Word of the week

Have you ever completed the Word Power feature in Reader’s Digest? I’m not much interested in such games – I don’t even do crosswords! – but I am committed to increasing my own vocabulary. Why? Because if I know more words, I’ll be able to read more fluently. But even more important, I’ll be able to write better. Knowing lots of words allows me – and you — to be more precise in writing. In my word-of-the-week feature I share a word with you that I’ve discovered in my own reading.

Crying cupreous tears…

Word count: 207 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute Building your vocabulary is always a good idea. It  benefits your reading and it also helps you be more specific and precise in your writing. Here is my word of the week, cupreous. I’m going through a Julian Barnes phase …

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What are spraints?

Word count: 230 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute Building your vocabulary is always a good idea. It  benefits your reading and it also helps you be more specific and precise in your writing. Here is my word of the week. I learned a new word this week: spraints. …

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What does fecklessly mean?

Word count: 265 words Reading time: About 1 minute Building your vocabulary is always a good idea. It  benefits your reading and it also helps you be more specific and precise in your writing. Here is my word of the week, fecklessly. Even a book you don’t like very much …

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What is emended?

Word count: 261 words Reading time: About a minute If you increase your vocabulary you’ll not only help your reading, you’ll also make your writing more precise. Here is my word of the week, emended. I speak a tiny bit of French, badly, so I always admire people who are …

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What is a raptor?

Word count: 237 words Reading time: about 1 minute Easter offers a four-day long weekend in Canada. That’s why, on Monday, my husband and I could be found taking a 90-minute walk along the beaches of Boundary Bay. This spectacular area, only a 30-minute drive from where we live, offers …

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Death comes to Pemberley

Word count: 223 words Reading time: less than a minute Not much of a fan of murder mysteries, I’ve never before read anything by the formidable P.D. James. Ah, but she’s a canny one. Determined to reach people like me, she has borrowed her most recent set and characters from …

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What does melisma mean?

Word count: 158 words Reading time: about 30 seconds If you increase your vocabulary you’ll not only help your reading, you’ll also make your writing more precise. Here is my word of the week, melisma. My husband, girls and I just returned from a spring break holiday that my son …

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What does nacreous mean?

Word count: 145 words Reading time: half a minute If you increase your vocabulary you’ll not only help your reading, you’ll also make your writing more precise. Here is my word of the week, nacreous. I remember being disappointed by the novel Faith by Jennifer Haigh. Even though Haigh clearly …

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What is a netsuke?

Word count: 209 words Reading time: less than 1 minute If you increase your vocabulary you’ll not only help your reading, you’ll also make your writing more precise. Here is my word of the week, netsuke. Today’s word comes from a book I’ve just finished reading: The Hare With the Amber …

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