327 Toefl Vocabulary

8/22/22, 11:32 AM Ultimate TOEFL Vocabulary List: The 327 Best Words to Know • PrepScholar TOEFL
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Ultimate TOEFL Vocabulary List: The 327

Best Words to Know
Christine Sarikas / January 6, 2017 / TOEFL Prep
Developing solid TOEFL vocabulary skills can be one of the most challenging parts of
studying for the exam, but it’s also one of the most important. Many TOEFL questions
either ask you the definition of a word outright or require you to have knowledge of
certain words in order to answer a question correctly. With so many words in the English
language, which are the ones you need to know?
We’ve done the hard work for you and determined the 327 most useful TOEFL words
to know. They’re all listed below, along with a definition and sample sentence for
each. We also end with tips on how to use this list most effectively in order to be
prepared for vocabulary on the TOEFL.
https://www.prepscholar.com/toefl/blog/toefl-vocabulary-list/ 1/32
How Did We Compile This TOEFL Vocabulary List?
To create this list, we first read through official TOEFL practice materials and made a list
of all the words a person taking the TOEFL might struggle with. This was our primary
source and finds words that you’re more likely to see on the real test. Next, we cross-
referenced our list with TOEFL vocabulary lists from other sites, such as Magoosh and
TOEFL Vocabulary, and examined their overlap with our list.
Words that appeared especially frequently from our research was automatically
added to the final TOEFL vocabulary list you see below, as well as a selection of
other words deemed particularly useful to know for the TOEFL. Once the list of 327 best
words was compiled, we added a definition and sample sentence to each one to help
you better understand the words and how they are used.
The 327 TOEFL Words You Need to Know

Below are the 327 best TOEFL vocabulary words, in alphabetical order.
Word Definition Sample Sentence

Living close to a lake
Present in large
Abundant means we have an
quantities.
abundant supply of water.
Each fall, leaves
Accumulate To gradually collect. accumulate in our
driveway.
Make sure your address is
accurate before
Accurate Correct; free from errors.
submitting your online
order.
Having 8AM classes
Accustomed Used to something. means I’m accustomed to
getting up early.
When my grandmother
To come into possession
Acquire died, I acquired her
of.
cookbook collection.
Adamant Refusing to change an The defendant was
opinion. adamant that he was

innocent.
Our house isn’t big, but
Enough to suit your
Adequate it’s adequate for the two
needs.
of us.
The park is adjacent to
Adjacent Close to or next to.
the school.
The bike seat may be too
To change something so it
Adjust high; you’ll probably need
serves its purpose better.
to adjust it.
Something that makes it His height gives him an
Advantage
easier to achieve success. advantage in basketball.
My aunt is a major
Advocate To publicly support. advocate for women’s’
rights.
I had an adverse reaction
Unfavorable; against one’s
Adverse to my medication and had
desires.
to stop taking it.
We should aggregate our
Aggregate To combine. resources to share them
more easily.
The salesperson was very
aggressive when trying to
Aggressive Assertive and pushy.
get us to buy the
television.
The village needs to
To put aside for a specific
Allocate allocate funds for building
purpose.
the new school.
If the ATM is broken, an
Alternative Another option or choice. alternative solution is to
stop by the bank.
Someone who is
He’s an amateur soccer
inexperienced or not
Amateur player and is still learning
highly skilled in a
the rules of the game.
particular area.
Ambiguous Having several potential When I asked the HR
meanings; unclear and manager what my
difficult to understand. chances were of getting
the job, she gave me a

very ambiguous reply.
My son is very ambitious
and hopes to be a
Ambitious Having large goals.
millionaire by the time
he’s thirty.
I believe we should
To change for the better;
Amend amend our country’s tax
to improve.
laws.
Our new apartment has
Ample Plentiful. ample space for the two
of us.
The basketball player is
the team’s best free
Anomaly Deviation from the norm. thrower, so his missing
both shots was an
anomaly.
The annual company
Annual Occurring yearly. barbeque takes place
every August.
To tease or be hostile The boy loves to
Antagonize towards a person or antagonize his little sister
group. by pulling her hair.
After she got grounded,
the teenager had a bad
Attitude Manner or feeling.
attitude for the rest of the
day.
Be sure to attribute credit
Attribute To give credit. to your sources when
writing a research paper.
Flipping a coin is an
Based on a whim or
Arbitrary arbitrary way to make a
random decision.
decision.
After you cross the bridge,
Arduous Requiring a lot of effort. there’s an arduous walk
up the hill.
To lessen a negative The mother assuaged her
Assuage
feeling. child’s fear of the dark.
Assume To suppose without solid I assumed he was rich

