In today’s fast-changing world, using clear and strong language is very important. When you choose your words wisely, it not only helps you express yourself better but also boosts your influence in conversations.
We’ve picked 138 big fancy words to help you speak more elegantly and intelligently every day. As you start using these words, think about how they can change simple chats into impactful discussions. How could this step up your game in both your work and social life?
138 Big Fancy Words to Boost Your Elegance
| Word | Definition |
| Absolution | Formal release from guilt or punishment |
| Acquiesce | To accept something reluctantly but without protest |
| Aesthetic | Concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty |
| Alacrity | Brisk and cheerful readiness |
| Ameliorate | To make something bad or unsatisfactory better |
| Amicable | Having a spirit of friendliness |
| Anachronistic | Belonging to a period other than that being portrayed |
| Antithesis | A person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else |
| Apocryphal | Of doubtful authenticity, although widely circulated as being true |
| Approbation | Approval or praise |
| Ardent | Enthusiastic or passionate |
| Assiduous | Showing great care and perseverance |
| Audacious | Showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks |
| Auspicious | Conducive to success; favorable |
| Austere | Severe or strict in manner, attitude, or appearance |
| Benevolent | Well-meaning and kindly |
| Blasphemy | The act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for something sacred |
| Boisterous | Noisy, energetic, and cheerful |
| Cacophony | A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds |
| Cajole | To persuade someone to do something by sustained coaxing or flattery |
| Callous | Showing or having an insensitive and cruel disregard for others |
| Candor | The quality of being open and honest in expression |
| Capricious | Given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior |
| Caustic | Sarcastic in a scathing and bitter way |
| Censure | To express severe disapproval of someone or something, especially in a formal statement |
| Circuitous | Longer than the most direct way |
| Circumlocution | The use of many words where fewer would do, especially in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive |
| Circumspect | Wary and unwilling to take risks |
| Clairvoyant | Having an ability to perceive events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact |
| Clandestine | Kept secret or done secretively, especially because illicit |
| Coalesce | Come together to form one mass or whole |
| Cogent | Clear, logical, and convincing |
| Complacent | Showing smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievements |
| Conflagration | An extensive fire that destroys a great deal of land or property |
| Contrite | Feeling or expressing remorse or penitence |
| Conundrum | A confusing and difficult problem or question |
| Convivial | Friendly, lively, and enjoyable |
| Corroborate | Confirm or give support to (a statement, theory, or finding) |
| Credulity | A tendency to be too ready to believe that something is real or true |
| Cursory | Hasty and therefore not thorough or detailed |
| Debilitate | To weaken, hinder |
| Decadent | Characterized by or reflecting a state of moral or cultural decline |
| Decorous | In keeping with good taste and propriety; polite and restrained |
| Deleterious | Causing harm or damage |
| Demagogue | A political leader who seeks support by appealing to desires and prejudices rather than rational argument |
| Denigrate | Criticize unfairly; disparage |
| Deride | To express contempt for; ridicule |
| Despot | A ruler or other person who holds absolute power, typically one who exercises it in a cruel or oppressive way |
| Diatribe | A forceful and bitter verbal attack against someone or something |
| Didactic | Intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive |
| Dilatory | Slow to act |
| Disaffected | Dissatisfied with the people in authority and no longer willing to support them |
| Disparage | Regard or represent as being of little worth |
| Dissemble | Conceal one’s true motives, feelings, or beliefs |
| Eclectic | Deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources |
| Edification | The instruction or improvement of a person morally or intellectually |
| Effervescent | Vivacious and enthusiastic |
| Egregious | Outstandingly bad; shocking |
| Enervate | Cause (someone) to feel drained of energy or vitality; weaken |
| Ephemeral | Lasting for a very short time |
| Equanimity | Mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation |
| Equivocate | Use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself |
| Eschew | Deliberately avoid using; abstain from |
| Espouse | Adopt or support (a cause, belief, or way of life) |
| Evanescent | Soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence; quickly fading or disappearing |
| Exacerbate | Make (a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling) worse |
| Exculpate | Show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing |
| Exigent | Pressing; demanding |
| Exonerate | Absolve (someone) from blame for a fault or wrongdoing, especially after due consideration of the case |
| Expunge | Erase or remove completely (something unwanted or unpleasant) |
| Extol | Praise enthusiastically |
| Extricate | Free (someone or something) from a constraint or difficulty |
| Facetious | Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor |
| Fallacious | Based on a mistaken belief |
| Fastidious | Very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail |
| Fatuous | Silly and pointless |
| Fecund | Producing or capable of producing an abundance of offspring or new growth; fertile |
| Felicity | Intense happiness |
| Flagrant | Conspicuously or obviously offensive |
| Florid | Having a red or flushed complexion |
| Foible | A minor weakness or eccentricity in someone’s character |
| Fractious | Irritable and quarrelsome |
| Garrulous | Excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters |
| Grandiloquent | Pompous or extravagant in language, style, or manner |
| Gregarious | Fond of company; sociable |
| Hackneyed | Lacking significance through having been overused |
| Hapless | Unfortunate |
| Harangue | A lengthy and aggressive speech |
| Hegemony | Leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group over others |
| Iconoclast | A person who attacks or criticizes cherished beliefs or institutions |
| Idiosyncratic | Peculiar or individual |
| Ignominious | Deserving or causing public disgrace or shame |
| Imbroglio | An extremely confused, complicated, or embarrassing situation |
| Impetuous | Acting or done quickly and without thought or care |
