1000 Vocabulary Words

Top 1000 Vocabulary Words That Everyone Should Know

Page 5 - 401 to 500 Words

The top 1,000 vocabulary words have been carefully chosen to represent difficult but common words that appear in everyday academic and business writing. These words are also the most likely to appear on the SAT, ACT, GRE, and ToEFL.

To create this list, we started with the words that give our users the most trouble and then ranked them by how frequently they appear in our corpus of billions of words from edited sources. If you only have time to study one list of words, this is the list.


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parry, practitioner, ravel, infest, actuate, surly, convalesce, demoralize, devolve, alacrity, waive, unwonted, seethe, scrutinize, diffident, execrate, implacable, pique, mite, encumber, uncouth, petulant, expiate, cavalier, banter, bluster, debase, retainer, subjugate, extol, fraught, august, fissure, knoll, callous, inculcate, nettle, blanch, inscrutable, tenacious, thrall, exigency, disconsolate, impetus, imposition, auspices, sonorous, exploitation, bane, dint, ignominious, amicable, onset, conservatory, zenith, voluble, yeoman, levity, rapt, sultry, pinion, axiom, descry, retinue, functionary, imbibe, diversified, maraud, grudging, partiality, philology, wry, caucus, permeate, propitious, salient, propitiate, excise, betoken, palatable, upbraid, renegade, hoary, pedantic, coy, troth, encroachment, belie, armada, succor, imperturbable, irresolute, knack, unseemly, accentuate, divulge, brawn, burnish, palpitate, promiscuous

401. parry

avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)

Example Sentence: The boys asked a few guarded questions, but gained no information whatever, their questions being parried in every instance.

—Mears, James R.


402. practitioner

someone who practices a learned profession

Example Sentence: In particular, modern medical practitioners are coming around to the idea that certain illnesses cannot be reduced to one isolatable, treatable cause.

—Nature (Dec 21, 2011)


403. ravel

disentangle

Example Sentence: Overcasting is done by taking loose stitches over the raw edge of the cloth, to keep it from ravelling or fraying.

—Ontario. Ministry of Education


404. infest

occupy in large numbers or live on a host

Example Sentence: Many lived in dilapidated apartments with leaky pipes, broken windows, rooms full of mold, and walls infested with cock roaches and rats.

—New York Times (Jul 28, 2011)


405. actuate

give an incentive for action

Example Sentence: He knew that men were actuated by other motives, good and bad, than self-interest.

—Blease, Walter Lyon


406. surly

inclined to anger or bad feelings with overtones of menace

Example Sentence: But Blake, being surly and quarrelsome even when sober, gave the lapel a savage jerk , and reached out with his other hand.

—Chisholm, A. M. (Arthur Murray)


407. convalesce

get over an illness or shock

Example Sentence: Patients convalescing from pneumonia were evacuated to England or given Base Duty.

—Jahns, Lewis E.


408. demoralize

lower someone's spirits; make downhearted

Example Sentence: The storm clobbered many communities still recovering from the flooding two months ago caused by Hurricane Irene, leaving weary homeowners exhausted and demoralized.

—Washington Post (Nov 1, 2011)


409. devolve

grow worse

Example Sentence: As the rhetoric heated up inside, the violence outside devolved into chaos.

—Time (Feb 13, 2012)


410. alacrity

liveliness and eagerness

Example Sentence: Every one exerted himself not only without murmuring and discontent, but even with an alacrity which almost approached to cheerfulness.

—Kippis, Andrew


411. waive

do without or cease to hold or adhere to

Example Sentence: Low rates have also led retail brokerages to waive fees on money market funds to avoid negative returns for their clients.

—Reuters (Jan 13, 2012)


412. unwonted

out of the ordinary

Example Sentence: He must rush off to see his people, who no doubt were quite confounded by his unwonted energy.

—Speed, Nell


413. seethe

be in an agitated emotional state

Example Sentence: Outwardly quite calm and matter-of-fact, his mind was in a seething turmoil.

