Academic English Vocabulary: 400 Words for Writing

The words are not hard to understand. They are hard to use correctly.

400 cardsLast updated 2026-08-17

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Academic vocabulary fails in production, not comprehension. Every reader knows roughly what comprise, imply and significant mean, and every writer still gets them wrong: is comprised of instead of comprises, imply where infer belongs, significant used loosely in a paper that also reports statistical significance. The gap is never the definition. It is the word family, the preposition, and the neighbouring word that so often trips people up. This deck covers 400 words of academic English. Every card asks what a word means and answers with the sense and part of speech, then adds one line of the thing that actually goes wrong — the plural of criterion, the preposition after contribute, the difference between effective and efficient. Cards are tagged by function: research and method, argument and evidence, cause and change, quantity and comparison, structure and process, policy and society, linking and signalling, and academic writing itself. Import it and the deck joins your spaced-repetition schedule, and what stays in rotation is the set you can recognise but not yet write.

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What's inside

Showing 100 representative cards from the full 400-card deck.

Front	Back
analyse — what does it mean?	to examine something in detail to understand it (verb). analysis, analytical, analyst. American spelling analyze.
assess — what does it mean?	to judge the value or quality of something (verb). assessment, assessor.
conduct — what does it mean?	to carry out an activity (verb).
data — what does it mean?	facts and figures collected for analysis (noun). treated as plural in formal writing: the data show.
evidence — what does it mean?	information supporting a conclusion (noun).
identify — what does it mean?	to recognise and name something (verb). identification, identifiable.
investigate — what does it mean?	to examine systematically (verb). investigation, investigator.
observe — what does it mean?	to watch carefully; to notice (verb). observation, observable.
survey — what does it mean?	a study collecting information from many people (noun).
validity — what does it mean?	the extent to which something is well founded (noun). valid, validate.
assert — what does it mean?	to state confidently (verb). often implies the claim still needs support.
counter — what does it mean?	to respond in opposition (verb).
dispute — what does it mean?	to question the truth of (verb).
imply — what does it mean?	to suggest without stating directly (verb). the speaker implies; the listener infers.
propose — what does it mean?	to put forward for consideration (verb). proposal, proposition.
suggest — what does it mean?	to indicate as possible (verb). the standard hedge in reporting results.
cause — what does it mean?	something that produces an effect (noun). distinguish from correlation.
correlation — what does it mean?	a mutual relationship between two things (noun). correlation is not causation; the phrase is standard.
generate — what does it mean?	to produce (verb). generation, generator.
influence — what does it mean?	the power to affect something (noun). Also a verb.
result in — what does it mean?	to cause (verb). result in a cause; result from an effect.
alter — what does it mean?	to change (verb). slightly more formal than change.
evolve — what does it mean?	to develop gradually (verb). evolution, evolutionary.
shift — what does it mean?	a change in position or attitude (noun). Also a verb.
approximately — what does it mean?	roughly (adverb). more formal than about in academic writing.
consist of — what does it mean?	to be made up of (verb). never used in the passive.
distribution — what does it mean?	the way something is spread out (noun). distribute, distributive.
majority — what does it mean?	more than half (noun). takes a plural verb when referring to people.
significant — what does it mean?	important; statistically meaningful (adjective). in statistics it has a precise technical meaning.
aggregate — what does it mean?	a total formed from separate parts (noun). in aggregate.
magnitude — what does it mean?	the size or importance of something (noun). the magnitude of the effect.
maximise — what does it mean?	to make as large as possible (verb). American spelling maximize.
disparity — what does it mean?	a large difference (noun). a disparity between.
uniform — what does it mean?	the same throughout (adjective). uniformly, uniformity.
hierarchy — what does it mean?	a system ranked by level (noun). hierarchical.
stage — what does it mean?	a point in a process (noun). at this stage.
incorporate — what does it mean?	to include as part of a whole (verb). incorporation.
facilitate — what does it mean?	to make easier (verb). facilitation, facilitator.
inhibit — what does it mean?	to prevent or slow (verb). inhibition, inhibitor.
regulate — what does it mean?	to control by rules (verb). regulation, regulatory.
policy — what does it mean?	a course of action adopted by an organisation (noun).
institution — what does it mean?	an established organisation (noun). institutional.
welfare — what does it mean?	the health and wellbeing of people (noun). the welfare state.
poverty — what does it mean?	the state of being extremely poor (noun). relative poverty.
migration — what does it mean?	movement of people between places (noun). migrate, migrant.
gender — what does it mean?	social and cultural aspects of sex (noun). distinguish from biological sex in academic use.
discourse — what does it mean?	written or spoken communication on a topic (noun). public discourse.
perspective — what does it mean?	a particular way of viewing something (noun).
reliability — what does it mean?	the extent to which a measure is consistent (noun). distinguish from validity.
