Webster Essential Vocabulary

literary(LIT oer ER ee) adj.1. having to do with books or writing; 2. tending
toward the more formal, polished language of writing rather than that of everyday
speech; 3. familiar with or well versed in literature (the classics)

• A library can be thought of as a living museum of literaryworks.


• It is doubtful that anyone ever spoke in the literarylanguage that charac-
  terizes Shakespeare’s plays.
  •A literarycritic must have enough experience to be able to judge a work
  against many other examples.
  literature(LIT er uh TYUR) n.1. all writings in prose or poetry, especially of an
  imaginative nature, without regard to their merit, distinguished from those of sci-
  entific writing, reporting of news, etc.; 2. those writings considered to have lasting
  merit, either because of their excellence of form or the value of their examples; 3.
  printed matter of any kind


• The literatureof the late twentieth century runs the gamut from the philos-
  ophy of the existentialists to the adventures of Harry Potter.


• The classics of literaturecomprise a number of books that have survived for
  centuries and are still being reproduced.


• Among the less lasting literatureof recent years, we must count the bill-
  boards extolling the merits of certain drinks.

Quick Review #52.

Match the word from column 2 with the word from column 1 that means most
nearly the same thing.

150 Essential Vocabulary

1. lame


2. languid


3. latent


4. lavish


5. legislation


6. legislator


7. legitimacy


8. levee


9. liberal


10. library


11. linchpin


12. literal


13. literary


14. literature

a. lettered

b. glue

c. legality

d. precise

e. collection

f. writings

g. laws

h. dike

i. potential

j. lawmaker

k. profuse

l. generous

m. ineffectual

n. sluggish