Want to Improve Your Vocabulary?
Meet the Shore Compendium of common lexicon
A.T.B. Gilchrist
SO, YOU WANT TO MAKE YOUR WRITING MORE INTELLIGENT? Here are 15 versatile words that you can use in your writing for all your subjects like English, History, Geography, you name it. Most of these words are words that I learned here at Shore, and I feel are a crucial ingredient when it comes to writing like a “Shore Boy” (after all, teachers love it when our essays all sound the same). I found that oftentimes, though I heard more intelligent students and staff use them, the online definitions were sometimes contextually unrelated, and so as an aid, I’ve also given them all a classic scenario to aid with your understanding, as well as a Subject guide as to where the word is mostly used. Finally, I’ve also compiled the list, as best I can, from simplest to hardest, to perhaps allow you a glimpse of where you stand in becoming a fully-fledged Shore writer.
Latter – denoting the second or second mentioned of two people or things.
“Between the Benefactor and Hall Quad bathrooms, the latter is the best.”
Relevancy: All Subjects
Facilitate– make (an action or process) easy or easier.
“Shore facilitated digital learning with the implementation of mandatory MacBooks.”
Relevancy: All Subjects
Exacerbate – make (a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling) worse.
“Removing bins would exacerbate the amount of rubbish on the oval.”
Relevancy: All Subjects
Sublime – of very great excellence or beauty.
“The view from the library of the harbour is sublime.”
Relevancy: English, Art
Manifest – to show something clearly, through signs or actions.
“Her dissatisfaction with the student manifested itself in the form of a drill.”
Relevancy: History, English
Stringent – strict, precise, and exacting.
“The teacher was adamant about abiding by the stringent school rules.”
Relevancy: All Subjects
Superficial – existing or occurring at or on the surface.
“He smiled superficially at his English teacher, after learning about the 1000-word essay.”
Relevancy: History, Geography, English
Superfluous – unnecessary, especially through being more than enough.
“He took a superfluous amount of time going to the bathroom.”
Relevancy: History, Geography, English
Postulate – suggest or assume the existence, fact, or truth of (something) as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or belief.
“He postulated the possibility of no homework to his teacher, who promptly scoffed at the idea.”
Relevancy: English
Dichotomy – a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.
“There is a rigid dichotomy between the Joey’s and Shore rugby team.”
Relevancy: English, Art
Postmodernism – a late 20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism, which represents a departure from modernism and is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions, a mixing of different artistic styles and media, and a general distrust of theories.
“The postmodern artwork in the cubicle departed from traditional techniques, blurring the line between simplicity and abstraction.”
Relevancy: English, History, Art
Transgress – go beyond the limits of (what is morally, socially, or legally acceptable).
“Cheating on a test is transgressing the school rules.”
Relevancy: English, History, Art
Limn – depict or describe in painting or words.
“He limned his inner emotions onto the canvas.”
Relevancy: English, Art
Reify – make (something abstract) more concrete or real.
“Writing your goals down can reify them and make them more tangible and easier to achieve.”
Relevancy: English, Art