IELTS & TOEFL Writing: What Is High-end Vocabulary?

Many test takers make the mistake of thinking that the words that will get them higher scores must be long, multisyllabic, academic or technical, or very rare words. This is not the case.



Examiners don’t want to see that you memorized an AWL (Academic Word List). They do want to see that you can use less common words and that you can use words naturally in the correct context. Words like plethora, amalgamate, myriad, and others will most likely hurt your score rather than help it.


In this video, we look at a few examples of words to avoid using in your IELTS or TOEFL writing, including in the essay, as well as 7 words that you can and should try to use correctly.


The 7 words we will look at in terms of definition and contextual use are court, gauge, rein, sway, tweak, cite, and flock. Examples sentences are included for each word.


You can also use these words to add to your idea bank collections or word lists.

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