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.
dissemble, flotilla, invective, hermitage, despoil, sully, malevolent, irksome, prattle, subaltern, welt, wreak, tenable, inimitable, depredation, amalgamate, immutable, proxy, dote, reactionary, rationalism, endue, discriminating, brooch, pert, disembark, aria, trappings, abet, clandestine, distend, glib, pucker, rejoinder, spangle, blighted, nicety, aggrieve, vestment, urbane, defray, spectral, munificent, dictum, fad, scabbard, adulterate, beleaguer, gripe, remission, exorbitant, invocation, cajole, inclusive, interdict, abase, obviate, hurtle, unanimity, mettle, interpolate, surreptitious, dissimulate, ruse, specious, revulsion, hale, palliate, obtuse, querulous, vagary, incipient, obdurate, grovel, refractory, dregs, ascendancy, supercilious, pundit, commiserate, alcove, assay, parochial, conjugal, abjure, frieze, ornate, inflammatory, machination, mendicant, meander, bullion, diffidence, makeshift, husbandry, podium, dearth, granary, whet, imposture
make believe with the intent to deceive
Example Sentence: Pictures have always dissembled – there are millions of snaps of miserable families grinning bravely – but now they directly lie.
—The Guardian (Dec 4, 2010)
a fleet of small craft
Example Sentence: She was guarded by a flotilla of boats equipped with satellites, Global Positioning System devices, advanced navigation systems and shark shields.
—New York Times (Aug 11, 2011)
abusive or venomous language used to express blame or censure or bitter deep-seated ill will
Example Sentence: There's much more name-calling, shouting and personal invective in American life than anywhere I've ever traveled outside the United States.
—Washington Post (Jan 15, 2011)
the abode of a hermit
Example Sentence: All the rest of their time is passed in solitude in their hermitages, which are built quite separate from one another.
—Various
destroy and strip of its possession
Example Sentence: Wherever his lordship's army went, plantations were despoiled, and private houses plundered.
—Campbell, Charles
make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically
Example Sentence: Why sully the reputation of an otherwise fascinating online community with really deeply questionable, troubling content?
—Forbes (Feb 13, 2012)
having or exerting a malignant influence
Example Sentence: So you don’t believe in evil, as an actual malevolent force?
—New York Times (Oct 28, 2011)
so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
Example Sentence: It was pretty irksome passing the time in his enforced prison, and finally Andy went to sleep.
—Webster, Frank V.
speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
Example Sentence: She prattled on about the gossip of the town until Penny and her father were thoroughly bored.
—Clark , Joan
inferior in rank or status
Example Sentence: The careful commanding officer of a regiment discourages his young subalterns from taking leave to Hill Stations.
—Casserly, Gordon
a raised mark on the skin (as produced by the blow of a whip); characteristic of many allergic reactions
Example Sentence: But red, itchy welts typically appear within 24 to 48 hours of being bitten.
—US News (Nov 23, 2010)
cause to happen or to occur as a consequence
Example Sentence: The burden of paying for college is wreaking havoc on the finances of an unexpected demographic: senior citizens.
—Washington Post (Apr 1, 2012)
based on sound reasoning or evidence
Example Sentence: First, it is no longer really tenable – and in fact a bit disrespectful – to call a country like China an emerging economy.
—The Guardian (Feb 18, 2011)
defying imitation; matchless
Example Sentence: Leave aside Spain, where Barcelona breeds its own, inimitable style, and the answer might be that we are rushing toward uniformity.
—New York Times (Sep 26, 2010)
(usually plural) a destructive action
Example Sentence: Wild elephants abound and commit many depredations, entering villages in large herds, and consuming everything suitable to their tastes.
—Various
to bring or combine together or with something else
Example Sentence: Where two weak tribes amalgamated into one, there it exceptionally happened that two closely related dialects were simultaneously spoken in the same tribe.
—Engels, Friedrich
not subject or susceptible to change or variation in form or quality or nature
Example Sentence: We are mistaken to imagine a work of literature is or should be immutable, sculpted in marble and similarly impervious to change.
—The Guardian (May 27, 2010)
a person authorized to act for another
Example Sentence: Ideally, everybody over 18 should execute a living will and select a health care proxy — someone to represent you in medical matters.
—New York Times (Jan 17, 2011)
shower with love; show excessive affection for
Example Sentence: He doted on him, just dearly loved him, and thought he could do no wrong,” Kredell said.
—Washington Post (Oct 17, 2011)
extremely conservative
Example Sentence: Old people are often accused of being too conservative, and even reactionary.
