Difficult Words in English to Improve Your Vocabulary

What Are Difficult Words in English

The difficult words in English are either hard to pronounce, spell, or understand. Moreover, they are the most uncommon or rare words that you hear in your surroundings because very few people know about them. However, understanding and incorporating such words into our vocabulary can enhance language skills and communication. So, some of the examples are:

• Pillory: To shame criminals publicly

• Bedevil: Cause great and continual trouble to something

• Truculent: Describe people or things that are cruel and ferocious

• Peregrination: A long and meandering journey

• Pulchritudinous: Physically attractive" or "beautiful"

So, these were some examples of the hard English words. Thus, you can learn them with meanings to bring them into your habit of daily speaking. Moreover, people sometimes are curious that every word in English comprises nothing apart from those 26 alphabet, then what makes a word difficult? So, you will get the answer for the same in the below section.

What Makes a Word "Difficult" in English?

We are comfortable with some words because we either read them daily or hear them regularly in our surroundings. However, some words which are new to us and have a typical spelling, they become tough words to pronounce. The reason behind this is that they are rare and you usually don’t read them anywhere. So, it is a basic human functioning that if you see or hear a word often, you are likely to develop a sense of what it means. But, if you never see it, you are not likely to know its meaning. Thus, this makes them difficult words in English for many.

For example: Quarantine and Isolation were some of the words that people did not hear before the COVID-19 outbreak. However, today people have become so familiar with these words that they are no longer considered tough English words despite being difficult to spell.

Now, consider the words “Lampoon” or “Omnipresent.” Do you know what they mean? Probably not. The reason is that these words are rare and you don’t hear them commonly or read them daily in blogs, newspapers, or books.Here, Lampoon means public criticism by using ridicule, irony, or sarcasm.

Omnipresent means widespread. So, you can say that these are the difficult words in English because you did not know their meanings. So, you can say that how often you see or read words determines how difficult they are. Thus, in the next section of this blog, you will get a list of difficult English words with their meanings.

List of Difficult English Words with Meanings

Improving your vocabulary needs you to not only learn new words, but also learn their meanings. So, some of the difficult words in English are:

So, these were some of the difficult words in English. Moreover, you can also read academic books and novels to find some of these by yourself. Furthermore, you can use them as daily use English words by bringing them into your conversations and making them a habit. Besides, not only the meaning of the word but also their pronunciation also determines their difficulty level. So, read the difficult words to pronounce in English in the next section.

Difficult English Words to Pronounce

In English, the difficulty of words is not only determined by how rare they are but also depends on their pronunciation. So, some difficult words to pronounce in English are:

So, these were the tough words to pronounce in English language. Moreover, their exact pronunciation is also given in the above table so that you can learn how to pronounce them correctly. Moreover, a few other tips will help you learn the hard spelling words. Thus, read them in the next section.

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Tips to Learn Tough English Words

Learning new and hard words is important for you. Also, it helps you become presentable and improve your vocabulary for the exam. Thus, some of the tips to learn the English hard words are:

1) Listen to Pronunciation and Record Yourself

One of the most effective methods for learning difficult words in English is to listen to the language. Moreover, listen to songs and podcasts in English and also watch movies in the English language, and try to grasp every new word you hear.

2) Forget About Spelling (For Now) and Rely on Sound

Sometimes people get caught up in a word’s spelling, which can negatively affect the way they remember the correct way to pronounce it. By this, you will be able to learn better the difficult words to pronounce.

3) Break Down, Learn in Chunks

If you are having trouble learning the hard spelling words, then one of the best things to do is you can break them down into smaller parts and memorize them accordingly.

4) Memorize the Use and Meaning

One of the most efficient ways is by remembering the context of the tough English words. If you try to memorize a long list of vocabulary with no context, you won’t remember most of the words in the long run. So, it is recommended that when you learn a new word, also learn how to use it in a sentence.

5) Find Synonyms

It is easy to find the synonyms of almost all the words that exist. So, whenever you go through difficult words, immediately try to find alternatives. By this, you will find a comparatively easy word and this will help you in remembering that you have a new word to use. Also, you can learn phrases and idioms to improve your word bank.

