How the list and the board work

This page is a vocabulary list sized for 10th grade readers. Each entry gives you the pronunciation, the part of speech, a plain meaning and a sentence that shows the word in use, rather than a bare definition to memorize.

Once you've gone through the list, tap Play this list to open a board that only serves words from this page. Type a guess and read the colors. Green means the letter is correct and in the right spot, yellow means it belongs in the word but in a different spot, and gray means the letter isn't in the word at all. Each guess should shape the next one.

A few words from the list

These four words are examples to show the format. They are not the word on today's board, so nothing here spoils a puzzle.

Cogent (KOH-junt), adjective: clear and convincing, logically strong. "She made a cogent argument that changed several votes in the debate."

Egregious (ih-GREE-juss), adjective: shockingly bad or obvious in a negative way. "The essay had one egregious error: it never answered the actual question."

Pragmatic (prag-MAT-ik), adjective: focused on practical results rather than ideas alone. "The team took a pragmatic approach and used the tools they already had on hand."

Vindicate (VIN-dih-kate), verb: to clear someone of blame, or to prove them right. "The lab results eventually vindicated her original theory."

Study tips for 10th grade readers

At this level, vocabulary work matters most when it feeds directly into reading and writing you're already doing for class.

• Look for the word in essays and articles. A word like pragmatic shows up often in

opinion writing and analysis. Spotting it in real text does more for memory than a flashcard on its own.

• Notice the tone a word carries. Egregious isn't just "bad," it's bad in a way that

stands out. Paying attention to that shade of meaning helps you choose the sharper word when you write.

• Build short word families. Vindicate connects to vindication and vindicated. Learning

one form often makes the others easier to recognize when you meet them elsewhere.

• Explain a word without using it. If you can describe what cogent means without saying

the word itself, you understand it. If you're stuck, that's what to review.

• Space out your review. A short check-in a few days after learning a word, then again

a week later, beats one long cram session the night before a quiz.

For teachers

This list works well as a five-minute opener before an argumentative or analytical writing unit, since words like cogent and pragmatic connect directly to that kind of work. Present a word, ask for a guess at its meaning, then walk through the definition and example together.

For a paper version, printing this page from the browser gives you the list with pronunciation, part of speech and meaning already laid out for a handout or a short quiz. Since the list is still being built, it is best used as a resource you revisit rather than a fixed sheet printed once for the year.

Because the board only draws from this list, it also works as a shared class activity, with every student playing from the same words and comparing notes once the round ends.

More vocabulary practice

If a word here feels out of reach, the vocabulary words for 9th graders list is worth checking first. Ready for more, try 11th grade vocabulary words. For broader high school practice, see vocabulary words for high school, take the vocabulary quiz, or browse vocabulary apps for more ways to keep building your list.