ONE WORD SUBSTITUTION
It reflects good literary sense to use one word in place of ten to express the
appropriate meaning. Therefore, for writing good English and to be precise as well, we should
always avoid being wordy, and should
use short clear-cut words to express our thoughts and feeling. This always leaves greater
effect and weight than long ones. It will
always be a useful practice
for the student to pause and think while writing and find out whether he has used any of those expressions which can, without changing the sense,
be substituted by a single word. This
way alone he can learn to be precise
in speech and writing. Following is a list of words which can be substituted by a single
word.
v
Something
no longer in use or fashion
– Obsolete
v
Someone which is not very clear
to read – Illegible
v
Sound or voice which is too slow to be made out with any degree of clarity
– Inaudible
v
Something beyond all price – invaluable
v
Something contrary to law – illegal
v
Something which is entirely
beyond belief – incredible
v
Someone who hates all mankind – misanthrope
v
One who hates women – misogynist
v
Lasting only a very short
time – transient or temporary
v
Conduct which deserves all praise
– laudable
v
One who uses confusing words to hide the truth to mislead
others – equivocal
v
Someone who can be easily fooled by others
– gullible
v
One who uses his both left and right hand with ease – ambidextrous
v
Organized scheme or plan for popularizing something – propaganda
v
Skillfully
planning or handling
the movements of an event or machine –maneuvering
v
Organizations in successive grades or leaves
– hierarchy
v
To take revenge – retaliate
v
The power of being present everywhere
– omnipresent
v
Post for which
no salary is paid – honorary
v
A remedy for all diseases
– panacea
v
The power of reading
the thoughts or minds of others immediately – telepathy
v One having much energy which is not in use but capable of using it into action
at a moment of emergency
– dormant
v
One who is out to subvert
a government – Anarchist
v
One who is recovering from illness – convalescent
v
One who knows everything – omniscient
v
One who can do anything for money – mercenary
v
One who has no money – pauper
v
One who changes sides – turncoat
v One who loves books – bibliophile
v One who doubts
the existence of god – agnostic
v One who pretends
to be what he is not – hypocrite
v One incapable of being
tired – indefatigable
v One who helps others – good Samaritan
v One who copies
from other writers
– Plagiarist
v One who knows many languages – polyglot
v One who thinks
only of himself – egoist
v One who thinks
only of welfare
of women – feminist
v One who is indifferent to pleasure or pain – stoic
v One who has strange habits
– eccentric
v One who speaks less – reticent
v One who goes on foot – pedestrian
v One who believes
in fate – fatalist
v One who dies without a will – intestate
v One who always
thinks himself to be ill – valetudinarian
v A government by the people
– Democracy
v A government by a king or queen – monarchy
v A government by officials – bureaucracy
v A government by the rich – plutocracy
v A government by few – oligarchy
v A government by the nobles – aristocracy
v A government by one – autocracy
v Rule by the mob – mobocracy
v A sentence whose meaning
is unclear – ambiguous
v That which cannot be imitated – inimitable
v That which cannot be avoided – inevitable
v That which cannot be defended – indefensible
v That which is not likely to happen – improbable
v People living
at the same time – contemporaries
v A book written by an unknown author
– anonymous
v People who work together
– colleagues
v One who eats too much – glutton
v That which cannot
be satisfied – insatiable
v One who questions everything – cynic
v One who lives in a foreign country – immigrant
v To transfer one’s authority to another – delegate
v That which
is lawful – legal
v That which is against
law – illegal
v A study of ancient
things – archaeology
v To free somebody from all blame – exonerate
v To write under a different name – pseudonym
v A thing
no longer in use – obsolete
v One who is greedy for money – avaricious
v A person’s
peculiar habit – idiosyncrasy
v An animal
who preys on other animals – predator
v Violating the sanctity of a church
– sacrilege