—Chinard, Gilbert
the doctrine that reason is the right basis for regulating conduct
Example Sentence: Offering a religious rationale for policy goals threatens what for many has become the cherished principle of secular rationalism in public life.
—Salon (Apr 24, 2011)
give qualities or abilities to
Example Sentence: To say the least of it, he was endued with sufficient intelligence to acquire an ordinary knowledge of such matters.
—Various
showing or indicating careful judgment and discernment especially in matters of taste
Example Sentence: Jobs’ Apple specializes in delighting the most discriminating, hard-to-please customers.
—Forbes (Oct 12, 2011)
a decorative pin worn by women
Example Sentence: Upon her breast she wore a brooch of gold set with many precious stones.
—Butler, Pierce
characterized by a lightly pert and exuberant quality
Example Sentence: Her pert, lively manner said she hadn't taken any wooden nickels lately.
—Schoenherr, John
go ashore
Example Sentence: The immigrants disembarked from their ships tired and underfed—generally in poor health.
—Hughes, Thomas Proctor
an elaborate song for solo voice
Example Sentence: Ms. Netrebko sang an elegantly sad aria with lustrous warmth, aching vulnerability and floating high notes.
—New York Times (Sep 27, 2011)
(usually plural) accessory wearing apparel
Example Sentence: They were caparisoned in Indian fashion with gay colors and fancy trappings.
—Roy, Lillian Elizabeth
assist or encourage, usually in some wrongdoing
Example Sentence: "Since YouTube, digital culture has aided and enhanced -- or maybe the better word is abetted -- the celebrity meltdown," said Wired magazine senior editor Nancy Miller.
—Reuters (Mar 9, 2011)
conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
Example Sentence: For Jordan, this is a clandestine relationship it would much prefer to have kept secret.
—BBC (Jan 5, 2010)
swell from or as if from internal pressure
Example Sentence: Some kids said LaNiyah's distended abdomen looked like she was carrying a baby.
—Seattle Times (Apr 7, 2011)
having only superficial plausibility
Example Sentence: The other sort of engineer understands that glib comparisons between computers and humans don't do justice to the complexities of either.
—Forbes (Jul 22, 2010)
to gather something into small wrinkles or folds
Example Sentence: Godmother,' she went on, puckering her forehead again in perplexity, 'it almost feels like feathers.
—Molesworth, Mrs. (Mary Louisa)
a quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one)
Example Sentence: "Not at all!" was Aunt Susannah's brisk rejoinder.
—Various
adornment consisting of a small piece of shiny material used to decorate clothing
Example Sentence: Magdalen's garments are rich with spangles; her mantle is scarlet; she has flowers in her luxuriant tresses, and looks a vain creature.
—O'Shea, John Augustus
affected by blight; anything that mars or prevents growth or prosperity
Example Sentence: Hudec, whose career has been blighted by knee injuries and operations, won for the first time in more than four years.
—New York Times (Feb 4, 2012)
conformity with some esthetic standard of correctness or propriety
Example Sentence: They accepted the invitation; but Mrs. Rowlandson did not appreciate the niceties of Indian etiquette.
—Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
infringe on the rights of
Example Sentence: Some fallout appears evident in donations from Wall Street executives, who feel particularly aggrieved by Mr. Obama’s criticisms and policies.
—New York Times (Feb 20, 2012)
gown (especially ceremonial garments) worn by the clergy
Example Sentence: And then a priest, arrayed in all his vestments, came in at the open door, and the prince and princess exchanged rings, and were married.
—Glinski, A. J.
showing a high degree of refinement and the assurance that comes from wide social experience
Example Sentence: Polished, urbane and gentlemanly—his manners were calculated to refine all around him.
—Judson, L. Carroll
bear the expenses of
Example Sentence: The legislation also calls for $1.6 billion in spending cuts to help defray the disaster costs.
—Washington Post (Sep 26, 2011)
resembling or characteristic of a phantom
Example Sentence: Hawthorne’s figures are somewhat spectral; they lack flesh and blood.
—Merwin, Henry Childs
very generous
Example Sentence: They have shown themselves very loving and generous lately, in making a quite munificent provision for his traveling.
—Carlyle, Thomas
an authoritative declaration
Example Sentence: In other words, they seemed fully subscribed to Andy Warhol’s dictum that business art is the best art.
—New York Times (Dec 10, 2011)
an interest followed with exaggerated zeal
Example Sentence: According to Chinese media, the hottest new fad in China involves selling small live-animal key chains.
—Time (Apr 5, 2011)
a sheath for a sword or dagger or bayonet
Example Sentence: Drawing his own sabre from its scabbard, he pointed to a stain on it, saying, "This is the blood of an Englishman."
