Poll: Considering the prominent, CEFR vocabulary list… where would you place yourself at?

**Different**

BEFORE YOU READ:

I have deliberately curated this thread to educate you all on a more nuanced, sophisticated level of vocabulary. I’m going to warn you... the words that I’m going to be employing are extremely formal, profound, intimidating, and complicated. These are words that you would never use in a regular conversation. They’re found in academic writing, literature, SATs, philosophical writing, legal writing, political writing, and scholarly articles. Any words you see that are italicized can be clicked on for research purposes.

There’s a good chance that you might perceive this thread as superfluous. I’ve spent a colossal amount of time looking for abstruse and archaic words. So, before you begin reading, you may want to familiarize yourself with the CEFR VOCABULARY LIST so you can grasp their full meaning. It’s a website (packed with a multitude of lessons) curated to help you elevate your understanding of vocabulary words. It’s a subjective list for certain words that they think will suffice a certain category level. Everyone’s list is subjective and different.

I’m not trying to sound pretentious or insult anyone’s intelligence. So if you see certain words italicized, then there’s an intended purpose behind it. I’m prompting you to look these words up because they’ll help you understand what I’m saying. They’re also best deemed as C1 and above. Let’s take a look at a C2 English vocabulary word being employed in a scenario, shall we?

Example: Unfortunately, in the past, I’ve had the displeasure of speaking with someone who’s clearly illiterate and loves to be obnoxious. They had a pejorative tone, and their grammar was just atrocious. The more I read their messages, the more I suffered from having damaged brain cells because it was just exasperating.

Notice how the C2 word, pejorative was used to describe the person’s tone as if to say their writing style conveys contempt and disrespect towards the person. Is it a harsh and direct way of describing someone’s actions? Yes. Employing a word like pejorative requires you to have mastered the A1-C1 CEFR English levels, first. You’re expected to speak more fluently, write texts on subjects more perspicuously, and recognize long and abstruse texts.

There are a multitude of different tones that exist in the English language (which we’ll discuss another one later on). But the most important thing is to recognize the appropriate tone in action. Anyway, happy reading!

Have you ever thought about augmenting your vocabulary repertoire to a more proficient level? Do you ever feel more empowered to visit the thesaurus more frequently whenever you hear sophisticated or obscure words being uttered? Or how about challenging yourself to take on more nuanced words, such as meretricious, or even abstruse words such as pulchritudinous? If you’re feeling empowered and you consider yourself a disciplined individual, then feel free to stick around as we delve deep into this discussion.

You see, I’ve always been intrigued by hearing people utter big words such as “perspicacious” or “indefatigable”. It’s like a mellifluous sound that empowers me to look these words up and add them to my vocabulary repertoire when necessary. Once they’re stored in my long-term memory, I can now use them more fluently in a conversation. I can also make astute observations based on other people who need help using them correctly. The more sophisticated words you learn, the deeper and more nuanced your vocabulary repertoire becomes.

So, for example, with recondite words like pusillanimous, you would need to elevate your vocabulary to that of a C2 proficient speaker on the CEFR English list. It's a highly formal, advanced word that most people are unaware of and would easily get confused by its meaning, especially the first 3 letters of it. It's also nuanced because it states how fragile a person's character is, and it goes in-depth based on detestable timidity and a lack of fortitude. So, incorporating the word pusillanimous into your vocabulary repertoire can be quite challenging, especially since people very rarely employ that word in general conversations. But it will elevate your vocabulary level.

You see, the most difficult part about using sophisticated words is knowing when to use them, why, and how to use them in the right context. It's vitally important to remember that your intuitive sense of when to employ sophistication in language reflects a mature rhetorical judgment. So, during an insightful conversation with your peers about a specific topic, you can demonstrate rhetorical judgment to keep the conversation flowing more effortlessly. However, the last thing that you want to do is deliver a message to someone grandiloquently. In other words, you don’t want to put yourself in a situation where you’re using overly complex words (to convey a message) where simpler ones would suffice. Someone who has a proficient vocabulary level (and speaks more fluently) is expected to know better than to use inflated language during a conversation. It can also make you come off as someone who is pretentious. So, returning to your peers (assuming they're native speakers in this case), employing strong rhetorical judgment brings out the profundity of the conversation.

