Word lists
Word list 7: advanced English words you will meet in real books
Lists of advanced words for exams like the GRE are long, and many of the words are rare in anything you would actually read. We took 209 such words that appear in at least 4 of 40 English books in the Readly library and ranked them by how many books use them. Here are the 50 most widespread, each with a plain meaning and a sentence from a book.
Key points
- The words on this list are not an official GRE list. ETS, which runs the GRE, does not publish one; exam-prep lists are compiled by publishers and teachers. Ours is a list of the same kind of word, checked against real books.
- A word here appears in at least 13 of 40 books, so you are likely to meet it again after you learn it. Solemn appears in 33 of them.
- Each example is taken from a public-domain book in the library: Pride and Prejudice, Dracula, the Sherlock Holmes stories, The Count of Monte Cristo and others.
- All 209 words with their counts are in the CSV (CC BY 4.0).
The list
| # | Word and meaning | Books | Per million | Example from a book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | solemn adjective serious and formal, without any joking | 33 | 38.2 | “These visitors seemed a solemn lot, and conversation included the candidates only now and then.” Stanford Stories: Tales of a Young University, Charles K. Field |
| 2 | reproach verb, noun to criticise someone, usually with disappointment rather than anger; such criticism | 28 | 38.4 | “Needless to add, I took care before leaving to lift, forever and adequately, this source of reproach.” Dracula, Bram Stoker |
| 3 | indifferent adjective not interested or not caring either way | 27 | 33.2 | “I know you will do him such ample justice, that I am growing every moment more unconcerned and indifferent.” Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen |
| 4 | profound adjective very great or deep: profound silence, profound thought | 26 | 40.3 | “But the temptation of a discovery so singular and profound at last overcame the suggestions of alarm.” The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson |
| 5 | melancholy noun, adjective a deep, quiet sadness that lasts; feeling or showing it | 26 | 25.7 | “He was leaning upon his elbow in an attitude of great melancholy, his body turned towards the fire.” The case-book of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle |
| 6 | ascertain verb to find out for certain | 22 | 34.8 | “We know from the record that he was on the water; so what we have to do is to ascertain what water.” Dracula, Bram Stoker |
| 7 | resolute adjective firmly decided and not giving up | 22 | 14.7 | “She was a woman of resolute character, hard-working and indefatigable, and at the same time good-natured.” Short Stories, Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
| 8 | obstinate adjective refusing to change your mind even when you should | 22 | 10.8 | “One day’s delay she observed, would be of small importance; and her mother was too happy, to be quite so obstinate as usual.” Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen |
| 9 | scrupulous adjective very careful to be honest, correct or thorough | 22 | 9.2 | “I was not good, not even scrupulous, but I had no idea of deceiving either myself or Tessie.” The King in Yellow, Robert W. Chambers |
| 10 | ardent adjective very eager and passionate | 21 | 14.4 | “It is generally the case that what we most ardently desire is as ardently withheld from us by those who wish to obtain it, or from whom we attempt to snatch it.” The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas |
| 11 | conspicuous adjective easy to notice; standing out | 21 | 14.0 | “He would rather walk with me in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to be conspicuous.” The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle |
| 12 | indignant adjective angry because something seems unfair or insulting | 21 | 11.9 | “The expression of his face changed gradually from indignant contempt to a composed and steady gravity.” Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen |
| 13 | superfluous adjective more than is needed; unnecessary | 21 | 7.6 | “The pipe has already been bespoken in the neighbourhood, but I think this is superfluous luxury.” Short Stories, Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
| 14 | discern verb to notice or recognise something that is not obvious | 20 | 22.0 | “Once or twice she could discern a faint blush; but in general Charlotte wisely did not hear.” Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen |
| 15 | incessant adjective going on without stopping | 20 | 13.5 | “The blackish soil is kept forever soft by the incessant drift of spray, and a bird would leave its tread upon it.” The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle |
| 16 | expedient adjective, noun useful for a purpose, even if not quite right or fair; a quick way of solving a problem | 19 | 21.7 | “Of all the expedients of the mercantile system, accordingly, it is the one of which they are the fondest.” The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith |
| 17 | prudent adjective sensible and careful, avoiding risk | 19 | 15.4 | “Her prudent mother, occupied by the same ideas, forbore to invite him to sit by herself.” Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen |
| 18 | eloquent adjective speaking or writing well and persuasively | 19 | 11.4 | “At this letter the eloquent eye of Noirtier gave her notice that she was to stop.” The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas |
| 19 | haughty adjective proud and treating others as less important | 19 | 10.3 | “He had a haughty bearing, a look either steady and impenetrable or insolently piercing and inquisitorial.” The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas |
| 20 | insolent adjective rude and disrespectful | 19 | 9.4 | “His coming into the country at all, is a most insolent thing indeed, and I wonder how he could presume to do it.” Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen |
| 21 | remorse noun deep regret for something wrong you have done | 18 | 12.4 | “He had a mighty brain, a learning beyond compare, and a heart that knew no fear and no remorse.” Dracula, Bram Stoker |
| 22 | malice noun the wish to hurt or harm someone | 18 | 9.6 | “I can positively assert that nine-tenths of my friendship for him was made up of malice.” Short Stories, Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
| 23 | impetuous adjective acting quickly without thinking first | 18 | 5.9 | “Huge branches of great oaks loaded with men were seen borne through the air by the impetuous fury of the winds.” The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci — Complete, da Vinci Leonardo |
| 24 | vex verb to annoy or worry someone | 17 | 17.4 | “What vexed me more than anything was my having become his secretary.” Short Stories, Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
| 25 | formidable adjective impressive and a little frightening because of its size, strength or difficulty | 17 | 12.6 | “This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate.” The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle |
| 26 | tranquil adjective calm and peaceful | 17 | 9.9 | “Valentine summoned every effort, and breathed with that regular respiration which announces tranquil sleep.” The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas |
| 27 | disdain noun, verb the feeling that someone or something is not worth your respect; to show that feeling | 17 | 9.6 | “But for one whose privilege it was to agitate that ocean of human waves, how many were received with a look of indifference or a sneer of disdain!” The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas |
| 28 | languid adjective slow and relaxed, with little energy | 17 | 7.1 | “When she woke from the trance, she was cold, and exhausted, and languid; but her mind was all alert.” Dracula, Bram Stoker |
| 29 | amiable adjective friendly and pleasant | 16 | 16.7 | “But Fernand, instead of responding to this amiable gesture, remained mute and trembling.” The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas |
| 30 | sublime adjective so beautiful or impressive that it seems to go beyond ordinary things | 16 | 15.1 | “Noirtier looked at Villefort with an almost sublime expression of contempt and pride.” The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas |
| 31 | eccentric adjective, noun unusual and a little strange in behaviour; such a person | 16 | 14.2 | “It was eccentric, no doubt, but he is clearly an eccentric man.” The case-book of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle |
| 32 | cordial adjective warm and friendly, often in a polite, formal way | 16 | 8.9 | “Darcy walked off; and Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings towards him.” Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen |
| 33 | sullen adjective bad-tempered and silent | 16 | 6.7 | “They entered with the night, a sullen horde, spattered with slime, faint with hunger and exhaustion.” The King in Yellow, Robert W. Chambers |
| 34 | exasperate verb to annoy someone very much, usually by going on and on | 16 | 5.1 | “These glances frequently exasperated the pride of Danglars, but this evening he took no notice of them.” The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas |
| 35 | plausible adjective seeming reasonable or likely to be true | 16 | 5.1 | “Though this emendation is plausible, the change seems to me both unnecessary and unhappy.” El estudiante de Salamanca, José de Espronceda |
| 36 | censure noun, verb strong, formal criticism; to criticise strongly | 15 | 20.6 | “You will be censured, slighted, and despised, by everyone connected with him.” Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen |
| 37 | destitute adjective very poor, without money, food or a home; with of: completely without something | 15 | 11.0 | “With all his immense ability, he was a man almost destitute of the faculties of order and method.” Michael Faraday, His Life and Work, Silvanus P. Thompson |
| 38 | disconcert verb to make someone feel uneasy or confused | 15 | 6.2 | “Why not?” I put my question quickly and somewhat sternly, on purpose to disconcert him.” Dracula, Bram Stoker |
| 39 | mirth noun laughter and amusement | 15 | 6.2 | “Then when his face grew grave and stern again I asked him why his mirth, and why at such a time.” Dracula, Bram Stoker |
| 40 | fortitude noun courage in bearing pain or trouble | 15 | 5.0 | “You had the fortitude to regain the house, assisted by your nurse.” The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas |
| 41 | abject adjective extremely bad or miserable: abject poverty, abject terror | 15 | 4.3 | “The landlady wanted to complain, but she was in abject terror of the captain.” Short Stories, Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
| 42 | condescend verb to agree to do something you think is beneath you; to treat others as less intelligent or important | 14 | 8.7 | “But I suppose the New Woman won’t condescend in future to accept; she will do the proposing herself.” Dracula, Bram Stoker |
| 43 | diligent adjective working hard and carefully | 14 | 8.0 | “But the lot of all men is good enough, if they choose wisely and will live diligently.” Dialogues, Plato |
| 44 | judicious adjective showing good judgement | 14 | 7.1 | “Ivan Andreyitch even ran up to the second row of boxes, but judiciously came back again.” Short Stories, Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
| 45 | frivolous adjective silly and not serious about things that matter | 14 | 6.6 | “You no more deceive me with that false calmness than I impose upon you with my frivolous solicitude.” The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas |
| 46 | acquiesce verb to accept or agree to something without arguing | 14 | 5.7 | “They all agreed that it was best that I should not be drawn further into this awful work, and I acquiesced.” Dracula, Bram Stoker |
| 47 | serene adjective calm and untroubled | 14 | 5.5 | “Selby, apprehensive as to his own reception in the studio, looked at Clifford, who sat serenely watching the fight.” The King in Yellow, Robert W. Chambers |
| 48 | prodigious adjective remarkably large or great | 14 | 5.1 | “Again I could not but notice his prodigious strength.” Dracula, Bram Stoker |
| 49 | boisterous adjective noisy, lively and full of energy | 14 | 3.4 | “He was kind to her also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they seemed to be a happy couple.” The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle |
| 50 | abate verb to become less strong: the storm abated | 13 | 8.2 | “On the morning of which I speak the wind had abated, and all Nature was newly washed and fresh.” The case-book of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle |
How to learn words like these
- Read the example, not just the meaning. A word such as condescend has two uses that a one-line definition cannot fully separate; the sentence shows which one the writer meant.
- Expect to meet each word several times. In reading research, a new word is usually recognised after several encounters and needs more than that to be used confidently; see learning words from reading.
- Put the ones you want to keep on a schedule. A short list of chosen words is what spaced repetition handles best.
- Check where you stand first. If the 500 most common words still have gaps, those gaps matter more than any word on this page. How many words you need explains why.
How we made the list
We started from a hand-written list of 261 advanced words of the kind found on GRE and SAT study lists. For each word we counted the base form and its regular endings (-s, -ed, -ing, -ly) in the text of 40 English books, read from their EPUB files without the Project Gutenberg licence and other front and back matter. We kept the words that appear in at least 4 books and ranked them by the number of books, then by frequency. The meanings are our own short definitions for learners; the example is the first clean sentence from a novel or story that uses the word, chosen by a script and checked by hand.
Two limits to keep in mind. The books are mostly nineteenth-century classics, so words like vex and mirth rank higher here than they would in today's newspapers. And irregular forms are not counted: acquiesced is, but a form that changes its spelling in other ways would be missed.
This page stands at the address of an old word list on this domain that other sites still link to. The earlier site and its lists are gone; this list and its data are new.