Hard English Words
100 hard English words with meaning, a quick set to evaluate vocabulary skills of native English speakers, especially for 12th graders and college freshpeople.
Search Quotes from Classic Book Animal Farm by George Orwell |
Introduction
These 100 hard English words are for 12th graders to check vocabulary skills in minutes. As we know, a young adult, like a student being leaving high school for college, has 20K active words plus other 20K passive words on average. How to evaluate vocabulary skills easily and handily? Here you have an option: 100 difficult words in English. It is selected from high school's academic classes and readings and is a good sample set to quickly check your English vocabulary level.
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Hard English Words
Hard English Words
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abjure
abrogate
abstemious
acumen
antebellum
auspicious
belie
bellicose
bowdlerize
chicanery
chromosome
churlish
circumlocution
circumnavigate
deciduous
deleterious
diffident
enervate
enfranchise
epiphany
equinox
evanescent
expurgate
fatuous
feckless
fiduciary
filibuster
gamete
gauche
gerrymander
hegemony
hemoglobin
homogeneous
hubris
hypotenuse
impeach
incognito
incontrovertible
inculcate
infrastructure
interpolate
irony
jejune
kinetic
kowtow
laissezfaire
lexicon
loquacious
lugubrious
metamorphosis
mitosis
moiety
nanotechnology
nihilism
nomenclature
nonsectarian
notarize
obsequious
oligarchy
omnipotent
orthography
paradigm
parameter
pecuniary
photosynthesis
plagiarize
plasma
polymer
precipitous
quasar
quotidian
recapitulate
reciprocal
reparation
respiration
sanguine
soliloquy
subjugate
suffragist
supercilious
tautology
taxonomy
tectonic
tempestuous
thermodynamics
totalitarian
unctuous
vehement
fervid
vortex
winnow
wrought
xenophobe
yeoman
ziggurat
Word and Definition List
abjure 
v. formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure
abrogate
v. revoke formally, repeal or do away with (a law, right, or formal agreement)
abstemious
a. sparing in consumption of especially food and drink, marked by temperance in indulgence
acumen
n. shrewdness shown by keen insight, a tapering point
antebellum
a. belonging to a period before a war especially the American Civil War
auspicious
a. auguring favorable circumstances and good luck
belie
v. represent falsely, be in contradiction with
bellicose
a. having or showing a ready disposition to fight
bowdlerize
v. edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
chicanery
n. the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)
chromosome
n. a threadlike strand of DNA in the cell nucleus that carries the genes in a linear order
churlish
a. having a bad disposition, rude in a mean-spirited and surly way
circumlocution
n. a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things, an indirect way of expressing something
circumnavigate
v. travel around either by plane or ship, go around or avoid (an obstacle)
deciduous
a. shedding foliage at the end of the growing season, being shed at the end of a period of growth
deleterious
a. harmful to living things, causing harm or damage
diffident
a. showing modest reserve, lacking self-confidence
enervate
v. weaken mentally or morally, disturb the composure of
enfranchise
v. grant freedom to; as from slavery or servitude, grant voting rights
epiphany
n. a divine manifestation, twelve days after Christmas
equinox
n. either of two times of the year when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator and day and night are of equal length
evanescent
a. tending to vanish like vapor, soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence; quickly fading or disappearing
expurgate
v. edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
fatuous
a. devoid of intelligence, silly and pointless
feckless
a. generally incompetent and ineffectual, not fit to assume responsibility
fiduciary
a. involving trust, referring to paper currency depending on securities for its value
filibuster
n. a tactic for delaying or obstructing legislation by making long speeches
gamete
n. a mature sexual reproductive cell having a single set of unpaired chromosomes
gauche
a. lacking social polish, lacking ease or grace
gerrymander
v. divide unfairly and to one's advantage, of voting districts
hegemony
n. the dominance or leadership of one social group or nation over others
hemoglobin
n. function primarily to transport oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues
homogeneous
a. all of the same or similar kind or nature
hubris
n. overbearing pride or presumption, excessive pride or self-confidence
hypotenuse
n. the side of a right triangle opposite the right angle
impeach
v. challenge the honesty or veracity of, bring an accusation against; level a charge against
incognito
a. with your identity concealed
incontrovertible
a. necessarily or demonstrably true, impossible to deny or disprove
inculcate
v. teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions
infrastructure
n. the basic structure or features of a system or organization
interpolate
v. estimate the value of, insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby
irony
n. a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs
jejune
a. lacking in nutritive value, displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity
kinetic
a. relating to the motion of material bodies and the forces associated therewith
kowtow
v. try to gain favor by cringing or flattering
laissezfaire
n. unwillingness to get involved in or influence other people's activities
lexicon
n. a reference book containing an alphabetical list of words with information about them
loquacious
a. full of trivial conversation, tending to talk a great deal; talkative
lugubrious
a. excessively mournful, looking or sounding sad and dismal
metamorphosis
n. a complete change of physical form or substance especially as by magic or witchcraft
mitosis
n. type of cell division that results in two daughter cells each having same number and kind of chromosomes as parent nucleus
moiety
n. one of two basic subdivisions of a tribe, one of two (approximately) equal parts
nanotechnology
n. the branch of engineering that deals with things smaller than 100 nanometers (especially with the manipulation of individual molecules)
nihilism
n. rejection of all religious and moral principles
nomenclature
n. a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline
nonsectarian
a. not involving or relating to different religious sects or political groups
notarize
v. authenticate as a notary, acknowledge or attest as a notary public
obsequious
a. attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
oligarchy
n. a political system governed by a few people
omnipotent
a. having unlimited power, having virtually unlimited authority or influence
orthography
n. a part of language study that deals with letters and spelling
paradigm
n. the generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time
parameter
n. any factor that defines a system and determines (or limits) its performance
pecuniary
a. relating to or involving money, consisting of or measured in money
photosynthesis
n. synthesis of compounds with the aid of radiant energy (especially in plants)
plagiarize
v. take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech; of intellectual property
plasma
n. the colorless watery fluid of the blood and lymph that contains no cells, but in which the blood cells are suspended
polymer
n. a naturally occurring or synthetic compound consisting of large molecules made up of a linked series of repeated simple monomers
precipitous
a. done with very great haste and without due deliberation, extremely steep
quasar
n. massive and extremely remote celestial object
quotidian
a. found in the ordinary course of events, occurring every day
recapitulate
v. repeat an earlier theme of a composition, repeat stages of evolutionary development during the embryonic phase of life
reciprocal
a. of or relating to the multiplicative inverse of a quantity or function
reparation
n. compensation exacted from a defeated nation by the victors, compensation (given or received) for an insult or injury
respiration
n. the bodily process of inhalation and exhalation, the process of taking in oxygen from inhaled air and releasing carbon dioxide
sanguine
n. a blood-red color, confidently optimistic and cheerful
soliloquy
n. a (usually long) dramatic speech intended to give the illusion of unspoken reflections, speech you make to yourself
subjugate
v. put down by force or intimidation, make subservient, force to submit or subdue
suffragist
n. an advocate of the extension of voting rights (especially to women)
supercilious
a. having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy, expressive of contempt
tautology
n. (logic) a statement that is necessarily true, useless repetition
taxonomy
n. practice of classifying plants and animals according to their presumed natural relationships
tectonic
a. pertaining to the structure or movement of the earth's crust ,of or pertaining to construction or architecture
tempestuous
a. (of the elements) as if showing violent anger, characterized by violent emotions or behavior
thermodynamics
n. the branch of physics concerned with the conversion of different forms of energy
totalitarian
a. characterized by a government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control
unctuous
a. unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech
vehement
a. marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions; inclined to react violently
fervid
a. characterized by great force or energy, intensely enthusiastic or passionate, especially to an excessive degree
vortex
n. a powerful circular current of water, the shape of something rotating rapidly
winnow
v. blow away or off with a current of air, separate the chaff from by using air currents
wrought
a. shaped to fit by or as if by altering the contours of a pliable mass (as by work or effort)
xenophobe
n. person having dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries
yeoman
n. officer in the (ceremonial) bodyguard of the British monarch
ziggurat
n. a rectangular tiered temple or terraced mound erected by the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians