride
Iconoclast- Someone who opposes or attacks deeply held beliefs and concepts
Impedimenta- Things that obstruct
Inchoate- Poorly developed
Indefatigable- Demonstrating unfailing vigor and persistent, enthusiastic action
Inundate- Flooded
Invective- Abusive language
Martinet- Someone who insists on strict adherence to rules and forms
Myrmecophilous- Fond of ants
Nonplussed- Filled with perplexity
Omphaloskepsis- A lack of motivation to move, exert oneself, or change
Panache- Distinctive and stylish elegance
Pillory- Ridicule or expose to public scorn
Polyphiloprogenitive- Highly fertile
Psychotomimetic- Psychotic alteration of behavior and personality
Puissant- Powerful
Pulchritudinous- Beautiful
Quattuordecillion- A number beginning with 1 and ending with 45 zeros
Quisling- A traitor
Surreptitious- Taking precautions to avoid being captured or detected
Shrinkflation- The size of things shrinks through time, but the price remains constant.
Sybarite- A person who indulges in luxury
Tergiversation- Evasion of direct action
Trichotillomania- An unusual impulse to pluck one’s hair out
Truculent- Have a fierce, savage nature.
Unabashed- Not embarrassed
Untoward- Inconvenient
Vicissitude- An unwanted or unfavorable change in conditions or fortune
Xenotransplantation- Transplantation of an organ between distinct species

New English terms from worldwide are added to the Oxford Dictionary every year based on popular culture, social and political challenges, and technological developments. Like unusual terms or technical English words with significance, they can help people comprehend particular topics better and improve communication . Here are 10 trending new words in English with meanings:

Everyone is aware of the value and benefits of having a strong vocabulary. Now let’s focus on how to improve your vocabulary . Follow the following tips and tricks.

Discover new English words with meanings used in daily life.
Find out how to spell the word. To spell, pronounce, and understand a word correctly, you should look up the definition in a dictionary.
Recognize how to pronounce the word properly.
Learn what the word means.
Recognize how to use the word in a sentence.
Vocabulary is important for language learning because it underpins all other language skills, can act as a stepping stone to high-level language use, and can help the student achieve fluency faster.
To properly understand a new word, it is important to recognize how to pronounce the term properly, understand what the word means, and comprehend how to use it in a sentence.
You should not just focus on memorizing vocabulary words but also study the grammar rules associated with them to ensure they are using the word correctly.
In addition to these steps, it is important to practice using new vocabulary words, particularly the latest trending and new words in English with meaning in 2023.

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Liked this blog? Then read: Vocabulary quiz | 8 Advantages of taking this quiz!

Q1. What is the significance of learning new vocabulary?

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Donald Trump Accused of 'Struggling Cognitively' as He Fails to Pronounce 'Patriots' in Latest Speech

May 24 2024, Published 3:03 p.m. ET

Another day, another Donald Trump glitch. During the ex-president's Thursday, May 23, rally in New York, he seemed to slur his words yet again while addressing the crowd.

"It's hard working patri-skfjskl and this is something that you can say and you can say it a million times," he said as he failed to pronounce patriots.

Donald Trump held a rally in New York on May 23.

Of course, people weighed in on the frightening moment.

One person wrote, "He couldn't say it one time," while another said, "His voice, the higher pitch, the glitching, the odd sounds and noises in place of words, it reminds me of my father after his stroke on the days when it was obvious he was struggling cognitively . It doesn't get better from here on out. It just gets worse."

A third person added, "Trump, slurring and glitching: It is hardworking patri-skfjskl."

Donald Trump told some bizarre stories during the latest rally.

As OK! previously reported, Trump, 77, has been slipping up as of late. While at a rally in Dallas, Texas, on May 18, Trump was accused of going quiet for around 30 seconds, leading people to think something is going on with him.

However, he fought back and told his side of the story .

Donald Trump is running for president again.