proof. because he worked as a
lawyer.
She augments her regular
To increase or make
Augment salary by babysitting on
larger.
the weekends.
A benefit of doing
Something positive or homework on Friday is
Benefit
advantageous. that your weekend will be
free.
Our neighbor berated us
Berate To scold. after we broke his window
playing baseball.
The medal was bestowed
Bestow To give as a gift. upon him by the
president.
He always boasts of his
To brag or talk with
Boast talents after he wins a
excessive pride.
game.
I gave him a pep talk to
To help raise or increase
Boost boost his self-esteem
something.
before his speech.
The brash man always
Brash Rude and tactless. asked inappropriate
questions.
It will only have a brief
meeting, so you’ll still
Brief Short (in terms of time).
have plenty of time for
lunch.
After being away for so
Abrupt to the point of long, I expected more
Brusque
rudeness. than her brusque
greeting.
The cuckoo clock shop
A harsh, unpleasant
Cacophony lets off a cacophony every
mixture of noise.
hour.
I wish they would cease
Cease To stop.
arguing.
Censure To express strong Every parent in our

disapproval. district censured the
education cuts.
Put the historical events
Arranged in order of time in chronological order to
Chronological
or date. make them easier to
study.
I didn’t understand the
To make clear; to remove instructions, so I asked
Clarify
confusion. the teacher to clarify
them.
The people on the street
To combine or grow
Coalesce eventually coalesced into
together.
a group.
To force someone to do The young boy was
Coerce something against their coerced into stealing by
will. his friends.
Before mountain
Being aware or having
Cognizant climbing, you need to be
knowledge of something.
cognizant of the risks.
Water molecules show
Cohesion Uniting; becoming one. strong cohesion when
they stick together.
This year Thanksgiving
To occur at the same
Coincide coincided with my
time.
birthday.
The old building finally
To fall down or break
Collapse collapsed, leaving nothing
down.
but a pile of rubble.
To hit one another with a The two cars collided on
Collide
forceful impact. the freeway.
Joining a school play is a
Dedication to a cause or big commitment. You’ll
Commitment
activity. need to practice every
evening.
Community A group of people who The Chinese community
live or work together. in my city is hosting a New
Year celebration next

week.
The mountains concealed
Conceal To hide.
the ocean from view.
He believes women
Concur To agree. should be paid as much
as men, and I concur.
The conflict between the
Conflict A disagreement or fight. two families has been
going on for generations.
You should move your
plant to a bigger pot,
Constrain To restrict or repress.
otherwise you’ll constrain
its roots.
I spend a lot of time
Contemplate To consider thoughtfully. contemplating what
career I want to have.
My neighbors have been
To go on without continuously blasting
Continuously
stopping. their music since last
night.
I told the employees that
sales were down, but my
To give the opposite
Contradict boss contradicted me and
opinion.
said sales were actually
up.
Every roommate
To give something (usually
contributes part of his
Contribute money or time) to a
paycheck to the grocery
common fund or cause.
bill.
I’ve conveyed my interest
Convey To make known. in working for that
company.
He always takes copious
Copious Abundant. notes during class to
study later on.
Core Central; of main Although many
importance. employees left the
company, the core

leadership remained.
The rust corroded the
Corrode To gradually wear away.
paint on my car.
Trying to carry four
Cumbersome Burdensome; clumsy grocery bags at once was
very cumbersome.
Our school needs to add
The courses given by a
Curriculum more music courses to its
school or program.
curriculum.
The data from these
Facts, statistics, or pieces graphs show that yearly
Data
of information. temperatures are
increasing.
To decline in health or After the tree died, its
Decay
excellence. wood began to decay.
He deceived me by
Deceive To trick or mislead. pretending to be a
millionaire.
The spy deciphered the
Decipher To find the meaning of.
secret code.
He made a declaration to
Declaration An announcement. the office that he was
quitting.
Decline 1. To politely refuse. 1. I declined his offer of a
ride home.
By the way: we have 2. Her health has declined

