Meaning of one word for many

: a large number of persons or things many are called. many. noun, plural in construction. Definition of many (Entry 3 of 3) 1 : a large but indefinite number a good many of them.

What is the word for using too many words?

Pleonasm is using more words than you need to, either accidentally or deliberately. Used accidentally, a pleonasm is just long-winded wordiness, like a sentence that includes far more words than is necessary.

What is making one word from many words called?

anagram

What is a wordy?

wordy, verbose, prolix, diffuse mean using more words than necessary to express thought. wordy may also imply loquaciousness or garrulity. a wordy speech verbose suggests a resulting dullness, obscurity, or lack of incisiveness or precision.

What’s another word for wordy?

other words for wordy

• lengthy.
• long-winded.
• rambling.
• turgid.
• bombastic.
• chatty.
• diffuse.
• discursive.

What are wordy sentences?

Wordy sentences use too many useless words that clutter writing. Good writing is simple and direct; it uses the simplest word possible that conveys the same meaning. If you can remove a word while keeping the sentence’s meaning, the sentence is wordy.

Is wordy a real word?

Wordy, prolix, redundant, pleonastic all mean using more words than necessary to convey a desired meaning. Wordy, the broadest and least specific of these terms, may, in addition to indicating an excess of words, suggest a garrulousness or loquaciousness: a wordy, gossipy account of a simple incident.

What is a wordy paragraph?

Wordy sentences contain many unnecessary words.

Is wordy in order?

In order to: often bears replacement with to. In terms of: often wordy for in or for. In the affirmative: just yes. In the course of: Try during, in, over, or while.

What is an inappropriate colloquialism?

Colloquialisms are slang, informal, or localized language. When writing formal papers, both clichés and colloquialisms are inappropriate. Eliminating them requires changing habits. Examples of inappropriate phrases: “She was running around like a chicken with her head cut off. “ (

What is a parallelism in English?

Parallel structure (also called parallelism) is the repetition of a chosen grammatical form within a sentence. By making each compared item or idea in your sentence follow the same grammatical pattern, you create a parallel construction.

How do you identify wordiness?

Identifying and addressing wordiness in sentences

1. Eliminate redundant pairs.
2. Delete unnecessary qualifiers.
3. Identify and reduce prepositional phrases.
4. Locate and delete unnecessary modifiers.
5. Replace a phrase with a word.
6. Identify negatives and change them to affirmatives.

What is wordiness in writing?

Wordiness is one of the most common ESL mistakes. It happens when a writer, either intentionally or unintentionally, uses far too many words or unnecessarily complex or abstract words. Wordiness can seriously detract from the coherency and quality of your writing and frustrate your readers.

How do I condense my writing?

10 tips for more concise writing

1. Start sentences with the subject.
2. Use the active verb.
3. Get rid of adverbs and reduce your adjectives.
4. Use the shortest form of the word.
5. Use the shortest form of a phrase.
6. Keep your sentences to 25-30 words.
7. Keep your paragraphs to 250-300 words.
8. Don’t refer back.

What is wordiness and redundancy?

A redundant expression says the same thing twice, and doublespeak avoids getting directly to the point. Both are examples of wordy expressions. Other such expressions use more than one word when one word is simpler and more direct—for example, using the phrase in the vicinity of instead of near.

What does redundancy mean?

1a : the quality or state of being redundant : superfluity. b : the use of redundant components also : such components. c chiefly British : dismissal from a job especially by layoff. 2 : profusion, abundance.

What are some examples of cliches?

Common Examples of Cliché

• Let’s touch base.
• The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
• Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.
• I’m like a kid in a candy store.
• I lost track of time.
• Roses are red, violets are blue…
• Time heals all wounds.
• We’re not laughing at you, we’re laughing with you.

What is redundancy and examples?

Redundancy is when we use two or more words together that mean the same thing, for example, ‘adequate enough’. We also say something is redundant when a modifier’s meaning is contained in the word it modifies, for example, ‘merge together’. When we write, we should try to be as clear and concise as we can be.

What is another word for redundancy?

Redundancy Synonyms – WordHippo Thesaurus….What is another word for redundancy?

excess	superfluity
plethora	plus
surplusage	expendability
repetition	superfluousness
tautology	uselessness

What are examples of ambiguity?

Common Examples of Ambiguity

• The bark was painful. (Could mean a tree’s bark was rough or a dog’s bark communicated pain or hurt the listener’s ears).
• You should bring wine or beer and dessert. (Could mean that you must bring just wine, wine and dessert, or beer and dessert).
• Harry isn’t coming to the party.

What does cliches mean in English?

1 : a trite phrase or expression also : the idea expressed by it. 2 : a hackneyed theme, characterization, or situation. 3 : something (such as a menu item) that has become overly familiar or commonplace.

What are 10 cliches?

10 Common Clichés And The Powerful Truths They Hold

• Actions speak louder than words.
• The grass is always greener on the other side.
• The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
• You can’t judge a book by its cover.
• You can’t please everyone.
• What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
• Love is blind.
• Ignorance is bliss.

What is a synonym for cliche?

other words for cliche

• adage.
• banality.
• bromide.
• buzzword.
• commonplace.
• motto.
• platitude.
• proverb.

Is cliché a bad word?

The word “cliché” comes from French. It was first used to describe a stereotype: a metal plate used for printing an image. Both the words “cliché” and “stereotype” derive from printing jargon but now have negative connotations.

Is it OK to be cliche?

Clichés are usually not acceptable in academic writing, although some may be effective in daily conversation and less formal writing. Evaluate the context of your writing and be aware that you’re making a choice when you use them. Clichés make you seem boring.

What is the opposite of cliche?

(epigram) Opposite of an expression that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful. epigram. witticism. coinage. nuance.

Is banal a word?

adjective. devoid of freshness or originality; hackneyed; trite: a banal and sophomoric treatment of courage on the frontier.

Is coquettishly a word?

To joke around in a teasing way, or to flirt with someone, is to behave coquettishly. The word comes from its noun form, coquette, “flirtatious person,” a French word used in English beginning in the 1660s. In French, a coquet is a male flirt, and a coquette is a flirtatious female.

Where is cliche used?

A cliché is often a vivid depiction of an abstraction that relies upon analogy or exaggeration for effect, often drawn from everyday experience. Used sparingly, it may succeed, but the use of a cliché in writing, speech, or argument is generally considered a mark of inexperience or a lack of originality.

CAMBRIDGE
ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE ADVANCED

UNIT 91

One word, many meanings

A

Polysemy A great many words in English have more than one meaning. Linguists call this aspect of vocabulary polysemy. Look at these sentences and think about how you would translate the words in italics into your own language. fair It’s only fair that we should share the housework. The Frankfurt Book Fair is a very important event for most publishers. The forecast is for the weather to stay fair for the next week. I’ve got fair skin and burn easily in the sun. His marks in his final exams ranged from excellent to fair. flat The firefighters managed to save the children from the burning third-floor flat. The countryside round here is terribly flat and boring. To join the Fitness Club, you pay a flat fee of £500. The sonata is in B flat minor. She finished the exercise in five minutes flat. capital Fill in the form in capital letters. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. You need plenty of capital to open a restaurant. Capital punishment has been abolished in many countries. mean What does ‘coagulate’ mean? I didn’t mean to hurt you. He’s far too mean to buy her flowers. The mean temperature for July is 25oC. You shouldn’t be so mean to your little sister. You probably need a different word to translate fair, flat, capital and mean in each sentence. Sometimes the meanings are clearly related – flat as in countryside has a connection with flat as in apartment in that they both include an idea of being on one level. Sometimes, however, there is no connection at all. For example, the meaning of fair as in Book Fair has no obvious connection with any of the other meanings of fair. Words like this can be called homographs (words with the same spellings but different meanings).

B

Being aware of polysemy It is useful to be aware of polysemy in English for several reasons. • You need to remember that the meaning you first learnt for a word may not be the one that it has in a new context. • You need to be aware that in English, words can sometimes be used as different parts of speech. Flat with its apartment meaning, for instance, can become an adjective, e.g. a set of flat keys. • Learning about the range of meanings that a word can have can help you to learn several meanings for the price of one. • It will also help you to understand jokes in English, as these are often based on polysemous words. Language help The context of a word with multiple meanings will usually make it absolutely clear which of the word’s possible meanings is intended. So you can understand what, for example, the noun drill probably means in (a) a dental context, (b) an army context, (c) a road-building context, or (d) a languagelearning context.

EXERCISES

91.1	Find the example sentence in A opposite in which fair, flat, capital or mean has the following meaning. 1 intend 2 exactly 3 proper, just 4 city with the seat of government 5 light in colour 6 unkind 7 fixed 8 neither very good nor very bad 9 money 10 unwilling to spend money
91.2	What part of speech is the italicised word in each of the example sentences in A? Write a synonym or explanation for each of the examples not used in 91.1.
91.3	Here are some more examples of polysemous words in English. Which word can fill all the gaps in each group of sentences? 1 He struck a ____________ and we slowly began to look around the dark cave. The teenage cooks in the competition were a ____________ for any of the adults. Their marriage has been called a ____________ made in heaven. 2 That bird has an unusually long ____________. Don’t forget to keep the receipt when you pay your hotel ____________. Parliament is currently discussing a ____________ proposing changes to copyright legislation. 3 Hannah gave us a lovely ____________ of glasses as a wedding present. Let’s now try and ____________ a date for our meeting next week. My father has very ____________ opinions about how people should behave. 4 I’ve applied for a ____________ in our company’s Paris office. The end of the race is indicated by a ____________ with a flag on it. Why not ____________ your query on an online forum? You’re bound to get a quick response. 5 I didn’t get my assignment back because the teacher hadn’t had time to ____________ it. Sales have already passed the million ____________. You’ve got a red ____________ on your cheek. It looks like lipstick. 6 You need to be a special kind of person to ____________ a successful business. Do you fancy going for a ____________ this evening? Thanks to the hot weather, our shop has had a ____________ on ice cream.
91.4	Look at the Language help box. What does drill mean in each of the four contexts suggested?
91.5	What would the given word be most likely to mean in each of the contexts suggested? Use a dictionary if necessary. 1 register: a a primary school b a post office 2 interest: a people planning a festival b a bank 3 dice: a a kitchen b people playing a board game 4 service: a people playing tennis b in a restaurant 5 case: a in a lawyer’s office b at an airport 6 cue: a people playing snooker b in the theatre
91.6	Explain these one-line jokes. They are all based on polysemy. 1 I wondered why the tennis ball was getting bigger. Then it hit me! 2 Smaller babies may be delivered by a stork but the heavier ones need a crane. 3 Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. 4 You know prices are rising when you buy a winter jacket and even down is up.

ANSWER KEY