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"My Speech in Dallas this weekend at the NRA’s 'Endorsement of President Donald J. Trump,' was attended by a Record Crowd of very enthusiastic Patriots. The Biden Campaign, however, put out a Fake Story that I 'froze' for 30 seconds, going into the 'Musical Interlude' section, when in actuality, the 30 to 60 second period of silence is standard in every one of my Speeches where we use the Music. Check out any of my Speeches! The reason they came up with this Disinformation is that Biden freezes all the time , can’t put two sentences together, and can rarely find his way off the stage without help. Donald Trump doesn’t freeze! It is a MADE UP Biden Campaign story, put out in a dying Newspaper that I never heard of, and every Reporter knows it, including the large group that was there…." the businessman wrote on Truth Social on Sunday, May 19.

Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!

Donald Trump might have dementia, some people have speculated.

Since Trump has made a few of these mistakes lately, one doctor thinks there's a bigger issue going on.

"Unlike normal aging, which is characterized by forgetting names or words, Trump repeatedly shows something very different: confusion about reality," Dr. Lance Dodes , a supervising analyst emeritus of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and retired Harvard Medical School professor, said in a statement, referring to Trump confusing Barack Obama with Joe Biden .

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Among the New Words

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Benjamin Zimmer , Kelly E. Wright , Brianne Hughes , Charles E. Carson; Among the New Words. American Speech 1 May 2022; 97 (2): 197–214. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00031283-9940564

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Travis Kelce reacts to teammate Harrison Butker's controversial graduation speech

Kelce's comments come shortly after quarterback Patrick Mahomes weighed in.

Travis Kelce is weighing in on his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Harrison Butker's controversial commencement speech from earlier this month.

In his May 11 address to graduates at Benedictine College, a Catholic liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas, Butker touched on issues including birth control, abortion and describing Pride Month as a "deadly sin." Perhaps the most headline-grabbing was him telling the female graduates in attendance they'd been told "the most diabolical lies" about putting their career above their roles as mothers and wives and "homemaker."

Kansas City Chiefs player faces backlash for graduation speech criticizing working women, calling Pride a 'deadly sin'

Kelce, in the May 24 episode of his "New Heights" podcast, said he "cherish[ed]" Butker -- whom he said he called Harry -- as a teammate and, despite not agreeing with his opinions, said the Chiefs kicker has every right to have them.

PHOTO: Kansas City Chiefs players Travis Kelce and Harrison Butker.

"He’s treated friends and family that I've introduced to him with nothing but respect and kindness, and that's how he treats everyone," the tight end said.

"When it comes down to his views and what he said at the Saint Benedict's commencement speech, you know, those are his," he continued. "I can't say I agree with the majority of it or just about any of it outside of just him loving his family and his kids, and I don't think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views, of how to go about life. That's just not who I am."

Kelce said growing up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, in "a beautiful upbringing of different social classes, different religions, different races and ethnicities" showed him "a broad view of a lot of different walks of life."

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"I appreciated every single one of those people for different reasons, and I never once had to feel like I needed to judge them based off of their beliefs," he said.

Kelce then praised his parents, Ed and Donna Kelce, for both making a home for their family.

Patrick Mahomes responds to teammate Harrison Butker's controversial graduation speech

"They were homemakers and they were providers and they were unbelievable at being present every single day in my life. That was a beautiful upbringing for me," he said. "Now, I don't think everyone should do it the way that my parents did, but I certainly -- and sure as hell -- thank my parents and love my parents for being able to provide and making sure that home was what it was because I'm not the same person without both of them being who they were in my life."

Kelce's thoughts on Butker's commencement speech echo those of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes who, earlier this week, told ESPN he did not "necessarily agree with" what his teammate said but that he would "judge him by the character that he shows every single day" and called him "a great person."