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2. To deteriorate
(especially in terms of
health.)
My attempt at cake
Degrade To lower in quality. degraded into a crumbly
mess.
Let me demonstrate the
Demonstrate To show. proper way of throwing a
football.
To state that something He denied being the
Deny
isn’t true. robber.
Your shopping sprees
Deplete To significantly decrease.
have depleted my savings.
Please deposit your books
To deliver and leave an
Deposit in the bin outside the
item.
library.
Bravery is a desirable trait
Desirable Worth having or wanting.
for firefighters to have.
I despise early morning
Despise To hate.
classes.
The police dog detected
Detect To locate something.
the missing child’s scent.
Deter To discourage. The warning signs on the

house deterred
trespassers.
I decided to deviate from
Deviate To differ from the norm. my normal route home
and took a shortcut.
The coach devised a plan
Devise To plan or create.
for winning the game.
The politician went into a
A sharp criticism or
Diatribe diatribe against her
attack.
opponent.
The teacher digressed
To wander from the main
Digress from the lecture to
subject.
discuss the weather.
The student faced the
A situation where one
dilemma of attending
Dilemma must choose between two
school sick or missing her
difficult choices.
exam.
Sprinkle baking soda on
Diminish To shrink or reduce. the carpet to diminish the
stain.
I need to dispose of this
Dispose To get rid of.
trash.
Too large or small when The piece of pie I received
Disproportionate compared to something was disproportionately
else. small.
To interrupt by causing a The protesters disrupted
Disrupt
disturbance. the politician’s speech.
The camera filter
Distort To misrepresent.
distorted the image.
To give portions of Distribute the materials
Distribute
something. evenly among the class.
This city has a very
Diverse Showing a lot of variety.
diverse population.
Because of the accident,
To cause a change of
Divert the police had to divert
course.
traffic down a side street.
Dynamic Constantly changing. The theater has dynamic
shows, so you never know

what you’ll see.
To reduce unpleasantness This prescription will ease
Ease
or difficulty. your allergies.
Now that I’m following a
Efficient Maximizing productivity. schedule at work, I’m
much more efficient.
Our team lost the match
Eliminate To remove. and was eliminated from
the competition.
The elite detective team
A select, above-average
Elite were also sent for when
group.
there were big crimes.
Her eloquent writing has
Eloquent Moving speech or writing.
gained her many fans.
To give special The teacher emphasized
Emphasize importance to when the due date of the
speaking or writing. project.
To suffer through
He has endured four knee
Endure something difficult with
operations so far.
patience.
The falling snow
Enhance To intensify or magnify. enhanced the beauty of
the small village.
A perfect example of The duchess is the
Epitome
something. epitome of class.
Twenty-four is equivalent
Equivalent Equal.
to two dozen.
He apologized for his
Erroneous Incorrect.
erroneous statement.
Try to get an estimate of
Estimate An approximate value. the number of people
attending the concert.
By hiding in the
Evade To avoid or escape. bathroom, we were able
to evade the intruder.
Evaluate To assess. At the end of the class,
every student will
evaluate how well the

professor taught.
Facts or information that
These fossils are evidence
Evidence help prove or disprove
of evolution.
something.
The small school evolved
Evolve To gradually change. into a world-class
institution.
She is an exemplary
Exemplary Worthy of imitation. student, and you should
copy her study habits.
The young boy was
Exclude To leave out. excluded from his friends’
soccer game.
We may not be able to get
Not admitting the
Exclusive in since that club is very
majority.
exclusive.
Adding air to bike tires will
Expand To increase in size.
cause them to expand.
Expert knowledge or skill The surgeon’s expertise is
Expertise
in a particular field. knee surgeries.
The company exploited its
Exploit To use selfishly. workers by making them
work long hours.
The emails presented
Expose To reveal or unmask. exposed the company’s
corruption.
If you’re sick on the day
the paper is due, the
An act of making
Extension teacher may give you an
something longer.
extension on the due
date.
To get or remove The dentist extracted one
Extract
something. of my teeth.
Millions of children in
A time when there is an
Famine Ethiopia died due to the
extreme lack of food.
famine there.
Feasible Possible to do. This study plan you made
for me sounds feasible,

