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[Ding II]

32,600

That escalated quickly. I only knew a couple of the words in that last column (and they were near the top), but knew all but a few in every column prior.

 

[adj_noun]

That feeling when someone online accuses you of overusing your thesaurus

and you don't have one

#justvocabthings

 

[sqwarlock]

27,900

Only knew two words in the third column on the second page: braggadocio and hypnopompic.

 

[Chezzymann]

21K, native speaker

How do you guys know all those crazy words in the last three columns? That's the only way I can imagine y'all getting 30K+. I guess I just need to read books more. Most my reading comes from internet and comics....

 

[boingball]

20,800, non-native speaker. That second page, man, especially after seeing those simple words on the first one.

 

[kerotan_eater]

So wait ... this test is to test how elite you are in the top elite 2% who take this test?

 

[CoffeeJanitor]

20k, but scored perfect on ACT writing and reading...what is this lol

 

[EYEL1NER]

29,100. I'm fine with that.
Native speaker, never took the SAT or ACT.

 

[Tesseract]

This is a better test, but it takes longer snice you have to answer multiple choice questions: http://my.vocabularysize.com/session/evstxx

You know at least 15,700 English word families!

 

[deltatheta]

There were a few words I had to look up to make sure that the definition that I was thinking of was the correct one. I think that probably counts as cheating.

21K, native speaker

How do you guys know all those crazy words in the last three columns? That's the only way I can imagine y'all getting 30K+. I guess I just need to read books more. Most my reading comes from internet and comics....

A lot of the words I just recognized from taking vocabulary in high school, since they were trying to prepare us for the SATs.

 

[Zoc]

43,100 words

I'm a linguist, studying words is my jam. I was one of those weird kids who read through the dictionary for fun.

Wow. Do you often come across these rare words "in the wild?" Or do you just study them by themselves, or as part of databases?

 

[zashga]

I got 33,300. Not too bad! I only knew two words in the last column, though...

 

[Zona]

32.000 estimated, the large number of academic Sociology articles I read helps but even my love of fantasy and Science Fiction could not save me from that last column. Lovecraft and China Miéville would look at some of those words and think "No, no that's to much".

 

[FrenchToastDisciple]

Got a fucking 168 (98th percentile) on the GRE verbal test last year, and it's saying that I am below in the median in vocabulary. Guess I really do rely strongly on context when reading.

 

[Somnid]

21,500

It's interesting what constitutes "vocabulary" as this is more biased toward archaic English rather than say technical or scientific terms which should be equally valid. Personally, I'm much stronger on the latter.

 

[Mgoblue201]

Wow. Do you often come across these rare words "in the wild?" Or do you just study them by themselves, or as part of databases?

Most of the words on the list you could probably find in a book or magazine. Here's an example of someone seriously using a word like bibulous in a sentence. Some of the words in the last column though are what I'd expect to find in a David Foster Wallace novel.

 

[theWB27]

22,300

I'm good with that...I make up my own to fill in the rest.

 

[WorriedCitizen]

21,300 non native

 

[Christina Mackenzie]

19,000.

The fact I hardly read anymore had something to do with this.

 

[Krappadizzle]

24,600 for me.

 

[adj_noun]

21,300 non native

I don't even want to know what my best non native total is.

Sesame Street ensures it's at least ten though!

 

[Chezzymann]

A lot of the words I just recognized from taking vocabulary in high school, since they were trying to prepare us for the SATs.

Yeah I mean I recognized a lot of those words long words but i didn't check them off because i didn't remember what they actually meant though since its been like 5 years

I feel like if i only checked words i could recite definitions on the spot i would have 10k

 

[Christine]

35,300

Considering I've never set foot in a school after high school, I'd say that's pretty okay.

I'd have to agree, as you know a hundred more words than me.

 

[GraveHorizon]

22,700 words. GAF is 99% of what I read these days.

 

[Krappadizzle]

Got a fucking 168 (98th percentile) on the GRE verbal test last year, and it's saying that I am below in the median in vocabulary. Guess I really do rely strongly on context when reading.

