English vocabulary by level

Choose a level

Five lists, 5,000 entries from A1 to C1; with the 28 C2 entries still in preparation, 5,028 entries in all. An entry is one word in one part of speech, with its meaning, example, pronunciation and family.

Help me choose a level ↓

C2 vocabulary · In preparation — 28 entries so far, too few to publish as a list. The proficient band is explained below.

Browse by topic

Every list is grouped by topic. These are the largest topics; each link opens one level's list for that topic, and the count is the number of words in that topic at that level. Every level page has its own topic list.

• describing — B1 · 203 words
• actions — B1 · 144 words
• school — B1 · 103 words
• daily — A1 · 97 words
• people — A1 · 82 words
• society — B2 · 108 words
• work — B1 · 89 words
• nature — B2 · 67 words
• abstract — B2 · 71 words
• home — B2 · 63 words
• food — A1 · 62 words
• feelings — B1 · 65 words
• body — B1 · 57 words
• travel — B1 · 63 words
• money — B1 · 48 words
• tech — B1 · 45 words

Continue with saved words

Every word on the level pages has a Save for practice button. Saved words go to Practice My Words, kept only in your own browser. Practise your saved words with flashcards, meaning quizzes and spelling activities.

Saved words stay in this browser only. You can back them up, and restore them on another device, from the practice page.

About the CEFR bands

CEFR stands for the Common European Framework of Reference. It sorts language ability into six bands, from A1 for a beginner to C2 for a very high level of language proficiency. It was written to describe what a learner can do, not to grade words — but in practice teachers and coursebooks use it to say roughly how difficult a word is, and that is how it is used here.

• A1first words
  Names for things you see every day, and the verbs that go with them.
• A2everyday words
  Enough to describe a routine, a journey or a problem in simple terms.
• B1ordinary conversation
  Feelings, plans and reasons. The band most learners spend longest in.
• B2argument and detail
  Precision: choosing between two words that mean nearly the same thing.
• C1precise and less common
  Register, connotation and idiom. 426 entries, published as a word list.
• C2proficient
  Rare, technical and figurative use. 28 entries so far — too few to publish as a list.

Every level carries an evidence mark showing how far the published references agree with it (5,028 entries, references compared 10 September 2026). Per-band counts and how levels are checked →

The learner layer holds 28 entries at C2. That is enough for the scramble maker to build an advanced worksheet from, and not nearly enough to call a word list. Publishing a few dozen words under the heading C2 vocabulary would tell a visitor something false about the level and about this site, so it is not published. C1, with 426 entries, is now large enough and has its own list.

For teachers

If you are teaching, these lists are a levelling reference rather than a syllabus. Paste any selection of them into the scramble maker to get a printable sheet with an answer key, or take a ready-made set with a classroom procedure from the worksheet library. Teachers writing lesson plans against a national curriculum may also want the Thai curriculum mapping, which lines these bands up with the ministry's exit targets and vocabulary-size checkpoints.

For a printable activity pack built from any level and topic, use the activity pack generator.

Sources: Meanings are written for learners rather than adapted from any single dictionary, and checked against established learner dictionaries. CEFR levels are evidence-graded against the CEFR-J Wordlist v1.5 (© Tono Laboratory, TUFS), the Oxford 3000/5000 level bands and, for C1–C2, the Octanove Vocabulary Profile (CC BY-SA 4.0); each level carries one of five evidence marks (✓✓ ✓ ≠ ✓* ⚠). Pronunciations derive from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (Copyright © 1993–2015 Carnegie Mellon University), General American. Full methodology, exact counts and the change log: methodology & sources. Last checked: 10 September 2026.