even with my work
schedule.
Remember that life is
Finite Having an end or limits. finite; you’re not
immortal.
I got the diamond for a
A feature that ruins the
Flaw reduced price since the
perfection of something.
stone had a flaw.
I’m not sure what to wear
Fluctuate To change continually. since the temperature has
been fluctuating so much.
The program is going to
Focus The central point or idea. focus on environmental
issues.
The king decided to fortify
Fortify To strengthen. the castle walls to protect
them during attacks.
A skeletal structure Skyscrapers must have a
Framework designed to support strong framework to
something. support all the floors.
You must stop spending
Unnecessary; of little
Frivolous your money on frivolous
importance
purchases.
The function of petals is
A purpose natural to a
Function to attract insects to the
person or thing.
plant.
Learning scales is
Fundamental Of primary importance. fundamental to being a
good piano player.
Be careful to avoid the
A space in between to
Gap gap between the two
objects.
steps.
Our answering machine is
Communication that is
Garbled so bad that people’s
distorted and unclear.
voices are always garbled.
Generate To produce. The fire generates heat,
which keeps the room
warm.
The actress had only one
Pompous; overly small part before she got
Grandiose
important. grandiose ideas of her
fame.
HIs poems contain many
Hackneyed Overused and unoriginal.
hackneyed phrases.
There was no schedule, so
Haphazard Lacking planning. the event was very
haphazard.
Her comments on my
Harsh Not gentle; unpleasant. performance were very
harsh and not kind at all.
In order to avoid the
Hasty In a hurry. police, the robbers made
a hasty retreat.
The nuclear reactor has a
Hazardous Full of risk.
lot of hazardous waste.
She hesitated before
To pause, often due to
Hesitate entering the abandoned
reluctance.
building.
In the office hierarchy, the
Hierarchy A ranking system. manager is higher than
the associate.
Her hatred of public
Something that causes transportation is a
Hindrance
delay or resistance. hindrance when trying to
get around New York City.
Hollow Empty inside. The dead tree is hollow.
The haunted house filled
Horror An intense feeling of fear.
me with horror.
My ex-boyfriend’s new
Hostile Extremely unfriendly. girlfriend was very hostile
towards me.
An unproven idea that You’ll need to conduct an
Hypothesis attempts to explain experiment to test your
something. hypothesis.
Identical Exactly the same. The twins were
completely identical.
Because he’d never been
Illiterate Unable to read. able to attend school, the
man was illiterate.
The professor illustrated
To explain by using an
Illustrate the lesson with a personal
example.
story.
His moving words had a
Impact Effect or influence.
large impact on me.
Drinking alcohol will
Impair To worsen. impair your driving
abilities.
We will implement the
Implement To carry out. new schedule starting
next semester.
My mother implied that I
Imply To strongly suggest. was the one who forgot to
take out the trash.
After the riots, the mayor
Impose To force upon. imposed a curfew on the
town.
These medical bills are
Impoverish To reduce to poverty.
going to impoverish me.
I hate my job, but the big
Incentive A reason to do something. paychecks are a good
incentive to stick with it.
I can’t sleep because of
Incessant Continuing without pause. the dog’s incessant
barking.
Don’t worry about your
grade on this quiz; it’s
Incidental A minor part.
only an incidental part of
your grade.
The ringleader incited the
Incite To urge on.
soldiers to rebellion.
My inclination is to go to
Inclination A preference.
bed early.
Incompetent Incapable; lacking ability. The incompetent worker
was fired from his job.

His pitching has been very
Inconsistent Changing randomly.
inconsistent all season.
She is an indefatigable
Indefatigable Untiring.
hiker and can walk all day.
She’s the indisputable star
Indisputable Not able to be challenged.
of the basketball team.
The drug was shown to be
Not producing any major
Ineffective ineffective at curing
impact.
cancer.
Even if you’re healthy,
Inevitable Unable to be avoided. death is inevitable in the
end.
I inferred that she was
To guess based on
Infer annoyed based on her
evidence.
body language.
Getting a promotion has
Inflate To increase in size.
really inflated his ego.
The older sister has been
The ability to have an
Influence a positive influence on her
impact of something.
younger siblings.
This cleaning spray
Inhibit To hinder or restrain. inhibits the growth of
bacteria.
She was the initial
Initial The first.
president of the company.
Congress launched an
An investigation to inquiry after the senator
Inquiry
determine the truth. was accused of taking
bribes.
Necessary to complete You can’t quit. You’re an
Integral
the whole. integral part of this team.
When making a cake, you
Integrate To combine. need to fully integrate the
wet and dry ingredients.
I need you to interpret
To explain the meaning of
Interpret this German speech for
something.
me.
Intervene To come between people, When the toddlers

objects, or an event and couldn’t share their toys,
change what is their mothers had to
happening. intervene.
The intrepid mountain
Intrepid Fearless. climber reached the top
of Mt. Everest.
The pattern on this
Intricate Highly detailed.
blanket is so intricate.
We found the stranger’s
Invasive Intrusive. questions too personal
and very invasive.
The police are going to
Investigate To examine or study. investigate the crime
scene.
Even though my
grandfather seems
Irascible Easy to anger.
irascible, he’s actually very
loving.
The use of words to give a “I love spending my Friday
Irony meaning opposite to their nights doing homework,”
literal meaning. she said with irony.
Not sure which direction
Irresolute Uncertain. to go in, he stood
irresolute.
To be a successful doctor,
Words specific to a certain
Jargon you’ll need to learn a lot
job or group.
of medical jargon.
The newlyweds jointly
Jointly Together. opened up a bank
account.
My brother has a real
Knack A special talent or skill. knack for solving tricky
math problems.
Building a house requires
Labor Work or effort.
a lot of labor.
Lag To fall behind. I stayed with the front
group of runners for the
first few miles, but after