—Reed, Helen Leah
corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones
Example Sentence: Shady dealers along the supply chain frequently adulterate olive oil with low-grade vegetable oils and add artificial coloring.
—New York Times (Dec 7, 2011)
annoy persistently
Example Sentence: Rock concert ticket sales dropped sharply last year, sounding another sour note for the beleaguered music industry.
—The Guardian (Dec 30, 2010)
complain
Example Sentence: If America is going to gripe about the yuan’s rate, then China will complain about the dollar’s role.
—Economist (Jan 20, 2011)
an abatement in intensity or degree (as in the manifestations of a disease)
Example Sentence: After a few hours there is a remission of the pain, slight perspiration takes place, and the patient may fall asleep.
—Various
greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation
Example Sentence: Soon, stories began trickling across the Atlantic of crazed fans paying exorbitant sums to get into London gigs.
—Slate (Oct 10, 2011)
the act of appealing for help
Example Sentence: These dances are prayers or invocations for rain, the crowning blessing in this dry land.
—Roosevelt, Theodore
influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
Example Sentence: Hamilton, however, was not to be cajoled into friendliness by superficial compliment.
—Fisher, Harrison
including much or everything; and especially including stated limits
Example Sentence: We are going to adhere to our basic programing strategy of nonpartisan information inclusive of all different points of view.
—Reuters (Sep 27, 2010)
command against
Example Sentence: Failing to satisfy his examiners, he was interdicted from practice, but ignored the prohibition, and suffered more than one imprisonment in consequence.
—Worley, George
cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
Example Sentence: Ashamed, abased, degraded in his own eyes, he turned away his head.
—Caine, Hall, Sir
do away with
Example Sentence: Comfortable sleeping-cars obviate the necessity of stopping by the way for bodily rest, provided the traveller be physically strong and in good health.
—Ballou, Maturin Murray
move with or as if with a rushing sound
Example Sentence: The hurricane was expected to hit Washington in the early hours of Sunday before hurtling toward New York City.
—Reuters (Aug 27, 2011)
everyone being of one mind
Example Sentence: On all other points of colonial policy, Mackenzie declared, people would be found to differ, but as regards the post office there was absolute unanimity.
—Smith, William, Sir
the courage to carry on
Example Sentence: The deployment will also test the emotional mettle of soldiers and their families.
—New York Times (Jun 26, 2010)
insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby
Example Sentence: Most scholars agree that these lines are interpolated, since they do not fit in with the rest of the poem.
—Various
marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed
Example Sentence: He noticed that the peddler was eying the bag Scotty had picked up, and was trying to be surreptitious about it.
—Goodwin, Harold L. (Harold Leland)
hide (feelings) from other people
Example Sentence: From infancy these people have been schooled to dissimulate and hide emotion, and ordinarily their faces are as opaque as those of veteran poker players.
—Kephart, Horace
a deceptive maneuver (especially to avoid capture)
Example Sentence: Overseas criminals use elaborate ruses, including phony websites, to trick job-seekers into helping transfer stolen funds.
—BusinessWeek (Aug 4, 2011)
plausible but false
Example Sentence: You might be tempted to think of the biggest airline as the one with the most aircraft, but capacity differences make this reasoning specious.
—Salon (May 6, 2010)
intense aversion
Example Sentence: After a first instinctive cry of horrified revulsion, the men reached down under water with their hands and drew out—a corpse.
—Livingston, Arthur
exhibiting or restored to vigorous good health
Example Sentence: From a hearty, hale, corn-fed boy, he has become pale, lean, and wan.
—Adams, Abigail
lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
Example Sentence: Divisions and inequalities persist, but government can palliate their effects with hard cash.
—The Guardian (Aug 14, 2010)
lacking in insight or discernment
Example Sentence: The affair had been mentioned so plainly that it was impossible for the most dense and obtuse person not to have understood the allusion.
—Brazil, Angela
habitually complaining
Example Sentence: He was, at times, as querulous as a complaining old man.
—Williams, Ben Ames
an unexpected and inexplicable change in something (in a situation or a person's behavior, etc.)
Example Sentence: Today such acquisitions are more likely to stay put, destined to survive both market fluctuations and the vagaries of style.
—New York Times (Sep 29, 2010)
only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
Example Sentence: Above all, medical teams will need to establish quick surveillance to identify health needs and pinpoint incipient outbreaks before they explode.
—Time (Jan 13, 2010)
stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
Example Sentence: Several appeared deeply affected, with tears of repentance standing in their eyes, others sullen and obdurate.
—Huth, Alexander
show submission or fear
Example Sentence: The two young men who drove them had fallen flat and were grovelling and wailing for mercy.
