5000 Collegiate Words with Brief Definitions

Long before FreeVocabulary became a GRE, SAT, IELTS, and TOEFL resource, the site's original product was a self-study word list: 5,000 collegiate-level words, each with a brief definition, originally distributed as a printable list and a 7-CD audio program (published 2002–2009 by EEENI, Inc., Steve Baba, Ph.D.). We've restored that original list here, split into five browsable ranges, plus the original printable PDF for anyone who found or bookmarked it that way.

This list is different from the rest of the site: it isn't scoped to a specific exam, and entries don't have example sentences, mnemonics, or difficulty ratings the way GRE/SAT/IELTS/TOEFL words elsewhere on FreeVocabulary do. It's simply a large, alphabetical, general-vocabulary reference — closer to a compact dictionary than a study guide. If you're preparing for a specific test, the exam-specific word lists are the better starting point; this page exists to preserve and modernize the original resource for anyone who's looking for it directly.

How to Use This List

Each of the five ranges below holds 800–1,100 words with a part of speech and a one-line definition, presented as a searchable grid rather than the original two-column print layout. Every range page has its own search box that filters instantly as you type, matching against both the word and its definition — useful if you remember roughly what a word means but not its exact spelling.

If you'd rather have the whole list in one place to read offline or print, the original PDF is still available below in its original form.

Browse by Range

• Words A – C 1100 words
• Words D – H 1073 words
• Words I – M 901 words
• Words N – P 814 words
• Words Q – Z 1108 words

About the Original Resource

The source PDF describes itself as a "7-CD Edition" intended for 15 minutes of daily listening over four weeks to absorb the full list — a self-paced audio-vocabulary program typical of early-2000s self-study products. The definitions are intentionally brief, written for quick recognition rather than deep explanation, which is part of why we've kept the original wording rather than rewriting nearly 5,000 definitions from scratch: the value of this page is in preserving the resource as it was, made easier to search and browse than the original print layout allowed.