RonJonSurfer Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 Are You Smarter Than A High Schooler? 100 Words That All High School Graduates — And Their Parents — Should Know (Be honest. How many don't you know?) The editors of the American Heritage® dictionaries have compiled a list of 100 words they recommend every high school graduate should know. "The words we suggest," says senior editor Steven Kleinedler, "are not meant to be exhaustive but are a benchmark against which graduates and their parents can measure themselves. If you are able to use these words correctly, you are likely to have a superior command of the language." The following is the entire list of 100 words: abjure abrogate abstemious acumen antebellum auspicious belie bellicose bowdlerize chicanery chromosome churlish circumlocution circumnavigate deciduous deleterious diffident enervate enfranchise epiphany equinox euro evanescent expurgate facetious fatuous feckless fiduciary filibuster gamete gauche gerrymander hegemony hemoglobin homogeneous hubris hypotenuse impeach incognito incontrovertible inculcate infrastructure interpolate irony jejune kinetic kowtow laissez faire lexicon loquacious lugubrious metamorphosis mitosis moiety nanotechnology nihilism nomenclature nonsectarian notarize obsequious oligarchy omnipotent orthography oxidize parabola paradigm parameter pecuniary photosynthesis plagiarize plasma polymer precipitous quasar quotidian recapitulate reciprocal reparation respiration sanguine soliloquy subjugate suffragist supercilious tautology taxonomy tectonic tempestuous thermodynamics totalitarian unctuous usurp vacuous vehement vortex winnow wrought xenophobe yeoman ziggurat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawna Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 abjure abrogate abstemious bowdlerize deciduous deleterious enervate enfranchise fatuous gerrymander hegemony hypotenuse inculcate moiety nonsectarian oligarchy orthography quasar quotidian suffragist tautology taxonomy xenophobe ziggurat of those 100, these are the ones I don't know. Time to get out the dictionary. *sigh* I'm betting that 99.9% of high school seniors don't know these words, either. At least not students at public American schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 These are the words I know: abjure abrogate acumen antebellum auspicious belie bellicose chicanery chromosome churlish circumlocution circumnavigate deciduous deleterious diffident enervate enfranchise epiphany equinox euro evanescent expurgate facetious fatuous feckless fiduciary filibuster gauche gerrymander hegemony hemoglobin homogeneous hubris hypotenuse impeach incognito incontrovertible inculcate infrastructure irony jejune kinetic kowtow laissez faire lexicon loquacious lugubrious metamorphosis mitosis moiety nanotechnology nihilism nomenclature nonsectarian notarize obsequious oligarchy omnipotent orthography oxidize parabola paradigm parameter pecuniary photosynthesis plagiarize plasma polymer precipitous recapitulate reciprocal reparation respiration sanguine soliloquy subjugate suffragist supercilious taxonomy tempestuous thermodynamics totalitarian unctuous usurp vacuous vehement vortex winnow wrought xenophobe yeoman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_s_1987 Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 Words that I know the exact meaning of: about 20 Words that I have a general idea of the meaning of: about 40 Words that I haven't got a clue about: about 40 I've never been very good with words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levis Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 69 that I know pretty well... Round it off to 70. I suppose I could use.... 50 of them in a sentence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonJonSurfer Posted June 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 Cap: "Uh-Huh, can you use the word isthmus in a sentence?" Uh-Huh: “Uh-huhhhhh… Isthmus be my lucky day!" Our Gang 1933 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 abrogate acumen bowdlerize chicanery deciduous deleterious diffident enfranchise facetious feckless gerrymander hubris incontrovertible kinetic kowtow loquacious lugubrious moiety notarize tautology taxonomy wrought yeoman I´m not sure of what some of these words mean but I could find out as they sound like having Latin or Greek roots. I have no idea of what "wrought", "kowtow" and many others mean. I might be wrong about some I think I know though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLizard Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 I think I know most of them. Maybe later I'll take the effort to look up the ones I don't know. Maybe. Highly unlikely, though, it's summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanAm Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 I didn't know the meanings of the following five words until I looked them up in the dictionary: Bowdlerize Jejeune Moiety Orthography Evanescent Of the remaining 95 words, I know the precise meaning of 80 of them and I have a general idea of the meaning of the other 15. If you want to expand your vocabulary, read any novel by Reginald Hill. I pride myself on my vocabulary, but when I read his novels, I find myself reaching for the dictionary about every 20 pages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Laurie_ Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 Oh Joe, you're such a smarty pants...errr wait, no not pants... how about just a smarty... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcM Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 Sorry. I was too lazy to read the list. I ammm an American, though, so it is expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayzor Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 I found 6 words that I don't have a clue about. The others are general knowledge, I feel, if you've taken an english class in school. Maybe people just forget the words because they speak more slang and "ebonics". Yo mama! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 I know Marc. I saw that "Carot Top For President" bumper sticker on your car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonJonSurfer Posted June 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 Sorry. I was too lazy to read the list. I ammm an American, though, so it is expected. There's a word for people like you...I just don't know what it is!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floydaholic Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 I only know 17 of them!!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted June 8, 2007 Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 unless you're in college, the answer to the question the thread poses is...probably not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foolonthehill Posted June 8, 2007 Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 I don't know 36 of them...and my vocabulary shames most of my classmates'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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