Vocabulary

100 High-Impact Verbs for Action-Takers

No. Term Definition
1. Accelerate To increase the speed and scope of projects.
2. Achieve To successfully reach an objective through effort.
3. Administer To manage and direct a program or organization.
4. Advance To move a project or cause forward purposefully.
5. Advocate To publicly recommend or support a specific cause.
6. Amplify To increase the scale, volume, or impact.
7. Analyze To examine data or information in detail.
8. Architect To design and structure a complex system.
9. Articulate To express complex ideas clearly and effectively.
10. Assess To evaluate the nature, quality, or ability.
11. Attain To succeed in achieving a difficult goal.
12. Audit To officially inspect accounts or organizational procedures.
13. Augment To make something greater by adding to it.
14. Author To originate or create a plan or document.
15. Bolster To support, strengthen, or prop something up.
16. Brand To create a distinctive identity for a product.
17. Build To construct by putting parts or materials together.
18. Capitalize To use a situation to gain an advantage.
19. Catalyze To cause or accelerate a significant action.
20. Champion To vigorously support or defend a chosen cause.
21. Clarify To make a situation or statement less confused.
22. Collaborate To work jointly on an activity or project.
23. Command To have authority and control over a group.
24. Conceptualize To form a concept or an idea of.
25. Consolidate To combine things into a more effective whole.
26. Construct To build or erect something from scratch.
27. Consult To seek expert information or professional advice.
28. Coordinate To organize elements to work together efficiently.
29. Create To bring something into existence; to originate.
30. Critique To evaluate a theory or practice analytically.
31. Cultivate To develop a skill, quality, or relationship.
32. Customize To modify something for a particular task.
33. Delegate To entrust a task or responsibility to another.
34. Deliver To produce the promised or expected result.
35. Demonstrate To show the truth by providing proof.
36. Design To conceive and plan out in detail.
37. Develop To grow something to be more advanced.
38. Devise To plan or invent a complex procedure.
39. Diagnose To identify the nature of a problem.
40. Direct To manage or guide project or team operations.
41. Drive To propel and provide impetus for a project.
42. Elevate To raise to a more important or impressive level.
43. Empower To give someone authority or power to act.
44. Engineer To skillfully arrange for something to occur.
45. Enhance To intensify or further improve the quality.
46. Envision To imagine a future possibility; to visualize.
47. Establish To set up on a firm or permanent basis.
48. Evaluate To form an idea of the value of.
49. Exceed To go beyond what is prescribed; to surpass.
50. Execute To carry out or complete a plan.
51. Expand To become or make larger or more extensive.
52. Expedite To make a process happen more quickly.
53. Facilitate To make an action or process easier.
54. Forge To create a strong and lasting relationship.
55. Formulate To create a strategy or proposal methodically.
56. Foster To encourage the development of something desirable.
57. Galvanize To shock or excite someone into action.
58. Generate To produce or create revenue, ideas, or results.
59. Guide To show the way; to direct or advise.
60. Harness To control and make use of resources.
61. Identify To establish or indicate what something is.
62. Implement To put a decision or plan into effect.
63. Inaugurate To begin or introduce a new system.
64. Influence To affect the character or behavior of.
65. Innovate To introduce new methods, ideas, or products.
66. Inspire To fill someone with the urge to act.
67. Institute To establish a formal practice or system.
68. Integrate To combine things to become a whole.
69. Interpret To explain the meaning of complex information.
70. Launch To start or set in motion an enterprise.
71. Lead To be in charge or command of a team.
72. Leverage To use something to its maximum advantage.
73. Manage To be in charge of; to handle successfully.
74. Mediate To intervene in a dispute to resolve it.
75. Mentor To advise and train a junior colleague.
76. Mobilize To organize people to act in concert.
77. Modernize To adapt something to modern needs or habits.
78. Negotiate To bring about a result by discussion.
79. Optimize To make the best or most effective use of.
80. Organize To arrange systematically; to coordinate actions.
81. Originate To create or initiate something entirely new.
82. Overhaul To make comprehensive repairs or improvements.
83. Persuade To induce someone to act through reasoning.
84. Pioneer To be the first to apply a method.
85. Preside To be in a position of authority.
86. Prioritize To treat something as most important.
87. Reconcile To make two ideas or accounts compatible.
88. Rectify To correct something that is wrong.
89. Redefine To define something again or differently.
90. Refine To improve something by making small changes.
91. Reinforce To strengthen or support with additional material.
92. Resolve To find a solution to a problem.
93. Restructure To organize a system or company differently.
94. Revolutionize To change something radically or fundamentally.
95. Scrutinize To examine or inspect closely and thoroughly.
96. Secure To succeed in obtaining something with difficulty.
97. Spearhead To lead an attack, movement, or initiative.
98. Strategize To devise a plan to achieve a goal.
99. Streamline To make a process or system more efficient.
100. Synthesize To combine elements into a new whole.