| Implacable | Unable to be placated |
| Inchoate | Just begun and so not fully formed or developed; rudimentary |
| Indefatigable | Persisting tirelessly |
| Ineffable | Too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words |
| Inexorable | Impossible to stop or prevent |
| Inimical | Tending to obstruct or harm |
| Innocuous | Not harmful or offensive |
| Insidious | Proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects |
| Intransigent | Unwilling or refusing to change one’s views or to agree about something |
| Inveterate | Having a particular habit, activity, or interest that is long-established and unlikely to change |
| Irascible | Easily angered |
| Laconic | Using very few words |
| Largesse | Generosity in bestowing money or gifts upon others |
| Lassitude | A state of physical or mental weariness; lack of energy |
| Licentious | Promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matters |
| Limpid | Clear and transparent |
| Lurid | Very vivid in color, especially so as to create an unpleasantly harsh or unnatural effect |
| Magnanimous | Generous or forgiving, especially toward a rival or less powerful person |
| Mendacious | Not telling the truth; lying |
| Multifarious | Many and of various types |
| Munificent | More generous than is usual or necessary |
| Nefarious | Wicked or criminal |
| Obdurate | Stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or course of action |
| Obfuscate | Render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible |
| Obsequious | Obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree |
| Obstinate | Stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or chosen course of action |
| Omnipotent | Having unlimited power |
| Omniscient | Knowing everything |
| Ostentatious | Characterized by vulgar or pretentious display; designed to impress or attract notice |
| Palliate | Make (a disease or its symptoms) less severe without removing the cause |
| Panacea | A solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases |
| Paradigm | A typical example or pattern of something; a model |
| Paragon | A person or thing regarded as a perfect example of a particular quality |
| Pejorative | Expressing contempt or disapproval |
| Perfunctory | Carried out with a minimum of effort or reflection |
| Perspicacious | Having a ready insight into and understanding of things |
| Phlegmatic | Having an unemotional and stolidly calm disposition |
| Pithy | Concise and forcefully expressive |
| Platitude | A remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful |
| Plethora | A large or excessive amount of something |
| Polemic | A strong verbal or written attack on someone or something |
| Precipitate | Cause (an event or situation, typically one that is bad or undesirable) to happen suddenly, unexpectedly, or prematurely |
| Proclivity | A tendency to choose or do something regularly; an inclination or predisposition toward a particular thing |
| Prodigal | Spending money or resources freely and recklessly |
| Profligate | Recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources |
| Prolific | Present in large numbers or quantities; plentiful |
| Propensity | An inclination or natural tendency to behave in a particular way |
| Propitious | Giving or indicating a good chance of success; favorable |
| Pugnacious | Eager or quick to argue, quarrel, or fight |
| Querulous | Complaining in a petulant or whining manner |
| Quixotic | Exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical |
| Recalcitrant | Having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline |
| Redolent | Strongly reminiscent or suggestive of something |
| Reprehensible | Deserving censure or condemnation |
| Rescind | Revoke, cancel, or repeal (a law, order, or agreement) |
| Reticent | Not revealing one’s thoughts or feelings readily |
| Rhapsodic | Extravagantly enthusiastic |
| Sagacious | Having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgment |
| Salient | Most noticeable or important |
| Sanctimonious | Making a show of being morally superior to other people |
| Sanguine | Optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation |
| Scurrilous | Making or spreading scandalous claims about someone with the intention of damaging their reputation |
| Spurious | Not being what it purports to be; false or fake |
| Staid | Sedate, respectable, and unadventurous |
| Stolid | Calm, dependable, and showing little emotion or animation |
| Strident | Loud and harsh; grating |
| Supercilious | Behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others |
| Surreptitious | Kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of |
| Sycophant | A person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage |
| Taciturn | Reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little |
| Tempestuous | Characterized by strong and turbulent or conflicting emotion |
| Tenacious | Tending to keep a firm hold of something; clinging or adhering closely |
| Timorous | Showing or suffering from nervousness, fear, or a lack of confidence |
| Torpid | Mentally or physically inactive; lethargic |
| Truculent | Eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant |
| Unctuous | (Of a person) excessively or ingratiatingly flattering; oily |
| Uxorious | Having or showing an excessive or submissive fondness for one’s wife |
| Vacuous | Having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence; mindless |
| Vapid | Offering nothing that is stimulating or challenging; bland |
| Veracity | Conformity to facts; accuracy |
| Vicissitude | A change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant |
| Vilify | Speak or write about in an abusively disparaging manner |
| Vociferous | (Especially of a person or speech) vehement or clamorous |
| Winsome | Attractive or appealing in appearance or character |
| Wizened | Shriveled or wrinkled with age |
| Zealous | Having or showing zeal |
| Zenith | The time at which something is most powerful or successful |
Conclusion
In short, using big words isn’t just showing off. It really improves how we express ourselves. These 138 words are great tools for anyone who wants to sharpen their speaking or writing. Knowing these words well can make us sound smarter and more sophisticated. It helps us share our ideas and feelings more clearly and effectively.
Benjamin, a content writer at Paige Simple, brings a practical and motivating touch to everything he writes. With a background in psychology and a love for personal growth, Benjamin enjoys helping readers find joy in everyday moments. When he’s not writing, you’ll find him hiking, practicing yoga, or experimenting in the kitchen. Stay tuned for Benjamin’s tips on living a more inspired and joyful life.