So, these are some tips that will help you learn the difficult words in English. Thus, use these tips and see a positive change in your vocabulary.

Conclusion

To sum up, this was all about the difficult words in English, that builds a strong vocabulary. Moreover, if you are a study abroad aspirant, it is important for you to give exams like IELTS or PTE to meet the requirements of your dream university. Thus, using an advanced vocabulary is important to score well in the IELTS exam in tasks such as cue cards and essay writing, which can be challenging. Therefore, you can opt for our IELTS online coaching can help you overcome this issue. As getting help from the experts ensure you are well-prepared for your dream journey.FAQ’s

1) What Are 20 Tricky Words?

Labyrinth, Nirvana, Nomenclature, Pandemonium, Patriarchy, Pseudonym, Malapropism, Omniscient, Rejuvenate, Sagacious, Serendipity, Solace, Tangible, Tenet, Unbiased, Unilateral, Utopian, Valediction, Overwhelm, Whimsical, Xenophobia

2) What are 45+ New Words with Meanings?

1. Aberration – a deviation from the normal or expected
2. Abnegation – self-denial or self-sacrifice
3. Acumen – keen insight or perception
4. Adept – highly skilled or proficient
5. Alacrity – cheerful willingness or eagerness
6. Ameliorate – to improve or make better
7. Anachronistic – belonging to a different time period
8. Aplomb – self-confidence, especially in difficult situations
9. Apprehensive – anxious or fearful about the future
10. Assiduous – showing great care and perseverance
11. Brusque – short and abrupt
12. Cajole – to urge
13. Jabber – to talk in a noisy or excited manner
14. Jostle – make one’s way by pushing or shoving
15. Flabbergasted – astounded
16. Gluttony – overindulgence in food or drink
17. Impeccable – exemplary, flawless
18. Erudite – learned
19. Exasperated – a feeling of annoyance
20. Malleable – easily influenced
21. Eclectic – deriving the best ideas
22. Egregious – reprehensible
23. Embezzlement – misappropriation of funds
24. Enervate – lacking in vitality
25. Ephemeral – lasting for a short duration
26. Equanimity – maintaining composure in stressful situations
27. Fatuous – devoid of intelligence
28. Gratuitous – uncalled for
29. Iconoclast – someone who criticizes
30. Idiosyncratic – something peculiar to an individual
31. Phlegmatic – expressing little
32. Promulgate – announce
33. Quotidian – something that is of daily occurrence
34. Recalcitrant – resistant to authority
35. Sephardic - Jewish or of Jewish descent
36. Solipsism – the philosophical theory that only the self-existence is known
37. Travesty – imitation
38. Ubiquitous – omnipresent
39. Vicissitude – unpleasant change
40. Vociferous – someone who is offensively loud.
41. Oxidize - To dehydrogenate especially by the action of oxygen
42. Pablum - Bland, intellectual sustenance
43. Peccadillo - A slight offence
44. Pettifogging - Arguing over trivial things
45. Prestidigitation - A sleight-of-hand artist
46. Spanandry - The extreme scarcity of males
47. Spittoon - A receptacle for spit
48. Peregrination - A long and meandering journey

3) What Are 10 Unfamiliar Words?

Camaraderie, Ephemeral, Adamant, Myrmecophilous, Ostracize, Cleave, Blanch, Adulation, Sycophant, Ambivalent

4) What Are the 10 Most Commonly Misused Words?

1. Effect
2. Lose versus loose
3. Principal versus principle
4. Adverse and averse
5. Insure versus ensure
6. There versus their
7. Should've/would've/could've
8. Desert vs. Dessert
9. Than vs then
10. Accept/ Except/Aspect/ Expect

5) What Is the Rarest Word Used?

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

Meaning: A type of lung disease caused by inhaling fine silica dust, often found in mines.

Why it's rare: Although it's one of the longest words in the dictionary, it's not commonly used outside medical contexts.