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March 29, 2024, 04:58:57 am

Author Topic: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??  (Read 36796 times)  Share 

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sabii

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Hi everyone, I have a very limited vocabulary and therefore I am trying to extend it so I am able to use a some diverse and variety of word in essays as I often find myself becoming an innocent target of repetition. If anyone knows or is familiar with some extraordinary words or even perhaps some simple yet good words, it will be really appreciated. Thank You.

sabii

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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2012, 05:23:37 pm »
+1
I'll start it off with just some basic words I often use, feel free to add in more to the list:

- suppressed
- highlight
-strive
- endow
- illustrate
-demonstrate
-portray
-emphasize
-exemplify
-draw on
- establish
-intensify
-signify

PLEASE help me extend my vocabulary. 

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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2012, 05:30:57 pm »
0
Use exacerbate for negative exaggeration. I love that word.
Use insinuate for suggestions, rather than a word like 'imply'.

There are tones of fantastic words out there. I'd advise you read more complex novels that utilise sophisticated language.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2012, 05:33:17 pm by Yendall »
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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2012, 05:32:17 pm »
+2
http://thesaurus.com/ is your friend. It's probably not the best idea to try and blindly remember the meaning of words.

I'll pass on a little advice that was given to me by my teacher, ensure that your ideas or complex but make sure that the way you present the ideas is not complex. From what I can gather, this means that by all means, try your best to present ideas that not many people have heard of (ie. not directly from a study guide, half the state will use those, and half the state will get a study score below 30) but do it in a way that anyone could come and read your piece, and fully understand it.

Just my $0.02
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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2012, 05:39:06 pm »
+7
A few words I liked to use were (may be some overlap with your list, meh):
- Aforementioned
- Zenith
- Nadir
- Encapsulates
- Insinuate
- Evoke
- Validated
- Reciprocated
- Enhanced
- Moreover
- Primarily
- Illustrates
- Condemns
- Propagates
- Sardonic
- Equivocally
- Didactic
- Connotes


But it's really not about using sophisticated and grandiose vocabulary in an attempt to demonstrate your own verbosity to the examiner; rather, it is far more vital and critical that your sentences, and essays to take a holistic view, actually make for a clear and flowing reading that is first and foremost relevant to the prompt or topic that you are approaching.

ie. don't make stupid sentences like the one above just because you can :P 
« Last Edit: July 30, 2012, 05:50:03 pm by VegemitePi »

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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2012, 05:52:11 pm »
+1
A few words I liked to use were (may be some overlap with your list, meh):
- Aforementioned
- Zenith
- Nadir
- Encapsulates
- Insinuate
- Evoke
- Validated
- Reciprocated
- Enhanced
- Moreover
- Primarily
- Illustrates
- Condemns
- Propagates
- Sardonic
- Equivocally
- Didactic
- Connotes


But it's really not about using sophisticated and grandiose vocabulary in an attempt to demonstrate your own verbosity to the examiner; rather, it is far more vital and critical that your sentences, and essays to take a holistic view, actually make for a clear and flowing reading that is first and foremost relevant to the prompt or topic that you are approaching.

ie. don't make stupid sentences like the one above just because you can :P

using hifi, or more sophisticated vocabulary may help in separating the top-end!
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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2012, 05:55:04 pm »
0

using hifi, or more sophisticated vocabulary may help in separating the top-end!

It's how I survived Year 12 English. BSing and big words. Love it (although I'm not the top end ;D )
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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2012, 05:55:40 pm »
+1
using hifi, or more sophisticated vocabulary may help in separating the top-end!

That may be true, but you all have to get to that top end first ;)

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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #8 on: July 30, 2012, 05:58:59 pm »
+1
Reading some essays from my brother (48 english) and this indie-pot head girl I hated (50 English), I could understand why they scored so highly. Mind-implosion after reading some paragraphs. The use of vocabulary only strengthens an argument/essay/whatever, you have to have the "meat" there first.
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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2012, 05:59:04 pm »
0
Whats "hifi"

sabii

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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #10 on: July 30, 2012, 06:00:21 pm »
+1
Thank you everyone!! Yes I totally agree with everyone, its not about the complexity of the essay but more so the idea and how well you have linked it to the actual prompt! However just in general I feel as though I need to have a more advanced vocabulary and I really appreciate all the replies, there are some really good words in those replies, cant wait until I find out what they all mean :P

But I guess the difference between a A  and a A+  student is the student who has presented a more professional and sophisticated essay rather than a simple essay??? Not everyone may agree, but that's something my teachers are always advising me.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2012, 06:02:07 pm by sabii »

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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2012, 06:07:41 pm »
+3
Complex vocabulary can bite you in the ass if overly used. I have been told many times by my friends,teacher/s and then by an external assessor that i should "dumb down" my vocab as it's doing harm to the structure and clarity of my essays.

So, beware of using big words. Make sure they actually fit in with your piece and clearly expresses what you want to say.
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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #12 on: July 30, 2012, 06:35:50 pm »
+7
Whats "hifi"

it means to have an exquisite lexicon engendering notions of prestige and sophistication.
god, how do you not know that?!  ;D

Complex vocabulary can bite you in the ass if overly used. I have been told many times by my friends,teacher/s and then by an external assessor that i should "dumb down" my vocab as it's doing harm to the structure and clarity of my essays.

So, beware of using big words. Make sure they actually fit in with your piece and clearly expresses what you want to say.

haha i dont do english, so i dont need to worry much about using many words like this, we have our own metalanguage. as far as essays go.
however.
i can say this...

using fancy language is a stylistic device - adds to the aesthetics of a piece. It CAN actually add to the coherence of ones written work if used properly! e.g. where one word describes a situation much more better than a group of words.
e.g.
"It can be seen that Bazza16 owned me in asking what hifi means because I made it up on the spot and confused it with physics"
vs
"It can be seen that Bazza16 has successfully questioned my lexical choice since I have incorrectly construed the term 'hifi'.. "

here, 'construed' is the fancy word which not only sounds good, but sums up my thoughts nicely.
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sabii

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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #13 on: July 30, 2012, 06:39:59 pm »
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wow nicely put! ;D

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Re: What are some good sophisticated words that can be used in a essay??
« Reply #14 on: July 30, 2012, 06:43:54 pm »
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I used 'deleterious' and 'conducive' a LOT in my essays.
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