Most TOEFL vocabulary lists are sorted by topic (anthropology words, biology words, economics words). Topic lists are useful for the Reading section, where the topic of each passage determines which lexical pool you need. They are less useful for Writing and Speaking, where every response has to do the same eight things: take a position, analyse evidence, link cause to effect, describe change, name a concept, evaluate an idea, abstract from a specific to a general claim, and connect sentences smoothly.
The 40 words below are organised by those eight moves. They are the words a band 5 candidate uses without thinking about them. If you only have time to memorise one vocabulary list before your test date, make it this one. Each entry has a definition, the collocation pattern you should actually learn (the right-hand column of the entry, in blue), and a TOEFL-style example sentence in the green box that shows the word in its natural register.
To give reasons for or against a position.
Collocations: argue that, argue for, argue against
The author argues that urbanisation has reshaped community life more than industrialisation did.
To claim something is true, often in opposition to another view.
Collocations: contend that, strongly contend
Critics contend that the policy treats the symptom rather than the cause of the housing shortage.
To prove a claim or argument wrong using evidence.
Collocations: refute a claim, refute the argument
Recent data refute the long-held view that small populations always lose genetic diversity faster than large ones.
To admit, reluctantly, that something is true or fair.
Collocations: concede a point, concede that
Even supporters of the reform concede that its short-term costs fall hardest on lower-income families.
To add a limit or condition to a statement so it is more accurate.
Collocations: qualify a claim, qualify the argument
The author qualifies her earlier claim by noting that the trend reverses in regions with stronger public transport.
To examine the parts of something in detail to understand it.
Collocations: analyze data, analyze a passage
The researchers analyzed soil samples from twelve sites to identify the cause of the salinity increase.
To judge the value or quality of something.
Collocations: evaluate evidence, evaluate options
Before recommending the policy, the committee evaluated the evidence from six pilot studies.
To examine systematically to find facts.
Collocations: investigate a cause, investigate a phenomenon
The study investigates why bird populations have declined more sharply in fragmented forests than in continuous ones.
To show clearly with evidence or example.
Collocations: demonstrate that, clearly demonstrate
The experiment demonstrates that the effect persists even when temperature is held constant.
To reach a conclusion from evidence rather than direct statement.
Collocations: infer from, infer that
From the lack of pottery shards at the site, archaeologists infer that the community was seasonal rather than permanent.
To produce a change in something.
Collocations: affect outcomes, directly affect
Rising sea temperatures directly affect coral reproduction during the summer spawning season.
To be one of several causes of something.
Collocations: contribute to, contribute significantly
Although population growth contributes to the housing shortage, restrictive zoning is the more direct cause.
To gradually weaken or damage.
Collocations: undermine confidence, undermine an argument
The author's reliance on a single case study undermines what would otherwise be a persuasive argument.
To make a bad situation worse.
Collocations: exacerbate the problem, exacerbate inequality
Without targeted subsidies, a sugar tax can exacerbate existing inequalities in food access.
To reduce the severity or impact of something negative.
Collocations: mitigate risk, mitigate damage
Early-warning systems mitigate the human cost of floods but do little to mitigate the property damage.
Large enough to be important or noticeable.
Collocations: significant increase, statistically significant
The data show a significant decrease in songbird populations across the past four decades.
Happening slowly over a long period.
Collocations: gradual change, gradual decline
The gradual shift from rural to urban living was largely complete by 1950.
A decrease in amount, quality, or importance.
Collocations: a steady decline, decline sharply
Manuscript production declined sharply during the early years of printing, before rebounding in specialised markets.
To rise and fall irregularly.
Collocations: fluctuate widely, fluctuate between
Commodity prices fluctuated widely during the post-war period, complicating long-term planning for producers.
To increase the speed of something.
Collocations: accelerate growth, accelerate the process
The introduction of synthetic fertilisers accelerated agricultural output but also accelerated soil depletion.
A set of ideas or rules used to plan or decide something.
Collocations: theoretical framework, conceptual framework
The author proposes a new framework for thinking about urban resilience that combines economic and ecological indicators.
A system or process that produces a particular result.
Collocations: underlying mechanism, biological mechanism
The underlying mechanism is not yet well understood, but the correlation is consistent across studies.
phenomenon
noun (plural: phenomena)
A fact or event that can be observed and studied.
Collocations: a natural phenomenon, an emerging phenomenon
The phenomenon was first documented in the 1970s, although early observers had described similar events for decades.
A typical example or model of how something is understood.
Collocations: a paradigm shift, the dominant paradigm
The discovery of plate tectonics produced a paradigm shift in twentieth-century geology.
criterion
noun (plural: criteria)
A standard used to judge something.
Collocations: meet a criterion, the main criterion
The committee evaluated each proposal against three criteria: feasibility, originality, and likely impact.
Reasonable enough to be believed.
Collocations: a plausible explanation, plausible reasoning
While the climate hypothesis is plausible, it does not explain the timing of the decline.
Strong and persuasive.
Collocations: a compelling argument, a compelling case
The author makes a compelling case for treating linguistic variation as a feature rather than a flaw.
