TOP 100 ACADEMIC

WORDS FOR TOEFL

YOU NEED
 Here's a useful handout for you with some new
academic words to improve your TOEFL writing and
speaking scores.

1 Abandon (verb): to leave something or someone; to

give up something.

He grew up in an orphanage because his parents

abandoned him when he was a baby.

2 Accumulate (verb): to increase something gradually.

The Hudsons have accumulated a great fortune

over the years.

3 Acquire (verb): to get something (usually of great

value).

He acquired the firm in 2020.

4 Acquisition (noun): the act of taking possession of

something.

The company’s recent acquisition is a new business

in India.

5 Adapt (verb): to get used to something to suit new

conditions.

We will have to adapt to new challenges of our

times.
6 Addictive (adjective): making you want to consume or
do it more and more.

This new drug is highly addictive.

7 Adequate (adjective): enough or satisfactory for a

purpose.

With adequate means and time scientists will be

able to find a cure for cancer.

8 Adjust (verb): to change something to make it more

correct or suitable.

Teachers have to adjust their teaching methods to

suit the needs of their students.

9 Adversely (adverb): negatively.

The president's decision to cut social spending

adversely affected his popularity rating.

10 Advocate (verb): to speak in favor of something.

Environmental organizations advocate protecting

rivers and lakes from contamination.
11 Affluent (adjective): very rich.

Schools in affluent neighborhoods are considered

to provide higher quality education.

12 Aggregate (adjective): total.

The aggregate turnover of our company in two

recent years has been around $10 million.

13 Allegedly (adverb): according to what people say;

presumably.

The CEO of our company allegedly used the

company's finances for his own needs.

14 Allocate (verb): to give certain amounts of something

for different purposes.

In my opinion, the government should allocate

more money for education.

15 Amend (verb): to change something (especially the

words of the text).

The bill is to be amended in future editions.

16 Anticipate (verb): to expect something will happen.

We are anticipating a large number of sign-ups for the

website.

17 Arbitrary (adjective): based on chance rather than being

planned.

Your decision to invest all your money in NVIDIA stocks

seems a bit arbitrary, don’t you think?

18 Assess (verb): to estimate the value of something.

Before you sell your house, I suggest you get it

assessed by the assessment company.

19 Asset (noun): something useful.

Real estate is considered to be your asset while your

car is more of a liability.

Mr. Johns will become an asset to our company.

20 Assimilate (verb): to incorporate; to become similar.

Now the authorities are working on programs that

could help assimilate refugees into society.
21 Augment (verb): to make something bigger or better.

People now have to find a second job to augment their

income.

22 Inclined to (expression): to be likely to choose

something.

The authorities are inclined to decrease the expenses

allocated to education needs.

23 Biased (adjective): showing an unreasonable preference

or dislike based on personal opinion.

Your decision seems biased to me.

24 Cease (verb): to stop doing something.

The company decided to cease all investments

in alternative energy resources.

25 Chronologically (adverb): in order of time.

Arrange the events chronologically.

26 Circulate (verb): to move throughout an area or group; to
move in a circular motion.

Blood circulates through your body faster when you

exercise.

27 Civil (adjective): relating to ordinary people (not to

church or military organizations).

In a civil lawsuit against your neighbors, you claim that

they have illegally appropriated a part of your land.

28 Commodity (noun): a physical thing that can be bought,

sold, or traded.

The commodity market grows during times of inflation.

NOTE! We use the word "commodity" when talking about

a marketplace for investors that permits trading in
commodities such as crude oil, precious metals, spices,
grains, etc. However, when speaking of something a
consumer would buy, such as grains, we would refer to
them as products, not commodities.

29 Compensate (verb): to make up for something.

The salary may not be substantial, but they

compensate employees with additional bonuses such
as more PTO days or better health insurance.
30 Complication (noun): something that makes things more
difficult.

We’ve had a slight complication with your case.

31 Consciously (adverb): intentionally.

You should treat your responsibilities more

consciously if you want to keep working here.

32 Consequence (noun): something that happens as a result

of something.

Some consequences of global warming include higher

risks of floods and fires.

33 Constraint (noun): something that limits something or

someone.