—Mitford, Bertram
stubbornly resistant to authority or control
Example Sentence: Beyond them the gardener struggled with a refractory horse that refused to draw his load of brush and dead leaves.
—Bacon, Josephine Dodge Daskam
sediment that has settled at the bottom of a liquid
Example Sentence: "Right got to go," Ali says, draining the dregs of his beer.
—BBC (Feb 25, 2012)
the state that exists when one person or group has power over another
Example Sentence: But in a few days he had secured an almost incredible ascendancy over the sullen, starved, halfclothed army.
—Various
having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy
Example Sentence: A supercilious, patronizing person—son of a wretched country parson—used to loll against the wall of your salon—with his nose in the air.
—Pinero, Arthur Wing, Sir
someone who has been admitted to membership in a scholarly field
Example Sentence: Pundits of agricultural science explore the sheds, I believe, the barns, stables, machine-rooms, and so forth, before inspecting the crops.
—Boyle, Frederick
to feel or express sympathy or compassion
Example Sentence: We had spent countless hours together drinking wine and commiserating about child-rearing, long Wisconsin winters and interrupted sleep.
—New York Times (Mar 24, 2011)
a small recess opening off a larger room
Example Sentence: They showed him where he would sleep, in a little closet-like alcove screened from the big room by a gay curtain.
—Wilson, Harry Leon
make an effort or attempt
Example Sentence: He decided to assay one last project before giving up.
—New York Times (Mar 30, 2012)
narrowly restricted in outlook or scope
Example Sentence: But Republicans in Pennsylvania also have narrower and more parochial things to worry about.
—New York Times (Sep 17, 2011)
of or relating to marriage or to the relationship between a wife and husband
Example Sentence: They even had conjugal visits for prisoners — five hours in a private room every three months with your wife.
—New York Times (Nov 23, 2010)
formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure
Example Sentence: The caste abstain from liquor, and some of them have abjured all flesh food while others partake of it.
—Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)
an architectural ornament consisting of a horizontal sculptured band between the architrave and the cornice
Example Sentence: All the doorways mentioned above have cornices, and in those at Palmyra and Baalbec richly carved friezes with side corbels.
—Various
marked by elaborate rhetoric and elaborated with decorative details
Example Sentence: Unlike his literary icon, Herman Melville, he doesn’t adorn his writing with ornate flourishes or complicated scaffolding.
—Scientific American (Dec 20, 2011)
arousing to action or rebellion
Example Sentence: We don't know whether inflammatory language or images can incite the mentally ill to commit acts of violence.
—Time (Jan 13, 2011)
a crafty and involved plot to achieve your (usually sinister) ends
Example Sentence: He was continued a member of Congress until 1777 when his enemies succeeded in their long nursed machinations against him.
—Judson, L. Carroll
a pauper who lives by begging
Example Sentence: In others are the broken-down mendicants who live on soup-kitchens and begging.
—Ritchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular course
Example Sentence: They paused beside one of the low stone walls that meandered in a meaningless fashion this way and that over the uplands.
—Vance, Louis Joseph
gold or silver in bars or ingots
Example Sentence: In times of economic turmoil, more people tend to invest in bullion gold.
—Washington Post (Mar 30, 2012)
lack of self-confidence
Example Sentence: His grave diffidence and continued hesitation in offering an opinion confirmed me in my own.
—Froude, James Anthony
done or made using whatever is available
Example Sentence: The house was still under construction, so he climbed up a ladder being used as a makeshift stairway, fell and injured his leg.
—New York Times (Apr 12, 2012)
the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock
Example Sentence: The U.S. can take a lesson from Denmark , which has efficiently raised livestock without hurting farmers, by using better animal husbandry practices.
—Scientific American (Mar 22, 2011)
a platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it
Example Sentence: Leyva beamed as he stood atop the podium, nodding as the American flag was raised and “The Star-Spangled Banner” played in his honor.
—New York Times (Oct 22, 2011)
an insufficient quantity or number
Example Sentence: A continuing dearth of snow in many U.S. spots usually buried by this time of year has turned life upside down.
—Washington Post (Jan 5, 2012)
a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed
Example Sentence: Here is where he does his husking, and the "clear corn" produced is stored away in some underground granary till It is needed.
—Seton, Ernest Thompson
make keen or more acute
Example Sentence: While he described the fishing as “pretty good,” the silver salmon running in the creek only whetted his appetite to return to Alaska.
—Washington Post (Aug 17, 2011)
pretending to be another person
Example Sentence: He got somebody to prosecute him for false pretences and imposture, on the ground that Madame was a man.
—Leland, Charles Godfrey