Sophisticated vocabulary helps you express fine distinctions: esoteric (understood by few), loquacious (talkative), taciturn (reserved), venerate (revere), perspicacity (sharp insight) and platitude (an empty, overused remark).
Some phrases carry ideas from history and literature: a pyrrhic victory is a win that costs so much it is almost a defeat.
Use vocabulary to sharpen analysis: instead of “the speech is boring and says nothing new”, write “the speech relies on platitudes”.
Worked example
Read: “The treaty was a pyrrhic victory: the country won, but at a ruinous cost.” What is a pyrrhic victory?
- The country won.
- But the cost was ruinous.
Answer:a victory that costs so much it is almost a defeat
Key words
- platitude
- an overused, empty remark
- perspicacity
- sharp insight
- taciturn
- saying very little
Practise this
New questions every time.
Common Core-referenced: L.11-12.4a, L.11-12.6