Want to sound smart?
Fancy vocabular words may not impress everyone… but used in the right company they can turn heads.
Back in our single life, we once used the word “sartorial” on a date with a young journalist (it means having to do with to men’s clothing, as in “my sartorial skills are lacking”). She was blown away that I, a blue-collar worker at the time, not only knew a word she didn’t, but that I could use it in a sentence.
On that note, here are 5 great words you can start using today…
Raffish: Vulgar, crude, disreputable person.
You’ve probably heard of “riff raff.” Raffish means the same thing (and comes from the same root), only it lets you be more specific.
Instead of referring to the general “riff raff,” you can talk about the raffish youth, raffish bachelors, etc.
“The older golfers hated the raffish crowd Happy Gilmore attracted.”
Mnemonic: Break the word into the name Ray Fish. Anybody with that nickname is going to be disreputable.
Platonic: a non-physical relationship.
If you’re in the dating world, this word is a must.
It refers to a non-physical friendship. As in “the relationship is purely platonic.”
Isn’t that so much better than saying, “we’re just friends”?
Mnemonic: Think of Plato, the ancient philosopher. That’s where Platonic comes from. While Plato did believe in romantic love, he thought the highest form of relationship was one free from physical desire.
Alternate mnemonic: Imagine a tea party-type game called “play tonic.” Instead of being intimate, your partner wants to play a game where you pass an imaginary, non-physical tonic back and forth, pretending to drink it.
Panacea: a “cure-all.”
This word refers to the “silver bullet,” “magic pill,” or “cure-all” that will solve all problems. It’s typically used in the negative, as in “there is no panacea to this problem.”
What’s great is that you can use it in all facets of life – business, politics, sports, you name it.
To remember its meaning, most sites will tell you to think of Panacea, the Greek goddess of healing. Instead, we like to turn pan-a-ce-a into “pan-of-sea-ugh.” As in a quack doctor frying up a pan of disgusting “magic pills.”
Enervate: To weaken, drain of energy
Instead of being energizing, some things are the opposite. “The all-day conference was enervating.”
Dr. Mom came up with a great mnemonic for this word… one that requires a German accent.
When you hear the beginning of this word – ener – it sounds like “energy,” “energize,” or some sort of energy-related word. But “vait…” (wait in a German accent). It doesn’t mean energizing. It means the opposite.
Surreptitious: Stealthy, clandestine
Who doesn’t like another “cloak and dagger” word to add to their toolkit?
Sneaking around… sending secret emails… breaking and entering… these are all surreptitious activities.
Here’s how you can remember this word: Imagine you’re a ninja. It’s the middle of the night. You’re dressed head to toe in black, clinging to the outside wall of an apartment building, hoping to avoid detection.
Suddenly, you hear a police officer yell to the chief, “sir, up there!”
It’s then that you realize your days of sir-up [there]-titious activities are over.
Vocabulary Mnemonics 