How to Use Big Words to Sound Smart

If you want to sound exceedingly smart you might be considering using some big words. Big words are simply words that are either very long, very astute or are words which are frequently used by the more educated members of the upper echelon of society.

If your sole purpose for using big words is to communicate at a higher level, then you will need to be clever in your word choice. If you do not know what a big word means, you run the risk of looking foolish. Randomly using a big word without knowing the meaning can make you seem pretentious or just ignorant.

Big Words

One of the easiest way to find big words is to use a thesaurus. Decide what you want to say and then use the thesaurus to look up big words that happen to be synonyms.

Meaning and Context

Make sure that you understand the real meaning of the words you speak. This will ensure that you don't end up saying something that you didn't plan on saying. Know the context in which the unfamiliar words should be used. There is nothing worse than someone who is using big words to sound smart only to come off sounding as if he or she does not have a clue as to what they are talking about.

Correct Usage

To make sure that you are using the word correctly you can:

• Look in the dictionary for examples of how and where the word is used in a sentence.
• Make sure that the structure of the sentence or thought is not compromised because of your use of the big word.
• Review some of the grammar usage websites on the Internet.

YourDictionary is an easy-to-use reference to help you identify and research how to use new words. The YourDictionary thesaurus is a great source for new words. By searching for the new word in the YourDictionary search feature, you can determine the meaning of the word, see examples of its use and get insight into grammatically correct uses of the words.

Improving Your Vocabulary

If you want to actually learn big words and use them not just to sound smart but because want to have a great vocabulary, then you should work more on improving your actual vocabulary than on just trying to sound smart.

One of the best ways to do this is to read more books. When you read, you come across lots of new words. If you see words that are unfamiliar, look them up and add them to your regular speech.

Word of the day calendars and other related tools can also help you improve your vocabulary, as can fun and exciting games such as Scrabble or crosswords.

Devote just a little time and effort, and soon, you'll be using big words naturally and not as part of a concentrated effort to sound smart.