Doubtful, of questionable accuracy.
Collocations: of dubious value, dubious claims
The article rests on dubious claims about the size of pre-industrial populations.
Causing or likely to cause disagreement.
Collocations: a contentious issue, a contentious debate
The relationship between minimum wage and employment remains a contentious issue among economists.
Thorough and careful in method.
Collocations: rigorous analysis, rigorous testing
A more rigorous analysis of the data would have controlled for regional differences in soil composition.
A particular way of viewing something.
Collocations: from a historical perspective, broaden the perspective
From a historical perspective, the conflict is the latest in a long series of disputes over the same trade route.
An aspect or feature of a situation.
Collocations: an important dimension, the human dimension
Most policy discussions of climate change focus on the economic dimension and underplay the cultural one.
A fundamental truth or rule.
Collocations: a guiding principle, in principle
The guiding principle behind the law is that public goods should be funded by general taxation.
hypothesis
noun (plural: hypotheses)
A proposed explanation that can be tested.
Collocations: test a hypothesis, working hypothesis
The working hypothesis is that periodic drought, not human hunting, drove the species to local extinction.
A statement assumed true that forms the basis of an argument.
Collocations: the central premise, on the premise that
The whole policy rests on the premise that consumers respond more strongly to price than to information campaigns.
On the other hand, expressing an opposite point.
Used to connect two contrasting statements
Cities with strong public transport saw lower car ownership. Conversely, suburbs with weak transit saw the highest growth in private vehicle use.
As a result, in a way that matches what was just said.
Used to link a cause and the appropriate consequence
The committee found that the previous policy had failed. Accordingly, they recommended a complete redesign.
Despite what has just been said.
Used to introduce a contrast while acknowledging the prior point
The evidence is incomplete. Nevertheless, the pattern is consistent enough to warrant further study.
As a direct result.
Used to link an outcome to its cause
Birth rates fell sharply during the recession. Consequently, primary-school enrolments dropped a decade later.
In the end, after considering everything.
Used to introduce a final point or conclusion
Ultimately, the success of the reform depends on whether local councils have the budget to implement it.
How to actually use this list
Memorising 40 words takes about an hour. Using them well takes longer. The single most useful habit: pick five words a day from this list and write five sentences using each one in different collocations. By day eight you have produced 200 sentences using these 40 words, which is roughly the production volume you need before the words start showing up in your Writing and Speaking responses without conscious effort.
For Speaking specifically, read your sentences aloud rather than just silently. The Speaking section penalises hesitation around vocabulary, so the goal is to make these words feel automatic on the tongue, not just available in passive memory. The Take an Interview task gives you 44 seconds per response, so unhesitating retrieval of words like "conversely" and "consequently" is the difference between sounding fluent and sounding searched.
For Writing, focus the second pass of your study on the right-hand column of each entry. "A compelling argument" beats "a strong argument" on register. "Exacerbate inequality" beats "make inequality worse" on register. "Test a hypothesis" beats "check an idea" on register. The collocations are where the band-5 lexical-range descriptor lives.
For maximum retention, pair this list with the topic vocabulary on the TOEFL Vocabulary 2026 strategy guide: that gives you breadth across 12 academic topics; this gives you depth across the eight moves a TOEFL response actually has to make. The two lists together cover roughly 340 words, which is enough for a band 4.5 to 5.0 outcome.
FAQ
Why these 40 words specifically? ▾
They are organised by function rather than topic, which is more useful for Writing and Speaking than topic-based lists. The eight categories cover the moves a TOEFL response actually has to make: argue, analyse, link cause to effect, describe change, name a concept, evaluate, abstract, and connect. The same 40 words also recur across the 12 academic topic lists on TOEFLMock as cross-topic items.
Will I see exactly these 40 words on the TOEFL? ▾
You will see many of them, but not as a fixed set. ETS draws Reading and Listening vocabulary from a wider academic pool and varies passages across test sittings. The argument is that these 40 functional words are more useful than any topic-specific list because they appear in almost every Writing and Speaking response above band 4.0, and they recur in Reading passages across all 12 topics.
How should I study these 40 words? ▾
Use each word in a sentence of your own within 48 hours of first seeing it. Write five sentences using a word in different collocations and read them aloud. Then return to the same word on day 3, day 7, and day 21 to refresh recall. The collocations matter more than the headwords.
Are these 40 words enough for TOEFL Writing band 5? ▾
They are the floor. Band 5 Writing requires accurate use of about 30 to 50 mid-frequency academic words across a 200-word response. The 40 words here cover the functional moves a band 5 essay typically makes; the rest of your bank should come from the 12 topic vocabulary pages, picked based on the prompt you receive.
Related vocabulary resources
How this list is sourced
The 40 words and the eight-category structure were selected by the TOEFLMock editorial team based on recurring patterns in band 4 and band 5 Writing and Speaking responses across our practice-test corpus. Collocations were verified against the British National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American English. We do not crowdsource the list and do not aggregate user-submitted data. See our editorial standards for the full sourcing policy.