Edge: Academic Vocabulary

Play this list to monitor your comprehension of words from the Edge books:

To review your knowledge, check out this list: Inside: Academic Vocabulary
100 words 965 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. abstract
    not representing or imitating external reality
  2. access
    reach or gain entrance to
  3. allusion
    passing reference or indirect mention
  4. analogy
    drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity
  5. antagonist
    someone who offers opposition
  6. argument
    a discussion for and against some proposition or proposal
  7. aspect
    a characteristic to be considered
  8. assess
    estimate the nature, quality, ability or significance of
  9. assume
    take to be the case or to be true
  10. attitude
    a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings
  11. audience
    the part of the general public interested in something
  12. author
    a person who writes professionally
  13. bias
    a partiality preventing objective consideration of an issue
  14. character
    an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction
  15. chronology
    an arrangement of events in time
  16. circumstance
    the set of facts that surround a situation or event
  17. claim
    an assertion that something is true or factual
  18. clarify
    make clear and comprehensible
  19. climax
    the decisive moment in a novel or play
  20. coherent
    marked by an orderly and consistent relation of parts
  21. complicate
    make less simple
  22. comprehension
    an ability to understand the meaning of something
  23. consequence
    a phenomenon that is caused by some previous phenomenon
  24. contribute
    be conducive to
  25. controversial
    marked by or capable of causing disagreement
  26. debate
    discuss the pros and cons of an issue
  27. detect
    discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
  28. development
    the act of improving by expanding, enlarging, or refining
  29. dialogue
    the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction
  30. distinction
    a discrimination between things as different
  31. draft
    any of the various versions in the development of a work
  32. drama
    a work intended for performance by actors on a stage
  33. dynamic
    characterized by action or forcefulness of personality
  34. edit
    prepare for publication or presentation by revising
  35. emotional
    of or pertaining to feelings
  36. emphasize
    stress or single out as important
  37. essential
    of the greatest importance
  38. expository
    serving to expound or set forth
  39. external
    coming from the outside
  40. figurative
    not literal
  41. flashback
    a transition in a story to an earlier event or scene
  42. foreshadowing
    the act of providing vague advance indications
  43. genre
    a kind of literary or artistic work
  44. highlight
    move into the foreground to make more visible or prominent
  45. imagine
    expect, believe, or suppose
  46. impact
    a forceful consequence; a strong effect
  47. incident
    a single distinct event
  48. insight
    clear or deep perception of a situation
  49. internal
    located inward
  50. investigation
    the work of inquiring into something thoroughly
  51. issue
    some situation or event that is thought about
  52. justify
    show to be reasonable or provide adequate ground for
  53. label
    a brief description given for purposes of identification
  54. major
    of greater importance or stature or rank
  55. memoir
    an account of the author's personal experiences
  56. mental
    involving the mind or an intellectual process
  57. metaphor
    a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity
  58. minor
    of lesser importance or stature or rank
  59. monitor
    keep an eye on; keep under surveillance
  60. motivation
    psychological feature arousing action toward a desired goal
  61. narrator
    someone who tells a story
  62. objectivity
    judgment based on observable phenomena
  63. observation
    the act of noticing or paying attention
  64. omniscient
    knowing, seeing, or understanding everything
  65. parody
    a composition that imitates or misrepresents a style
  66. perception
    knowledge gained by awareness through the senses
  67. persuasion
    communication intended to induce belief or action
  68. phenomenon
    any state or process known through the senses
  69. playwright
    someone who writes plays
  70. plot
    the story that is told, as in a novel, play, movie, etc.
  71. primary
    of first rank or importance or value
  72. priority
    status established in order of importance or urgency
  73. profile
    biographical sketch
  74. proofread
    read for errors
  75. protagonist
    the principal character in a work of fiction
  76. quotation
    a passage or expression that is cited
  77. reaction
    an idea evoked by some experience
  78. rebut
    overthrow by argument, evidence, or proof
  79. recall
    summon knowledge from memory
  80. relevance
    the relation of something to the matter at hand
  81. reliable
    conforming to fact and therefore worthy of belief
  82. repetition
    the continued use of the same word or word pattern
  83. representation
    a presentation to the mind in the form of an idea or image
  84. resolution
    finding an answer to a problem
  85. revelation
    an enlightening or astonishing disclosure
  86. revision
    the act of rewriting something
  87. rhythm
    an interval during which a recurring sequence occurs
  88. sensory
    involving or derived from the senses
  89. setting
    the context and environment in which something is situated
  90. simile
    a figure of speech expressing a resemblance between things
  91. speculate
    reflect deeply on a subject
  92. static
    showing little if any change
  93. strategy
    an elaborate and systematic plan of action
  94. survey
    determining opinions by interviewing people
  95. suspense
    excited anticipation of an approaching climax
  96. syntax
    the study of the rules for forming admissible sentences
  97. synthesize
    combine and form a complex whole
  98. thesis
    an unproved statement advanced as a premise in an argument
  99. unity
    an undivided or unbroken completeness with nothing wanting
  100. vary
    become different in some particular way
Created on Tue Aug 09 10:48:04 EDT 2016 (updated Tue Aug 09 12:33:35 EDT 2016)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.