Admissions Essay Style and Tone: Word Choice

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Essay Styles and Tone Categories:

Sentence Variety | Word Choice | Verbs | Transitions | Essay Clichés

Word Choice

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Whenever possible, use the shorter, simpler word.

You can use a thesaurus to jog your memory when you are trying to come up with a better synonym, but never use a word with which you are not already familiar. Words often have connotations and nuances of meaning that you can appreciate only after having seen them in context, so you are taking a great risk if you use a word that you do not know well.

Even if you do feel comfortable with more advanced vocabulary, you should use the simpler synonym if that captures your meaning just as well. For example, instead of “ameliorated the situation,” you could state “improved the situation.” On the other hand, a word such as “exasperated” is more intense than a synonym like “frustrated,” and so you should use it if that is the sense you are trying to convey.