qualitative — what does it mean?	concerned with qualities rather than numbers (adjective). contrasted with quantitative.
subsequent — what does it mean?	coming after (adjective). subsequently.
relevant — what does it mean?	closely connected to the matter (adjective).
ambiguous — what does it mean?	open to more than one interpretation (adjective). ambiguity.
consistent — what does it mean?	in agreement; unchanging (adjective).
questionable — what does it mean?	open to doubt (adjective). question, unquestionable.
predominant — what does it mean?	most common or important (adjective). predominantly.
integral — what does it mean?	essential to completeness (adjective).
albeit — what does it mean?	although (conjunction). formal; introduces a concession phrase.
consequently — what does it mean?	as a result (adverb). common sentence opener in academic writing.
hence — what does it mean?	for this reason (adverb). more formal than so.
nevertheless — what does it mean?	in spite of that (adverb). concedes a point before continuing.
thereby — what does it mean?	by that means (adverb). usually followed by a participle.
whereby — what does it mean?	by which (adverb). introduces a method or arrangement.
with respect to — what does it mean?	concerning (phrase). formal alternative to about.
by contrast — what does it mean?	in comparison (phrase). signals an opposing case.
provided that — what does it mean?	on condition that (conjunction). introduces a condition.
feasible — what does it mean?	possible to do (adjective). feasibility.
efficient — what does it mean?	achieving results without waste (adjective). distinguish from effective.
detrimental — what does it mean?	causing harm (adjective).
apparent — what does it mean?	seeming; clearly visible (adjective). two senses; context decides which is meant.
subtle — what does it mean?	slight and hard to detect (adjective). subtlety.
representative — what does it mean?	typical of a larger group (adjective). a representative sample.
aforementioned — what does it mean?	mentioned earlier (adjective). formal; use sparingly.
substantially — what does it mean?	to a large degree (adverb). substantial.
allegedly — what does it mean?	as claimed but not proven (adverb). common in reporting disputed claims.
simultaneously — what does it mean?	at the same time (adverb). simultaneous.
address — what does it mean?	to deal with a problem (verb). a common academic sense beyond speaking to someone.
clarify — what does it mean?	to make clearer (verb). clarification, clarity.
classify — what does it mean?	to arrange into classes (verb). classification.
attribute (noun) — what does it mean?	a quality or feature (noun).
manuscript — what does it mean?	a paper submitted for publication (noun). common in the sciences.
publish — what does it mean?	to make available in print or online (verb). publication.
reinforce — what does it mean?	to strengthen (verb). common with view, argument, pattern.
speculate — what does it mean?	to form a theory without firm evidence (verb). speculation, speculative.
pertain — what does it mean?	to be relevant (verb).
accumulate — what does it mean?	to gather over time (verb). accumulation.
peak — what does it mean?	to reach the highest point (verb). also a noun.
exacerbate — what does it mean?	to make worse (verb). formal; common with problem, tension.
prevail — what does it mean?	to be widespread; to win out (verb). prevailing, prevalence.
conform — what does it mean?	to behave according to rules or norms (verb).
appoint — what does it mean?	to assign to a position (verb). appointment.
allocate resources — what does it mean?	to distribute means among competing uses (phrase). a standard collocation in economics writing.
infrastructure — what does it mean?	basic physical systems of a country (noun).
predict — what does it mean?	to say what will happen (verb). prediction, predictor.
approximate — what does it mean?	to be close to (verb). also an adjective with different pronunciation.
indicator — what does it mean?	a measure that shows a condition (noun). a leading indicator.
confront — what does it mean?	to face a difficulty directly (verb). confrontation, confrontational.
obstacle — what does it mean?	something blocking progress (noun).
contingent — what does it mean?	depending on something else (adjective).
preliminary stage — what does it mean?	the first part of a longer process (phrase). a standard collocation in research writing.

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What is in the deck?

73 on research and method, 71 on argument and evidence, 54 on quantity and comparison, 45 on policy and society, 43 on cause and change, 42 on structure and process, 37 on linking and signalling, 22 on academic writing itself and 13 on problems and limitations, 400 in total. One word per card, so nothing appears twice.

Why does each card include a usage note?

Because the definition is rarely what goes wrong. Criteria is a plural, contribute takes to, the whole comprises the parts and is never comprised of them, and a writer who implies is not a reader who infers. Those are the details that mark writing as non-academic, and they are what the note on each card carries.

Is this useful for IELTS and TOEFL?

Yes, particularly for the writing and speaking tasks, where examiners look for range and accuracy rather than rare words. The linking and signalling group maps directly onto the discourse markers those rubrics reward, and the hedging words — suggest, indicate, tentative, arguably — are how you make a claim you can defend.

British or American spelling?

British spellings appear on the front, with the American variant named in the note wherever the two differ. Both are accepted in academic writing as long as you are consistent, so pick one and let the notes remind you which forms belong together.

Editorial method and sources

Memly's editors use the primary sources below to check scope and terminology, then independently write and review the cards.

Victoria University of Wellington: Academic Word List