hey guys, i'm trying to improve my vocabulary. i've been using 'dictionary.com' a lot recently, but it only gives a definition with one example of the words use. i'm looking for something that will provide a few examples of how it's used. this is an example of what i mean: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/uncouth see how it only gives one example of it being used? i want a website that'll demonstrate it's use a few times. thanks
You can try Merriam Webster online. It usually gives two I think... http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uncouth
Reading a dictionary probably isn't the best way to improve your vocabulary. Reading quality literature is probably a better way to go.
Read, dude. You should have been reading lots ever since you were a child. I don't know of any better way to build a vocabulary. I don't believe you can get all the nuances of words from a dictionary or a thesaurus. You have to see how people actually USE words, and the only way to do that is to read. What you want to achieve is sufficient virtuosity with the language that the right word pops into your head as you're writing, because it's a deep-down part of your being. The words should come from your core, not from some dictionary open on your desk.
*slaps self* yes, read. Minstrel and Ed are both absolutely correct. I thought you were looking up words in books you didn't understand. Apparently I'm so tired I'm making up peoples posts in my head.....
in addition to reading, the best way to increase your vocabulary is to do the ny times daily crossword, till you can finish one in pen, in under 20 minutes... when you get to that point, get a book's worth of the sunday ones and do those daily... doing acrostics is also a good vocabulary builder...
Hanging out with people that have large vocabularies as well. Or watching seminars by intellectuals, get some audio to match your reading visual.
If you want to see how it's used a few times, just do a google search. Type in the name of a newspaper, magazine, or journal first, then the word you want to see. For instance, I just typed in: new york times uncouth It gave a bunch of links to articles with the worth uncouth used in it.
Like others have suggested, reading is the best way. You can also do word puzzles like crosswords, and I watch Countdown (TV programme where two contestants try and make words from the letters randomly selected, and there's a conundrum at each advert break and at the end) too. There's a section in it where the dictionary person highlights a word as well. Playing games like Scrabble would help.
With all due respect to mammamaia and others, I don't think doing crosswords and playing scrabble helps all that much. Those activities teach you that certain words exist, but they do not teach you how those words are used; they don't teach nuances of meaning. The problem isn't knowing the words, it's knowing how to use the words creatively. I think that comes mainly from reading good writers. It can also come from listening to good speakers who use the words well, but that's pretty much an auditory version of the same thing. You need to know not just the spelling and definition of the word, but the flavor and scent of the word - the character of the word. Words like "big", "huge", "enormous", "large", "humungous", "massive" and "gigantic" may mean similar things, but they have different characters and good writers would not use them interchangeably. Nuance is the soul of writing, and simply studying a dictionary won't help you understand nuance.
In my opinion, I would read more books that has some good vocabularies in them and use them often as you speak in the world. Compared to words that I just learnt and spoke a million times in life than the same situation, excluding not using them in real life... Well, the words that I've spoken a lot sticks to my mind better than the ones that I don't usually use.
i certainly wouldn't recommend playing scrabble for vocab-building... but doing crosswords is a tried and true method that does 'teach how those words are used' to some extent and leads the 'student' to look up unfamiliar ones, thus learning how to use them creatively...
I have posted word of the day for nearly a month now(except on weekends) It has shown me that I can learn some words this way, but some words I don't feel comfortable using. I think its because some words just feel right to me, and others are just strange words that probably won't feel right ever using. I agree, reading is a great way to expose yourself to new words. I think crosswords, scrabble, word of the day, thesaurus can expose you to new words, but don't try to fake it. If you feel comfortable with the word then use it. But if not study it a little more or change the word to something you feel more comfortable with. You want a good vocabulary, not just to be able to use big/exotic words in your writing.