There are some budget constraints we need to

consider before we can do this project.

34 Contamination (noun): to make something dirty or

poisonous.

Water contamination is an extremely important

problem around the world.

35 Contemplate (verb): to consider something thoughtfully.

Mike is contemplating moving abroad.

36 Convey (verb): to express a thought or a feeling so it
could be understood by other people.

You don’t want to convey the impression that we are

not interested.

37 Convict (verb/noun): to decide that someone is guilty; a

person who is convicted.

He was convicted of a first degree murder.

The convict is to be put in prison next week.

NOTE! The verb and the noun differ in pronunciation.

“To convict” has a stress on the second syllable while
“a convict” stresses the first syllable.

38 Cure (verb/noun): to make someone healthy; get rid of an

illness; something that makes people healthy again.

Mike was cured of his long-term drug addiction.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for this disease.

39 Curriculum (noun): courses of study offered by an

educational institution.

My university curriculum includes English studies.

40 Decline (verb): to decrease in power or amount; to
refuse.

Radical ideas tend to decline in popularity once they

exist for a couple of months.

I am sorry to decline your offer but I am not interested

now.

41 Degrade (verb): to get worse.

His health has quickly degraded in recent years.

42 Deplete (verb): to decrease the amount of something

(especially of natural supplies).

National crop reserves were greatly depleted last year.

43 Determine (verb): to control or influence something; to

decide what will happen.

The authorities will determine which schools and

hospitals need to be renovated this year.

44 Diminish (verb): make something or become smaller or

weaker.

Mr. John’s influence in the company diminished once

he made decisions that were unpopular with most
workers.
45 Discretely (adverb): separately; distinctly.

In order to understand how the engine worked, each

component needed to be studied discretely.

46 Dispose of (verb): get rid of something or someone.

There are rules about how to properly dispose of

radioactive chemicals.

47 Distinctly (adverb): clearly.

I distinctly said not to touch anything in my room!

48 Diverse (adjective): various.

With the introduction of new social laws and

incentives, many international companies are trying to
be as diverse as possible when hiring new employees.

49 Domesticate (verb): to make something suitable for

being in a home.

Dogs were probably the first animals to be

domesticated.

50 Elaborate (verb): to add more information to explain

something in detail.

I would like to elaborate on this topic.

51 Emission (noun): the act of sending out gas, heat,
light, etc.

Fuel emissions are one of the most hazardous for

people to inhale.

52 Equity (noun): value of one’s share in an investment.

He sold his equity in the company last year.

53 Evolve (verb): to develop gradually.

Doctors do not recommend taking antibiotics every

time you fall ill, as this might result in bacteria
evolving resistance to the treatment.

54 Explicit (adjective): clear and exact.

I believe I am being rather explicit about my future

plans within the company.

55 Exploit (verb): to take advantage of something in order to

get profit.

The company’s been exploiting its employees’ fear of

being fired.

56 Exponentially (adverb): at a very fast rate.

Our company is growing exponentially in finances and

human resources.
57 Famine (noun): severe hunger; drastic food shortage.

Many Irish immigrants came to the US during the Irish

potato famine of the 1840s.

58 Feasible (adjective): possible to be made or done.

It may be feasible to use artificial intelligence in your

thesis, but is it ethical?

59 Gap (noun): a difference in amount or quality.

The age gap is one of the reasons for

misunderstandings between parents and children.

60 Grotesque (adjective): strange and unpleasant.

He was accused of grotesque misuse of the company’s

profits.

61 Gut (verb): to destroy the insides of something.

The building was gutted by fire.

62 Hazardous (adjective): extremely dangerous.

Beware of hazardous materials when choosing toys for

your children.
63 Impact (verb/noun): to have an influence on something; a
powerful influence on something.

His speech about the importance of education and

self-development greatly impacted me.

His speech about the importance of education and

self-development had a great impact on me.

64 Implement (verb): to bring something into use.

The changes in the tax system will be implemented

next year.

65 Implicit (adjective): suggested but not stated clearly.

The experiment aims to measure people’s implicit bias

towards different social strata.

66 Incentive (noun): a possible benefit that motivates people

to do something.

