IELTS Vocabulary Synonyms for the 40 Most Commonly Used Words

Many IELTS students use the same words over and 

over again. And this is a problem because one of the things IELTS examiners are looking for is 

a broad vocabulary. If you demonstrate that you have a wide range of vocabulary, your band score 

will go up. It’s actually really easy to show off your vocabulary if you know synonyms - that is, 

alternatives for commonly used words. And this is what you’ll learn in this video. I’m going to 

teach you 40 synonyms you must know to score high. By the end of this video, you will be equipped 

with a broad vocabulary that you can use in your IELTS test. If you are going to take your IELTS 

soon, check out my IELTS Materials. There I teach you everything you need to score high. I show you 

step-by-step how to give high-scoring answers and we do many practice tests together so you will 

feel confident for your test. You can find the link to my course in the description box. And now 

get a paper and a pen. For each word you know, you get one point. Comment below how many words 

you know, for example 20, 35, or 40. Let’s get started! The first word that is used very often is 

“say.” I say it a lot, and most other test-takers do, too. It’s a great word. If you use it too 

much, though, your vocabulary sounds limited. There’s lots of words to substitute for “say.” 

One that you can almost always paraphrase with is “claim.” Let’s look at this sentence: “The 

economist said that prices would rise.” Here’s “claim”: “The economist claimed that prices 

would rise.” Another common word for reporting what someone said is “talk about.” It’s used 

for a general subject, not a specific idea. Let’s compare this with “said” first so you use 

it correctly: “The professor said I should go to law school.” “The professor talked about going to 

law school.” Here you can see that “going to law school” is a general idea, since it could be about 

anyone, but “said” is specific instructions to me. So, “talk about” can be replaced with “discuss”: 

“The professor discussed going to law school.” It sounds a little more formal and demonstrates 

that you have a broad range of vocabulary, which improves your band score. Let’s again have a look 

at this example - the professor is recommending something, right? She’s making a suggestion. 

You can change “recommend” to “advocate.” Note that “advocate” is followed by a noun or an 

idea starting with an -ing verb, like this: “The teacher recommends studying.” This changes 

to “The teacher advocates studying.” This word is very advanced. If you use it correctly, it will 

boost your score like this!! While I am talking about ways to say something, I should mention 

“explain about.” Let’s look at the sentence, “My mother explained about our family’s history.” 

You can replace “explain about” with “clarified”: “My mother clarified our family’s history.” That 

means that the noun that is explained is very clear and easy to understand now. It’s an awesome 

word that makes you sound smart. Often, it has a person who now understands the topic, too. That 

person is added with “for”: “My mother clarified our family’s history for me.” You may end up using 

“give” a lot, too. Like, “My sister gave me her bike when I moved into my own apartment.” “Give” 

works well. If you want a polite word, you can also say “offer”: “My sister offered me her bike 

when I moved into my own apartment.” There is a slight difference. “Give” means you took the bike, 

but “offer” does not. It is implied that you did, unless you add more details. For example, “My 

sister offered me her bike, but I already had one.” That means she tried to give you the bike, 

but you said no. “Offer” is a polite way to say “give” and is a great word for paraphrasing to 

reduce repetition. The next word that is commonly used is “ask.” It is another word that has a great 

paraphrase: “inquire.” It’s really easy to replace one word with the other. For example, “Tourists 

often ask about famous places in my town.” This changes to “Tourists often inquire about famous 

places in my town.” What an easy way to show off your vocabulary! Speaking of “easy” – this word 

can be paraphrased, too. What word should you use? “Simple” is the same as “easy.” You can change 

“What an easy way to show off your vocabulary!” to “What a simple way to show off your vocabulary!” 

I want to mention one other thing about IELTS Writing, though. If you go back and change a word, 

be sure that you change the words around it, too. Note that “an easy way” does not become “an simple 

way.” You have to change the “an” to “a.” So be careful! That was a good tip, wasn’t it? Look at 

this sentence: “My tip is to pay attention to all the words.” There’s a fancy word for “tip,” too. 

Try “recommendation.” Here’s the same sentence: “My recommendation is to pay attention to all 

the words.” “Recommendation” works the same way as “tip,” but it is much longer and sounds 

more formal. Learn to spell it correctly if you want to use it, since some IELTS students forget 

the double “m.” If you make spelling mistakes, your band score goes down. That's why it’s 

super important to pay attention to spelling. One more phrase we use a lot is “for example.” 

