Level up your English with these POWERFUL Words

I'll teach you 35 English words that are powerful enough to advance anyone's English speaking. In today's lesson, I'll teach you 35 advanced words that can not only advance a native speaker's English, but if you're an English learner, these words will be very impressive to your conversation partners because they are advanced and they do upgrade the quality of your English vocabulary. I like to use all of these words on a daily basis. Some of them I wish I could even use more because they are great words, they're excellent vocabulary, and they help you sound more intelligent and show off how smart you are in your daily English conversations. Let's get started with this lesson. For today's vocabulary lesson, there'll be 35 words in alphabetical order. Make sure to watch all the way to the end to really increase your advanced vocabulary and to study more, use the link down below to download a free PDF that accompanies this lesson. Abundant. Abundant. Abundantly. Abundant means plenty or more than enough. Oftentimes, when people have a garden, if they have a lot of tomatoes one year, they have an abundant amount of tomatoes. Or you can also say they have an abundance if you're using this as a noun. This year, I had an abundant amount of sugar snap peas and my family just loved them. Amicable. Amicable. It was amicable. If you are amicable with someone, it means you are friendly with them and there is no conflict. A really common way we use this advanced word is when two people break up or they get divorced from a marriage, but they're still friends and they don't fight. We say it was an amicable divorce. That means they both agreed in a friendly way to not be married anymore. If someone asks you if you're in a fight with someone and you're not in a fight with them, you don't dislike them for any reason, you can say that you are amicable with them. Ample. Ample. So ample. Ample also means more than enough or plenty. The most common way that we use this word ample is when we're talking about time. If you have more time than you need to finish something, you can say we have ample time to finish this task. Or if someone does not get their work done and you're questioning whether or not they use their time to their advantage, you can say you had ample time to finish this. Why is it not complete? If you want to share something with someone because you have a lot of it, you could say we have an ample amount of tomatoes from our garden. Would you like some? This means we have more than enough. Anomaly. Anomaly. It's quite an anomaly. When something is described as an anomaly, it means it is completely unexpected, unusual, and surprising. In July, it is very hot where I live and it could be an anomaly if one day we get a very cold day. Or some places that do not get snow, if they get snow one time of the year, it's a complete anomaly. It's just something very strange and unexpected. Apprehensive. Apprehensive. And why are you so apprehensive? If you are apprehensive about something, it means you're very nervous and anxious about it. Oftentimes, if you have an upcoming exam, you'll feel apprehensive about it. You will be anticipating it. You'll be very nervous. You are apprehensive. Apprehensive can also be used in a positive way to mean you're nervous, but you're also excited. Many people are apprehensive for their wedding day. They're excited, but they're also a bit nervous and they have a little bit of anxiety. Astute. Astute. I'm very astute. If you describe someone or something as very astute, it means that it is very smart and perceptive. A really common way that we use this advanced word is when someone makes an observation and we think it is very accurate and we are thinking they are very observant. We can say it is an astute observation. We can also compliment a person by calling them very astute. This means very smart and perceptive. Boisterous. Boisterous. Boisterous. This is a very fun advanced word to say. It's very commonly used as well. Typically, if we describe someone as boisterous, we are saying they're pretty loud and obnoxious. The word loud and boisterous usually goes together. Children are often very boisterous when they have a birthday party because there's cake and presents and balloons and it gives them a lot of energy and they become very loud. Some people have boisterous personalities and this can be somewhat of a positive thing, but typically, we use this advanced word in a negative way. Concur. Concur. I concur. If you concur with someone, you agree with them. To concur means to agree. If you do not concur, it means you disagree. If you want to use this word, it's typically used in a more formal sense. You could say, I concur with your opinion on the matter. Contentious. Contentious. Because they make things contentious. If something or someone is contentious, it is likely to cause argument and disagreement. The topic of politics is almost always contentious and you can also describe people as contentious as well. Many people think that politicians, especially in the United States, are very contentious. They tend to disagree and argue a lot. If there is a debate and people are being very fierce