If you know these 15 Words, your English is EXCELLENT!

Hello, lovely students, and welcome back to English with Lucy.

I'm here to put your English vocabulary knowledge to the test.

If you know and can effectively use these 15 words, your English is excellent.

There's no question about it.

We'll start off with some slightly easier

words, but soon we'll be in the land of super-advanced vocabulary that even the

biggest bookworms may never have come across.

These are 15 super-advanced words.

I have also created a free PDF to go with this video.

It contains everything we discuss, and I've included 15 extra words.

I've also included some interactive exercises to help your memory and retention.

If you'd like to download the PDF, learn the 15 extra words, and get access to

those interactive exercises, all you have to do is click the link in the

description box, or follow this link here, or scan that QR code.

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Then you enter your name and your email address.

You sign up for my mailing list, and the PDF will arrive directly in your inbox.

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Let's get started with our 15 words.

Make sure you share your score out of 15

in the comments section.

I'll be looking out for them.

The 1st: 'frothy'.

I love how this word sounds!

The /θ/ sound can be a bit tricky to get, though: 'frothy', 'frothy'.

Now, does the word sound familiar to you?

Here it is in context:

'The cappuccino was topped with a layer of frothy milk.'

We use the adjective 'frothy' to describe liquids which have loads of air bubbles.

Perhaps you've ordered yourself 'a frothy coffee' or 'a frothy hot chocolate'.

Number 2; 'clock', 'clock'.

Now, I'm not talking about the noun 'clock'.

Believe it or not, we can use 'clock' as a verb.

Any ideas what this could mean?

Take a look at this sentence:

'He clocked their suspicious behaviour and

immediately reported it to security.'

'Clock' actually has several meanings as a

verb, so I've included some more in the PDF, but

what about right here?

Well, in British English, we often use

'clock' to mean 'notice' or 'realise'.

'To clock something'='to notice something'.

Number 3: this is cute, 'tinker', 'tinker'.

'He spent days tinkering with the old

radio in the hope of getting it to work again.'

If you 'tinker with something', you make

small changes in an attempt to improve or fix it.

And why not just use the verb 'improve' or 'fix'?

Well, we often use the verb 'tinker' if

we're not very hopeful that the object will be improved or fixed.

'I often tinker with things.

My dad fixes things.

He fixes the things that I tinkered with.'

Okay, number 4, number 4.

It's unbelievable how often I do that.

'Feign', 'feign'.

Notice the 'ei' spelling here.

We normally write 'ie'.

It's normally 'i' before 'e' except after 'c', but here, 'feign', 'ei'. Have you heard this

word before?

Here it is in a sentence:

'She feigned surprise when she heard the news, even though she already knew.'

'If you feigned something', you pretend to have a particular feeling.

'She feigned surprise' means she pretended to be surprised.

'Feigned surprise' is a very strong collocation that I clearly enjoy acting out.

We can also 'feign enthusiasm', 'interest', and 'illness' as well.

Speaking of illness, there's a bit of a clue for the next phrase for number 5,

'the sniffles', 'the sniffles'.

Maybe you've heard the word 'sniff'.

That's another clue.

Well, the word 'sniff' is onomatopoeic,

and this means that it sounds very similar to the word it describes.

Words like 'bang', 'swoosh', and 'crack'.

They are all onomatopoeic.

Okay, 'sniff'.

'Sniff' is the sound you make when you

breathe in through your nose, and 'to have the sniffles' is a really cute expression,

which means you have a slight cold, you're sniffing a lot.

'Can you pass me the tissues?

I've got the sniffles.'

Okay, let's move on to number 6: 'peruse'.

'Peruse'.

I love how formal I sound when I say this word.

An example—'There is a selection of

newspapers and magazines for you to peruse at your leisure.'

I sound like I'm in Bridgerton or something.

We often use this word in a humorous way

to mean to read something, especially in a careful or thorough way.

Now, be careful not to mix this up with 

the word 'pursue', just  swapping over those letters.

That means to try and achieve or get something.

Number 7: 'berserk'.

You can say /bəˈsɜːk/ or /bəˈzɜːk/.

I pronounce this word with the voiced 'z',

but you can also pronounce it with the unvoiced 's', /bəˈsɜːk/.

Here's an example.

'My mum went berserk when she found out I

took her car without asking.'

If someone 'goes berserk', they become

uncontrollably angry.

And I mean really angry!

You can make it even stronger and say—'My mum went absolutely berserk.'

I'm pretty sure that's the angriest you can ever be.

We also do sometimes use it in a slightly more positive way to describe extreme excitement.

For example—'The crowd went berserk when Taylor Swift came on stage.'

Now, some of you may know that I am a bit of a Swifty and the next word appears in

one of my favourite songs.

Extra points if you can tell me which one

it is in the comments.

Number 8: 'antithetical'.

An example—'The act of violence was antithetical to our national values.'

Now, this is a tricky one and I will admit, I looked it up in the dictionary

when I heard it for the first time.

If something is 'antithetical',

it's directly the opposite  of someone or something.

