Word Power Made Easy: The Complete Handbook for Building a Superior Vocabulary

Especially since this March, I shop on Amazon vigorously. But I think this is my first time to write a review. This is the magnificent vocabulary book. I tried to increase my vocabulary so many times but everytime ended up giving up (I am from Japan). This one, I managed to finish a whole book and learn tremendously. I believe that is because the author explains well so that a word logically makes sense etymologically. If you are good at just memorizing random stuff, numbers or letters, then you probably would not need this book. You can study with an American vocab book (a quality is so shitty I was surprised) and succeed. But if you need a reason or logic for memorizing stuff, then this is the book you need. As some reviewers commented, I have to admit that some notions in this book are anachronistic, especially if you live in South California. Definitely, I can tell the author was in social science academia, so he was liberal enough and sophisticated at his time; yet, I can see some archaic notions he introduces. Though, it did not really bother me. This book is superb and exceptional, especially comparing to other American vocab books which are usually very poor quality.

As most other reviewers remarked, this book is probably the best and most efficient book to truely improve your vocabulary. The ideas and methologies in this book will benefit you for years to come. But be warned, this book is not for some leisurely reading, where you magically improve your vocabulary in a few weeks. I bought this book a couple of month ago and I'm just half way through, although I work on it almost every day. As the author mentions in the opening chapter, to really learn you have to have the desire to learn new things, new ideas, just like a child does. Only then will you be able to really improve. Only if you really have that desire will you be able to finish this book. One of the great things about this book, is that each keyword is first described by an 'idea' behind the word. Meaning, you first get a paragraph of some habit/characteristic/attribute and once you think, "yes, I know exactly what you mean", only then will he present you with a single new word, which expresses exactly what that entire paragraph described. The next sections then work with those new words and dissect them and show you where they come from (either Latin or Greek) and other words build on the same root. You also have to write down exercises to work with those new words. The author also encourages the reader to read aloud so you really familiarize yourself with those new words. The pronunciation guide is also surprisingly effective. If you're serious about building/improving your vocabulary, buy this book, you won't regret it. Absolutely worth 5 stars.

One of the best books to start preparing for gre / gmat vocab .

I bought this book with a passing interest in improving my vocabulary. I'd like my vocabulary to be about 10% better. After taking the extensive tests to determine my vocabulary proficiency (which may be a bit dubious), I was a bit disappointed with the halfhearted short chapters that purport to give scientific evidence that building your vocabulary will make you more successful. Consider this excerpt: "The Human Engineering Laboratory found that the only common characteristic of successful people ... is an unusual grasp of the meanings of words. The Laboratory tested the vocabularies of thousands of people ... and discovered that those people drawing down the highest salaries made the highest scores." This seems to be meant to make you think that building your vocabulary will make you richer, but in fact what this research shows is that a strong vocabulary is a common characteristic among people who make a high salary, not that making a high salary is a common characteristic among people with good vocabularies (consider the sheer number of grade school English teachers who unfortunately don't make a lot of money and undoubtedly have strong vocabularies). There are lots of tedious little chapters at the beginning of this book that you can skip through. The practice itself is the useful part. I can't really feel my vocabulary growing quite yet, but I've just started using the book.

I remember picking this book up during my college days & being enthralled. I loved learning about various Latin and Greek roots of English words, things I never knew like the difference between an egoist and egotist, proper use of words (do you use "I" or "me"?), etc. So I bought this again last year while researching English books to use for homeschooling our kids (grades 4 to 7). Our kids have actually enjoyed some sections of this book, such as learning about words like "gauche" and "gaucherie". Even my 4th grader appreciated learning that in Latin "sinister" means left hand and "dexter" means right hand (perhaps only to tease her left-handed sister :) ). I highly recommend this book as a tool for teaching your kids, from primary school through high school (though a few things are more appropriate for older teens/adults). I also believe this book is very educational for adults who aren't already well versed in etymology and the idiosyncrasies of English grammar.