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Benedictine College nuns denounce Harrison Butker's speech at their school

John Helton

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker speaks to the media during NFL football Super Bowl 58 opening night on Feb. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. Butker railed against Pride month along with President Biden's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and his stance on abortion during a commencement address at Benedictine College last weekend. Charlie Riedel/AP hide caption

An order of nuns affiliated with Benedictine College rejected Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison's Butker's comments in a commencement speech there last weekend that stirred up a culture war skirmish.

"The sisters of Mount St. Scholastica do not believe that Harrison Butker's comments in his 2024 Benedictine College commencement address represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have been so invested," the nuns wrote in a statement posted on Facebook .

In his 20-minute address , Butker denounced abortion rights, Pride Month, COVID-19 lockdowns and "the tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion" at the Catholic liberal arts college in Atchison, Kan.

He also told women in the audience to embrace the "vocation" of homemaker.

"I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross the stage, and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you're going to get in your career?" he asked. "Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world. But I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world."

For many Missouri Catholics, abortion rights means choosing between faith, politics

That was one of the themes that the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica took issue with.

"Instead of promoting unity in our church, our nation, and the world, his comments seem to have fostered division," they wrote. "One of our concerns was the assertion that being a homemaker is the highest calling for a woman. We sisters have dedicated our lives to God and God's people, including the many women whom we have taught and influenced during the past 160 years. These women have made a tremendous difference in the world in their roles as wives and mothers and through their God-given gifts in leadership, scholarship, and their careers."

The Benedictine sisters of Mount St. Scholastica founded a school for girls in Atchinson in the 1860s. It merged with St. Benedict's College in 1971 to form Benedictine College.

Neither Butker nor the Chiefs have commented on the controversy. An online petition calling for the Chiefs to release the kicker had nearly 215,000 signatures as of Sunday morning.

6 in 10 U.S. Catholics are in favor of abortion rights, Pew Research report finds

The NFL, for its part, has distanced itself from Butker's remarks.

"Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity," Jonathan Beane, the NFL's senior VP and chief diversity and inclusion officer told NPR on Thursday. "His views are not those of the NFL as an organization."

Meanwhile, Butker's No. 7 jersey is one of the league's top-sellers , rivaling those of better-known teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

Butker has been open about his faith. The 28-year-old father of two told the Eternal Word Television Network in 2019 that he grew up Catholic but practiced less in high school and college before rediscovering his belief later in life.

His comments have gotten some support from football fan social media accounts and Christian and conservative media personalities .

A video of his speech posted on Benedictine College's YouTube channel has 1.5 million views.

Rachel Treisman contributed to this story.

Harrison Butker
benedictine college

Travis Kelce calls Harrison Butker 'great person,' won't 'judge him by his views'

Travis Kelce has weighed in on his teammate's controversial comments.

Kelce addressed Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker's May 11 speech at Benedictine College during Friday's episode of his "New Heights" podcast , which he hosts with his brother Jason Kelce. And the KC tight end seemed to agree with quarterback Patrick Mahomes , who spoke out about the commencement address earlier this week.

During Butker's 20-minute speech at the private Catholic liberal arts school in Atchison, Kansas, he protested Pride month, transgender people, working women and how President Joe Biden handled the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I cherish him as a teammate. I think Pat said it best where he is every bit of a great person and a great teammate," Travis Kelce said.

The University of Cincinnati alum added that anyone he has introduced Butker to has been treated with "respect and kindness" from the kicker. Kelce also said he disagrees with Butker's religious views but doesn't believe he should judge his teammate based on his opinions.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

"When it comes down to his views and what he said at (the commencement speech), those are his," Kelce added. "I can’t say I agree with the majority of it or just about any of it outside of just him loving his family and his kids. And I don’t think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views, of how to go about life, that’s just not who I am.”

Travis Kelce discussed home life with mom and dad in light of Harrison Butker speech

The tight end explained how growing up in Northern Ohio helped him to appreciate people's differences.

