30 fancy words that will make you sound smarter

Try: Pervicacious, meaning obstinate and unyielding. This term comes from the Latin word for “to prevail.” You may use this in a sentence when describing someone’s stubbornness.

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Try: Obfuscate, meaning to make obscure or unclear. Suspects in a crime and politicians often obfuscate when they don’t want to answer a question directly.

Try: Fastidious, meaning excessively particular or demanding, and specifically very concerned about accuracy and detail. Next time a prospective employer asks about your strengths, you can boast about your fastidious attention to detail.

Try: Sycophant, a self-seeking flatterer. It’s much easier to call someone out as a suck-up when you’re not actually using the word suck-up.

Try: Articulate, meaning having the ability to speak fluently or coherently. This word was the top choice in a survey conducted by Preply regarding complex vocabulary. 1,916 people were surveyed about which words they thought made people sound smart. They articulated that the word “articulate” was the most impressive.

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Try: Accolade, an award given as an acknowledgment of merit. This one came in at number two in the Preply survey. Another finding: 58% of people have used a word to sound smarter, even though they didn’t know the true meaning. But now you know and you’ll be sure to earn the accolade of intelligence if you use this one, or maybe you could award someone a prestigious accolade for using their own fancy words.

Try: Brevity, meaning the concise use of words in writing or speech. Coming in at number three according to the Preply survey is “brevity.” Maybe you’re enjoying the brevity of this article or maybe you’ll appreciate the brevity of a friends’ story – and your ability to use the word brevity.

Try: Anomaly, meaning something that moves away from what is normal. Using fancy words is no longer an anomaly. The Preply survey found this to be the fourth most impressive word, so be sure to incorporate this one when you can. 78% of respondents also believe that using big words does indeed make someone seem smarter.

Try: Adulation, meaning excessive admiration or praise. Last but not least, this word came in at number five in the Preply survey. Use this term when you’re discussing flattery such as fans giving adulation to a musician, artist, or maybe even this list.

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Source: RD.com