I recently had a conversation with some fellow homeschool moms about how to improve vocabulary—in our children, and also in our own conversations and writing. The general consensus was that vocabulary is best learned through reading, especially when reading is approached with a certain intentionality towards improved language skills.
I remember that in high school, my favorite approach to studying for the verbal section of the SAT was to read challenging books with a dictionary at hand, taking care to look up every unknown word and commit the definition to memory. The SATs are now a distant memory, but looking up unfamiliar words is a habit that has stuck with me, and it is one that is far easier now that I do most of my reading on a Kindle and definitions are just a tap away. I love that my Kindle will keep a record of the words I’ve looked up, and I regularly peek back at this list to review the words I’ve learned through my recent reading.
I’ve previously shared lists of some words I’ve learned recently, and I am returning to that series again today with 28 more words that I have looked up—and subsequently added to my vocabulary—through my recent Kindle reading. Some of the words were entirely new to me; others are words that were familiar but whose definitions weren’t totally clear to me based on my previous knowledge and context clues alone. There are a few words whose meaning I thought I knew but (according to the dictionary) actually didn’t!
In looking over this list, I notice that many of the words I look up come from historical fiction. I also see that quite a few of these words come from some of my favorite recent reads; new-to-me words definitely elevate a reading experience for me.
For each of the words on this list, I’ll share the source and book sentence as well as a definition. Perhaps you will learn a new word or two yourself through perusing my list!
1. ablution—the act of washing oneself
“Next come my morning ablutions.” A Rip Through Time
2. benison—a blessing
“Surely, the king would want to see her to show the kingdom the union has his benison.” Lady Tremaine
3. bursar—a person who manages the financial affairs of a college or university
“‘Let’s go to the bursar’s office,’ said Miss Jemison.” Kin
4. chary—cautious; wary
“She’d read, somewhere, that the phrase ‘cold feet’ came from the world of card games, first used to describe chary players wondering when to step back.” The Poppy Fields
5. cicerone—a guide who gives information about antiquities and places of interest to sightseers
“In his absence, the handheld GPS became a cicerone of sorts, channeling me along unfamiliar roads and toward new destinations.” Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery
6. crenellate—provide (a wall of a building) with battlements
“There are oohs and aahs as the parents move toward the crenellated walls and gaze out at the campus, spread below them like a patchwork quilt.” The Academy
7. cudgel—a short thick stick used as a weapon
“A high-minded ideal, but I believe the breadth of my professional instruction was ‘Can you wield a cudgel?'” A Rip Through Time
8. curlew—a large wading bird of the sandpiper family, with a long down-curved bill, brown streaked plumage, and frequently a distinctive ascending two-note call
“I do not need to eat curlew to feel appeased.” Lady Tremaine
9. dystocia—difficult birth, typically caused by a large or awkwardly positioned fetus, by smallness of the maternal pelvis, or by failure of the uterus and cervix to contract and expand normally
“Dystocia in lambs and goats was not uncommon.” Life, and Death, and Giants
10. flack—a publicity agent
“I may have been a flack for the last decade but I still know how to do my research.” Best Offer Wins
11. gendarme—an armed police officer in France and other French-speaking countries
“I suppose a place like this needs a guardian angel and a good gendarme.” Theo of Golden
12. glossolalia—the phenomenon of (apparently) speaking in an unknown language
“‘It’s sacred, you know, when God gives you His language.’ … ‘Glossolalia,’ Bobo said, becasue he has a word for every occasion.” Kin
Fun Fact: Less than an hour after encountering this word in Kin, I heard it used on a podcast. And I understood the meaning because I had just looked up the definition!
13. hamartia—a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine
“Their most heated dispute is over the definition of ‘hamartia,’ which Gastrell says is a tragic flaw.” Heart the Lover
14. implacable—unable to be placated; relentless; unstoppable
“‘I can see that,’ I said implacably.” Lady Tremaine
15. insouciance—a casual lack of concern; indifference
“We don’t need to constantly be insouciant.” The Compound
16. jitney—a bus or other vehicle carrying passengers for a low fare
“From a distance, as the jitney approached, the office park looked like a portal of sunlight, a dazzling passage out of reality.” After That, The Dark
17. lintel—a horizontal support of timber, stone, concrete, or steel across the top of a door or window
“She was there in each silk and brocade, the elaborate carvings in the stairwell, and the crest that marked the lintels.” Lady Tremaine
18. matriculate—be enrolled at a college or university
“They had no impressive pedigrees, but somehow our parents matriculated and circulated amid an incredibly diverse group of people from the corporate world.” You: The Story
19. mendacious—not telling the truth; lying
“If she included the mendacious essay in her Princeton application, she would get rejected.” The Academy
20. mullion—a vertical bar between the panes of glass window.
“I looked up to all the mullioned windows—closed eyes—in the palace walls.” Lady Tremaine
21. paillette—a piece of glittering material used to ornament clothing
“Simone is wearing a cocktail dress spangled with purple paillettes that is so short, it wouldn’t pass dress code.” The Academy
22. pannier—part of a skirt looped up around the hips
“Sigrid stood on a raised platform wearing the largest pannier I had ever seen.” Lady Tremaine
23. patois—the dialect of the common people of a region, differing in various respects from the standard language of the rest of the country
“But he also knew the patois of the street and was well-versed in the fine points of southern jargon.” Theo of Golden
24. peccadillo—a small, relatively unimportant offense or sin
“The fussiness about other people’s personal lives and peccadilloes …” After That, the Dark
25. quixotic—exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical
“From Kendrick all the way to the Penny Loafers, from the quixotic mind of Ellen to the ordinary intellect of another.” Theo of Golden
26. rebec—a medieval stringed instrument played with a bow, typically having three strings
“Inside the carriage compartment, I could see a gourd-shaped hurdy-gurdy and a rebec swinging from hooks that had been screwed into the roof.” Lady Tremaine
27. slalom—a ski race down a winding course marked by flags or poles
“‘I still can’t believe you made Roddy a slalom skier,’ she says.” Fun for the Whole Family
28. stipple—mark (a surface) with numerous small dots or specks
“The river in the painting was stippled in various shades of blue, black, white, and peach.” Theo of Golden
If you are a word nerd like me, this list was probably fun for you to read. But my bigger goal in sharing is that it might encourage YOU to become more intentional about looking up words that you encounter in your reading. If it isn’t something you already do, try starting a vocabulary journal and see what it reveals. What types of words do you tend to look up? How can you begin to incorporate the words you are learning into your own everyday vocabulary?
If you are looking for more word-related journaling prompts, here’s another: what are your FAVORITE words, the words whose definitions you adore or that are simply fun for you to say? The words bamboozle, discombobulated, effervescent, heterodox, juxtaposition, kerfuffle, lackadaisical, and quaint are a few of mine!