“I grew up in a beautiful upbringing of different social classes, different religions, different races and ethnicities, in Cleveland Heights, and that’s why I love Cleveland Heights for what it was,” he said. "It showed me a broad spectrum, just a broad view of a lot of different walks of life."

The three-time Super Bowl champion also discussed his own family dynamic, stating both his parents, Donna and Ed Kelce , worked and contributed to the home.

"Both my mother and my father made home what it was,” Kelce continued. “They were homemakers, and they were providers, and they were unbelievable at being present every single day in my life. That was a beautiful upbringing for me. I don't think everyone should do it the way that my parents did, but I certainly, sure as hell, thank my parents and love my parents for being able to provide and making sure that home was what it was."

Jason Kelce, the former Philadelphia Eagles center and UC alum, echoed his brother, stating there will always be opinions that people will disagree with.

"Make no mistake about it, a lot of the things he said in his commencement speech are not things that I align myself with. But, he’s giving a commencement speech at a Catholic university, and, shocker, it ended up being a very religious and Catholic speech," Jason Kelce said.

The duo ended the conversation by saying in the NFL, you have to be able to put your differences aside and work as a team.

"That's the beauty of team sports. That's the beauty of the NFL," Travis Kelce said.

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Biden Draws on Themes of Manhood and Faith at Morehouse Commencement

The president’s appearance at the historically Black college in Atlanta drew some respectful but noticeable protest over U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

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Biden Calls on Morehouse College Graduates to Defend Democracy

In a commencement speech at morehouse, the historically black men’s college in atlanta, president biden condemned white supremacy and “extremist forces aligned against the meaning and message of morehouse.”.

You started college just as George Floyd was murdered and there was a reckoning on race. It’s natural to wonder if democracy you hear about actually works for you. What is democracy if Black men are being killed in the street? What is democracy if the trail of broken promises still leave Black communities behind? What is democracy if you have to be 10 times better than anyone else to get a fair shot? Well that’s my commitment to you. To show you democracy, democracy, democracy, is still the way. That Black men are being killed in the streets, we bear witness. For me, that means to call out the poison of white supremacy. Graduates, this is what we’re up against: extremist forces aligned against the meaning and message of Morehouse. And they peddle a fiction, a caricature, of what being a man is about — tough talk, abusing power, bigotry. But that’s not you. It’s not us. You all know and demonstrate what it really means to be a man. Being a man is about strength of respect and dignity. It’s about showing up because it’s too late, if you have to ask. It’s about giving hate no safe harbor.

By Katie Rogers and Maya King

Katie Rogers and Maya King reported from the Morehouse College commencement ceremony in Atlanta.

May 19, 2024

President Biden invoked scripture and lessons from his own tragic past on Sunday in a commencement address to hundreds of young Black men at Morehouse College, saying he believes there are “extremist forces aligned against the meaning and message” of the prestigious institution.

Mr. Biden’s speech, delivered at the historically Black men’s college in Atlanta, put him directly in front of hundreds who represent a slice of the electorate that is drifting away from him over the war in Gaza and growing apathy about their choices ahead of the election. Mr. Biden used the moment to say that manhood was not about “tough talk” and “bigotry” but about calling out hate.

“Their idea of being a man is toxic,” Mr. Biden told the graduates, a reference to adversaries he did not name — but, given that his other events this weekend were focused on attacking his Republican competitor, Donald J. Trump, it was little mystery who he was talking about. “That is not you. That is not us. Being a man is about strength and respect and dignity.”

Those who stormed the Capitol with Confederate flags “are called patriots by some,” he said — a clear reference to Mr. Trump. “Not in my house.”

Mr. Biden’s speech was his first significant appearance before college students since protests over the war in Gaza began roiling campuses. For a ceremony in which students are discouraged even from decorating their caps, the signs of protest were respectful but noticeable: A small group of graduates turned to sit with their backs to Mr. Biden as he spoke, and several graduates wore the kaffiyeh, a traditional scarf associated with the Palestinians, draped over their shoulders. Some parents urged their graduating sons not to protest.

