(pronounced bih-LIE) The easiest way to remember this word is to focus on the emphasized syllable: lie (as in falsehood, misrepresentation, fabrication, etc.). Why? This succinct little transitive verb means to present a false impression of, to contradict,

(pronounced BEHNCH-mark) A benchmark is an actual spot on a stable item used to indicate elevation, but the word is more commonly used outside of the world of topography and surveying — i.e., a point of reference from which

(pronounced bih-RAYT or bee-RAYT) To give someone or a group of people an old fashioned scolding. In other words, to condemn in a very noticeable and angry manner – sometimes for an unusually long time. It’s never fun to

(pronounced bih-SEECH) People know you are serious when you use the word beseech, as it means to beg or implore for something anxiously, urgently or expressively. Example: Right before lunch, Jefferson, the project lead on the firm’s new clinic remodel, beseeched

(pronounced bih-SPEEK) This is the kind of word you expect to see in Old English texts or your collection of Shakespearian classics, but the word is built for the modern world too. Though it can be used in several

(pronounced bet NWAHR) The literal French translation: black beast. Sounds scary. The way the English-speaking world uses the term is a little less creepy: a person or thing (not necessarily tangible) that you want to avoid because it

(pronounced BEH-vee) Such a funny, happy little word to represent a large group or collective set of something. Example: A bevy of interior design students from the city’s local program eagerly listed to Jackson while he toured them around