That’s a fantastic linking phrase, but don’t use it too many times. Instead, use “to illustrate” 

sometimes. It means the same thing, but makes the words different. It’s perfect for writing when you 

want to give more than one example to support your claim. Let’s try it in a pair of sentences. Here’s 

“for example”: “I love to read books. For example, I just finished a French novel.” Here’s the new 

sentences: “I love to read books. To illustrate, I just finished a French novel.” Now, let’s 

have a look at “extra”. Check out this sentence: “Do you have an extra example to support 

your view?” A longer way to say “extra” is “additional.” Try this sentence again with the 

new word: “Do you have an additional example to support your view?” This word is easy to 

remember because “add” means to put more on, and “additional” is more that is put on. On 

the IELTS, you give a lot of opinions. Many IELTS students say “I think…” a lot of times. 

Try changing that with a great paraphrase, “presume.” That means you think something is 

true, but aren’t positive. Both these words are like “I guess.” Check it out in a sentence. 

First, “I think most people from my country travel a lot.” Here’s the new sentence: “I presume 

most people from my country travel a lot.” Using “presume” makes you stand out from the crowd and 

will help you improve your band score. Let’s talk about “think about”. You need to pay attention 

because “think” can be used different ways. If you say “think about,” it means you are using your 

mind to look at a subject. Here’s a good example: “I am thinking about moving to Australia.” This is 

different than “guess” because you are now looking at different options before making a decision. 

Well, you can substitute “consider” for “think about.” Here’s the sentence now: “I am considering 

moving to Australia.” Consider using this word on your IELTS Writing test! The next word is very 

common and you may use it a lot – I’m talking about “maybe”. There’s a good paraphrase for 

“maybe” so you can vary your vocabulary, and that word is “possibly.” Check out this sentence: 

“Maybe the government will create a new policy.” It works the same way with “possibly”: “Possibly 

the government will create a new policy.” Now comes a word that many people use frequently: 

“people”. Since you talk about hometowns a lot in the IELTS Speaking section, you probably will 

talk about people in your hometown. “People” is a fine word, but if you want to include more words, 

try “individuals.” That refers to each one of the people together. Let’s see how it works in a 

sentence. “Many people in my town ride bicycles.” That changes to: “Many individuals in my town 

ride bicycles.” This is an awesome word for IELTS Writing, too, since you may get a graph showing 

numbers of people, or a discussion question involving your opinion related to people’s actions 

and decisions. Here you can really show off your vocabulary by using “individuals”. While I am 

talking about people, here’s a specific group of people: your family. The IELTS Speaking examiner 

might ask about who you live with or your family when you were growing up. “Household” refers 

to everyone who lives in the same house, so it usually refers to a family. Some people include 

their pets in their families and households, too. For instance, “My family includes my 

parents, brother, and grandmother.” That becomes: “My household includes my parents, brother, and 

grandmother.” “Household” is a bit more precise, so it is a great way to boost your score when you 

use it correctly. By the way, if you want more vocabulary videos hit the like button and write 

YES in the comments. If you want something else, tell me your video wish in the comments, so I know 

what you would like to see on this channel. Now let’s take a look at 25 more synonyms that help 

you get a Band 9 on the IELTS. One more word about your household. That word is “live.” It’s really 

common when you are talking about the places where you grew up or have a house now. Try changing it 

with “reside.” That is usually used when talking about a place where you live. For example, you 

could say, “I live in a small apartment.” But you can also show off your vocabulary by 

saying, “I reside in a small apartment.” Here’s another great paraphrase for discussing 

where you live in IELTS Speaking. You can also use this word in the Writing section. Lots of people 

live in towns. So, you say “town” a lot. Well, you can change that using “community.” That can 

refer to a smaller part of a town, but it also is a nice way of making your entire town sound 

like a friendly place. So, here’s a sentence: “I live in a small town in the north of Maryland.” 