Mr. Biden also called for an immediate cease-fire and said that his administration was working to secure one. He said that members of his family had been upset by the war, a group that includes Jill Biden, the first lady, who has urged her husband in private to bring a stop to it.

“What’s happening in Gaza, in Israel, is heartbreaking,” Mr. Biden said. “It’s a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

In a statement, Morehouse said that discussions between White House officials and students, faculty and alumni had helped shape Mr. Biden’s speech and his calls for a cease-fire in Gaza. The school also praised its graduates. “It is fitting that a moment of organized, peaceful activism would occur on our campus while the world is watching to continue a critical conversation,” the statement read.

During his 27-minute speech, Mr. Biden tried to stress to the graduates — none of whom stood for him as he took the lectern — that throughout his life he had respected and espoused the same ideas they care about.

He said he had worked throughout his life, as a public defender, senator and president, to correct inequalities. He outlined the work his administration has done that he and his advisers believe deserves more credit than it receives, including the forgiveness of large amounts of student loan debt and reducing the poverty rate for Black children.

“We know Black history is American history,” Mr. Biden said at one point, urging the crowd to “check my record,” which includes choosing the first Black female Supreme Court justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and the first Black woman to hold the vice presidency, Kamala Harris.

By focusing on matters of adversity and strength, Mr. Biden also sought to strike a contrast with Mr. Trump not on the grounds of politics or policy but through the lessons of keeping faith in moments of hopelessness. He spoke of the death of his first wife and daughter as well as his eldest son, Beau, from brain cancer.

He told the Morehouse graduates, a class that weathered the chaos of the pandemic and the tumult of widespread protests over the police killings of Black men, that it was natural for them to question whether there was a place for them in democracy at all.

“What is democracy when Black men are being killed in the streets?” he said. “What is democracy when a trail of broken promises still leave Black communities behind? What is democracy when you have to be 10 times better than anyone else to get a fair shot?”

Repeatedly, Mr. Biden reached for religious inspiration, recalling that Jesus was buried on Friday and resurrected on Sunday, leaving Saturday as a day of hopelessness. He suggested that 2020 — the year he was elected, with its twin traumas of the Covid-19 pandemic and the police killing of George Floyd — had been one such Saturday.

At one point, Mr. Biden said, “I’ve learned there was no easy optimism but by faith, by faith you can find redemption.”

Mr. Biden, who has a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Oval Office — and who is old enough to have shared his memories of Dr. King’s assassination in his speech — walked into commencement on Sunday unsure of how the crowd would receive him.

Morehouse, which was established in Atlanta in 1867, is a school whose culture is steeped in tradition. Students spend their years working toward becoming the embodiment of the Morehouse man: well traveled, well read and civically engaged. As the alma mater of Dr. King, there is also a proud history of protesting for social justice.

Mr. Biden’s visit to Morehouse drew the objections of some faculty members, alumni and students, who have voiced anger over the war in Gaza and the American government’s support for Israel. The tension drew so much attention that the school’s president, David A. Thomas, publicly warned that he would stop the commencement if graduates shouted at the president or disrupted the event.

The men of Morehouse found ways to work their opposition to the war into the ceremony. DeAngelo Jeremiah Fletcher, the class valedictorian, took the stage with the Palestinian flag pinned on his stole and on his cap.

“It is my stance as a Morehouse man, nay, as a human being, to call for an immediate and permanent cease-fire, in the Gaza Strip,” Mr. Fletcher said. Mr. Biden joined the crowd in standing up and clapping when Mr. Fletcher finished, and he shook the graduate’s hand.

But by the end of Mr. Biden’s speech, signs of support were visible, too. As Mr. Biden received an honorary doctorate of law, Mr. Thomas praised the president for listening to the concerns of the graduating class. And some people chanted “four more years” as Mr. Biden left the stage.