This is one of the best vocabulary building books I have ever read. I was introduced to this book when I was in 9th grade many many many years ago by my English teacher. I am not a good reader (I am in fact very slow) so my vocabulary has suffered. Not only do I find this book easy to read and interesting but within the first few chapters you will have greatly improved your understand of words and their roots. Once you start understand the roots of words your vocabulary expands exponentially. Since vocabulary is my weakest area academically this book had been fantastic in succeeding where all other have failed. I do not remember my High School English teacher's name but I am forever grateful that she introduced me to this book 43 years ago. My son has basically the same issues with English as I did but now this book will also be a great benefit for him. He is in 7th grade and we read this together each day. This book is worth is weight in gold. I actually think it is worth more as I cannot put price on expanding my Son's education and understand of the world. If only one person that reads this review finds this book useful. I cannot tell you how much joy something like brings me and more importantly hopefully to that person. Now here is my disclaimer! On the other hand if anyone finds this book was not useful and wasted their time, I apologize! Understand that this is my opinion only and I do understand that what I have found useful may not be to others so CAVEAT EMPTOR.

I’m an engineer and am studying for the GRE. Vocabulary has always been a weak point of mine and I never enjoyed making vocab lists. This book is amazing. So cool to learn the Latin and Greek roots of words and history behind it. Best part is that since starting, I still remember the words and what their roots mean. Very well done book, can’t recommend it enough. And, it’s fun to do!

There are lots of better books out there. If you want to increase your daily use of Vocabulary like me, there are much better books out there. I ordered this book and do not like it because you may never use the words in it. If you are getting ready to take an SAT then maybe this is a good book. We all have a different reason wanting to increase our vocabulary.

もともとは、Instant Word Powerで挫折した過去があり、久しぶりに取り組んで終わらせた(ことにした)あと、本書を読み始めました。 みなさん書かれているように、かなり難しいです。英検1級は受けたことはないのですが、このレベルの単語は細かいニュアンスなどで類義語がいくらでもあり、単語だけをずらっと並べた単語集で覚えるのは難しいように思います。本書では単語の成り立ちなども詳しく説明してくれているので、記憶に残りやすいところは助かりました。ある程度期間を設けて(1ヶ月程度)2、3周集中的に無理やりやって、あとから長期間かけて定期的に読み直していくのが良いように思います。このレベルの単語を雑誌などで維持していくのは難しいかもです。(New Yorkerとか？) 短期間本書を取り組んでも、すぐ忘れてしまうので、まずは印象に残る単語だけ覚えるようにして、それ以外の単語はあとから参照できるようにしておく位が気が楽です。 なお、読み進めていく中で、本がバラバラになってきてしまい焦りました。最終的にノリづけして乗り切りました。この辺りの装丁は雑なので、覚悟ください。。。 復習はひとまずChapter Reviewに付箋を貼って、ここを読み返すようにしましたが、難しい。。。索引もないので、結構大変です。 2025/12/21 本書の中で著者が語彙力を高めるための雑誌等を紹介してくれています。この中にあるHarpar’s magazineを定期購読してみることにしました。非常に難しいですが、本書の延長線上にある雑誌で、月刊ということもあり、いい感じの教材なんじゃないかと思います。興味があればぜひ。

Absolutely not well written. You need to master phonetics to understand some pronunciations. You cannot learn anything the way it is organised. The only usage is like a dictionary

Ottimo

The book is light and easy to carry.

Word Power Made Easy is hands-down one of the best vocabulary-building books I’ve ever come across. Norman Lewis doesn’t just give you word lists to memorize he teaches you how to understand the roots of words, making it so much easier to remember and actually use them. The book is organized in a way that feels like a personal course. It’s broken into sessions with quizzes and reviews that really reinforce what you’ve learned. I love how interactive it is—it’s not just passive reading. You’re constantly engaged and building confidence as you go. One of the best parts is how practical the words are. These aren’t obscure SAT words you’ll never use again. They’re words that show up in everyday reading, writing, and conversation. I also really appreciate the author's encouraging tone; it genuinely makes the learning process fun and approachable. Whether you're a student, a professional, or just someone who loves language, this book is an incredible resource. Highly recommend!