—Douglas, Hudson


414. scrutinize

to look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail

Example Sentence: Fans and commentators are scrutinizing every blemish: his turnovers, his weak left hand, his jump shot.

—New York Times (Mar 5, 2012)


415. diffident

lacking self-confidence

Example Sentence: Shyly diffident in the presence of strangers, her head was lowered.

—Packard, Frank L. (Frank Lucius)


416. execrate

curse or declare to be evil or anathema or threaten with divine punishment

Example Sentence: When all Great Britain was execrating Napoleon, picturing him as a devil with horns and hoofs, Byron looked upon him as the world's hero.

—Hubbard, Elbert


417. implacable

incapable of being placated

Example Sentence: This man was a savage in his implacable desire for revenge.

—Kelly, Florence Finch


418. pique

a sudden outburst of anger

Example Sentence: A talented youngster who smashes his guitar in a fit of pique finds it magically reassembled just in time for a crucial concert.

—The Guardian (May 31, 2010)


419. mite

a slight but appreciable amount

Example Sentence: I never saw anybody so pleased with monkeys as she is, and not one mite afraid.

—Raymond, Evelyn


420. encumber

hold back

Example Sentence: Two others were making slower progress for the reason that each was encumbered by supporting a disabled man.

—Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)


421. uncouth

lacking refinement or cultivation or taste

Example Sentence: He had not stopped to consider her rough speech and uncouth manners.

—Johnston, Annie F. (Annie Fellows)


422. petulant

easily irritated or annoyed

Example Sentence: The blackeyes emitted an angry flash, the voice that answered was sharp and petulant.

—Fleming, May Agnes


423. expiate

make amends for

Example Sentence: Wulphere was absolved on condition that he should expiate his crime by founding churches and monasteries all over his kingdom.

—Clifton, A. B.


424. cavalier

given to haughty disregard of others

Example Sentence: Some would have given Nicklaus a cavalier response: polite nod while thinking, “Yeah, whatever.”

—New York Times (Jun 18, 2011)


425. banter

light teasing repartee

Example Sentence: Our easy banter had suddenly been replaced by strained and awkward interaction.

—Slate (Feb 15, 2012)


426. bluster

act in an arrogant, overly self-assured, or conceited manner

Example Sentence: Slade, despite his swaggers and blustering, was at heart a coward.

—Landon, Herman


427. debase

corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality

Example Sentence: Long oppression had not, on the whole, either blunted their intellects or debased their morals.

—Adler, Felix


428. retainer

a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)

Example Sentence: This faithful and trusted retainer is greatly valued by his employers.

—Black , Helen C


429. subjugate

make subservient; force to submit or subdue

Example Sentence: The Confederacy was led by thoroughgoing racists who wanted to keep blacks subjugated for all time because of the color of their skin.

—Slate (Apr 7, 2010)


430. extol

praise, glorify, or honor

Example Sentence: How I praised the duck at that first dinner, and extolled Madame's skill in cookery!

—Warren, Arthur


431. fraught

filled with or attended with

Example Sentence: But the ocean remains an unpredictable place, fraught with hazards.

—Scientific American (Apr 5, 2012)


432. august

profoundly honored

Example Sentence: At all times reserved in his manner and his bearing full of dignity, never before had she realized the majesty of General Washington’s august presence.

—Madison, Lucy Foster


433. fissure

a long narrow depression in a surface

Example Sentence: The brown bark is not very rough, though its numerous fissures and cracks give it a rugged appearance.

—Step, Edward


434. knoll

a small natural hill

Example Sentence: Opened in 2008, the park serves as a true public space; elderly couples stroll around the artificial lake as toddlers roll down grassy knolls.

—New York Times (May 7, 2010)


435. callous

emotionally hardened

Example Sentence: Outwardly merry and good-humoured, he was by nature coldly fierce, calculating, callous.

—Wingfield, Lewis


436. inculcate

teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions

Example Sentence: But instruction in history has been for a long time systematically used to inculcate certain political sentiments in the pupils.

—Liebknecht, Karl Paul August Friedrich


437. nettle

cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

Example Sentence: Lincoln began these remarks by good-humored but nettling chaffing of his opponent.

