Vocabulary is generally easier to understand if you look at it in context.
When trying to discover the meaning of new vocabulary, it helps to look at contextual clues, such as the position of the word in a sentence.
The newspaper took his comments completely out of context and made
him look really bad.
We can only understand his decision if we look at the context of the social policies of his era.
His remarks seem quite strange until you see the context in which they were said, and realize that it was all a big joke.
In the context of his religion, his
actions can be seen as reasonable.
You took what I said totally out of context. You know very well that I was just teasing you.
Schools provide a context for the operation of youth subculture.
Children are generally socialized in informal contexts, such as with the family,
babysitters and peer groups.
One's values should be viewed in the context of one's culture.
Scientist Carl Sagan once noted that it is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English, up to fifty words used in correct context, no human being has been reported to have learned Dolphinese.
When practising vocabulary, it is a good idea to try to write your own sentences in context in order to learn how the words are actually used.
So-called magic mushrooms have been used for centuries, primarily in the context of religious rituals and ceremonies.
Social context has been shown to have a great influence on individual behavior.
Michael McCarthy wrote that the purpose of vocabulary learning should include both remembering words and the ability to use them automatically in a wide range of language contexts when the need arises.
Seeing vocabulary in different contexts can help you understand how the words are used.
Research suggests that the decontextualised learning of vocabulary is not sufficient to allow a student to truly know and be able to use a word.
You have to contextualize the remark in the overall discussion to fully understand what was meant.
New vocabulary which is uncontextualized can be difficult to understand clearly.