10 Advanced English Verbs to Level Up Your Vocabulary
Hello everyone,
Are you working on taking your English skills to an advanced level?
Building up your vocabulary with more sophisticated verbs is a great way to get there.
Today we’ll look at 10 verbs that are considered C2 level on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) scale.
Don’t worry – I’ll explain them in easy-to-understand language!
Alleviate
Meaning: To make something less painful, severe or difficult
Examples:
- The new medication helped alleviate her migraine symptoms.
- Talking to a therapist can alleviate feelings of anxiety and depression.
- Adding a few fans alleviated the heat in the crowded auditorium.
Amalgamate
Meaning: To combine or unite into one form or body
Examples:
- The two companies amalgamated to form a new larger corporation.
- The recipe instructs you to amalgamate the wet and dry ingredients.
- The artist amalgamated different painting styles into her unique works.
Corroborate
Meaning: To confirm or support with evidence
Examples:
- Multiple witnesses corroborated the suspect’s alibi.
- The new data corroborates the findings from the previous study.
- Can you corroborate your claim with any documentation?
Deter
Meaning: To discourage or prevent from acting
Examples:
- The high fines are meant to deter people from illegal parking.
- A strong military can help deter attacks from hostile nations.
- The bad reviews didn’t deter us from going to that restaurant.
Elucidate
Meaning: To make clear, explain
Examples:
- Can you elucidate what you mean by that statement?
- The teacher elucidated the concepts behind the math formulas.
- I need you to elucidate your plan in more detail.
Extrapolate
Meaning: To estimate or conclude something by extending known information
Examples:
- From the survey data, we can extrapolate that 60% of people prefer product A over B.
- By extrapolating the current growth trends, analysts predict the company’s stock will double in 5 years.
- You can’t just extrapolate that because she was late once she’s always late – that’s an overgeneralization.
Impede
Meaning: To delay, obstruct or hinder progress
Examples:
- The snow storm impeded our travel plans and we got stuck extra days.
- Walking with a cane impedes his mobility but he manages.
- Please don’t impede the investigation by withholding information.
Obviate
Meaning: To make something unnecessary or prevent from happening
Examples:
- Automating that task obviates the need for employees to do it manually.
- A air conditioning unit would obviate the use of fans in the office.
- Proper planning obviates many potential problems down the road.
Proliferate
Meaning: To grow or increase rapidly in number
Examples:
- Low-cost mobile devices have proliferated across developing nations.
- Fake news has proliferated on social media in recent years.
- Complaints about noise have proliferated in this neighborhood since the new bar opened.
Relegate
Meaning: To assign to a low or inferior rank, position or place
Examples:
- After her poor performance review, she was relegated to smaller accounts.
- Let’s not relegate environmental issues to being an afterthought – they are critical.
- With the advent of cars, horses were relegated to recreational purposes only.
By using words like these in your conversations and writing, you’ll become better at expressing yourself in a more accurate and fancy way.
This shows that you have truly mastered the English language.
Keep practicing, search for new word definitions when necessary, and soon enough, using these advanced verbs will feel completely natural to you!
