The American Heritage Dictionaries editorial staff has compiled a list of 100 words they believe make writers and speakers sound intelligent without being pompous or resorting to obscure terminology. The following is a selection of some of my favourites, followed by a longer list of smart words that didn’t make the cut but are still worthy of mention.
Some Top 100 Smart Nouns
- Acrimony – rancour, spite, bitterness, hostility, ill will
- Anomaly – irregularity, incongruity, variance, abnormality
- Dichotomy – division into two contradictory or exclusive entities; something with two contradictory qualities
- Euphemism – inoffensive or agreeable substitute for an expression that may be distasteful or offensive
- Harbinger – herald, portent, omen, forerunner
- Misnomer – inappropriate designation or incorrect name
- Non Sequitur – a response unrelated to or not following logically from a previous statement
- Panacea – cure-all, magic potion, universal remedy
- Paradox – inconsistency, contradiction, impossibility, illogicality
- Rhetoric – oratory, public speech
- Sycophant – flatterer, toady
Some Top 100 Smart Adjectives
- Caustic – scathing, acerbic, sarcastic
- Esoteric – obscure, mysterious, cryptic, arcane
- Fastidious – fussy, finicky, particular
- Glib – persuasive, smooth, slick
- Gregarious – extroverted, sociable, unreserved, convivial
- Idiosyncratic – individual, personal, distinctive, eccentric, peculiar
- Infinitesimal – minuscule
- Insidious – sinister, menacing
- Lurid – shocking, explicit, vivid, sensational
- Maudlin – overly sentimental, mawkish, soppy
- Mercenary – serving only for sordid advantage or money
- Ostentatious – showy, flamboyant, pretentious, grandiose
- Perfunctory – unthinking, dutiful, obligatory, token, automatic
- Quintessential – typical, prototypical, archetypal, model, standard
- Stoic – unaffected by or not showing response to pain, distress, or other discomfort
- Suave- smooth, polite, urbane, debonair, sophisticated, charming, gracious
- Ubiquitous – everywhere, ever-present, omnipresent
- Untenable – weak, unsound, invalid, shaky, flawed, indefensible, unsustainable
- Zealous – enthusiastic, passionate, fervent, ardent, obsessive, fanatical, extreme
Some Top 100 Smart Verbs
- Equivocate – prevaricate, beat around the bush, vacillate
- Finagle – obtain by indirect or convoluted means or through trickery
- Malinger – feign or exaggerate incapacity or illness to avoid work or other duties
- Ostracize – exclude, shun, snub
- Revel – celebrate, take intense pleasure in something
- Waft – drift, float, be carried on a breeze
Smart Words That Didn’t Make the Cut
There are a number of clever words that weren’t among the 100 chosen by the American Heritage Dictionaries editors but make great additions to academic writing.
Smart Nouns
- Consternation – dismay, disquiet, concern
- Conundrum – puzzle, riddle, mystery, challenge, problem
- Credulity – gullibility, naivety
- Diatribe – tirade, invective, harangue, rant
- Foreboding – apprehension, premonition
- Hubris – exaggerated self-confidence, excessive pride
- Hybrid – cross, mixture
- Implication – insinuation, inference, suggestion
- Lassitude – tiredness, fatigue, lethargy, inertia, apathy
- Mnemonic – memory aid (i.e., rhyme or formula)
- Paradigm – theoretical or philosophical framework
- Paragon – model, ideal, epitome
- Pastiche – an artistic, architectural, or literary work that imitates or is comprised of a hodgepodge of selections from prior works
- Panegyric – speech offering elaborate or formal praise
- Pathos – sorrow, grief, pity, suffering, tragedy, misery
- Paucity – scarcity, lack, rarity, dearth
- Phalanx – an arranged group of things, animals, or people; a digital bone in the foot or hand
- Pique – temper, resentment, annoyance, anger
- Plasticity – flexibility, agility, smoothness, grace
- Predilection – fondness, partiality, preference, penchant
- Privation – hardship, deprivation, adversity, poverty
- Proclivity – liking, appetite, inclination
- Propensity – tendency, inclination, predisposition, predilection
- Ramification – consequence, result, implication, effect
- Stratagem – trick, ruse, ploy, scheme
- Surfeit – excess, surplus, glut
- Temerity – nerve, audacity, gall
- Umbrage – offense, resentment, indignation
- Xenophobia – hatred, fear of, and/or prejudice against strangers or foreigners
Smart Adjectives
- Aberrant – abnormal, deviant, anomalous, irregular, atypical
- Amicable – friendly, harmonious, cordial, agreeable
- Asinine – silly, stupid, foolish, idiotic