that I began to lag.
The cartoonist lampooned
Lampoon To mock or ridicule.
the president’s speech.
During winter break, my
To become weak; to be plants languished since I
Languish
neglected. was visiting my parents
and couldn’t water them.
The professor will give a
A talk given to an
Lecture 30 minute lecture before
audience.
the quiz.
I’m leery of taking the
Leery Wary.
dark-looking shortcut.
The way he became
Legitimate Lawful. mayor is completely
legitimate.
The judge gave the
criminal a lenient
Lenient Merciful; less harsh.
sentence due to his bad
childhood.
I don’t have much
Likely Probable. homework, so it’s likely I’ll
be able to go out tonight.
His claims about me are
Ludicrous Ridiculous.
absolutely ludicrous.
She has maintained the
To continue at the same
Maintain same weight since high
level.
school.
This test is a major part of
Major Very important.
your final grade.
To influence, especially in He tried to manipulate
Manipulate
an unfair way. the results of the election.
To increase to the The store’s goal this year
Maximize
greatest possible size. is to maximize its profit.
By measuring the tree, I
To find the size and
Measure found it was seven feet
dimensions of something.
tall.
Mediocre Ordinary, average. The meal the chef made
was only mediocre.

My mother will mend the
Mend To fix.
hole in my shirt.
Her method for making
Method A way of doing something.
bread takes three days.
To move from one place Every fall, the geese
Migrate
to another. migrate to Florida.
You need to get a
The smallest or lowest
Minimum minimum of 70% on the
amount possible.
test to pass the class.
The advertisement for the
weight loss pills is very
Misleading Giving the wrong idea. misleading since studies
have shown they’re
ineffective.
I need to modify my style
Modify To change. so it looks more
professional.
The boy was morose after
Morose Gloomy, depressed. hearing he didn’t make
the football team.
The negligent babysitter
invited her friends over
Negligent Lazy, neglectful.
while the children were
upstairs.
I was hurt when my friend
Nonchalant Indifferent, unexcited. greeted me so
nonchalantly.
To follow orders or My dog always obeys me
Obey
instructions. when I ask her to sit.
The spy obtained the
Obtain To get.
secret codes we need.
The large poster of
Michael Jackson over her
Obvious Easily understood.
bed made it obvious who
her favorite singer was.
Opponent Someone on the opposite The soccer player blocked
side for a game or her opponent’s shot at
contest. the goal.

For the past ten
generations the royal
Oppress To unfairly burden. family has oppressed the
peasants by keeping them
in poverty.
The explorers are trying
The source; where
Origin to find the origin of the
something began.
Nile.
This work of art is a
A typical example of paradigm of the period;
Paradigm
something. you’ll see many examples
of it in the museum.
The parsimonious woman
Parsimonious Frugal, stingy. only donated a dollar to
charity.
My leg was feeling much
better, so I decided to
Partake To join in.
partake in the soccer
match.
We can get strawberry ice
Preferring one option
Partial cream, but I’m actually
over others.
more partial to chocolate.
During the drought, the
Something existing in very
Paucity town had a paucity of
small amounts; scarcity.
fresh water.
Winning the
The highest or most
Peak championship was the
important point.
peak of his career.
There are some
Located on the side or
Peripheral peripheral fights going on
edge.
at the outdoor concert.
Let the maple syrup
To penetrate or pass
Permeate permeate your waffles
through.
before eating them.
I may have lost my last six
To continue, especially
Persist games, but I will continue
when facing opposition.
to persist trying to win.
Pertain Relate. How does your question

pertain to the lecture?
In high school, I went
A period or stage in a
Phase through a phase where I
process.
only wore black clothes.
The polls show that my
A record of opinions or
Poll candidate is going to win
votes.
the election.
Only take one sleeping pill
Potent Powerful.
since they’re very potent.
Your boyfriend is too
Pragmatic Practical, sensible. dramatic. I think you need
a more pragmatic man.
The book is the best I’ve
To give approval or
Praise ever read; I can’t praise it
admiration.
enough.
The flower girls preceded
Precede To come before. the bride when they
walked down the aisle.
When collecting data, it’s
important that your
Precise Exact.
measurements are very
precise.
Harvard is one of the
Prestigious Having a high reputation. most prestigious colleges
in the United States.
If more people don’t start
washing their hands,
Prevalent Widespread.
disease will become more
prevalent.
Maeve’s primary goal in
Primary First; most important.
life is to become a doctor.
Prior to becoming a
Prior Previous or earlier. teacher, Elena worked as
a book editor.
I’m sorry for interrupting;
To continue doing
Proceed please proceed with your
something.
speech.
Progeny Offspring. The dog’s progeny all have

