Word meanings
These words turn up constantly in writing about work, and most of them get used a little loosely. This course groups them by what they describe, with the precise sense worth keeping.
What you'll learn
11 chapters, then the quiz
- 01How to learn a wordMeeting it beats memorising it.
- 02Roots and affixesGuessing a word you have never seen.
- 03Time and presenceUbiquitous, ephemeral, perennial.
- 04Attitude and stancePragmatic, ambivalent, indifferent.
- 05Care and precisionMeticulous, rigorous, fastidious.
- 06Honesty and opennessCandid, frank, disingenuous.
- 07Surplus and shortageRedundant, superfluous, scarce.
- 08Change and stabilityVolatile, static, incremental.
- 09Importance and scaleSalient, trivial, substantive.
- 10Pairs people mix upWords that look related and are not.
- 11Register and toneRight word, wrong room.
More language tests
See all →- Easy
English grammar
The rules that decide whether writing reads as careful or careless.
8 questions5 min - Medium
Spelling challenge
The words that catch people out, and the patterns behind them.
8 questions6 min - Medium
Vocabulary in context
Working out what an unfamiliar word means from the sentence around it.
8 questions7 min