After addressing Morehouse, Mr. Biden was set to travel to Detroit to speak at a dinner hosted by the N.A.A.C.P.

Hitting two battleground states in eight hours was the clearest sign yet that Mr. Biden is serious about reintroducing himself to voters who carried him to the White House in 2020 and whose support he will need to win to stay in office for a second term.

In 2020 , 95 percent of Black women and 87 percent of Black men voted for Mr. Biden, according to the Pew Research Center. But in April, only 55 percent of Black voters told Pew that they approved of his job performance. A recent poll by Ipsos and The Washington Post showed that 62 percent of Black Americans planned to vote in 2024, down from 74 percent in 2020.

In recent days, both Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris have traveled outside of Washington to host events geared toward bringing those voters back into the fold.

Mr. Biden’s trip to Detroit comes as the latest New York Times/Siena College poll shows him winning support from less than half of Black voters in Michigan in a five-way race. In 2020, he won more than 90 percent of Black voters in the state, exit polls show.

The war in Gaza and concerns about the economy are driving factors behind what analysts say is an increase in apathy. In Michigan, nearly nine in 10 Black voters rated the economy as being in “fair” or “poor” condition, a higher rate than white voters, the Times/Siena poll found.

Alexis Wiley, the founder of a strategic communications firm in Detroit and a former member of the Democratic National Committee, said the Biden administration had to do more to communicate its victories.

“I think that they’re finally catching up to the fact that people aren’t feeling great,” Ms. Wiley said, “and now there’s this mad dash to try to correct it.”

Reporting was contributed by Nicholas Nehamas in Washington and Chevaz Clarke-Williams , Alan Blinder and Sean Keenan in Atlanta.

Katie Rogers is a White House correspondent. For much of the past decade, she has focused on features about the presidency, the first family, and life in Washington, in addition to covering a range of domestic and foreign policy issues. She is the author of a book on first ladies. More about Katie Rogers

Maya King is a politics reporter covering the Southeast, based in Atlanta. She covers campaigns, elections and movements in the American South, as well as national trends relating to Black voters and young people. More about Maya King

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Special Legislative Session: Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio has called a special session to resolve an issue that would prevent Biden from being placed on the November ballot there.

Protest Zone Clash: The Republican National Committee, alarmed by what it sees as a significantly worsening security threat, asked that the director of the Secret Service intervene and move a designated protest zone farther away at an upcoming convention.

A.I.’s Role: The era of A.I. has officially arrived on the campaign trail. But so far, the political uses of the much-anticipated, and feared, technology are more theoretical than transformational .