yellow fur.
I’m promoting this new
To further to progress of indie movie so that more
Promote
something. people will buy tickets to
it.
Dave hopes his new
Prosper To do well. business will prosper and
make him a millionaire.
The twins hated to be
Nearness in time or apart, so they bought
Proximity
space. houses in close proximity
to each other.
Nina and her boyfriend
Disagreement or fight; to
Quarrel always quarrel over
have an argument.
money.
The distance between two
The range of ages at the
things, often the
Range concert spanned from 12
maximum and the
to 65.
minimum.
Archibald was promoted
An official position or
Rank to the rank of first
station.
captain.
After staying out too late,
To sternly disapprove or
Rebuke Grace received a rebuke
reprimand.
from her parents.
At the end of his speech,
the politician made sure
Recapitulate To give a brief summary.
to recapitulate his main
points.
Two days after the flood,
Recede To retreat. the seawater finally began
to recede from our house.
I need to ask Mr. Smith if
To present someone with
Recommend he’ll recommend me for
confidence and approval.
this leadership position.
Reform To make changes that Melanie’s father is in
improve something. charge of reforming to
school system.
Ben needs to regulate
To supervise or control a
how much he eats in
Regulate process so that it
order to stay at a healthy
functions correctly.
weight.
The builders reinforced
To strengthen with added
Reinforce the house’s wooden
support.
frame with steel beams.
Lydia rejected my
To say no to something
Reject invitation to the
that is offered.
homecoming dance.
The CEO decided to
To free; to allow to be
Release release the company’s
known.
profits from last year.
I rely on coffee to get my
Rely To depend on.
through my mornings.
The coach reproached the
To express disapproval or
Reproach players for failing to play
disappointment.
their best.
The camping trip requires
To need for a specific that every participant
Require
purpose. bring their own food and
sleeping bag.
To feel bitterness or anger I’ve always resented my
Resent towards someone or sister because she is my
something. mother’s favorite child.
Due to his declining
To give up an office or
Resign health, the mayor decided
position.
to resign from office.
Resist the impulse to have
Resist To withstand the effect of.
ice cream for breakfast.
Matt resolved to get
To come to a firm better grades next
Resolve
decision. semester by studying
every night.
My doctor told me to
To confine or keep within
Restrict restrict myself to one
limits.
glass of wine a day.
Retain To continue to do I’ve decided to retain my

something or keep normal hairstyle.
something.
1. I felt calmer after the
1. To draw back in. lion retracted its claws.
2. To withdraw something 2. After numerous errors

Retract
after it’s found to be were found, the
untrue. newspaper retracted the
story.
Alexis got out of the car to

Retrieve To bring back. retrieve the ball her little
brother had thrown.
You aren’t expected to
Used just for style or
Rhetorical actually answer rhetorical
impact.
questions.
The boys’ father was
happy to see the base of
Rigid Stiff; unyielding.
the treehouse was rigid
and sturdy.
Rotate the sculpture so I
Rotate To turn.
can see the other side.
Something that serves as A retirement fund is one
Safeguard protection or ensures way to safeguard your
safety. finances for the future.
The judges were looking
Scrutinize To very carefully examine. for perfection, so they
scrutinized every entry.
This section of the
Section A part of the whole. stadium dressed
completely in red.
Jane selected a blue dress
Select To choose.
to wear to the wedding.
Librarians need to know
Things that follow each
Sequence how order books in the
other in a certain order.
correct sequence.
Severe 1. Harsh or strict. 1. The robbers suffered
severe consequences for
2. Grave, critical. stealing.

2. My uncle is currently
battling a severe illness in
the hospital.
You don’t need to worry

about getting your dress
Shallow Not deep.
wet. The water is very
shallow here.
The empty barn gave the
To protect from
Shelter men shelter during the
something harmful.
storm.
Hopefully this cream will
Shrink To become smaller.
cause my scar to shrink.
The Gettysburg Address
Significant Important, noteworthy. was a significant event
during the Civil War.
You shouldn’t use
A person, place, or thing
Wikipedia as a source
Source where something was
when writing school
obtained.
papers.
The farm was almost
empty; there were just a
Sparse Thinly scattered.
few sparse trees here and
there.
You need to specify which
To clearly indicate which
Specify size shirt you want before
one.
I can order it.
My sister loves to
To form a theory without
Speculate speculate on the private
strong evidence.
lives of celebrities.
The hermit lives a solitary
Solitary Alone; without others. existence deep in the
mountains.
After losing the
Somber Gloomy; depressing. competition, the chess
players were very somber.
Soothe To calm or comfort. The mother sang a lullaby
to soothe her crying baby.

