Ultimate TOEFL vocabulary list
Words Meaning
Abate to become less intense or widespread
Abhor to regard with extreme dislike or hatred
Abundant present in great quantity; plentiful
Accurate free from error; precise
Acquire to gain possession or control of something
Banish to force someone to leave a place or country
Barrier something that blocks or obstructs
Belie to fail to give a true impression; to contradict
Benevolent kind and generous
Brevity the quality of being brief; concise
Candid honest; frank
Capricious impulsive; unpredictable
Censure to express severe disapproval
Coherent logically connected; clear and easy to understand
Complacent self
Debilitate to weaken; to make feeble
Deceptive misleading; not truthful
Decipher to interpret or understand the meaning of
Deficient lacking in some necessary quality or element
Deplete to use up or exhaust
Eccentric unconventional; peculiar
Elaborate detailed; complex
Eloquent fluent in speaking or writing; persuasive
Emphasise to give special importance or prominence to
Endorse to express support or approval of
Fallacious based on a mistaken belief; false
Fanatic a person with extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal
Words Meaning
Fathom to understand deeply; to penetrate the meaning of
Feasible capable of being done; possible
Fickle likely to change; not consistent or loyal
Garner to gather or collect
Genial friendly; pleasant
Glaring obvious; easily seen
Gregarious sociable; enjoying the company of others
Guile deceitful cunning; slyness
Hamper to hinder or impede progress
Haughty arrogant; excessively proud
Heed to pay attention to; to take notice of
Heresy belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious doctrine
Hinder to obstruct or prevent progress
Impartial unbiased; treating all equally
Impede to obstruct or hinder progress
Incisive clear and sharp in thought or expression
Indifferent not caring; unconcerned
Induce to bring about or cause
Jeopardise to put at risk; to endanger
Judicious wise; showing good judgement
Juxtapose to place side by side for comparison or contrast
Keen sharp; intellectually alert
Kinetic relating to motion; active
Lament to express sorrow or regret
Laud to praise; to extol
Lavish extravagant; abundant
Lethargic sluggish; lacking energy
Loathe to feel strong dislike or disgust for
Malicious intending to harm or cause damage
Meagre lacking in quantity or quality; scanty
Words Meaning
Melancholy sad; gloomy
Meticulous extremely careful and precise
Mitigate to make less severe or intense
Nefarious wicked; evil
Nostalgia a sentimental longing for the past
Notorious widely known for a bad quality or deed
Novel new; original
Nurture to care for; to foster
Obliterate to destroy completely; to wipe out
Obsolete no longer in use; outdated
Obstinate stubborn; refusing to change
Obtuse dull; not sharp in perception or intellect
Occurrence an event or incident
Pensive deeply thoughtful; reflective
Perceive to become aware of; to understand
Perish to die or come to an end
Pervasive spreading widely; prevalent
Plausible seemingly reasonable or probable; believable
Quandary a state of uncertainty or perplexity
Quell to suppress or subdue; to calm
Quirk a peculiar behaviour or characteristic
Quota a fixed share or portion; a limit on quantity
Rebut to refute or disprove an argument or claim
Recede to move back or withdraw; to diminish
Reconcile to restore harmony or resolve differences
Redundant repetitive; exceeding what is necessary
Refute to prove to be false or incorrect
Sagacious wise; discerning
Scrutinise to examine closely and critically
Serene calm; peaceful
Words Meaning
Sceptical doubting; questioning
Soothe to calm or comfort; to alleviate
Tenacious persistent; determined
Terminate to end or bring to a conclusion
Thrive to prosper; to grow vigorously
Timid shy; lacking in self
Transparent clear; easily understood
Ubiquitous present or found everywhere
Unanimous in complete agreement; united
Unprecedented never before seen or experienced
Unravel to untangle; to solve or clarify
Utopia an ideal or perfect place
Vacillate to waver between different opinions or actions
Vague unclear; not definite or precise
Valid sound; based on truth or reason
Vanish to disappear; to cease to exist
Venerate to regard with deep respect or awe
Wane to decrease gradually; to decline
Whimsical fanciful; unpredictable
Widespread widely diffused or prevalent; common
Wither to dry up; to fade away
Wrath extreme anger; fury
Xenophobia fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers
Yearn to have a strong desire or longing
Yield to give in; to produce or generate
Yonder at or in that place; over there
Zeal great enthusiasm or passion
Zenith the highest point; the peak
Zephyr a gentle breeze
Zest great enthusiasm or enjoyment
Words Meaning
Zigzag a line or course with abrupt changes in direction
