If you are looking for ways to enliven your writing and speech, this classic collection from Greenville Kleiser includes a huge number of words in sets of four.
You can review these lists when you are struggling for descriptive language for your writing, and you can also use them to develop your vocabulary by identifying, looking up, and learning words you don't know.You may also want to consider the relationships among the words in each set, speculate on why Kleiser grouped these four words together, and think about how each set might be used.
This set consists of quadruple sets of nouns and adjectives.
S
sad, despondent, melancholy, and depressed
sane, sober, sound, and rational
scandalize, vilify, traduce, and offend
scanty, pinched, slender, and insufficient
science, art, religion, and philosophy
scope, design, purpose, and judgment
sensual, cruel, selfish, and unscrupulous
sentence, judgment, verdict, and doom
serene, composed, conservative, and orderly
several, sundry, many, and various
severe, stern, stiff, and stringent
shameless, corrupt, depraved, and vicious
shock, surprise, terror, and forlornness
simple, hearty, joyous, and affectionate
sin, injustice, grievance, and crime
skill, courage, prowess, and attractiveness
sleepy, soporific, sluggish, and dull
slim, slender, slight, and scraggy
slow, dilatory, slack, and procrastinating
solemn, profound, serious, and difficult
solicit, urge, implore, and importune
sorrow, disaster, unhappiness, and bereavement
spontaneity, freedom, ease, and adequacy
stately, stern, august, and implacable
steady, reliable, dependable, and well-balanced
stern, severe, abrupt, and unreasonable
stories, pictures, shows and representations
strength, agility, violence, and activity
strong, inventive, daring, and resourceful
sublime, consoling, inspiring, and beautiful
substantial, solid, strong, and durable
suffering, regret, bitterness, and fatigue
superficial, shallow, flimsy, and untrustworthy
superfluous, excessive, unnecessary, and redundant
suspicious, cynical, crafty, and timid
symmetry, proportion, harmony, and regularity
T
tact, courtesy, adroitness, and skill
talents, opportunities, influence, and power
talkative, selfish, superstitious, and inquisitive
tastes, appetites, passions, and desires
tease, tantalize, worry, and provoke
tenacious, stubborn, pertinacious, and obstinate
tendency, drift, scope, and disposition
tests, trials, temptations, and toils
theatrical, ceremonious, meretricious, and ostentatious
theory, assumption, speculation, and conjecture
think, reflect, weigh, and ponder
tortuous, twisted, sinuous, and circuitous
tractable, gentle, pliant, and submissive
traditional, uncertain, legendary, and unverified
traffic, trade, commerce, and intercourse
tricky, insincere, wily, and shifty
trite, ordinary, commonplace, and hackneyed
trivial, petty, frivolous, and insignificant
true, upright, real, and authentic
tumultuous, riotous, disorderly, and turbulent
Go back to the Main Page of Expressive Quadruples... or ... Go to the Next Page: Expressive Quadruples, Page 8 (U-V-W).
Editor's note: This section of EnhanceMyVocabulary.com is excerpted and adapted from Project Gutenberg's Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases, by Grenville Kleiser.
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