How broad is your vocabulary?

[VelvetDivan 96]

Spotted this on Tumblr the other day, and being an English geek, I had to know.  The test estimates how many words you know, based on a sampling of words for which you know at least one definition.

 

http://testyourvocab.com/

 

 

I scored 29,000 words, though a friend of mine scored nearly 40,000, so I didn't have a big head for long. 

 

If some of the words you see during the test pique your curiosity, copy and paste them elsewhere before you finish so you can look them up later.  The test doesn't explain the ones you missed afterwards, or anything.

[Champion RD92 8,658]

All right, I took the test and I got 19,300 words.

 

I was honestly surprised that I didn't even know a lot of the words. I actually had never even heard of a lot of them...I guess my vocabulary isn't as broad as I thought XD

[Leafeon 2,702]

Got 27,100 words. That's a bit much, honestly. I don't really use most of those fancy words, though.

 

At the same time, I got really confused when I had to describe what continuity meant to someone... On multiple occasions.

Edited February 18, 2013 by Firebolt

[Standard User 2,127]

24,800 words.

 

I don't think this is necessarily accurate...it would be just as easy for me to make a test with a hundred of the most obscure words in the English language and laugh when most everyone can identify a tenth of them. But I like to think that I have an ample vocabulary.

[Kitty Cat Moonshire 629]

Y'all are so pedantic

Haha just kidding

I'm incredibly happy that this fanbase is actually intelligent  It's quite rare now-a-days

[Gone Airbourne 21,977]

Pretty interesting test there I got 20,500 words. A lot of the words that were on there I had no clue about. But I like taking these kinds of tests from time to time.

[Rainbow Dash 1,472]

I am too indolent to take the evaluation of my competence in vocabulary. way to much clicking for me. I have a good grip on vocabulary and grammar but, where i am living right now i have to dumb down the way i talk.

**edit**
So i just finished the test. Turns out I didnt have to do that much clicking. After i finished i got an estimated vocabulary size 45,000 words. Am I smart?

Edited February 18, 2013 by DashiesInsaneProtector

[Descant 1,898]

I got 25,200. And I gotta say, some of the words on there were... Obscure, to say the least. I doubt any of them were made up, but... I've never even heard of some of them before. 

[Acoustic Cloud 2,202]

Well... ummmm...

I tested at 44,500.  I would estimate that I only use 20,000 of those in regular conversation, and possibly 10,000 on the forums XD

But I read a ton, and I actually spend free time just learning new words... even though it will never be that useful :S

[Argos 191]

(content has been removed)

Edited March 16, 2014 by Argos

[Zacharias 191]

In the second list...most of the words didn't even sound like English to me at all...

I'm really embarassed that having learned English for 10 years and using it all the time when I'm at the computer, I only know about 11,000 words... My vocabulary is seriously lacking in the "formal expressions" field unfortunately. (Words like "assessment" or "contemporary")

 

Edit: Oh hey, maybe I don't s*ck as much as I thought

 

And for foreign learners of English, we've found that
the most common vocabulary size is from 2,500–9,000

Edited February 18, 2013 by Zacharias

[Retro*Derpy 3,186]

Scored 12,900, but honestly some of the words in there you can't even base how much vocabulary you know off of it.. but o well, I am very comprehensive of the words I do know.

[Mutemutt 773]

Well I got 19,300. To be honest, that seems like a whole bunch of jargon. Heck some of the words I know now are only useful when reading the most posh of posh material.

[Betez 1,734]

I got 7,840 words. <_<

 

I only checked off words I knew the exact dictionary definition of. Most of the words on the list, if I had read in a book, I would know hat they meant. Whatever, this just means I gotta read more.

Edited February 18, 2013 by Betez

[Azure Flames 303]

Your total vocabulary size is estimated to be:24,300 words

that was Fun i did quite ok i feel smart now for a guy who didn't have English as a 1st language

[Hansel 1,512]

Wow, my vocabulary is dreadful apparently, which is funny, because my vocabulary was always better then most people at school(s). I guess that says a lot... xD

 

Anyway, I only got 16,600 words. But English is my second language, and apparently the most common vocabulary size for foreign learners is from "2,500–9,000 words." So... I guess it isn't too terrible...

Edited February 18, 2013 by Hansel

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

I got 24,700...what does that mean?

 

I'm actually surprised I knew more words than I thought, though near the end of the list they started sounding and looking less like words and more like bad Scrabble hands.

[~Chaotic Eddie~ 479]

Well, I scored 20,100. Not sure if that's good or not, but I think it's probably more than most people in my school know. Some people in my school can't even spell properly.

[decoherence 183]

34,100. Lots of strange words I never use but know the meaning of. Imbroglio hehehe I just love that word. "Hello, how is your imbroglio today?" lulz

[silvadel 1,393]

35,700 was its tally.  I tend to have to limit myself when I post and write fics etc.  There is no reason to use a $50 word when a 50 cent word will do the job.  However, very few words really shoot me down when I am reading a fic.

[VelvetDivan 96]

I think a lot of the more esoteric words are antiquated terms that simply don't see much use these days.  I certainly wouldn't classify them as jargon; if the test had included jargon (whether medical, IT, or whatever) it would be biased towards people from those fields.

 

Having a smaller vocabulary doesn't mean you're a less intelligent person by any means.  Having a larger vocabulary is like having the deluxe paint set versus the beginner's five-color set, though.  With one you get across the basic idea, but with the other you can create subtle shades of meaning, and perhaps convey precisely what you mean to in fewer words.

 

In writing, you always have to be mindful of your audience when selecting your words.  It can be tempting to bust out some big or flowery words to show off, but are they appropriate?  Are you going to alienate your reader by sounding hoity-toity?  You would use different words when writing a letter to your grandparents than writing one to your niece, and that's the basic idea.  It becomes even harder when you're writing dialog, because you're now thinking about the character's vocabulary.  It might be smaller than yours, or it might be bigger!  If it's bigger, you'll have to do some research and be sure you're using unfamiliar words properly so your smarty-pants character doesn't end up sounding insane.  They may also have certain words or phrases they tend to use a lot (I bet you have a friend who does this, and it might annoy you, but it's part of what makes them unique!) so being repetitive isn't always a sin.

[Yourmomsponies 444]

Good sweet baby jesus.

I had no idea my vocabulary was as exorbitantly large as this website says it is.

It tells me 43,600 words.

I knew I'm smart but apparently I'm a lot smarter than I think.

 

Here's my results

http://testyourvocab.com/?r=2536748

[Kamarat 103]

9.760 words. Well normally I just should feel good about it because it is not my first language and I'm 16 years old. But since I want to have a really good English, I felt really bad and I think I should really improve myself.    Oh my god I can't believe I'm going to take university exam next year. SH*T! SH*T! SH*T! SH*T!

[Celtore 2,770]

24800 words, I good effort I'd say. I know quite a few old words and I read a lot of books, but I honestly haven't heard of a lot of these. Oh well, that's the english language for you!

Edited February 18, 2013 by Celtore

[Harmonic Revelations 8,835]

32,300

English has always been my strong point, however, I prefer to use simple words when speaking to ensure that everybody I'm talking to can understand me.

 

Edit: I'll add the link.

http://testyourvocab.com/?r=2536927

Edited February 18, 2013 by Harmonic Revelations