in the debate, they're arguing a lot, you can say the debate was contentious. I really like this word and I recommend that you try to use it in your conversation. Cumbersome. Cumbersome. Yeah, but that song was cumbersome. If something is described as cumbersome, it means it's heavy and difficult to manage. When I was younger, I used to be a nanny and I would pick up a boy from school and he had quite the cumbersome instrument. He played the very large upstanding bass and it barely fit into my car because it was so cumbersome. So typically, this word is used to describe something very large sort of inconvenient to move around. Oftentimes, when you're moving, you might have a box that's very large and cumbersome as well. This word is definitely a bit more formal in advance than everyday English. You'll often see this word in a book or in writing. Detrimental. Detrimental. It is so detrimental to a child. If something is described as detrimental, it means it's harmful or dangerous. And typically, we use this word detrimental to describe something very extremely harmful or dangerous. For instance, smoking cigarettes is detrimental to your health. It can have very, very negative consequences. Discerning. Discerning. You've got a discerning Discerning means you have really good judgment. For instance, someone who studies a lot of art will have a discerning eye for good art or they will have a discerning eye for valuable art. If someone has really good opinions, really researched opinions on something, you can say they have very discerning opinions on the topic. This is kind of a positive word. It's definitely complementing their judgment. Discreet. Discreet. So discreet. If you are doing something in a discreet way, or you say that something is discreet, it means it's doing it in a more secretive way to avoid attention. If you're planning a surprise birthday party for someone, you may want to be discreet when you're doing things for the planning. Like you might want to be very obvious about buying balloons. You would want to do it in a discreet way. Maybe you hide them somewhere in your house. You might want to not show the cake that you buy. You would want to be discreet. Eloquent. Eloquent. I am not eloquent. If you are eloquent, it means you are very well spoken and very persuasive when you speak and when you write. If you give a very eloquent speech, the audience will clap very loudly at the end because it was such a great speech. If you want to give someone a compliment on their writing, you can say you write so eloquently. Exasperate. Exasperate. If you exasperate someone, you annoy them greatly. If you say that something is exasperating, it means it's very irritating and annoying. Sometimes when children ask you a lot of questions consecutively, they say, what's this? What do you use it for? Why do you have it? Where are we going? What are we doing? That can be a bit exasperating. Exemplary. Exemplary. Exemplary. If something is exemplary, it's serving as a good example. Oftentimes, when a child is behaving very well, they're being quiet. They're sitting at a dinner table, eating their food very politely. We can say that is exemplary behavior. It just means it's so good that is example for other children. Flabbergasted. Flabbergasted. Flabbergasted. If someone is flabbergasted, it means they are extremely surprised or shocked. And this is a really fun English word to say. It sounds made up, but it really is a word in the dictionary. Flabbergasted. I was absolutely flabbergasted the last time I went grocery shopping because my total price for all my groceries was so expensive. So I was extremely shocked. Although it seems like everything is expensive today, so maybe I wasn't as flabbergasted as I would have been a few years ago. Path hazard. Path hazard. This next English word I am sometimes guilty of saying incorrectly, along with a lot of other native English speakers. The word is haphazardly, but some people think it's haphazardly. And when I tell you the definition, you'll understand why. If something is done haphazardly, it means it's done without planning or any order. For instance, instead of putting books back on a shelf in alphabetical order and nice and lined up, if you just throw them on the shelf in any order and maybe some of them are this way and some of them are this way, we would describe that as doing a haphazard job. So it means it's lacking effort and you're not really being organized in the way that you do something. Oftentimes, when events are poorly planned, we call it haphazard planning. Hypothetical. Hypothetical. Hypothetically. If something is hypothetical, it's based on theory or assumption, but it's not based on what's actually happening. A lot of times, when people are trying to solve a problem or figure out the best way that they are going to do something, they think of a lot of hypothetical situations. This is the most common way that we use this word, a hypothetical situation. This means you're thinking about all the things that could happen, but none of them have actually happened before. Someone might ask you, what would you do if you won the lottery? You might say, well, that's a very hypothetical situation because it's very