4 Surefire Means Of Improving Your Vocabulary

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While you might not pull out words such as “loquacious” or “garrulous” very often, it’s nice to have a wider vocabulary. It can not only make us seem more intelligent, but it also helps us fall in love with language and communication which helps you become better at both.

Of course, there’s no shame in reaching for a thesaurus when you need one, especially if you’re creatively writing. That’s what they’ve been created for, after all. Moreover, you don’t necessarily need to use the most expansive vocabulary and the most archaic words to come across well, sometimes simpler is better.

But again, if each word is a tool, you can only be served by having a wider toolset. For this reason, let’s explore a few ways in which you can improve your vocabulary, and do so with confidence.

Read More Books & Classic Lit

It’s always healthy and nurturing to begin reading more, and not just the usual fare. Classic literature especially can show us words that aren’t as common in everyday speech but still hold value, and it’s fun to look up words you don’t recognize. Some of the classic writers like Austen, Dickens, and Tolstoy used language with a richness that’s hard to come by in modern writing. If you have an e-reader, you can even long press a word and have it defined for you.

That’s not to say you need to slog through dense texts if they don’t appeal to you or this is the only way to read, as often well-written contemporary novels can introduce you to new words in a natural way. The secret is to read widely and not to turn your nose up at anything, be that fiction, non-fiction, essays, anything that exposes you to different writing styles and vocabulary.

You might also consider reading aloud from time to time, because it forces you to slow down and engage with the words more deeply, which makes it easier to absorb and recall them later. It’s fun to do this, so don’t think of it as homework or a chore.

Enter Writing Competitions

Writing is one of the best ways to internalize new words, because you’re using them. When you have to express yourself on paper, you naturally reach for different ways to phrase things, and that’s when your vocabulary starts to expand in your favor. Of course, there’s value in writing simply too, but you make also find little words such as “diminutive” when talking about a mouse you saw in the garden can be very expressive.

 Writing competitions can be a great motivator to push yourself creatively in line with that. They also come with prompts that challenge you to think outside your usual language patterns, and in doing so, you’re bound to discover new ways to say things and benefit as a result.

Feedback can be great here too, as some competitions offer critiques, and seeing how others think of and refine your work can be an eye-opener. Even if you don’t win, the process itself is valuable, and you can read how other people express themselves in line with all that too.

Journal Your Thoughts

Journaling is a very health habit that benefits nearly every aspect of how you communicate with yourself and others. It also encourages you to think through your words carefully, as you begin to find precise ways to describe emotions or events, and develop a stronger connection with the language you use daily. 

If anything, it might just make you pause and write without a keyboard involved, which is often rare for us in 2025. The best part is that there’s no pressure either, no audience, no grading, just you and your thoughts. So you can use a word and perhaps not have it critiqued like a competition may expose you to.

Play Word Games

Sometimes, the best way to learn is through play. Children know this after all, but we tend to forget that as “grown ups.”  Word games and puzzles are a pretty fun way to challenge your vocabulary and introduce new words without feeling like study, as these word connect answers will often show you.

Crossword puzzles, for example, are fantastic for picking up lesser-known words, especially if you take the time to look up anything unfamiliar that may be puzzling you. Scrabble and Boggle are great fun and also push you to think creatively about word formation.

With this advice, you’re sure to enjoy the most stupifying, sensational, and solidified vocabulary out there. But try to be a little more restrained than we just were! 

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