100 One-Word Substitutions Everyone Should Know

No. Term Definition
1. Autobiography A life story written by oneself.
2. Biography A life story written by another person.
3. Atheist A person who does not believe in God.
4. Monotheist A person who believes in one God.
5. Polytheist A person who believes in many gods.
6. Democracy A government run by the people.
7. Monarchy A government run by a king or queen.
8. Anarchy The complete absence of government.
9. Aviary A place where birds are kept.
10. Apiary A place where bees are kept.
11. Aquarium A tank for keeping fish and water plants.
12. Omnipotent Having unlimited power.
13. Omnipresent Being present everywhere at once.
14. Omniscient Having complete or unlimited knowledge.
15. Bilingual Able to speak two languages fluently.
16. Polyglot Able to speak several languages.
17. Invincible Incapable of being defeated.
18. Illegible A handwriting that is impossible to read.
19. Inexplicable Impossible to explain or understand.
20. Unavoidable Impossible to avoid or prevent.
21. Inevitable Something that is certain to happen.
22. Incorrigible A person impossible to correct or reform.
23. Philanthropist One who gives money to help the needy.
24. Misanthrope A person who dislikes other people.
25. Optimist One who is hopeful about the future.
26. Pessimist One who sees the worst in things.
27. Novice A person new to a profession or skill.
28. Veteran A person with long experience in a field.
29. Extempore A speech made without preparation.
30. Panacea A cure for all diseases or problems.
31. Inaudible A sound that cannot be heard.
32. Arsenal A place for storing military weapons.
33. Hangar A large building for housing aircraft.
34. Abdicate To formally give up the throne.
35. Stoic A person who endures pain without complaint.
36. Gourmet A lover of fine food and drink.
37. Diurnal Active or occurring during the day.
38. Nocturnal Active or occurring at night.
39. Manuscript A text written by hand.
40. Amphibian An animal living both on land and in water.
41. Contemporary A person living in the same time period.
42. Orphan A child whose parents have died.
43. Fragile Something easily broken or damaged.
44. Opaque Not able to be seen through.
45. Catalogue A systematic list of items.
46. Etymology The study of the origin of words.
47. Astronomy The scientific study of stars and planets.
48. Homicide The killing of another person.
49. Matricide The killing of one’s own mother.
50. Patricide The killing of one’s own father.
51. Regicide The killing of a king.
52. Suicide The act of taking one’s own life.
53. Pilgrim A person traveling to a sacred place.
54. Glutton One who eats and drinks excessively.
55. Insolvent A person unable to pay their debts.
56. Calligraphy The art of beautiful handwriting.
57. Obsolete No longer in use; out of date.
58. Arbitrator A neutral person who settles a dispute.
59. Flammable Something that catches fire easily.
60. Mercenary One who does anything for money.
61. Acrophobia An extreme fear of heights.
62. Claustrophobia An extreme fear of confined places.
63. Aquaphobia An extreme fear of water.
64. Epitaph Words inscribed on a tombstone.
65. Emigrant One who leaves a country to settle in another.
66. Immigrant One who settles in a new country.
67. Credible Able to be believed or trusted.
68. Incredible Something difficult or impossible to believe.
69. Oxymoron A figure of speech with contradictory terms.
70. Posthumous Occurring or awarded after one’s death.
71. Sanatorium A place for long-term medical recovery.
72. Dormitory A large bedroom for many people.
73. Archive A collection of historical records.
74. Endemic A plant or animal native to one area.
75. Plagiarize To steal and pass off ideas as one’s own.
76. Polyandry The practice of a woman having multiple husbands.
77. Polygyny The practice of a man having multiple wives.
78. Monogamy The practice of having only one spouse.
79. Fastidious A person very attentive to detail.
80. Eligible Suitable or qualified to be chosen.
81. Ephemeral Lasting for a very short time.
82. Perennial Lasting for a very long or infinite time.
83. Somnambulist A person who walks in their sleep.
84. Somniloquist A person who talks in their sleep.
85. Seismology The scientific study of earthquakes.
86. Psychology The scientific study of the human mind.
87. Cartographer A person who designs and draws maps.
88. Pandemic A disease that spreads worldwide.
89. Irrevocable A decision that cannot be changed.
90. Excursion A short journey or trip for pleasure.
91. Cannibal A person who eats human flesh.
92. Ambiguous A statement with multiple meanings.
93. Portable Something that can be carried easily.
94. Abode A place where one lives or resides.
95. Illegal That which is against the law.
96. Apprentice A person learning a skill under a master.
97. Ubiquitous Something existing or found everywhere.
98. Advocate A person who publicly supports an idea.
99. Soluble Able to be dissolved in a liquid.
100. Transparent Allowing light to pass through so objects behind can be seen clearly.