The paraphrase is: “I live in a small community in the north of Maryland.” Doesn’t that sound 

like a friendly place to live? Of course, some people live in cities rather than towns. You 

might also want to talk about cities if you have an IELTS Writing topic related to transportation 

or the environment. So, paraphrase “city” with “metropolis,” a word that means “really big 

city.” For example, “The environment next to a city can become very polluted.” Show off your 

vocabulary by saying: “The environment next to a metropolis can become very polluted.” Please note 

that some people try to make metropolis plural in weird ways like adding the letter “i.” Don’t do 

it. The plural is just “metropolises.” If you want more vocabulary for speaking about hometowns, be 

sure to check out my video on that! In this video, you’ll learn 44 advanced words for talking 

about your hometown in IELTS Speaking. You can find the link below. Now I want to talk a bit 

about hobbies. Clearly, you can talk about your hobbies by saying “hobby.” But a more advanced 

word is “pastime.” That is something you do in your spare time. In other words, it’s a hobby. So, 

you can change a sentence very easily, like: “My favorite hobby is reading books.” That becomes, 

“My favorite pastime is reading books.” I’ve said “try” a lot in this video, and it’s a useful word 

when talking about your pastimes. For example, you can say, “I want to try skiing.” Well, there’s a 

perfect paraphrase for “try,” too. It’s “attempt.” “Attempt” includes the sound of a bit of effort, 

like you may or may not succeed. However, you want to do it. Here’s the sentence with the 

new word: “I want to attempt skiing.” That makes it sound like you really want a challenge. It’s a 

good image to share. You may have noticed I said “sound” a lot, too. For example, “It sounds like 

you really want a challenge.” I can change that by switching “sound” to “appear.” Both words mean 

“seem,” but “appear” is more formal. How does the sentence appear with the change? “It appears like 

you really want a challenge.” Another common topic for IELTS Speaking is food. Do you want a nice 

word that means “food”? Why not use “cuisine”? For example, “Food in my country uses a lot of 

chili peppers.” Now the fancy version: “Cuisine in my country uses a lot of chili peppers.” Isn’t 

that an easy way to vary your language? It’s good to give examples to support your claims in 

both IELTS Writing and Speaking. One way to do that is mention something famous that fits the 

topic. Boost your vocabulary by changing “famous” to “prominent.” For example, you might say, “One 

famous landmark is a statue of Isaac Newton.” Or, you can change it to, “One prominent landmark is 

a statue of Isaac Newton.” “Prominent” refers to something that is important or notable, so 

it’s perfect to describe things that aren’t famous throughout the world, but are notable 

in your area. I’ve said “perfect” a few times, haven’t I? It’s now time to give a paraphrase for 

that word. “Perfect” can be replaced with “ideal.” For example, “That is a perfect way to boost your 

score,” becomes “That is an ideal way to boost your score.” Another common little word is “very.” 

You also might use “really” frequently. If you do, you might get nervous and repeat them again and 

again during IELTS Speaking. You don’t have to, though. Replace both of them with the awesome word 

“extremely.” Here’s a sentence: “Paraphrasing is a very good way to boost your score.” Or: 

“Paraphrasing is a really good way to boost your score.” Now, look at how both of those can be 

replaced: “Paraphrasing is an extremely good way to boost your score.” If you are writing, you need 

to change “a” to “an” in that sentence. Be careful when replacing words in IELTS Writing. Next, I 

want to talk about the word “about.” It’s used in two main ways, and I have paraphrases for both 

of them. The first is when you are talking about something that is not exact, but close, like, 

“I studied French for about six years.” Really, it was five years and eight months, but 

that’s close enough, right? This usage is extremely common when reporting information 

about graphs in IELTS Writing. You might say, “The percentage of sales increased to about 45 

in 1998.” An absolutely wonderful paraphrase is “approximately.” Listen to the sentence now: “The 

percentage of sales increased to approximately 45 in 1998.” Definitely try using this paraphrase! 

It’s extremely advanced and will help you improve your band score. The other use of “about” that you 

see often is when you are discussing a particular topic, and you want to refer to that topic. What I 

mean is, you use “about” in a sentence like this: “I have a question about the lecture.” Substitute 

“about” with “regarding” for a formal sentence: “I have a question regarding the lecture.” This 

is very advanced English and demonstrates that you have a wide vocabulary. Another common 

little word is “mostly.” Like, “People in my country mostly speak Spanish.” Change the word 

to “predominantly” for a totally different sound: “People in my country predominantly speak 

Spanish.” Do you see how changing just one word makes a big difference in the impression you make? 

