What C1 vocabulary means
C1 learners understand demanding, longer texts and recognise implicit meaning, use language flexibly for social, academic and professional purposes and produce well-structured text on complex subjects. C1 words are less frequent and more precise: scrutiny, elaborate, drawback, timid.
With C1 vocabulary most modern novels and quality newspapers can be read with only occasional look-ups. The words are rarer, so each one appears less often, and wide reading becomes the only practical way to meet them.
The 100 most common C1 words
These are the words on the C1 list you will meet most often in real English texts. Start with them.
- trying
- removed
- jersey
- coverage
- debut
- premier
- cite
- clinical
- sacrifice
- carrier
- mechanism
- hack
- grounds
- con
- chill
- comprise
- legacy
- hence
- whilst
- charter
- acre
- scenario
- contractor
- convict
- collaboration
- diversity
- quest
- amateur
- suspension
- conviction
- corps
- compel
- isolated
- pioneer
- dominant
- jurisdiction
- transit
- criteria
- bulk
- marvel
- portray
- render
- advisory
- sustainable
- depict
- comply
- structural
- compliance
- magnetic
- elevate
- calorie
- swap
- specification
- trauma
- vertical
- duration
- expire
- sentiment
- demo
- elaborate
- gig
- restoration
- fossil
- linear
- provisions
- facial
- gem
- rotate
- prophet
- consultation
- preach
- prop
- align
- stoke
- clan
- notable
- testament
- faction
- hostile
- ego
- ethical
- sequel
- strap
- verdict
- inclusion
- fraction
- specimen
- clutch
- fixture
- fusion
- peninsula
- oversee
- speculation
- thereby
- predecessor
- aesthetic
- premises
- citation
- harassment
- precision
C1 words by part of speech
| Part of speech | Most common examples |
|---|---|
| Nouns | jersey, coverage, debut, premier, sacrifice, carrier, mechanism, hack, grounds, con |
| Verbs | debut, cite, sacrifice, hack, con, chill, comprise, charter, convict, compel |
| Adjectives | trying, removed, jersey, premier, clinical, amateur, isolated, dominant, advisory, sustainable |
| Adverbs | hence, thereby, substantially, remotely, voluntarily, mutually, commercially, indefinitely, beforehand, inherently |
How many words do you need for C1?
This list has 910 words. Together, the lists from A1 to C1 contain 7,629 words. The CEFR itself does not define word counts; these figures are the size of the CEFR-J and Octanove lists. Your real vocabulary also includes names, new words and specialist words that no list covers.
To measure your overall vocabulary, take the English vocabulary size test; it also estimates your CEFR level.
How to learn C1 words
At C1, learn words from what you read rather than from lists. Pay attention to collocations (heavy scrutiny, a major drawback) and to the tone of each word, which matters as much as its meaning.
- Use the self-test above to see what share of the C1 words you already know.
- Pick one of the free C1 English books and start reading.
- Tap any word you don't know in Okuzeka to see its meaning in that sentence, in your language.
- Save useful words as flashcards with their sentences and review them over the next few days.
- When you score above 85%, move on to the C2 list.
Where this list comes from
The C1 and C2 words come from the Octanove Vocabulary Profile by Octanove Labs, which extends the CEFR-J approach to advanced levels. The list is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Okuzeka kept the single-word headwords and sorted them by word frequency. Other lists, such as the Cambridge English Vocabulary Profile or the Oxford 3000/5000, may give some words a different level, and a word's level can depend on the meaning being taught.