100 Smart Words

No. Term Definition
1. Adept Highly skilled or proficient.
2. Adroit Clever or skillful with hands or mind.
3. Aesthetic Concerned with beauty or artistic impact.
4. Alacrity Brisk and cheerful readiness.
5. Ambivalent Having mixed or conflicting feelings.
6. Anachronistic Belonging to a different time period.
7. Anecdotal Based on personal stories rather than facts.
8. Apathetic Showing or feeling little interest or concern.
9. Aplomb Self-confidence or assurance.
10. Arduous Requiring great effort; difficult.
11. Assuage To ease or lessen pain or distress.
12. Astute Clever and perceptive.
13. Auspicious Indicating a favorable outcome.
14. Banal Lacking originality; boring.
15. Bellicose Inclined to fight or argue.
16. Benevolent Well-meaning and kindly.
17. Blithe Casual or cheerful indifference.
18. Brevity Concise and exact use of words.
19. Cacophony A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.
20. Candor Being open and honest.
21. Capricious Sudden changes in mood or behavior.
22. Caveat A warning or proviso.
23. Circumspect Cautious and considering all circumstances.
24. Cogent Clear, logical, and convincing.
25. Colloquial Informal or conversational language.
26. Concur To agree with.
27. Conundrum A confusing and difficult problem.
28. Copacetic Completely satisfactory; fine.
29. Cordial Warm and friendly.
30. Cursory Hasty and superficial.
31. Debacle A sudden and complete failure.
32. Deference Respectful submission or yielding.
33. Deft Neatly skillful and quick.
34. Delineate To describe precisely.
35. Demure Modest and reserved.
36. Didactic Intended to instruct.
37. Disparate Essentially different in kind.
38. Disseminate Spread widely (especially ideas).
39. Dogmatic Stubbornly opinionated.
40. Dubious Doubtful or uncertain.
41. Ebullient Cheerful and full of energy.
42. Eclectic From a variety of sources.
43. Egregious Outstandingly bad.
44. Eloquent Fluent and persuasive in speech.
45. Elucidate To make clear.
46. Empirical Based on observation or experience.
47. Enigmatic Mysterious and difficult to understand.
48. Ephemeral Lasting a very short time.
49. Equanimity Mental calmness and composure.
50. Esoteric Understood by a select few.
51. Euphemism Mild word replacing a harsh one.
52. Exacerbate To make worse.
53. Facetious Joking often inappropriately.
54. Fastidious Very attentive to detail.
55. Fortuitous Happening by chance; lucky.
56. Furtive Secretive or stealthy.
57. Garrulous Excessively talkative.
58. Gregarious Fond of company; sociable.
59. Harbinger Sign of something to come.
60. Hubris Excessive pride or self-confidence.
61. Idiosyncratic Peculiar or individual.
62. Ineffable Too great for words.
63. Inexorable Impossible to stop or prevent.
64. Infallible Incapable of making mistakes.
65. Ingenuous Innocent and unsuspecting.
66. Insidious Subtly harmful.
67. Intrepid Fearless and adventurous.
68. Juxtapose To place side by side for contrast.
69. Lethargic Sluggish and apathetic.
70. Lucid Expressed clearly and easy to understand.
71. Magnanimous Generous in forgiving.
72. Malevolent Wishing harm to others.
73. Mellifluous Sweet-sounding or pleasant to hear.
74. Meticulous Very careful and precise.
75. Misanthrope A person who dislikes humankind.
76. Mitigate To make less severe.
77. Moot Open to debate.
78. Myriad A countless or great number.
79. Nebulous Vague or unclear.
80. Nefarious Wicked or criminal.
81. Nonchalant Calm and unconcerned.
82. Noxious Harmful or poisonous.
83. Obfuscate To confuse or obscure.
84. Obsequious Overly submissive or eager to please.
85. Omnipotent All-powerful.
86. Ostentatious Showy and pretentious.
87. Paradox A contradictory but true statement.
88. Pedantic Overly concerned with details.
89. Pejorative Expressing disapproval.
90. Perfunctory Done routinely with little interest.
91. Perspicacious Having keen understanding.
92. Placate To calm or appease.
93. Precocious Advanced for one’s age.
94. Proclivity A natural tendency.
95. Quintessential The perfect example of something.
96. Rancor Bitter resentment.
97. Recalcitrant Stubbornly disobedient.
98. Sagacious Wise and insightful.
99. Salient Most noticeable or important.
100. Sanguine Optimistic or positive.

