499 Words Every College Student Should Know

Using easy-to-understand, informative, and often humorous explanations of every word, 499 Words Every College Student Should Know explores how to use the words in proper context. The majority of these words were chosen because they are common in media, literature, and online, and students need to understand them.

On any given day, you might read “abrogate” used in a USA Today article; or “demagogue” or “fiduciary” used on CNN. You might hear “ensorcelled” and “torpor” in a TV drama; you’ll hear a political candidate described as “truculent.” You may hear “pedantic” used in a movie. How many of these words are part of most college students’ “arsenal of words”? Hopefully all of them, but if not, 499 Words Every College Student Should Know will provide them with what they need to become more articulate in their speaking and writing. It will also enhance their comprehension in their reading, ultimately culminating in what every student aspires to: earning better grades!

499 Words Every College Student Should Know teaches truly important vocabulary words and focuses on Professor Spignesi’s classroom-tested Trinity of Vocabulary Use. For each word, the vocabulary-enriched and educated student will be able to:

• Understand the word in their reading
• Use the word in their speaking
• Make good use of the word in their writing

Knowing them — in fact, using the words and making them part of their everyday language — will make any college student or those soon-to-be, more credible.

"Stephen Spignesi has done it again! As an instructor of first year composition, I am certain that this new book will no doubt prove to be an invaluable tool in teaching my students the lost art of building their vocabularies. It is insightful, helpful and extremely well organized.” —Mark McFadden, University of New Haven Practitioner in Residence

"499 Words Every College Student Should Know is a step beyond a dictionary and a thesaurus. The same word in a different context can be correct but not appropriate for that situation. This book gives a clear explanation of how each word should be used in the real world. 499 Words should be on every writer’s desk." —Mary Embree, author of Abused, Confused, and Misused Words and The Author’s Toolkit: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing and Publishing Your Book.

"Professor Spignesi’s book is both wonderfully informative and incredibly entertaining. His book is a perfect resource for any student looking to expand their vocabulary—not simply to sound smarter, but to actually understand and correctly use advanced words." —Joseph Roy, Former Student of Prof. Spignesi

“Browsing through it is a revelation for everyone, not just college students! Even if you can define all 499 words (and I’ll bet you can’t), the examples of their use in context, drawn from movies, TV shows, and other pop culture sources, will expand your horizons.”—Jim Bernhard, Author of Puns, Puzzles, and Wordplay and You’re On!: The Theatre Quiz Book

"We all want to enrich our vocabulary, but with an estimated one million words in the English language, where do we even start? That’s why this book is so valuable. Stephen Spignesi not only handpicks 499 words that guarantee to make us more eloquent; he provides definitions, explanations, and context so we use the words correctly. In other words, this book will make you sound erudite and satiate your desire to accumulate a laudable vocabulary (numbers 205, 431, and 323, respectively)."—Jenny Baranick, author of Kiss My Asterisk, Missed Periods and Other Scares, and Sarah Palin's Expert Guide to Good Grammar

"499 Words Every College Student Should Know is a spunky, brilliantly written book that sets itself apart from any other dictionary. It gives examples of each word in cultural context as well as presenting the definitions, thus proving to be a useful and authentic guide for any college student."—Yara Obeid, former student of Professor Spignesi

"Professor Spignesi uses examples from popular culture, books, and magazines to give readers a true understanding of the words he defines. He quotes everything from Parks and Recreation to Iron Man and Paranormal Activity and his multiple examples for each word provide students with the true context of the word they are learning. —Sabrina Williams, former student of Professor Spignesi

"The importance of this book goes beyond pedagogical. It lets its audience know that these words are out there, in the pop culture they consume, not just in intimidating literary texts and academic papers." —Rachel Montgomery, M.A., author