I know there is a multitude of you guys who are incredibly smart, prolific individuals who have a bunch of creative writing material kept in the vault. Just the way you guys carry yourselves in a conversation is sufficient for me to form a decent opinion about you. If you tell me that you’re a college graduate or a bookworm, then I expect you to communicate with me on a more proficient level. Suppose we find ourselves having a conversation about a movie. If I ask you what you’ve thought about the movie, then I expect your opinions to be more astute rather than giving me an answer that’s rooted in an intuitive opinion.

Also, please try to refrain from using ChatGPT to give me your answers. It’s so unnatural, and it tells me that your mind is void of critical thinking. You can, however, take advantage of it at least 20 - 30% of the time to clarify some things that you need help with. But then it becomes problematic when it thinks for you 100% of the time. I would suggest brainstorming your ideas and taking advantage of critical thinking skills first. Then take it to ChatGPT, but paraphrase any information that it gives you. I say this because copying all the information word-for-word will give others the impression that AI wrote it and not you. I understand countless people think that ChatGPT works efficaciously to answer their questions about real-world problems. However, ChatGPT can make mistakes (as people have stated in my previous thread) and will give you false expectations based on what you thought was a good response. That’s why it’s vitally important to fact-check ChatGPT because just like humans, AI is not impeccable.

I’ve curated a long list of nuanced, obscure, and sophisticated words for those of you who are serious about augmenting your vocabulary repertoire to a more proficient level. This is not a flex on anyone’s intelligence here, ok? I’m just trying to educate those who are neophytes and uninformed about the different levels of vocabulary and how deep this can go. So again, when I italicize certain words, I’m drawing attention to you to look up these words and incorporate them into your vocabulary repertoire. But keep in mind that employing some of these words around the average speaker will give them the impression that you’re being pretentious. Only use them around people who are more advanced/native speakers at the C1/C2 level. It takes a colossal amount of time and effort to elevate your vocabulary level from a beginner user to that of a proficient one.

Listen, you’d have to literally be obsessed with reading, writing, studying vocabulary words, grammar, paraphrasing, and exploring different writing styles to employ sophisticated words correctly. I’m not some prodigious savant who was born to write at the proficient level. It took me years to write proficiently, and you can too with practice and feedback. Just because you graduated from college doesn’t give you the right to be braggadocious. You’re still a student in the writing game who’s humble and hungry for feedback and higher learning, just like I am. If you’re not reading every day, keeping up with hot topics, or even writing every day, then you’re suffering a dearth of innovative ideas to write for juicy content. Some might also say that you hit a creative impasse - meaning your inability to progress forward with creative writing. Whenever I experience this, I look to get inspired by other proficient writers who are far more proficient than I am.

Although learning and properly utilizing abstruse words can be powerful, it can also alter a person’s perception based on the way they look at others. For instance, someone wearing a white T-shirt, baggy jeans, and tacky-looking sneakers approaches you wanting to make new friends. You just happen to be a college graduate (with a white collar job) wearing an expensive suit, dress shoes, and a Rolex watch. At white collar jobs, you can expect people to employ big words around each other, so of course, you’re going to employ those big words, too. Now it just so happens that you subconsciously take a glance at their outfit, giving them a disdainful smirk as if they’re beneath you. Now, at that point, they’re reading your facial expressions, which tells them that you have a supercilious tone. Why? Because you’re insinuating that they look like an uneducated bum who didn’t go to college, under the assumption that they don’t understand big words like you do. Therefore, they’re not as smart as you are, nor are they worthy enough to be friends with you based on the way they dress. You understand how twisted that sounds? Depending on who you’re dealing with, it’ll make the wrong person apoplectic because they’ll find it highly offensive, wanting to resort to physical tactics. You might also be tempted to make preconceived notions about the person being penurious based on the way they dress.