—Various


438. blanch

turn pale, as if in fear

Example Sentence: He is silent, as if struck dumb, his face showing blanched and bloodless, while she utters a shriek , half terrified, half in frenzied anger.

—Reid, Mayne


439. inscrutable

of an obscure nature

Example Sentence: The fashion industry is notoriously opaque and often inscrutable for outsiders, even ones as well connected as him.

—Seattle Times (Oct 1, 2011)


440. tenacious

stubbornly unyielding

Example Sentence: She was a tenacious woman, one who would even hold fast a thing which she no longer valued, simply because it belonged to her.

—Morris, Clara


441. thrall

the state of being under the control of another person

Example Sentence: Then Kiss commenced in earnest, and quickly held his audience in thrall.

—Farjeon, Benjamin Leopold


442. exigency

a pressing or urgent situation

Example Sentence: The exigency of the situation roused Mr. Popkiss' sluggish faculties into prompt action.

—Magnay, William


443. disconsolate

sad beyond comforting; incapable of being consoled

Example Sentence: Was there a bereaved mother or disconsolate sister weeping over their dead?

—Steward, T. G. (Theophilus Gould)


444. impetus

a force that moves something along

Example Sentence: Critics say it has known mixed success at best, although supporters hope the U.S. drawdown could provide just the impetus it needs to thrive.

—Reuters (Jan 10, 2012)


445. imposition

an uncalled-for burden

Example Sentence: On that far-away day he had considered the little, lost girl a nuisance and an imposition.

—Chisholm, A. M. (Arthur Murray)


446. auspices

kindly endorsement and guidance

Example Sentence: In March 2009, negotiations between Israel and Hamas were held in Cairo, under the auspices of the Egyptian intelligence agency.

—New York Times (Nov 9, 2011)


447. sonorous

full and loud and deep

Example Sentence: His voice rang out firmly now, a deep and sonorous bass.

—Bedford-Jones, H.


448. exploitation

an act that exploits or victimizes someone (treats them unfairly)

Example Sentence: In a scathing report released last year, Amnesty International found there was widespread exploitation of migrants in Malaysia.

—BBC (Apr 4, 2011)


449. bane

something causing misery or death

Example Sentence: Knee pain is the bane of many runners, sometimes causing them to give up altogether.

—Seattle Times (Jun 7, 2010)


450. dint

interchangeable with `means' in the expression `by means of'

Example Sentence: If only certain puzzles could be solved by dint of sheer hard thinking!

—Marsh, Richard


451. ignominious

(used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame

Example Sentence: The great Ottawa chief saw his partially accomplished scheme withering into ignominious failure.

—Rudd, John


452. amicable

characterized by friendship and good will

Example Sentence: After a short colloquy the two men evidently came to an amicable understanding, for they shook hands.

—Kraszewski, Jo?zef Ignacy


453. onset

the beginning or early stages

Example Sentence: Thousands of families are living in makeshift camps as temperatures fall to freezing with the onset of winter.

—New York Times (Nov 10, 2011)


454. conservatory

a schoolhouse with special facilities for fine arts

Example Sentence: The young instrumental talent that is coming out of local music schools and conservatories is as amazingly good as you are going to find anywhere.

—Chicago Tribune (Jun 1, 2011)


455. zenith

the point above the observer that is directly opposite the nadir on the imaginary sphere against which celestial bodies appear to be projected

Example Sentence: In other words it never reaches the zenith, a point directly overhead.

—George H. Lowery.


456. voluble

marked by a ready flow of speech

Example Sentence: I find him charming: shy – yet easy to talk to – voluble and funny once he gets going.

—The Guardian (Aug 21, 2010)


457. yeoman

in former times was free and cultivated his own land

Example Sentence: On one extreme was the well-to-do yeoman farmer farming his own land.

—Reilly, S. A.


458. levity

a manner lacking seriousness

Example Sentence: The same balance of seriousness and levity runs through her plays, which put an absurdist spin on everyday problems.

