Vocabulary Ideas for Word Nerds
It is difficult for "word nerds" to have fun with ordinary vocabulary activities and games, such as Scrabble and Hangman, as they seem too easy for them. Advanced vocabulary users need activities that can test their deep knowledge of the language, such as finding synonyms or the roots of words or breaking words into their components. Either as an activity to pass their time or as part of a competitive game, these ideas can give word nerds a challenge and help them broaden their knowledge.
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Thesaurus
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It's easy to know the meaning of each word (at least for word nerds), but listing its synonyms is a whole new challenge. It demands deep knowledge of the vocabulary, as you have to recall words with the same or slightly different meaning, as well as have the ability to connect them into a web of synonymous items. Websites such as Synonym.com and Thesaurus.com can help you evaluate the accuracy of your findings and discover even more options.
Word Roots
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According to the Capital Community College Foundation, at least half of the words in the English language are derived from Greek and Latin roots. For example, "astronomy" comes from the ancient Greek words "αστηρ" (asteer) and "νομος" (nomos), literally meaning star and law respectively. Advanced vocabulary users can really test their skills while trying to discover the root of each word. "Learn That Word" website operates a large database of word roots to test the results of your work (See Resources).
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Word Components
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The words "counterproductive," "antibiotic" and "postwar" have one thing in common: they can all be broken down into two or more components. "Counterproductive" comes from "counter" (against), "clock" and "productive"; "antibiotic" breaks down to "anti" (against) and "biotic" (referring to microbes), while "postwar" means "after" (post-) "war." Prefixes and suffixes play a major role when trying to distinguish the parts of noncompound words.
Derivatives
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Take a word like "star" ("asteer") and try to produce as many words as you can with it. For example, "star" produces astronomy, "astrology," "astrophysics," "starlet," "stardom," "astronaut" and many more. Use suffixes to produce even more derivatives: "nature" can give you "naturalism," but also "naturalistic." Similarly, you can add prefixes to the word "sphere" to form words such as "hemisphere" and "biosphere." This activity can easily become a competitive game between creative "word nerds."
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References
Resources
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