4000 CPE Vocabulary List

Preparing vocabulary for the CPE (C2, Cambridge Proficiency) test is a smart move! Since vocabulary plays a huge role in all parts of the exam (Reading, Use of English, Writing, Listening, and Speaking), here’s a focused vocabulary to help you build and remember the right words effectively.

In addition to the vocabulary, we also provide online tools and exercises to support your studies, along with helpful tips and printable materials.

We organize these 4000 words into 14 groups. Group one is open to all visitors. The rest of the groups are only fully accessible to VIP users.

abhor  
v. fill with horror and loathing; horrify; hate
One of the things I abhor is the threat to withhold aid.
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ablaze  
a. burning; radiant; bright; keenly excited; resembling flame in brilliance or color
But when he saw this small new-comer, his soul was all ablaze with bliss in a moment.
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abnegate  
v. give up or surrender; deny something to oneself
After his retirement, the former police commissioner found it difficult to abnegate authority.
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abode  
n. act of waiting; delay; stay or continuance in a place
I shall take up my abode in a religious house near Lisle - a nunnery you would call it; there, I shall be quiet and unmolested.
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abolitionist  
n. a reformer who favors abolishing slavery
Born to free blacks in Maryland, Frances Watkins Harper was a poet and a teacher who became active in the abolitionist struggle in the 1850s.
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aboriginal  
a. being the first of its kind in a region; primitive; native
Her studies of the primitive art forms of the aboriginal Indians were widely reported in scientific journals.
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