The shelter was squalid
Squalid Filthy and unpleasant.
and overcrowded.
We’re lucky to live in a
Stable Unlikely to change or fail. country with such a stable
government.
With few new jobs
Sluggish, showing little created, the economy has
Stagnant
movement. remained stagnant for the
past five years.
The football team will
A plan to reach a desired
Strategy need a good strategy to
outcome.
win the game tomorrow.
The first king was a good
Coming after something ruler, but subsequent
Subsequent
in time. kings have all been
corrupt.
If you don’t have sugar,
A person or thing acting in
Substitute honey makes a good
place of another.
substitute for this recipe.
Maya’s perfume was very
Difficult to notice right
Subtle subtle; you had to get
away.
close to her to smell it.
Make sure you have
Enough to serve a
Sufficient sufficient food for the
particular purpose.
camping trip.
The class didn’t have time
To briefly give the main to read the book, so the
Summarize
points. professor summarized it
for them.
My dad didn’t think we
To oversee work or a were old enough to build
Supervise
process. the fort on our own, so he
supervised us.
Supplant To take the place of The king was supplanted
something else. by his treacherous
younger brother who
locked him in the

dungeon.
1. The power outage
1. To temporarily stop. suspended the school
concert.
Suspend 2. To hang something
from somewhere. 2. The lamp is suspended
from the high ceiling.
The couple became

Having the belief that suspicious when they saw
someone is doing strange men removing
Suspicious
something dishonest or their neighbor’s expensive
illegal. electronics during the
night.
I stopped trying to sustain
Sustain To keep going. the friendship after he
made fun of how I looked.
A cross is symbolic of
Symbolic Serving as a symbol.
Christianity.
The laptop manual is full
Relating to a specific of technical terms only a
Technical
subject or craft. computer expert can
understand.
Everyone on the train
Terminal Situated at the end. must get off at the
terminal stop.
I tolerate the rude man
Tolerate To put up with. since he is my husband’s
best friend.
Ben’s work is going to
To move from one place
Transfer transfer him from Chicago
to another.
to Detroit.
The transition from
Changing from one state student to employee can
Transition
or condition to another. often take awhile to get
used to.
Transparent 1. See-through material. 1. The glass vase is
completely transparent.
2. Easy to detect. 2. Her attempt to flatter

the movie star was very
transparent.
College tuition prices have

The fee for instruction at
Tuition gone up in recent
a school.
decades.
The prince’s bodyguards
Unobtrusive Not attracting attention. had mastered the art of
being unobtrusive.
Ian was lucky to walk
Unscathed Unharmed. away from the car crash
unscathed.
Even when she’s having a
Upbeat Happy; optimistic. bad day, my mom always
has an upbeat attitude.
Since I tried my hardest
on the exam, I felt my
Unjust Unfair.
teacher’s criticism of me
was unjust.
She vacillated between
the two dresses before
Vacillate To waver or be indecisive.
finally deciding to wear a
skirt.
The soldiers had valid
Valid Just; well-founded. concerns about the
battles they’d be facing.
The plane vanished
Vanish To disappear quickly.
behind the clouds.
To be different from
Vary
something else in a group.
The jury delivered a guilty
Verdict A judgement or decision.
verdict.
A small trace of
The empty castle still had
something that is
Vestige a few vestiges of its
disappearing or has
former wealth.
already disappeared.
Vial A small container used to The chemist carefully
hold liquids. filled the vial with the
bubbling solution.
To speak poorly of; to Mark was vilified by his
Vilify
slander. angry ex-girlfriend.
The puffy wedding dress
Voluminous Taking up a lot of space.
had voluminous sleeves.
I always save my money
Whereas On the contrary. whereas my brother is
constantly in debt.
The monk is wholly
Wholly Completely.
devoted to his faith.
There is widespread
Occurring over a large
Widespread poverty across that
region.
country.
To droop and become Plants will wilt if you don’t
Wilt
limp. water them regularly.
How to Use This TOEFL Vocabulary List