unlikely to happen. It definitely hasn't happened yet, but I'll think about the situation as if it was just an idea. Impeccable. Impeccable. Impeccable. If something is impeccable, it is perfect and without flaws. You might know someone who is very clean, very orderly, and they like things to be very nice. You might call their house impeccable if it is so clean, organized, and nice. Or if you have something very old, but it doesn't have any flaws, you can say it is in impeccable shape. I've had these shoes for several years, but they're still in impeccable shape. That means there's no tears, there's no dirt on them. They just look perfect. Incessant. Incessant. The incessant self-regard. If something is incessant, it means it's never stopping and it's very continuous. For instance, if you have had a lot of rain in the last few days, you could say this rain is absolutely incessant. It just does not stop. It feels very continuous. Or if there is a noise that's very annoying and you keep hearing it, you can say, what is that incessant noise? So typically, we use this word to describe something that's negative, that feels like it keeps continuing or keeps happening. Innate. Innate. Innate femininity. If we say that something or someone has an innate ability, it means they were born with it and it's very natural. This is the most common way that we use the word innate. For instance, Adele, Dave Grohl, Lady Gaga, we would describe these musicians as having innate talent. They're so talented that they just have to be born with the skills instead of working very hard at it. So if you have an innate talent, it means you're just naturally good at it without even putting much effort into it. Inquisitive. Inquisitive. If someone is described as being inquisitive, it means they question a lot of things. They're very curious and eager to learn. We often describe children as being very inquisitive. Sometimes when someone is being very curious and we're wondering why they're being so curious and we kind of see that as a negative thing, we can say, why are you being so inquisitive right now or so questioning? Lackadaisical. Lackadaisical. Lackadaisical leadership once again. If you describe someone as lackadaisical, it means that they are lacking excitement and determination. If someone has a lackadaisical attitude at work, it means they are not very eager to get tasks done. They're basically half working. They're not doing a very good job. So this is a very negative adjective to use about someone. And it happens to be a very fun word to say, even though I would say it's quite an advanced English word. Lackadaisical. Lethargic. Lethargic. If someone is lethargic, they are sluggish or slow and they're very apathetic, meaning they don't care much about what's going on. This is another negative adjective. You're basically calling someone kind of lazy when you're using this word. Or oftentimes we use this word when someone is sick and they just don't have any energy to do anything. For instance, when it's very hot out, sometimes when it's extremely hot, it can make people feel lethargic. Like they can't really get up to do anything and they're moving very slowly. If you go to the doctor's office, they may ask you if you've been feeling lethargic, if they are trying to diagnose your sickness. And this would just mean you have low energy levels. Meticulous. Meticulous. Meticulous. If someone is meticulous, they are very careful and precise. This is definitely a positive quality to have. Or if you do something meticulously, it means you're doing it very carefully to try to avoid error. Some people, when a problem arises, they do very meticulous research to try to find the answer. So instead of just asking their friend, they'll actually go to the library, they'll seek out expert opinions, they'll go on google and read every article on the subject. They are very meticulous in their research. If someone is doing something very carefully, for instance, someone is decorating a cake and they don't want to make any errors or have any part of the cake look sloppy, they will do it meticulously. Nonchalant. Nonchalant. And it's not nonchalant. If someone is nonchalant, they are very calm and unconcerned. If you are having a nonchalant attitude, it means you don't care much about what's going on, you're just happy to be there. It's not really a positive thing or a negative thing, but sometimes if people think you're not being too formal enough or too energetic enough, they will be like, why are you so nonchalant right now? Or if they think you should be more concerned about something, they maybe will say to you, you shouldn't be so nonchalant about this. You have a test on Friday, you should be so nonchalant about studying. You should get studying right now. So they're telling you you need to care more and be more concerned. Nostalgic. Nostalgic. Here, this make you all nostalgic. If someone is nostalgic, they are longing for the past. This means they wish it was like old times. A lot of movies and television shows are playing on people's nostalgia. This means people's longing for the past. So for instance, we would call a remake of an old movie, for instance, they remade The Little Mermaid, even