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40 Big Words That Make an Impact In Speech and Writing
Whether you're writing an essay or speaking in front of a group, there are certain big words you can use to impress your audience.
Ten ways to learn new words as a language learner
6. Use spaced repetition. Repetition fixes new words in your memory. However, repeating them a hundred times over the course of one day will not be as effective as repeating them a few times over a period of several days or weeks (i.e., spaced repetition). Use the new word immediately.
How New English Words are Created
More often, though, a new word for a different part of speech is derived form an older form (e.g. laze from lazy, beg from beggar, greed from greedy, rove from rover, burgle from burglar, edit from editor, difficult from difficulty, resurrect from resurrection, insert from insertion, project from projection, grovel from groveling, sidle from ...
6.6 Creating New Words
Another extremely productive way of deriving new words in English is by compounding, that is, by taking two existing words, both of which are free morphemes, and sticking them together. For example, the year 2020 saw the words plant-based, jerkweed, and delete key added to the dictionary. You can learn more about compounds in Chapter 7.
14 Ways to Learn Vocabulary and Explore Language With The New York
Visit The Learning Network's free Word of the Day feature to find a new word each weekday, plus a definition from Vocabulary.com and an example sentence from The Times. Then, test your ...
Among the New Words
ADS Words of the Year 2020 - pdf file. About American Speech. Editorial Board. For Authors. Twitter. Purchase. Advertise. Rights and Permissions Inquiry. Online ISSN 1527-2133.
Newspeak
Newspeak. In the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), by George Orwell, Newspeak is the fictional language of Oceania, a totalitarian superstate. To meet the ideological requirements of Ingsoc (English Socialism) in Oceania, the Party created Newspeak, which is a controlled language of simplified grammar and limited vocabulary designed ...
6.6 Creating New Words
Video Script. Back in Chapter 1 we learned that mental grammar is generative, that is, it allows users to create, or generate, brand new words and sentences that have never been spoken before. And in fact, one of the fastest ways that languages change, and the easiest way to observe, is by new words entering the language.
Among the New Words
Post-Roe, 'Camping' Has Become Code for Abortions: Activists Say It May Put People at Risk."
Among the New Words
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How to Build Vocabulary You Can Actually Use in Speech and Writing
Speaking out the word as part of few sentences will serve the additional purpose of making your vocal cords accustomed to new words and phrases. 2. Create thematic webs. When reviewing, take a word and think of other words related to that word. Web of words on a particular theme, in short, and hence the name 'thematic web'.
33 Trending Words in English [2024]
That outfit is so cringe. 3. Ghost. The meaning of the word ghost (when used as a noun) that most of us are familiar with is the spirit of a dead person, like the kind we often see appearing and disappearing in movies. Now the word ghost has a new, informal meaning that has to do with disappearing.
Big words to sound smart: 127 fancy words to boost eloquence
Big words to sound smart and their meaning. The smartest way of sounding more eloquent when expressing yourself in English is to change basic, everyday words for their fancier versions. For instance, instead of saying "very big," say "massive.". Instead of saying "detailed." say "granular," and instead of saying "not ...
20 new English words to improve your vocabulary in 2024
Expanding your vocabulary not only enhances your communication skills but also allows you to articulate your thoughts more precisely. As we step into 2024, it's the perfect time to discover and incorporate new words into your lexicon. In this blog post, we'll introduce you to 20 intriguing English words that can elevate your language ...
Essential English Words for Daily Fluent Communication
By incorporating new words into your daily life conversations, you can expand your vocabulary and improve your ability to express yourself clearly. ... They can help you express yourself more naturally and sophisticatedly, making your speech sound more native-like. - Phrasal verbs, which consist of a verb followed by a preposition or an adverb ...
60+ new words in English with meanings!
8. Cryptocurrency. Virtual or digital currency used on the internet. (This is among the new words to learn in English that have emerged as a result of technological advancements in the industry of finance.) 9. Cringe. To feel ashamed or embarrassed by what someone else is doing or saying. 10.
30+ New English Words With Meanings [Updated 2024]
Here's a complete list of new vocabulary words with meanings that we think will help you for your study abroad journey and beyond. 1. Abnegation. Renunciation of a belief or doctrine; Denial. Sentence Monks practice abnegation of the material aspects of human life. 2.
Words for Speaking: 30 Speech Verbs in English (With Audio)
Babble / Blabber / Blather / Drone / Prattle / Ramble. These words all have very similar meanings. First of all, when someone babbles (or blabbers or blathers or drones or prattles or rambles), it means they are talking for a long time. Too long. And probably not letting other people speak.
New Words In English With Meaning
The following list provides you with 50 new words in English that we will be using in 2023. Abrogate- To revoke. Anachronism- Something out of place for the time period. Arrant- Entirely and completely. Artless- Without deception.
Donald Trump Slurs Words, Fails To Pronounce Patriots In Speech
Another day, another Donald Trump glitch. During the ex-president's Thursday, May 23, rally in New York, he seemed to slur his words yet again while addressing the crowd. "It's hard working patri ...
Biden delivers Morehouse commencement speech as some on campus express
Biden's speech at Morehouse came against the backdrop of protests on college campuses nationwide over his handling over the war in Gaza, with many students and faculty members voicing opposition ...
Among the New Words
10 Things You Need to Know About the Big Lie That Threatens to Tear Apart Our Democracy, "
Travis Kelce reacts to teammate Harrison Butker's controversial
Travis Kelce is weighing in on his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Harrison Butker's controversial commencement speech from earlier this month.. In his May 11 address to graduates at Benedictine ...
Biden in Morehouse commencement speech warns of 'extremist forces'
Biden railed against new voting restrictions in Georgia and the "constant attacks on Black election workers." He also said those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 "are called patriots ...
Benedictine College nuns denounce Harrison Butker's speech at ...
The 28-year-old father of two told the Eternal Word Television Network in 2019 that he grew up Catholic but practiced less in high school and college before rediscovering his belief later in life.
What Travis Kelce said about Harrison Butker's controversial speech
On Friday's episode of "New Heights," Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce weighed in on teammate Harrison Butker's May 11 commencement speech.
Harrison Butker speech: The biggest mistake he made in his
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker railed against LGBTQ rights, diversity initiatives and President Joe Biden in a divisive speech at a small Catholic college in Kansas. Then he brought ...
Nikki Haley Says She Will Vote for Trump
During her speech, she made no mention of the elephant in the room: Mr. Trump. But in a fireside chat afterward, the moderator, Peter Rough, asked Ms. Haley who she believed would do a better job ...
High school valedictorian gives unforgettable graduation speech after
After the death of his father the day before, Alem Hadzic stunned his classmates by showing up for his graduation and delivered a tribute they won't soon forget. NBC News' Tom Llamas reports.
Biden's Morehouse Commencement Speech Draws on ...
Mr. Biden's trip to Detroit comes as the latest New York Times/Siena College poll shows him winning support from less than half of Black voters in Michigan in a five-way race.