50 Verbs Every Adult Should Know

No. Term Definition
1. Analyze to examine something in detail in order to understand it better.
2. Articulate to express ideas or feelings clearly in speech or writing.
3. Assess to evaluate or estimate the nature, ability, or quality of something.
4. Assume to take for granted or accept something as true without proof.
5. Collaborate to work jointly with others toward a common goal.
6. Communicate to convey information or ideas effectively.
7. Comply to act in accordance with a rule, command, or request.
8. Conceptualize to form a concept or idea of something in the mind.
9. Contemplate to think about something deeply and at length.
10. Delegate to assign responsibility or authority to someone else.
11. Derive to obtain or receive something from a source or origin.
12. Differentiate to recognize or show the differences between things.
13. Emphasize to give special importance or prominence to something.
14. Evaluate to judge or determine the significance, worth, or quality of something.
15. Facilitate to make an action or process easier.
16. Formulate to create or devise methodically (a strategy or proposal).
17. Generate to produce or bring into existence.
18. Hypothesize to put forward a tentative explanation for further investigation.
19. Identify to recognize and name someone or something.
20. Illustrate to explain or clarify by giving examples or pictures.
21. Implement to put a plan or decision into effect.
22. Innovate to introduce new ideas, methods, or products.
23. Integrate to combine parts into a whole.
24. Interpret to explain the meaning of information or actions.
25. Investigate to carry out a systematic inquiry or study.
26. Leverage to use something to maximum advantage.
27. Mediate to intervene between parties to help them reach an agreement.
28. Mitigate to make less severe, serious, or painful.
29. Negotiate to discuss terms in order to reach an agreement.
30. Orchestrate to coordinate or arrange the elements of a situation to produce a desired effect.
31. Oversee to supervise or watch over a task or operation.
32. Prioritize to arrange or deal with in order of importance.
33. Procure to obtain something, especially with effort or care.
34. Procrastinate to delay or postpone action; put off doing something.
35. Pursue to follow or chase with the intent to catch or achieve.
36. Quantify to measure or express the quantity of something.
37. Reconcile to restore friendly relations or bring into agreement.
38. Refine to improve something by making small, precise changes.
39. Reflect to think deeply or carefully about something.
40. Resolve to find a solution to a problem or contentious matter.
41. Strategize to plan the best way to achieve a goal or overcome a challenge.
42. Synthesize to combine separate elements into a coherent whole.
43. Transcend to go beyond the limits of; rise above.
44. Validate to confirm the truth, accuracy, or legitimacy of something.
45. Utilize to make practical and effective use of something.
46. Empathize to understand and share the feelings of another.
47. Navigate to plan and direct the course of action through complex situations.
48. Volunteer to offer one’s services freely and without pay.
49. Compromise to make mutual concessions in order to reach agreement.
50. Sustain to maintain or prolong over time.

