English for Students

Difficult Words : Coherent, Cognizant, Colloquial, Collusion, Commensurate and Compelling

Difficult Words ( Coherent, Cognizant, Colloquial, Collusion, Commensurate and Compelling ) and their usages have been explained here in detail.

Cognizant (KOG in zunt) adj: aware; conscious

To be cognizant of your responsibilities is to know what your responsibilities are.

Agora was cognizant of the dangers of sword swallowing, but he tried it anyway and hurt himself quite badly.

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Coherent (koh HEER Unt) adj: holding together; making sense

A coherent wad of cotton balls is one that holds together.

A coherent explanation is an explanation that makes sense; the explanation holds together.

To hold together is to cohere.

Colloquial (kuh LOH Kwee ul) adj: conversational; informal in languages

A writer with a colloquial style is a writer who uses ordinary words and whose writing seems as informal as common speech.

"The way I figure it" is a colloquial expression, or a colloquialism; People often say it but it isn't used in formal prose.

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Collusion (kuh LOO zhun) n: conspiracy; secret cooperation

The increase in oil prices was the result of collusion by the oil-producing nations.

There was collusion among the owners of the baseball teams. They agreed secretly not to sign any expensive free agents.

If the baseball owners were in collusion, then you could say that they had colluded.

To collude is to conspire.

Commensurate (kuh MEN sur it) adj: equal; proportionate

Ernie's salary is commensurate with his abilities. Like his abilities, his salary is small.

The number of touchdowns scored by the team and the number of its victories were commensurate (both zero).

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Compelling (kum PEL ing) adj: forceful; causing to yield

A compelling argument for buying a videocassette recorder is one that makes you go out and buy a videocassette recorder.

The recruiter’s speech was so compelling that nearly everyone in the auditorium enlisted in the army when it was over.

To compel someone to do something is to force him or her to do it.

Out consciences compelled us to turn the money we had found over to the authorities.

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