Tax incentives are a great tool to motivate people to

save and invest money.

67 Increasingly (adverb): to a bigger extent; more and more.

People are becoming increasingly concerned about

the foreseeable economic crisis.
68 Indisputable (adjective): unquestionable.

The jury found her guilty because they found the facts
of the case indisputable.

69 Inflation (noun): the process of depreciation of money.

The rate of inflation in the US is around 3.5% now.

70 Inherent (adjective): naturally characteristic of

something.

His inherent talent to paint brought him fame and

fortune.

71 Integrally (adverb): in a whole or complete manner.

The question of our financing is integrally related to

this matter.

72 Integrity (noun): personal honesty and good character.

Miriam demonstrated integrity toward our company,

and we should commend her for that.

73 Intensify (verb): to increase in power.

The disagreements between the committee members

about the future of the school intensified.
74 Intervene (verb): to intentionally get involved in a difficult
situation to settle it.

Central banks can intervene in currency markets to

stabilize the exchange rate.

75 Liability (noun): a legal responsibility for doing

something; a debt; a disadvantage.

He denies any liability for the damage.

The business’ liabilities make up more than $2 million.

Mike is just a liability to the team. He hasn’t done

anything useful for us.

76 Maintenance (noun): the act of keeping something in

good condition.

Car maintenance might become a serious liability.

77 Merit (noun): value; quality of being good and deserving

praise for it.

There are a lot of universities that offer merit-based

scholarships.

78 Net (noun): money left after you have subtracted the cost
of what you are selling and other expenses related to the
selling process.

What is your company’s net profit?

79 Notion (noun): a belief or idea.

The notion that older people are more experienced and

knowledgeable is a bit biased.

80 Occur (verb): happen.

If any new symptoms occur, visit the hospital

immediately.

81 Overlap (verb): to cover some parts of something else; to

share some common parts.

I am afraid our goals do not overlap at all.

82 Paradigm (noun): A pattern or model; a set of

assumptions.

The usual paradigm for economic growth in developed

countries might not apply to some poor nations.

83 Per capita (adverb/adjective): amount for each person.

Our company sells 15 garment pieces per capita each

year.

84 Permeate (verb): to spread through something and

become part of it.

The surface is coated with some plastic to prevent

liquids from permeating into the wood.
85 Persevere (verb): to continue doing something despite
all the difficulties.

Despite all the challenges, our team will persevere

with the project.

86 Predicament (noun): a difficult situation that is hard to

get out of.

I was hoping to get a loan from a bank to escape my

financial predicament.

87 Prejudiced (adjective): showing unreasonable dislike

toward someone or something.

You cannot be on the jury as you are clearly prejudiced

against the suspect.

88 Prevailing (adjective): strongest and most common.

The prevailing belief is that inflation is going to go up.

89 Privileged (adjective): having a special advantage.

Despite her privileged position, she tried to act as an

ordinary person.

90 Promote (verb): to give someone a raise or a higher

position; to spread some ideas in favor of them.

He was promoted to regional manager.

I believe some ideas should not be promoted in

schools.
91 Prosper (verb): to do very well (in one’s business or life).

Their company has been prospering for years.

92 Regulate (verb): to control something.

The stock and bond markets are regulated by the

Central Bank.

93 Retrieve (verb): to get something back.

The files were retrieved from the computer.

94 Subsidy (noun): money given by a government or other

organization to support an activity.

How are you planning to spend the government

subsidy?

95 Surveillance (noun): the act of watching a person or a

place.

This place has been under surveillance 24/7. There

are cameras everywhere.

96 Suspend (verb): to cause to stop for some time.

Mike was suspended from his position as CEO.

97 Tangible (adjective): real; able to be touched, seen,
experienced.

We need some tangible evidence to take this case to

court.

98 Tolerate (verb): to accept beliefs and ideas that are

different from yours, and with which you don’t agree
with.

I will not tolerate that kind of behavior.

99 Trigger (verb): to initiate or cause something.

These amendments might trigger some dissatisfaction

among people.

100 Unleash (verb): to release a thing or emotion.

The new product is set to unleash a wave of innovation

in the tech industry, revolutionizing how we interact
with everyday devices.