50 Idioms Every Adult Should Know

No. Term Definition
1. Break the ice to relieve tension or get conversation started in an awkward situation.
2. Bite the bullet to endure a painful or unpleasant task courageously.
3. Hit the nail on the head to describe exactly what is causing a situation or problem.
4. Let the cat out of the bag to reveal a secret, often unintentionally.
5. Kill two birds with one stone to achieve two aims with a single effort.
6. Barking up the wrong tree to pursue a mistaken or misguided course of action.
7. Piece of cake something very easy to do.
8. Cost an arm and a leg to be very expensive.
9. Cut corners to do something poorly or cheaply.
10. Under the weather feeling unwell or sick.
11. The ball is in your court it’s your turn to take action or make a decision.
12. Back to square one to have to start over again.
13. A blessing in disguise something that seems bad at first but turns out to be good.
14. A dime a dozen very common and of little value.
15. Beat around the bush to avoid talking about what’s important.
16. Better late than never it’s better to do something late than not do it at all.
17. Bite off more than you can chew to take on more responsibility than you can manage.
18. Actions speak louder than words what people do is more important than what they say.
19. Apple of my eye someone who is cherished above all others.
20. His bark is worse than his bite someone’s threats are worse than their actions.
21. Burn bridges to destroy one’s relationships or opportunities.
22. Call it a day to stop working on something.
23. Cry over spilled milk to be upset about something that cannot be changed.
24. Devil’s advocate someone who argues a point for the sake of debate.
25. Every cloud has a silver lining every bad situation has some positive aspect.
26. Get out of hand to become uncontrolled.
27. Give the benefit of the doubt to choose to believe someone’s statement, without proof.
28. Hit the sack to go to bed.
29. In the blink of an eye very quickly; in a very short time.
30. Jump on the bandwagon to join others in doing something that is currently popular.
31. Keep your chin up to remain cheerful and hopeful in difficult circumstances.
32. Let sleeping dogs lie to avoid interfering in a situation that is currently causing no problems.
33. Miss the boat to miss an opportunity.
34. Off the cuff without preparation; spontaneously.
35. Once in a blue moon very rarely.
36. Out of the blue unexpectedly; without warning.
37. Pull someone’s leg to tease or joke with someone.
38. On the ball alert, knowledgeable, and competent.
39. On thin ice in a risky or precarious situation.
40. Rain on someone’s parade to spoil someone’s plans or enjoyment.
41. Rome wasn’t built in a day important things take time to complete.
42. Saved by the bell rescued from a difficult situation at the last moment.
43. The best of both worlds enjoying two desirable but normally incompatible things at once.
44. Through thick and thin in both good times and bad.
45. Time flies when you’re having fun time seems to pass quickly when you’re enjoying yourself.
46. Twist someone’s arm to persuade someone to do something they’re reluctant to do.
47. Up in the air undecided or unresolved.
48. When pigs fly something that will never happen.
49. You can’t judge a book by its cover you shouldn’t judge someone or something by appearance alone.
50. Your guess is as good as mine I have no more idea than you do.