First, you should read through the list and identify any words you don’t know or are
unsure of. If you’re even slightly unsure of a TOEFL vocabulary word, you’ll want to
study it. Be sure to read the definition and sample sentence of words you feel confident
on to be sure you understand them fully.
Once you have your TOEFL word list that you need to study, you’ll want to work on
memorizing their definitions. You don’t need to memorize the sample sentences, but
you should review them to ensure you understand how the word is used. You can also
search for individual TOEFL words in Google news to find articles that include the word
and give you an even better idea of how the word is actually used.
Flashcards are a great way to study TOEFL vocab words because they allow you to
easily flip between the word itself on one side and its definition and sample sentence on
the other side. You can make your own TOEFL flashcards or use a site such as Quizlet
which lets you make online flashcards for free from your TOEFL vocabulary list.
The Best Way to Use Your TOEFL Flashcards

We recommend using the waterfall method to learn TOEFL words. If you’re not sure
what the waterfall method is, we break it down for you below.
Once you have your TOEFL vocabulary flashcards, you’ll go through those cards one by
one. For each card whose definition you know easily, you’ll put it in a “Know It” pile. If
you don’t know the definition of a particular TOEFL word, put it in a “Struggled” pile.
After you’ve gone through each of the cards once, pick up your “Struggled” pile. You’ll
now go through this pile again. For words where you know the definition, place them in
a second “Know It” pile next to (but not combined with) the first “Know It” pile. For words
you don’t know, make a new “Struggled” pile. Repeat this process, placing new “Know
It” piles in a row from left to right. This creates your waterfall. Repeat this process
until the “Struggled” pile has only a few words left.
Now, you’ll move back up the waterfall. Starting with the most recent “Struggled” pile, go
through the flashcards until you know all the words in the pile. Then, add the most
recent (the rightmost) “Know It” pile. Go through those words. If you miss any, go
through the entire pile again until you get all of them right. It may take awhile to get
through the entire pile, but this method will guarantee that you learn those TOEFL
words! Continue this process until you get all the way back up the waterfall.
This is the best method to study vocab flashcards because you’ll spend the majority of
your time reviewing the words you struggle the most with, as opposed to just studying
the entire stack over and over.
Conclusion: Studying TOEFL Vocabulary

Vocabulary is an important part of the TOEFL, and many questions on the exam require
you to have a strong vocabulary. Use our list of the 327 best TOEFL vocabulary words in
order to guide your studying.
Flashcards are one of the best ways to learn your TOEFL vocabulary list, and the
waterfall method is a great method to use with TOEFL flashcards. Don’t stop studying a
word until you’ve memorized its definition and understand how it’s used in sentences!
What’s Next?
Vocab is an important part of the TOEFL, particularly the Reading section, but it’s not all
you need to know. Get all the info you need to ace the Reading section here!
Want more information on how the TOEFL is scored? Check out our guide to learn
exactly how the TOEFL is scored so you can maximize the number of points you get.
Practice tests are one of the best ways to prepare for the TOEFL. We’ve gathered
information on the highest-quality TOEFL practice tests into one place so you have
access to the best study materials!
Ready to improve your TOEFL score by 15 points?

Download our best TOEFL Strategy eBook (valued at $14.49) for FREE! Learn the
top 5 strategies you must know to improve your TOEFL score. Download it for
free now:
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Author: Christine Sarikas

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and
Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th
percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and
biology in several countries. View all posts by Christine Sarikas
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8/22/22, 11:32 AM Ultimate TOEFL Vocabulary List: The 327 Best Words to Know • PrepScholar TOEFL

Course Results Who We Are Pricin

TOEFL Prep Online Guides and Tips

Ultimate TOEFL Vocabulary List: The 327

Christine Sarikas / January 6, 2017 / TOEFL Prep

The 327 TOEFL Words You Need to Know

Word Definition Sample Sentence

opinion. adamant that he was

the job, she gave me a

Assume To suppose without solid I assumed he was rich

Censure To express strong Every parent in our

Year celebration next

company, the core

By the way: we have 2. Her health has declined

good TOEFL score

Learn how you can

Deter To discourage. The warning signs on the

shows, so you never know

evaluate how well the

for me sounds feasible,

was fired from his job.

Intervene To come between people, When the toddlers

first few miles, but after

was only mediocre.

contest. the goal.

Pertain Relate. How does your question

Progeny Offspring. The dog’s progeny all have

Retain To continue to do I’ve decided to retain my

2. To withdraw something 2. After numerous errors

Alexis got out of the car to

2. Grave, critical. stealing.

You don’t need to worry

to soothe her crying baby.

locked him in the

The couple became

2. Easy to detect. 2. Her attempt to flatter

College tuition prices have

How to Use This TOEFL Vocabulary List

The Best Way to Use Your TOEFL Flashcards

Conclusion: Studying TOEFL Vocabulary

Ready to improve your TOEFL score by 15 points?

Author: Christine Sarikas

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