—New York Times (May 7, 2010)


459. rapt

feeling great rapture or delight

Example Sentence: She was watching the development of the investigation with rapt, eager attention.

—Mitford, Bertram


460. sultry

characterized by oppressive heat and humidity

Example Sentence: New guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics arrive just as school sports ramp up in sultry August temperatures.

—Washington Post (Aug 9, 2011)


461. pinion

bind the arms of

Example Sentence: The prisoners having dismounted, were placed in a line on the ground facing the guillotine, their arms pinioned.

—Various


462. axiom

(logic) a proposition that is not susceptible of proof or disproof; its truth is assumed to be self-evident

Example Sentence: The fundamental axiom of scientific thought is that there is not, never has been, and never will be, any disorder in nature.

—Huxley, Thomas H.


463. descry

catch sight of

Example Sentence: Looking off seaward, I could descry no sails.

—Drake, Samuel Adams


464. retinue

the group following and attending to some important person

Example Sentence: Despite his retinue of security personnel, Atambaev had been poisoned during his short tenure as prime minister.

—Salon (Apr 9, 2010)


465. functionary

a worker who holds or is invested with an office

Example Sentence: He was the functionary of the assize court, impaneling its juries, bringing accused men before it, and carrying out its penalties.

—Reilly, S. A.


466. imbibe

take in liquids

Example Sentence: "We're cornered at last," he said suddenly, as the old man set the bottle down after having imbibed the best half of its contents.

—Douglas, Hudson


467. diversified

having variety of character or form or components; or having increased variety

Example Sentence: Funds in both categories tend to be highly diversified, typically with 100 or more stocks across at least 10 industries.

—Wall Street Journal (Feb 24, 2012)


468. maraud

raid and rove in search of booty

Example Sentence: Its reporter says armed gangs and looters are marauding the streets.

—BBC (Apr 8, 2011)


469. grudging

petty or reluctant in giving or spending

Example Sentence: Expect delays, scattered outages and surly, grudging customer service in the interim.

—Time (Aug 30, 2011)


470. partiality

a predisposition to like something

Example Sentence: She still showed a partiality for bright colors, by her gown of deep crimson.

—Sage, William


471. philology

the humanistic study of language and literature

Example Sentence: I had determined to study philology, chiefly Greek and Latin, but the fare spread out by the professors was much too tempting.

—Müller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)


472. wry

humorously sarcastic or mocking

Example Sentence: She also has a very understated but very wry sense of humour; watch out for it.

—The Guardian (Oct 13, 2010)


473. caucus

meet to select a candidate or promote a policy

Example Sentence: Representative Ron Paul of Texas isn’t campaigning in Florida, instead focusing on Maine, which will caucus in late February.

—BusinessWeek (Feb 1, 2012)


474. permeate

spread or diffuse through

Example Sentence: Florida’s summertime heat permeates almost every scene, becoming something like a character.

—New York Times (Mar 13, 2012)


475. propitious

presenting favorable circumstances; likely to result in or show signs of success

Example Sentence: With the Athens stock market down nearly 30 percent so far this year, it would not seem a propitious time for initial public offerings.

—New York Times (Jun 2, 2010)


476. salient

having a quality that thrusts itself into attention

Example Sentence: Bullying has become an increasingly salient problem for school-age children, and in rare cases has ended tragically with victims committing suicide.

—Reuters (Feb 8, 2012)


477. propitiate

make peace with

Example Sentence: King Edward, having subdued the Welsh, “endeavoured to propitiate his newly acquired subjects by becoming a resident in the conquered country.

—Frith, William Powell


478. excise

remove by cutting

Example Sentence: Wielding a razor, Jefferson excised all passages containing supernaturalistic elements from the gospels, extracting what he took to be Jesus's pure ethical teachings.

—The Guardian (Apr 8, 2011)


479. betoken

be a signal for or a symptom of

Example Sentence: The haggard face and sombre eyes betokened considerable mental anguish.

—Young, F.E. Mills


480. palatable

acceptable to the taste or mind

Example Sentence: If nicely cooked in this way, cabbage is as palatable and as digestible as cauliflower.

