100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know - Editors of the American Heritage Di 2016

Preface

The editors of the American Heritage College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, originally developed the 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know to highlight the importance of owning and using a dictionary. We provided journalists and radio announcers across the United States with this list, and it quickly became the topic of many articles and broadcasts. The list was a hit, and the phenomenal response from the public pleasantly surprised us. Visitors to our website, www.ahdictionary.com, viewed this list over 200,000 times. We were also often asked if the list was available in book form, and this book was published in response to those requests.

The editorial staff found the development of the list to be an engaging and entertaining task. In addition to carefully choosing a well-balanced mix of terms from A to Z, we balanced straightforward vocabulary entries, such as bellicose, loquacious, and vehement, with words chosen directly from the disciplines of learning, such as parabola and hypotenuse from mathematics, gerrymander and enfranchise from civics, and photosynthesis and hemoglobin from biology. As a result, students often have an easier time with the list than adults, especially if they’ve been paying attention in their classes!

Still, we intentionally crafted this list to present a challenge to students and adults. Reporters and commentators, especially those who are also parents, have been pleased to find a way to get children and teenagers interested in building a more sophisticated vocabulary—while finding themselves learning as well. We have been delighted by the positive response, and we are encouraged by the fact that people are taking a closer look at literacy and vocabulary building as an integral part of using dictionaries. We’ve set the bar high, and people are responding enthusiastically to the challenge.

The following entries are based on material from our American Heritage Dictionary series and are presented in an expanded layout that is easy to read. We’ve added quotations and example sentences to provide greater context for many definitions. To encourage study skills, at the end of this book we have provided exercises for improving vocabulary and encouraging active use of the dictionary.

We hope that you find learning these words and expanding your vocabulary to be a rewarding experience.

Steve Kleinedler,

Senior Editor