Even though Taylor Swift uses it in one

of her songs, it is pretty formal, and you'll likely read it more than you'll

hear it.

Okay, time for number 9: 'parched'.

An example—'I'm parched after that long hike'.

So, this is an informal expression that

means very thirsty.

'I'm parched.'

We can also use it more generally to describe something that is incredibly dry,

like 'parched land', 'parched soil', or 'parched lips'.

'My lips become parched if I sleep in a room with air conditioning.'

Number 10: 'inculcate', 'inculcate'.

An example—'My parents tried to inculcate

a strong sense of responsibility in me from a young age.'

If you 'inculcate something in' or 'into' someone, you gradually put an idea, habit

or attitude into their mind.

This usually involves persistent

instruction over a long period of time.

Okay, just five to go now.

How are you doing so far?

Are you ready for number 11?

I was talking about this today with my mother.

It is 'doomscrolling'.

'Doomscrolling', great word!

This combines the words 'doom' and 'scrolling'.

Do you recognise either of them?

Any guesses as to what it means when we

join the two?

Maybe you've heard the phrase 'doom and

gloom', which refers to a feeling of hopelessness.

'Scrolling' is the act of moving down a

screen to read text or to watch short videos, which is my problem.

Here's the compound 'doomscrolling' in a sentence:

'He realised his mood was getting worse

because of his habit of doomscrolling before bed.'

The word 'doomscrolling' refers to the action of addictively consuming negative

news on social media, usually on a mobile device.

I need to stop doomscrolling.

There's another phrase I love, which is 'to get into a scroll hole'.

You know, when you're on TikTok or Instagram and you realise—oh my word,

have I just spent 30 minutes just scrolling through my phone?

I'm in a scroll hole.

I don't even know how I got here.

Number 12: this one's a bit different.

This is 'an initialism', 'an initialism'.

'An initialism' is an abbreviation formed by taking the first letter of the words

in the name.

Each letter is pronounced individually.

For example, 'DVD', 'Digital Versatile Disc'.

Our initialism is 'ASMR'.

Notice how I stress the last letter 'R'.

An example—'She watches ASMR videos to

help her relax and fall asleep.'

These kinds of videos have become super

popular on YouTube recently.

Maybe you're a fan.

'ASMR' is an abbreviation of 'Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response'.

It refers to the pleasant sensation you may feel, especially at the top of the

head and back of the neck, when you hear certain gentle noises or movements.

These feelings are often referred to as tingles, and the noises or movements that

cause them triggers.

I could try it.

Does this make you feel weird?

Maybe I should try ASMR

one day.

Not sure if I'd be that good at it.

Number 13: 'cringeworthy', 'cringeworthy'.

This adjective perfectly describes my

Facebook posts from 10 to 15 years ago.

An example—'His attempt at telling a joke

during the meeting was so cringeworthy 

that everyone fell silent  and avoided eye contact.'

When you 'cringe', you feel horrendously embarrassed, and will often make this

kind of face or movement.

Ugh, if something is 'cringeworthy', it

will make you cringe.

What would you describe as 'cringeworthy'?

Maybe it's your dad's silly dancing, or watching a video of yourself singing karaoke.

Okay, the penultimate one now, 'nimby', 'nimby'.

This, like ASMR, is also an abbreviation,

but we don't pronounce each letter separately.

And in British English, we don't write it

in capital letters.

In the US, you will likely see it written

like this, 'NIMBY'.

What is a 'nimby', and what does the word

stand for?

See if you can guess.

I think you're going to like this one.

Let's give you an example—'The nimbies are

opposing the development of a new wind farm in East Lancashire.'

'Nimby' stands for 'not in my backyard', 'not in my backyard', 'nimby'.

It refers to when people oppose developments close to them, but do not

object to them being built elsewhere.

A 'backyard' is similar to a garden.

So you're essentially saying—no, I don't want that in my garden, but you can build

it in someone else's.

And number 15: 'bouncebackability',  'bouncebackability'.

Try saying that really fast, 'bouncebackability'.

Here it is in a full sentence:

'United's bouncebackability was evident when they won the match after losing

their star player to injury early in the game.'

This phrase refers to the ability to

recover quickly from setbacks, especially in sport.

It comes from the phrasal verb 'to bounce back', which means to recover.

Okay, how many did you get right?

How many of these words were new to you

and which ones were your favourites?

I do really love 'NIMBY'.

It's so funny because it's so true.

So many people are like that.

Remember, we have 15 extra words in the free PDF that you can download right now.

And I've included some interactive activities so that you can test your

understanding and secure these words in your memory forever.

Just click on the link in the description if you'd like to download that.

If you are a big fan of advanced vocabulary and advanced English, I feel

you might love my Beautiful British English C1 Programme.

In this programme, we go deep into the nuances of English.

Take a look at what some of my graduates, my C1 course graduates, have to say.

It's the most advanced programme we've ever created and the results have been phenomenal.

If you'd like to check it out and learn more, visit englishwithlucy.com.

I will see you soon for another lesson.

Muah!