—Ronald, Mary


481. upbraid

express criticism towards

Example Sentence: When Kahn warned of a serious economic "depression", he was upbraided by the White House for using such language.

—The Guardian (Jan 12, 2011)


482. renegade

someone who rebels and becomes an outlaw

Example Sentence: If he went off to another people he lost all standing among the Sioux and was thereafter treated as an outlaw and a renegade.

—Robinson, Doane


483. hoary

ancient

Example Sentence: The device of the trapped young person saved by books is a hoary one, but Ms. Winterson makes it seem new, and sulfurous.

—New York Times (Mar 8, 2012)


484. pedantic

marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning especially its trivial aspects

Example Sentence: The reader is treated to pedantic little footnotes, and given a good deal of information which is either gratuitous or uninteresting.

—Hay, Ian


485. coy

showing marked and often playful or irritating evasiveness or reluctance to make a definite or committing statement

Example Sentence: It was funny watching such a solid person, based in faith and education, grow a trifle coy about the year of his birth.

—New York Times (Jul 11, 2010)


486. troth

a solemn pledge of fidelity

Example Sentence: She had pledged to him her troth, and she would not attempt to go back from her pledge at the first appearance of a difficulty.

—Trollope, Anthony


487. encroachment

entry to another's property without right or permission

Example Sentence: The move may mark yet another attempt by France to rein in what it sees as the encroachment of online services on the country's culture.

—BusinessWeek (Jan 8, 2010)


488. belie

be in contradiction with

Example Sentence: "It is a fine morning," he said, taken aback by my sudden movement, but affecting an indifference which the sparkle in his eye belied.

—Weyman, Stanley John


489. armada

a large fleet

Example Sentence: An armada of three hundred ships manned by eighteen thousand marines assembled in the bay on their way to the conquest of Algiers.

—Douglas, Frances


490. succor

assistance in time of difficulty

Example Sentence: Given his health woes, succession worries and persistent isolation, Mr. Kim may simply be seeking succor from what may be his last friend on earth.

—New York Times (May 5, 2010)


491. imperturbable

not easily perturbed or excited or upset; marked by extreme calm and composure

Example Sentence: Ordinarily imperturbable, even in the face of unexpected situations, he was now visibly agitated.

—Griggs, Sutton E. (Sutton Elbert)


492. irresolute

uncertain how to act or proceed

Example Sentence: I stood for a moment before I entered on my arduous undertaking, irresolute and hesitating, swayed by two conflicting impulses.

—Waugh, Joseph Laing


493. knack

a special way of doing something

Example Sentence: He had a special knack of hunting out farm houses, engaging madame in conversation, and coming away with bread, eggs, or cheese in his knapsack .

—Price, Lucien


494. unseemly

not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society

Example Sentence: The square mile's upbeat mood may strike some as unseemly at a time of national gloom.

—The Guardian (Jan 1, 2011)


495. accentuate

to stress, single out as important

Example Sentence: This sparkling marvel lies modestly nestled among the law courts, whose plainer modern buildings serve but to accentuate its wonderful beauty.

—Sherrill, Charles Hitchcock


496. divulge

make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret

Example Sentence: She hectors her children not to divulge personal information like phone numbers online.

—Seattle Times (Nov 15, 2011)


497. brawn

possessing muscular strength

Example Sentence: He believes Hollywood has often have had an over-reliance on physical brawn as the deciding factor for portraying a strong man.

—Reuters (Jul 9, 2010)


498. burnish

polish and make shiny

Example Sentence: Great cleanliness is enforced in all that belongs to a lighthouse, the reflectors and lenses being constantly burnished, polished, and cleansed.

—Whymper, Frederick


499. palpitate

beat rapidly

Example Sentence: After supper my heart started racing, palpitating like a tick.

—Isaacson, Lauren Ann


500. promiscuous

not selective of a single class or person

Example Sentence: A promiscuous assembly had gathered there—men of all creeds and opinions—and an "open-air" meeting was in progress.

—Whitney, Orson F.


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