Here you can see that improving your IELTS score is not that hard, you just need to know what you 

need to do to score high. Another common word for the IELTS is “change.” That’s because you have to 

describe changes you see in graphs in the Writing section. Plus, many of the Writing discussion 

questions ask your opinion about changes. So, replace “change” with “alter” some of the 

times you use it. For example, “The percentage of workers in the technology fields changed over 

time.” That becomes: “The percentage of workers in the technology fields altered over time.” One kind 

of change is when numbers go up. Saying “go up” is more precise than “change,” but you can show 

off your vocabulary with “increase.” For example, “The price of gasoline went up last year” becomes 

“The price of gasoline increased last year.” Note that the opposite of “increase” is “decrease.” 

That means “go down.” So, if your sentence is: “The value of the dollar went down.” You can 

instead say, “The value of the dollar decreased.” This pair of words, “increase” and “decrease” 

are really useful for describing data! While I am talking about graphs, here’s another great 

synonym. When a trend “speeds up,” you can say “escalates.” For example, “Deforestation in the 

Amazon has sped up over the past 15 years.” Or, you can say, “Deforestation in the Amazon has 

escalated over the past 15 years.” Don’t forget to use this word in both Writing tasks, as 

it showcases your ability to describe way a trend changes. Another awesome graph word is 

a synonym for the “highest point” on a graph. That point is called the “apex.” Have a look 

at this sentence: “The population rose after 1980 to the highest point of 10,000 people in 

2000, then decreased from there.” But wait, that sentence can be even better: “The population 

rose after 1980 to the apex of 10,000 people in 2000, then decreased from there.” Well, not all 

graphs show big upward or downward changes. For a long time, the trend might be the same. That’s OK, 

because there is a great synonym for “long time.” That phrase is “extended period.” For example, 

you might say, “For a long time, the population remained stable. Try that with the new phrase: 

“For an extended period, the population remained stable.” IELTS Writing is so much easier with 

synonyms like this! Next is the word “large”. “Large” has lots of uses, like saying that 

something is big, or saying that something is important. As a result, it gets overused. 

“Significant” means about the same thing. It shows that something is important or notable. 

Here’s a good IELTS Writing sentence for talking about a graph: “There is a large difference 

in profits between 2010 and 2014.” Try that with your new word, “significant”: “There is a 

significant difference in profits between 2010 and 2014.” Doesn’t that change your good sentence to 

an awesome one? Now, if your change is not large, you can still use a synonym. A word for “small” 

is “minor.” For example, you can alter, “There was a small decrease in the polar bear population 

in 2020.” The new version is: “There was a minor decrease in the polar bear population in 2020.” 

That’s a minor change to the sentence, but it shows off your vocabulary! The next word is a 

linking word, since those are also really useful. “Then” means that something comes later in time, 

right? But it’s often used too much. Therefore, think about using “afterwards.” To illustrate, “I 

grew up in Costa Rica. Then, I moved to Brazil.” The same idea is here: “I grew up in Costa Rica. 

Afterwards, I moved to Brazil.” You can remember “afterwards” because it comes “after” the first 

idea. Another essential linking word is “but.” It’s used a lot because it is a great way to show 

contrast between ideas. When you say it too often, change it with “however.” This one is a bit 

tricky because it changes one sentence to two. Here’s what I mean: “I like hiking, but 

I only have time to hike on weekends.” Here you can see that that is one sentence. “However” 

makes it two sentences: “I like hiking. However, I only have time to hike on weekends.” The 

meaning is the same, but the structure is slightly different. This isn’t a concern when you 

are talking, but be careful in IELTS Writing. If you like “however,” you will love “nonetheless.” 

These can be changed without altering the sentence structure. Both show a contrast. Look at the 

previous example: “I like hiking. However, I only have time to hike on weekends.” 

That becomes: “I like hiking. Nonetheless, I only have time to hike on weekends.” 

Isn’t that an awesome paraphrase? Finally, I want to end with “a lot.” That’s so common, and 

I use it a lot, right? So, boost your vocabulary with “frequently.” It means “often.” Check out 

this sentence: “I practice English a lot.” Here’s the new one: “I practice English frequently.” If 

you use them correctly, these words really can show off your vocabulary and improve your IELTS 

score! That's it! That’s 40 synonyms you must know to score high on the IELTS. I hope you guys liked 

this video. Don’t forget to like, subscribe to the channel, and hit the bell icon so you’re notified 

when the next video comes out. Also, share this video with your friends so they can improve 

their IELTS score too. See you in the next video!