This is a great book for building vocabulary. A must-have for students preparing for competitive exams which test language skills. This book is easy to read and is divided into a number of sections which test your vocabulary as well as grammar. Also has a wide range of Synonyms, Antonyms, Paronyms, Idioms and special phrases. The comprehensive tests given in the book are a tad bit difficult but if you read the book thoroughly, you will be able to solve them.
Grab a copy soon if you want to improve your spoken as well as written English. :)

Very few books have had a demonstrable effect on my daily activities but this book has done just that. I read this when studying for the GRE.

In life, it is often the case that the things we seek to comprehend are complex in nature. However if we examine their structure we can often see the concept is not an atomic entity, but rather made up of parts. Often these parts are simpler to understand than the whole and can be combined and reused. This book taught me that words can viewed and understood in such a paradigm where words play the role of the whole and prefixes, suffixes, and intermediate parts play the role of the pieces.

In comparison to other books on etymology, only this book and the Merriam-Webster's Vocabulary Builder were able to keep my attention long enough to make it all the way through. I am certainly better off for reading this book and would recommend it to anyone looking to expand their vocabulary and have fun while doing it.

After reading this book I very much regret that I did not take Latin in high school when I had the chance!

I enjoyed reading this from the very first pages till the end. I wanted to read something that would help me become fluent in English and this was a big step for me or so I think!

A must for people preparing for standardised tests (SAT, GRE, GMAT, IELTS, TOEFL). This not only strengthens your understanding of vocabulary but grammar as well. I feel more confident in conversing with new people all thanks to my new vocabulary and a better understanding of etymology.

Let me prove to you just how much this book has helped me. Previously, one could call me a shy, timid man, borderline reticent at functions and gatherings. I can confidently say that this book has now transformed me into a gregarious, convivial individual as well as a voluble speaker!

A nice way of expanding the vocabulary, with friendly tone and activities that actually help.

A very useful book that has a vast collection of useful words for every situation. It is not a dictionary but a guide about the origin of a particular word, its meaning and its usage in proper contexts. Because of the detailed explanations about each word, including the meaning of the root words, it is easy to remember/study.
For example,
The word "chronometer"
The book points us to the root word 'Chrono', which means 'time.' Then it shows various words emerging from the root word 'Chrono', such as Anachronic, chronograph, chronology etc

Highly recommended to all who wishes to upgrade their vocabulary.

Last book of this year. Finished this book with a feeling of complete success

Great book for to build one's vocabulary , It provides reader with a Idea related to a word , a memoir related to that word so that person could attach to that and word remained instilled in his/her mind . It tells the origin and relation of words like 'Bibliophile' , Its made from Latin word biblio for books and Latin verb philein , to write . It guides about a society of words "like words to insult one's enemy' or 'word's to talk about people' or 'words to talk about doctors' etc . One can become a amateur etymologist too which would a great in figuring out meaning of words with whom one ain't familiar with.

It is one of the best book to learn vocabulary for competitive exams or for improving your English and i would like to recommend all just go through this book to gain some edge in English and i found this book is so engaging and interesting so i also made a whole series of videos on it.
If you just checkout

A wonderful book!! Bible to those who want to learn vocab!! Its more of an exercise oriented than theory!! A very good experience!! After completing the book, I felt very confident in replacing many words with its thesaurus!!

I recommend for everyone to go through this and practice well for improving your language!!

Did this while preparing for my GRE and it was very much helpful!!

Excellent book to understand the origin of words and make you see a pattern! Super useful!

i'm confused between 3 or 4 but i'll go with the 3 because
1. the book having been written in 1949 is obviously a little behind on words in current usage as well as the grammar short notes it provides. some of the words given in the book wouldn't really be used anymore under any circumstances. a lot of the grammar notes are also outdated. the book itself mentions that grammar changes over time and this was to be expected since it is almost 75 years old i guess
2. some chapters are literally not necessary. i'm pretty sure most of the readers would probably benefit from just skipping the chapters on science and doctors
3. the book most definitely has a lot of shit to say. i don't think it's possible to fully digest it in under 2/2.5 months. it is divided into 47 sessions but most definitely it should take a lot more time if the reader hopes to grasp the content and not just skim through
all that considered, it's a pretty good book, and quite comprehensive. despite being 75 years old around 80-90% of the words are still in use and it has most definitely helped me. i think if one sets aside time for it, the book can be tremendously helpful in building a better vocabulary and even more in learning how to build a better vocabulary.