The Century Vocabulary Builder

by Garland Greever; Joseph M. Bachelor

<Free>. Free may be applied to a person not subject to a tax or a disease, to a person who has been released from confinement or restraint, to a person who is not reserved or formal in his relations to others, to a person who is willing to give. Out of your own resources substitute as many words as you can for free in each of these sentences. Now look up free in a dictionary or book of synonyms. What proportion of its synonyms were you able to think up unaided?

<Great>. Give three synonyms for great as applied to size, to number, to a man widely known for notable achievement, to an error or crime, to price.

<Hard>. Give six synonyms for hard as applied to a rock; six as applied to a task or burden; six as applied to a problem or situation; ten as applied to one's treatment of others.

<Harsh>. Give three words that can be applied instead of harsh to a sound; three that can be applied instead of harsh to the voice; five that can be applied to one's treatment of others; five that can be applied to one's disposition or nature.

<Just>. Substitute five words for just in the sentence "You are just in your dealings with others"; three in the sentence "A just punishment was meted out to him"; three in the sentence "They made a just division of the property"; two in the sentence "He had a just claim to the title."

<Plain>. Give six words that can be substituted for plain, as applied to a fact or statement; four as applied to the decorations of a room; two as applied to the countenance; four as applied to a surface; three as applied to a statement or reply.

<Poor>. Give five words that can be used instead of poor as applied to a person who is without money or resources; ten as applied to a person lacking in flesh; three as applied to clothing that is worn out; five as applied to land that will bear only small crops or no crops at all; two as applied to an occasion that does not promise to turn out well.

<Quick>. Give six words that could be used instead of quick as applied to a train or a horse in travel; six as applied to the movements of a person about a room or to his actions in the performance of his work; four to a disposition or temper that is easily irritated.

<Serious>. Give five synonyms for serious as applied to one's countenance or expression; three as applied to a problem or undertaking; two as applied to a disease or to sickness.

<Sharp>. Give two synonyms for sharp as applied to a blade or a point; six as applied to a pain or to grief; four as applied to a remark or reply; ten as applied to one's mind or intellect; three as applied to temper or disposition; three as applied to an embankment; three as applied to the seasoning of food; three as applied to a cry or scream.