Do you ever find yourself wishing you sounded smarter while talking? Or perhaps you often wish you had different words to explain something? So your vocabulary is a little bland, and while you’re trying to expand it, it’s hard to remember all of the words you learned. To make things a little easier, I have a few new words with their definitions, and how they are used in sentences from well-known books. Hopefully this way it’s a little easier to understand them and integrate them into your own sentences.
Gossamer
The first word I have for you and your vocabulary is “gossamer.” Not only does this word sound cool, it also means something very interesting and beautiful. Gossamer means something that is delicate or fine. ‘The Hunger Games’ uses it like this: “Rue, who is dressed in a gossamer gown complete with wings, flutters her way to Caesar.” Rue, a character in the book, is clearly in a very delicate and beautiful dress. Not only do they use the word gossamer to describe her dress, they pair it with the detail of having wings, and how Rue “flutters” in it. It’s a very beautiful picture, and it was enhanced with this wonderful new word.
Vehemence
The second word is not quite so lighthearted. The word is “vehemence,” which even sounds slightly sinister. This word is used to show a display of strong feeling or passion. It is most often used in a negative way, like a sort of angry outburst. In this passage from ‘Wuthering Heights,’ we can see pretty clearly what it means: “‘May she wake in torment!’ [Healthcliff] cried, with frightful vehemence, stamping his foot, and groaning in a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion.” We can see that Healthcliff is obviously very distraught and angry. He feels much passion, even said using that word, toward who he is talking about. He is outraged, and can’t help but burst.
Ubiquitous
The next word is “ubiquitous.” This word is an adjective that means present or appearing everywhere. Whatever the word is describing is found everywhere. In “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” they use it like this: “…for the first time, ran the now ubiquitous photograph of Henrietta standing with her hands on her hips.” In this sentence, they are saying that this photo of Henrietta is found everywhere, it’s inescapable. Everyone has probably seen it, like it’s been going around.
Resplendent
The last word I have for you is “resplendent.” This word is exactly like it sounds: splendid. It means deep and beautiful like colorful oceans; richly and wonderfully stunning. From ‘Red, White & Royal Blue,‘ it says, “He is, instead, bathed dramatically in a sweeping and resplendent sunset, wearing a crisp black jacket and riding pants tucked into tall leather boots, looking every inch an actual fairy-tale prince.” The person being described is dressed for the best, looking like a profound masterpiece. With the word resplendent being used here, you can tell he looks more than just charming.
Now that you have four new words in your toolbox, you can start trying to place them in your own sentences. But all jokes aside, cool words aren’t just to make you sound smarter. Having many different ways of describing something is helpful in making sure you get the right message across. To make sure you really remember and understand them, try making your own sentences with them. Use all of those sentences, or different ones, this week to try and really get them into your head. Stay on the lookout for new, interesting words as you read a favorite book or a long homework assignment. It can be really fun and exciting to explore new corners of a language you thought you already knew.