though it was an older movie from when I was a kid, they made it now. So people like me who are nostalgic, who like the old things in our past, would like to see it. And kids could see The Little Mermaid today as well. Oblivious. Oblivious. Oblivious. If someone is oblivious, they are unaware and not noticing. There might be someone who is studying really hard. They're really focused on their book or their work. And there is absolute chaos going on around them. Maybe there's even emergency. They could be oblivious to that if they're very focused. So in this case, it wouldn't really be a negative way to describe someone because it's like they're so focused on one thing, they are not caring or not noticing other things because they're oblivious. Now, sometimes we use this as a negative adjective. If someone just seems to not be observant and they don't notice problems, they're not willing to help out because they just seem like they don't know what's going on. You could say they look absolutely oblivious over there. Perplexing. Perplexing. Very perplexing situation. If something is perplexing, it's confusing and very difficult to understand. Oftentimes, if you buy a piece of furniture online and it comes with a lot of different parts, the directions might be a bit perplexing because it's hard to tell which size screw they're talking about, which piece of wood they're talking about. It can be quite perplexing to try to assemble a piece of furniture, especially from places like Ikea. So if you have a problem that's very confusing, you can use this advanced word perplexing to describe the situation. Pragmatic. Pragmatic. Prudent. Pragmatic. If someone is pragmatic, they are very realistic about a situation. If you take a pragmatic way of solving a problem, it means you try to do it the way that is best recommended. You don't try to do anything crazy. If you describe a person as pragmatic, it means they always do just a very reasonable thing. They don't like to spend a lot of money on useless things or very fancy things. They're just very reasonable. It's a really good quality to be pragmatic. Precarious. Precarious. But it is precarious. If something is described as precarious, it is unstable and risky. So you will often hear this word in writing, precarious, if there is kind of a risky situation that we don't know how it's going to turn out. Maybe someone has been invited to two birthday parties that are at the same exact time. It can be kind of a precarious situation because you won't want to offend one person by going to the other person's birthday party. Of course, hopefully you can make both of their parties work, but it can be kind of precarious if you can't go to the same one. So it's kind of risky to figure out the situation. If you are climbing a ladder and the ladder started to wobble, you would be in a very precarious or risky and unstable situation. Resilient. Resilient. Very resilient. If someone or something is resilient, it is able to recover very quickly. Sometimes we describe people or businesses as financially resilient. If they can have a difficult time, maybe a big accident happens and they have to spend a lot of money, or maybe a business has to close for a bit, but they can still survive financially, we can say they are resilient because they are able to recover and do well despite the difficulty. Spontaneous. Spontaneous. Spontaneous. If you do something spontaneously, it means it happens very quickly without planning it. You can also use the word impulsive for this as well. If you take a spontaneous trip to the beach, it means you just wake up one day and maybe you ask your friend, hey, do you want to go to the beach with me? And you guys just go. You didn't plan it or think about it in advance. A lot of people like to be spontaneously romantic. So maybe they show up at home with flowers and they say, these are for you, my wife. And your wife says, you know, what's the occasion? Is it my birthday or anniversary? Nope. Just spontaneous. That means for no reason impulsively, you've decided to be spontaneously romantic. The last word is uncanny. Uncanny. Uncanny. If something is uncanny, it's strange and mysterious. Some people have an uncanny way to predict the future. So that means they make predictions, they say what they think is going to happen, and it's very strange and mysterious because they are oftentimes correct. Sometimes if two people are thinking the same things without discussing it with one another, and then they say it out loud and they happen to be thinking about the same thing, it just seems strange and mysterious. You could be like, it is absolutely uncanny. I want to take the time to congratulate you on finishing this English lesson. And I want to make sure that you keep studying these advanced words. I've selected these words very carefully because I do think they can help any English learner in any context just speak with more advanced vocabulary and understand more advanced words that are common in English as well. So use the link below to download the PDF to continue studying. And for more advanced English lessons like this one, check out one of the next lessons on screen. I'll see you guys in the next video. Bye!