About Vocabmaster
Improve vocabulary at your own pace
Want stronger word power? Vocabulary improvement? Open Vocabmaster and study it from start to finish. Or use it as a reference to find synonyms for a meaning you want to express, synonyms that may or may not be found in a standard thesaurus. Build your vocabulary. Find a word to fit a concept, look up the appropriate synonym group or groups and find the word that fits your idea, study it, and learn it. Unlike the standard thesaurus, VocabMaster will teach you those words with usage drill only VocabMaster offers, and thereby imprint the word in your mind permanently. Of course, you may want to use VocabMaster for its paramount purpose, namely to expand vocabulary systematically, you can devote a session to learning all the words in that and other synonym groups.
Organization
Vocabmaster comprises ten broad sections representing the big word picture (“the forest”). VocabMaster is organized in thesaurus form, i.e. its words are organized by concept: Each section is composed of synonym groups—groups of synonym words (“the trees”)—all organized by meaning. ( More about how to use Vocabmaster )
Who wants to build vocabulary word skills?
Vocabmaster is not only for writers, teachers and those who pursue languages and literature, interested students, or students who simply want to “ace” the verbal scores on the next SAT or entrance exam. Vocabulary building of the scope provided by Vocabmaster is for all those who want to enhance their effective communication in any pursuit or calling, from business and journalism to the arts. This vocabulary improvement book is for anyone who wants to ever-improve his or her possibilities through a growing, active vocabulary.
Watching a word at its work eases the process of learning. Therefore, Vocabmaster provides each vocabulary word in this book with sentences illustrating the word’s usage. I have used three sources for these sentences. One is the established repertory of English-language literature. Those sentences will sign off with the author's name, with the exception of Shakespeare, whose plays are attributed by title. Another source is periodicals. I have paraphrased or otherwise altered most of these sentences. Some will have the year of origin indicated, simply as a point of interest to the reader. The preponderance of sentences is from those two sources. I'm the third source, as about a quarter of the sentences are my own.
What is unique, special and different about Vocabmaster?
- It is the most comprehensive. Over twelve-hundred pages describing over 2600 words.
- Real Examples. The use of each word illustrated with sentences taken from literature and periodicals.
- It doubles as a thesaurus. Have a meaning in mind and look up a fitting word you probably have not been using in everyday speech.
- Vocabmaster is more advanced. It takes you beyond what you’ll find in other vocabulary books, including SAT sources. These are not words found by searching dictionaries for the strange and never-used. These are from the writings of authors and journalists. I selected words that, in my judgment, were useful but underused.
How is this different from a thesaurus?
Yes, you can use Vocabmaster as a thesaurus, but its main purpose is building vocabulary:
The purpose of a standard thesaurus is to find synonyms to match a meaning you have in mind. If a thesaurus is the need of the moment, Vocabmaster should provide same-source mastery of the appropriate and newly discovered word. Since Vocabmaster is organized in synonym groups, you can find a word to fit a concept you have in mind by looking up the appropriate synonym group or groups. There you’ll likely find the word that expresses most exactly the idea you intend. Therefore, a secondary use is as a thesaurus for the reader or writer who wants a deeper source than that of Roget. However, the primary purpose of Vocabmaster is to provide the most panoramic vocabulary-building text in English. Unlike a thesaurus, VocabMaster teaches you the derivation (the heritage) and definitions of all subject words, and nails down your learning with sentences exemplifying the usage of these words. The main purpose of Vocabmaster is to improve vocabulary, thereby to improve writing and speech skills—to improve all forms of verbal fluency through an expanded vocabulary.
About the Author
Dr. Charles L. Armstrong is a primary-care physician residing in Santa Barbara, California. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia.
Dr. Armstrong completed his training at St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis and the Sacramento Medical Center. It was at Wesleyan that he discovered the adventures afforded by Western Civilization's great literature.
Soon he decided that the learning and retention of words seen in books and periodicals but not heard in everyday conversation would depend on organization. It occurred to him that if he wanted a word to become a familiar friend, in addition to writing out the derivation and definition, include sentences using the word. If the context was needed in addition to the sentence-of-source, include all appropriate sentences. In order to compare words of related meaning, keep them together in synonym groups, thesaurus-style. He structured the synonym groups in sequential relation one to the next in order of meaning, acknowledging the order as inevitably somewhat arbitrary. Many years after starting this project to enlarge vocabulary, friends and acquaintances suggested that the twelve-hundred pages (printed 1-1/2 space) collection should be made available to the public.