I’m a perspicacious writer, ok? So as I sit back and observe you guys, I notice that many of you are suffering from mediocrity when you choose to lurk around this place. It’s all rooted in people being very picky and selective about replying to threads. It’s a shame because the most articulate and astute people are always hiding in the dark shadows lurking around, waiting for someone like me to bring up controversial issues. Then, when you pick fights with them, respectfully, they’ll give you their POV and then derail the thread with extraneous information that no one ever asked for. At first, you might think it has merit. But then they ramble on about things that are irrelevant to the subject matter at hand. These are your typical garrulous people. Then you’ve got your pauciloquent people whose responses don’t really leave much information for you to latch on to. Finally, some people respond lackadaisically when prompted to give insightful responses about something.

Listen, I strongly recommend that you all cogitate on these factual statements because it’s indicative of people who are reticent and unknowingly intelligent. These are the same people who, when controversial topics are brought up (especially political ones), will strive to provide a superlative analysis on the topic. Regular topics, nobody cares.

Before we finish, let's take a look at an insightful yet abstruse quote from Emory Tate: "My unmatched perspicacity, coupled with my sheer indefatigability, makes me a feared opponent in any realm of human endeavor." Now, at that point, you're thinking, "huh?" Don’t worry, I’m here to enlighten you on its abstruse meaning. Let’s break it down into 5 simplistic parts, shall we?

1. To begin to understand that quote, you must first understand what the words perspicacity and indefatigability mean.

2. You must understand what their intent is and who the targeted audience is. So, we would first begin to dissect “My unmatched perspicacity”, which means he’s implying that no one’s intelligence can be compared to his exceptional intelligence. Sounds boastful, yes. But once you understand how he manipulated his opponents in chess or gained an advantage in any competitive activity, then it all begins to make sense.

3. Then you would briefly analyze “coupled with”, which in this case, combines the two phrases, “unmatched perspicacity” with “my sheer indefatigability”.

4. You would dissect “my sheer indefatigability”, which means he’s referring to his pure, untiring persistency (with unlimited energy) to achieve something without being exhausted. Sounds like a massive stretch beyond the normal human capabilities. But it keeps you disciplined and ambitious to achieve goals in life, despite any adversities.

5. Finally, we would dissect, “makes me a feared opponent in any realm of human endeavor”. This means that when competing against him in any area of human activity—especially chess, he’s a formidable opponent who’s difficult to beat. People like Emory Tate, you often dread to compete against in anything because you know he’s going to compete at an unfathomably, high level.

So, now, we have a full, comprehensive understanding of what Tate’s quote means. What was the point of that? I just wanted you all to recognize that sometimes, famous quotes can display an inclination to employ sophisticated words. At first, they can be perceived as atypical due to their enigmatic nature. However, once you systematically break them down into small chunks, you can fully grasp their meaning. A writer should always be punctilious when introducing quotes in their statements. Otherwise, you’re going to confuse your reader.

When it comes to complicated things, most people would rather remain intransigent as opposed to endeavoring into something complicated yet rewarding. Investing in the Stock Market, beating someone in chess, or even choosing career paths requires someone to be sagacious. Yet, some people fail to grasp that and would rather live by the acronym, KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid), for everything that they do.

When it comes to quotes, some people just have a strong inclination towards simple and relatable ones, as opposed to those that are abstruse. A quote like Emory Tate’s requires some of the most insightful and well-informed people to dissect its full meaning. But, unfortunately, in modern times we’re seeing a massive depletion of these people. Now, we have people who indulge in senseless YouTube shorts, TikTok videos, scrolling through Instagram pictures, etc.