- Astute – shrewd, smart, perceptive, judicious, incisive, wise
- Audacious – daring, bold, overconfident, impudent
- Belligerent – aggressive, argumentative, quarrelsome
- Boisterous – energetic, animated, lively, rowdy
- Cantankerous – bad-tempered, irritable, crabby, argumentative, difficult
- Capacious – large, voluminous, roomy
- Circuitous – roundabout, indirect, meandering, winding
- Culpable – guilty, to blame, responsible, liable
- Dogmatic – rigid, inflexible, narrow-minded, authoritarian
- Dour – sour, stern, grim, severe, harsh, unfriendly
- Eclectic – diverse, assorted, miscellaneous
- Fallacious – untrue, misleading, erroneous, wrong
- Florid – elaborately decorated; ruddy
- Fractious – irritable, peevish
- Frenetic – frantic, hectic, frenzied
- Garrulous – talkative (to an annoying level)
- Gauche – awkward, tactless, graceless, crude
- Guileless – honest, straightforward, open, innocent, naive
- Ignoble – dishonourable, shameful
- Inane – silly, ridiculous, idiotic, frivolous
- Innocuous – inoffensive, harmless, innocent, safe, bland
- Insipid – dull, bland, wishy-washy, trite
- Inviolable – unbreakable, sacred, unassailable
- Irresolute – indecisive, vacillating, unsure
- Lackadaisical – apathetic, careless, lazy, relaxed, laissez-faire, casual, lax, easy-going
- Loquacious – talkative
- Malleable – impressionable, acquiescent, flexible, pliable
- Nascent – budding, promising, emerging
- Nonchalant – casual, offhand, laid back, blasé
- Obdurate – obstinate, stubborn, inflexible, unyielding, immovable
- Oblique – slanted, sloping, at an angle, leaning
- Odious – horrible, loathsome, revolting, detestable, repulsive, obnoxious
- Omnipresent – ubiquitous, all-pervading, universal
- Overweening – arrogant, pompous, haughty, presumptuous, conceited
- Parochial – narrow-minded, close-minded, provincial, insular, hidebound
- Pejorative – derogatory, negative, depreciatory
- Peripheral – tangential, marginal, nonessential, sideline
- Pernicious – destructive, harmful, evil, insidious, spiteful, malicious
- Pithy – terse, to the point, concise, succinct
- Pivotal – essential, crucial, key, critical, central
- Plausible – reasonable, believable, credible, conceivable
- Poignant – moving, touching, emotional, sad, tender
- Preternatural – extraordinary (often used in relation to psychic or supernatural phenomenon)
- Prodigious – extraordinary, exceptional, phenomenal, impressive
- Profane – blasphemous, disrespectful, sacrilegious
- Profligate – extravagant, wasteful
- Prophetic – visionary, predictive
- Prosaic – mundane, banal, dull, ordinary
- Pungent – strong smelling, acrid
- Raucous – harsh, rough, strident, grating; wild, boisterous, disorderly, riotous, unruly, noisy
- Rudimentary – basic, simple, elementary, undeveloped
- Sacrosanct – sacred, holy, untouchable
- Salient – most important, significant, relevant
- Slipshod – careless, slapdash, shoddy, sloppy
- Solicitous – considerate, attentive, concerned, caring
- Specious – false, erroneous, baseless, inaccurate, unfounded, misleading
- Surreptitious – furtive, secret, sneaky, covert
- Tangential – peripheral, divergent
- Tantamount – equivalent, the same as, synonymous, identical, indistinguishable
- Tenacious – persistent, stubborn, resolute, dogged, determined, steadfast
- Unilateral – one-sided, independent
- Vacuous – empty-headed, stupid, inane
- Variegated – multicoloured
- Virulent – venomous, bitter, vituperative, spiteful; dangerous, potent, strong
- Vituperative – insulting, abusive, malicious, slanderous, scathing
- Vociferous – loudly vocal, raucous, strident
- Voracious – insatiable, ravenous
Smart Verbs
- Atrophy – waste away, wither, weaken, shrivel, degenerate
- Construe – interpret, take to mean
- Galvanize – spur, stimulate, rouse, electrify, incite
- Impel – push, force, drive, compel, urge, coerce
- Palliate – ease symptoms without curing a disease; moderate the intensity of something; make apologies or excuses in order to hide the magnitude of something
- Postulate – assume, hypothesize, suggest, propose
- Proliferate – propagate, multiply, reproduce, breed, grow, flourish, increase
- Recapitulate – summarize, recap
- Ruminate – ponder, reflect
- Stultify – impair, invalidate, have a dulling effect on
- Transpose – swap, reverse, switch, invert
- Vacillate – waver, hesitate, be indecisive, fluctuate
Word lovers may also wish to read Funny Words and Beautiful Words. For a full list of writers’ articles and resources, visit the Writing Resources page.