Grammar Girl – Impresses with some long, long words !

A vocabulary challenge – impress with your long, long words

We’ve all been in the situation, where someone wants to impress someone with the breadth of their knowledge.

I’m going to give you 10 horribly long words.  Can you match the word to its synonym?  The first one has been done for you. It is 1. e)

1.    munificent
2.    parsimonious
3.    lachrymose
4.    litigious
5.    pusillanimous

a)    poor-spirited
b)    penurious
c)    contentious
d)    tearful
e)    lavish

munificent – Very liberal in giving; generous.
Synonyms: lavish, overgenerous, prodigal, too-generous, unsparing, unstinted, unstinting
Usage: Munificent as life was to me, I added to that munificence.

parsimonious – Excessively unwilling to spend.
Synonyms: penurious
Usage: He was, I had discovered, parsimonious about small expenditures– a trait absolutely inconsistent with his general character.
L
achrymose – Weeping or inclined to weep; causing or tending to cause tears.
Synonyms: dolorous, weeping, tearful, sorrowful
Usage: He was by turns devout and obscene, merry and lachrymose.

litigious – Related to or tending to engage in lawsuits or disputes.
Synonyms: contentious, disputatious, argumentative
Usage: The aide had been so litigious that she was eventually fired for insubordination.

pusillanimous – Lacking courage; cowardly.
Synonyms: poor-spirited, unmanly
Usage: This counsel was indignantly derided by Grammar Girl as pusillanimous.

I have been guilty of using big words to impress my colleagues but  I also believe that it’s also all about knowledge. You must make yourself easy to understand.  Before you decide which path to choose, have a look at this great site.

Grammar Girl bids you adieu !