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How New English Words are Created

By Creating from Scratch

By Adoption or Borrowing

By Adding Prefixes and Suffixes

By Truncation or Clipping

By Fusing or Compounding Existing Words

By Changing the Meaning of Existing Words

By Back-Formation

By Imitation of Sounds

By Transfer of Proper Nouns

6.6 Creating New Words

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51 6.6 Creating New Words

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How to Build Vocabulary You Can Actually Use in Speech and Writing?

You may have grossly overestimated the size of your vocabulary

Active vs. Passive vocabulary

Why build vocabulary – a small exercise?

How to build vocabulary you can use in speech and writing?

1. Get more inputs (reading and listening)

2. Gather words from your passive vocabulary for deeper exploration

3. Explore the words in an online dictionary

Participate in a short survey

4. Use them

Vocabulary exercises: how to use words you’re learning

1. Form sentences and speak them out during your reviews

2. Create thematic webs

3. Describe what you see around

4. Describe what one person or object is doing

Why I learnt English vocabulary this way?

1. I worked backwards from the end result to prepare for real-world situations

2. I used proven scientific methods to increase effectiveness

3. I built on what I already knew to progress faster

Don’t ignore these when building vocabulary

1. Use of fancy words in communication make you look dumb, not smart

2. Verbs are more important than nouns and adjectives

3. Don’t ignore simple verbs

4. Don’t ignore phrasal verbs. Get at least common idioms. Proverbs… maybe

4.3 Proverbs

5. Steal phrases, words, and even sentences you like

6. Commonly-used nouns

33 Trending Words in English [2024]

1. To Chillax

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127 big fancy words to sound smart and boost your eloquence

The do’s and don'ts of using big words in English

Big words to sound smart and their meaning

Fancy words you can use at work

Ready to further your career with a new language?

Clever words you might use academically

Big interesting words you might use socially

Impressive words you might use romantically

Sophisticated words you might use when discussing art and literature

Fancy words you might use when talking about your hobbies

Make the Thesaurus your new best friend

Choose your words wisely

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