Giving me constructive criticism on anything stated here will help me elevate my writing skills to a higher level. Just think of your favorite writers whom you love to borrow quotes from. As long as your criticism holds merit, I’m willing to listen. It’s like I’ve stated before… I’m not a prodigious savant in the writing world, nor am I at the apotheosis of creative writing with the GOATS such as Mark Twain. But, if you learn anything from me today, then it further encourages me to educate the neophytes who are uninformed about this stuff. If there are some words that you deem as grammatically incorrect, or you’re having a difficult time understanding something, then we can have an insightful discussion on all of that. But let’s not blatantly cast aspersions on one another, ok? Because that kind of stuff is immature and it could lead to us having an interminable debate, and believe me… I’ve had plenty of those before.

This CEFR list is subjective and is based on my own research, done meticulously. FYI, C3 isn’t something that I arbitrarily incorporated into the list. It’s an additional feature that I deliberately created to suffice words that are completely nuanced, obscure, abstruse, and jargon in nature. There are just some obscure words (such as scientific ones) that don’t appear to make sense to add to the C2 level. Words like sesquipedalian might be one of them, but most people don’t employ words like that in daily conversations, so it’s at C3 until further notice. Keep in mind that this list will be updated every now and then, as I continuously search for big words to add to my repertoire. You should really know at least 10,000 vocabulary words (big ones included) to be around the C1-C2 level. I’ve made my own CEFR list because a lot of the ones that are created can be misleading. Some words are too heavily rooted in simplicity rather than sophistication to suffice higher, CEFR levels; I just find it a bit, disgruntling.

SOURCES

Complete CEFR Guide

C2 Level Mastery

Spoiler

**David** · 11th November 2025, 9:42 PM

Based on that word list I would put myself at C1, there's some words I know in C2 and others I recognize but also a lot I don't.

Vocabulary is something I do want to improve, I'd like to occasionally incorporate bigger words into my everyday conversations

**Addy** · 12th November 2025, 5:43 AM

i remember back, FreeRice.com was my way of learning words. this thread gave me flashbacks from the good ol'e days when JV had a FreeRice Leaderboard which had prizes and FreeRicer of the Month was quite competitive. i would exploit it as right clicking my correct word click go back and it would infinitely count the word as rice and gain experience with the jiggmin clan group on freerice. anyways setting the difficulty to the hardest level on freerice does give me words ive never seen before.

**Different** · 12th November 2025, 11:15 AM

(11th November 2025, 9:42 PM)David Wrote: Based on that word list I would put myself at C1, there's some words I know in C2 and others I recognize but also a lot I don't.

Vocabulary is something I do want to improve, I'd like to occasionally incorporate bigger words into my everyday conversations

Yeah, it's nice to challenge yourself to use sophisticated words in your conversations. It forces your brain to think, and you're learning how to deal with words that are far more nuanced than others, have multiple meanings, and use complex idioms. Which C2 words were you surprised by, if any?

(12th November 2025, 5:43 AM)Addy Wrote: i remember back, FreeRice.com was my way of learning words. this thread gave me flashbacks from the good ol'e days when JV had a FreeRice Leaderboard which had prizes and FreeRicer of the Month was quite competitive. i would exploit it as right clicking my correct word click go back and it would infinitely count the word as rice and gain experience with the jiggmin clan group on freerice. anyways setting the difficulty to the hardest level on freerice does give me words ive never seen before.

Well, I'm glad to hear that I created something that gave you a nostalgic flashback to an old website. FreeRice sounds very familiar. Is that website still around, or is it obsolete? What words were you surprised by, in particular?

**David** · 13th November 2025, 5:20 PM

(12th November 2025, 11:15 AM)Different Wrote: Yeah, it's nice to challenge yourself to use sophisticated words in your conversations. It forces your brain to think, and you're learning how to deal with words that are far more nuanced than others, have multiple meanings, and use complex idioms. Which C2 words were you surprised by, if any?

