• Sign up to be emailed a “Word of the Day” using one of the many online dictionaries. You can also procure for yourself a Word of the Day calendar; be sure to read the word on the page each day and aim to remember each day’s word and even use it somewhere in your day.
Visit word building sites such as freerice.com and construct an expansive vocabulary while nourishing the hungry or doing something else useful.
There are many online sites devoted to compiling alphabetical lists of unusual, weird, old-fashioned, and difficult words. Avail yourself of the search engine to find these sites and to learn from them. This is a great way to while away time waiting for a bus or in the bank queue.
• Do word puzzles and play word games. Word puzzles are an excellent source of increasing your word knowledge because the puzzle creators will often need to resort to an array of unusual words to ensure that the words fit into their puzzles and that they are interesting for the puzzle doer. There are many varieties of vocabulary puzzles, including crosswords, find-a-word and hidden word puzzles. As well as strengthening your word knowledge, puzzles are also good for improving your critical thinking skills. For word games, try such games as Scrabble, Boggle, and Cranium to extend your vocabulary.
• Learn a little Latin. Although it might seem like a dead and done language, knowing a bit of Latin is an excellent way to learn the roots of many words in the English language and can help you figure out the meaning of a wide range of words that you don’t yet know without having to resort to the dictionary. There are online Latin learning resources, as well as plenty of texts (check out your favourite used books bookstore).
More tips
• There are many websites devoted to improving vocabulary. Find your favourites and make the most of them.
*Frequent use of filler words such as “Like…”, “So…”, “Um…”, “Ain’t” and “Yea…” can make even people with large, more constructed vocabularies sound unlearned. Stay away from the unnecessary words and contractions.
• One of the most commonly used word websites, Dictionary.com, has a small section at the bottom of their homepage showing popular searches of the day.
• Download a Free Dictionary App to your smartphone. Capture the image of the definition using the screenshot function so that you can easily review your words at a later point.
• You can purchase pre-attached, small, blank vocabulary cards which you can place into your bag or pocket and carry anywhere. Write the new words you’re learning on them and pull out the flashcards while you’re on the bus, in a queue, waiting to collect someone, and brush up your learning.
– Wikihow.com