I'd wager most people rely on context for words they don't know immediately. I know I do.

 

[poppabk]

Got a fucking 168 (98th percentile) on the GRE verbal test last year, and it's saying that I am below in the median in vocabulary. Guess I really do rely strongly on context when reading.

I got 97th percentile on the GRE verbal, 30700 on this test.

 

[gerg]

21,500

It's interesting what constitutes "vocabulary" as this is more biased toward archaic English rather than say technical or scientific terms which should be equally valid. Personally, I'm much stronger on the latter.

"Maladroit" is downright French!

 

[NEOPARADIGM]

22,400

 

[kess]

36,000. Never took the SAT, though.

 

[Etzer]

I'm surprised.

36,100

 

[BombStrike]

27.9k

French with English is my second language but I switched to reading and watching only in English a few years ago so I guess that helps with the vocab. Though my grammar is still horrendous at times, I will write sentences and realize after rereading them that they make no sense whatsoever.

 

[deltatheta]

Yeah I mean I recognized a lot of those words long words but i didn't check them off because i didn't remember what they actually meant though since its been like 5 years

I feel like if i only checked words i could recite definitions on the spot i would have 10k

Yeah, I said recognized but I meant actually remembering the definitions.

It's been 15 years since high school but I've got a good memory for that sort of thing.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

Natalie Imbruglia?

Yeah, I know her and 24,300 other words apparently.

 

[Zoc]

Most of the words on the list you could probably find in a book or magazine. Here's proof of a writer seriously using a word like bibulous in its proper context. Some of the words in the last column though are what I'd expect to find in a David Foster Wallace novel.

Oh, I'm not trying to say the list contained fake or obsolete words. All the words I recognized (I got 40,000 something on the test) I picked up just from being an avid reader of all different kinds of things. I was just curious about how a person gets to the 45,000 level. Can it be done purely through reading and coming across new words in context, or is it the result of focused study?

 

[Anjelus_]

So for those of you linguists scoring in the 40k range, could you recommend pro-tips for obscenely expanding your vocabulary?

 

[Swamped]

I got 32000. I know that's on the higher end of the scale and I should be happy, but it just seems like so little. I never thought about it in depth, but I always believed I knew ~100,000 words. I guess that was foolish of me.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

As someone who reads a lot and writes, my vocab is horrendous.

22.5k words

Anyone have any apps to recommend to help build vocab?

 

[PseudoKirby]

being incredibly honest I got 24,400.

how many people chutted

 

[Red Comet]

24,400.

I recognize many of the words that I didn't know, but usually I decipher them on a case-by-case basis using context clues and don't retain the actual definition.

 

[RoboPlato]

36,900

This quiz puts into perspective just how frustrating I find my own personal vocabulary. I know a lot of words but can never seem to utilize very many in daily conversation.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

is "leitmotive" the german word?

 

[TwntyOneTwlv]

15.6k? What in the hell? There were only like, three words in the whole thing I didn't know. This has to be some kind of mistake.

 

[munchie64]

23,300. Reading sucks.

 

[BigJonsson]

24k doing it quick

 

[Solid Samus]

40,500 words, damn!

I'm no linguist but I used to have some pretty crippling social anxiety and books and encyclopedias were my escape long before gaming ever was.

 

[Red Comet]

is "leitmotive" the german word?

It's German in origin, but I guess it has entered the English vocabulary because it doesn't have any exact English equivalent. I actually remembered that word from a music class.

 

[TwntyOneTwlv]

I mean, I'm known among friends and coworkers as the guy who knows a lot of words. I pride myself on my vocabulary. I'm actually kind of upset about this.

15,000. Good grief.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

19,400
second language.Aww yiss

 

[H.Protagonist]

37,300

I was really surprised at some of the later words. Thought I would know all of them since I like this kind of stuff, but wow.

 

[thoseAREmySHOES]

23.1k. Native speaker, and I'd consider myself to have a pretty wide vocabulary. At least until this test. I also don't have an SAT score, as I took the ACT. But I did ace the "reading" portion of it with a 36/36.