Wouldn't say I'm surprised by any but there's some cool words that stood out to me like Cymotrichous, Protean, and Verisimilitude

**Different** · 14th November 2025, 12:34 AM

(13th November 2025, 5:20 PM)David Wrote: Wouldn't say I'm surprised by any but there's some cool words that stood out to me like Cymotrichous, Protean, and Verisimilitude

Interesting choice of words. I’m thinking about creating a crossword puzzle online for people to do. It’s all based on obscure and sophisticated words. It’ll force people to make a deliberate decision after analyzing the word choices and how the puzzle is set up.

**Magniloquent** · 17th November 2025, 1:18 AM

Your manner of speaking here is rather.. magniloquent

**Different** · 18th November 2025, 11:58 AM

(17th November 2025, 1:18 AM)Magniloquent Wrote: Your manner of speaking here is rather.. magniloquent

I warned you and everybody else beforehand, what to expect out of this thread. For the past week, I’ve been anticipating and waiting for someone to make a comment about this, so I’m not nonplussed by your response. What words would you have eliminated from this thread, or how would you have written this thread if it were you speaking?.. just out of curiosity. I need an explanation behind your statement because I’m trying to improve my writing skills.

I will say, however, that there were times where I thought I’ve gone too far with some words.

**Master Raiden** · 18th November 2025, 9:14 PM

My vocabulary is probably a bit below average, to be honest. But it doesn't really matter that much as long as people understand what you're trying to say.

I have never even heard of most of the words in C2 and C3, let alone know what they mean, so it doesn't matter if you know them and how to use them in a sentence, it will mean nothing to me.

So I don't really see the need for a huge vocabulary. Those advanced words can probably be replaced using a few simpler words, and that's really all you need to communicate well with most people.
Until the average person has those words in their vocabulary, they will remain mostly useless. Frown

Also, here's a funny video on people who deliberately use big words to try and sound smart:

**Different** · 22nd November 2025, 2:13 PM

(18th November 2025, 9:14 PM)Master Raiden Wrote: My vocabulary is probably a bit below average, to be honest. But it doesn't really matter that much as long as people understand what you're trying to say.

I have never even heard of most of the words in C2 and C3, let alone know what they mean, so it doesn't matter if you know them and how to use them in a sentence, it will mean nothing to me.

So I don't really see the need for a huge vocabulary. Those advanced words can probably be replaced using a few simpler words, and that's really all you need to communicate well with most people.
Until the average person has those words in their vocabulary, they will remain mostly useless.

At first it’s difficult to analyze and gain a comprehensive understanding of sophisticated words. So, I understand where you’re coming from. But, with prolonged studying, reading, and writing… it’ll eventually make sense to you. I used to be just like you, 10 years ago. I never understood why people used big words, either. But, eventually as I’ve grown to enjoy different writing styles and reading, things began to change.

When people use “big words”, there’s an intended purpose behind it. Sometimes “simpler words” doesn’t always suffice or properly convey the point that someone is trying to deliver to someone. There are times where you’ll encounter convoluted arguments with someone, and you could be challenged to express yourself on a deeper level. This is where having an expansive vocabulary can help you see through arguments or conversations that are convoluted.

Depending on who you’re associating yourself with, about 95% of the time you’ll most likely use words that are in the A1-B2 level range (around the average person). But once you develop the desire to step outside of that realm and enjoy more rich, nuanced, and sophisticated ways of speaking (with big words at the C1+ level), then that’s when you’ll develop the desire to hang around more astute people. It’s ok to use a few big words, here and there. But not magniloquently.

Check THIS source out. I thought you might benefit from it.

Poll: Considering the prominent, CEFR vocabulary list… where would you place yourself at? You do not have permission to vote in this poll.
A1: Neophyte (500-800 words)	50.00%	2	50.00%
A2: Elementary (1,000-1,500 words)	0%	0	0%
B1: Intermediate (2,000-2,500 words)	0%	0	0%
B2: Upper-Intermediate (3,000-4,000 words)	25.00%	1	25.00%
C1: Advanced (5,000-8,000 words)	25.00%	1	25.00%
C2: Master (10,000+ words)	0%	0	0%
Total		4 vote(s)	100%