Academic Word List: Set 2

Level: C1. This page is Set 2 of the Academic Word List (AWL): sublists 6 to 10. These word families occur less often than the Set 1 words, but they are still common across academic writing and will sharpen the precision of your essays and reports. Work through Set 1 first, then use this page to round out your academic vocabulary.

By the end of this page you can…

…use the lower-frequency AWL words accurately, add formal linkers such as albeit and nonetheless to your writing, and separate the meaning pairs that learners most often confuse.

How this set fits the AWL

The Academic Word List was built by Averil Coxhead at Victoria University of Wellington (2000) from a large academic corpus. It holds 570 word families in 10 sublists, ordered by frequency. Set 1 covers sublists 1 to 5 (the most frequent 300 families). Set 2 (this page) covers sublists 6 to 10. Sublists 6 to 9 contain 60 families each; sublist 10 contains only 30, so it is the shortest.

As on the Set 1 page, the tables group words by sublist, and each row shows the sublist number. We show a representative core of about a dozen headwords per sublist (and ten from the shorter sublist 10); the full list is on the Victoria University of Wellington site.

Sublist 6

Sublist	Word	Meaning	Example
6	acknowledge	to accept or admit the truth of	The authors acknowledge a limitation here.
6	allocate	to give out a share for a purpose	Funds were allocated to three projects.
6	cite	to quote or refer to a source	She cites four earlier studies.
6	diverse	varied; of many kinds	The sample was socially diverse.
6	enhance	to improve the quality of	The method enhances the image detail.
6	explicit	stated clearly and openly	The instructions are explicit on this point.
6	flexible	able to change or bend easily	The design is flexible enough to adapt.
6	incorporate	to include as part of a whole	We incorporate the new data in Table 3.
6	initiate	to begin or set in motion	The team initiated a second trial.
6	rational	based on reason and logic	The choice was a rational response to cost.
6	reveal	to make known or show	The scan revealed an unexpected pattern.
6	transform	to change completely in form	The policy transformed the sector.

Sublist 7

Sublist	Word	Meaning	Example
7	adapt	to change to fit new conditions	Firms adapt quickly to new rules.
7	comprehensive	covering everything; complete	The review is comprehensive and up to date.
7	comprise	to consist of; be made up of	The board comprises nine members.
7	confirm	to show to be true; to state firmly	Later trials confirmed the finding.
7	convert	to change into another form	The data were converted to percentages.
7	eliminate	to remove completely	We eliminate two weak explanations.
7	infer	to work out from evidence	From this we infer a causal link.
7	innovate	to introduce new methods or ideas	The firm continues to innovate.
7	intervene	to come in to change a situation	The state intervened to steady prices.
7	isolate	to separate from others	We isolate the effect of a single factor.
7	phenomenon	an observed fact or event	The phenomenon is well documented.
7	ultimate	final; greatest	The ultimate aim is a working model.

Sublist 8

Sublist	Word	Meaning	Example
8	accumulate	to gather or build up over time	Errors accumulate across each stage.
8	ambiguous	open to more than one meaning	The wording is ambiguous and needs a fix.
8	clarify	to make clearer	We clarify the term in a footnote.
8	crucial	extremely important; decisive	This step is crucial to the argument.
8	highlight	to draw attention to	The report highlights three risks.
8	implicit	suggested but not stated	The claim is implicit in the model.
8	inevitable	certain to happen; unavoidable	Some loss of detail is inevitable.
8	intense	very strong or extreme	The debate has been intense.
8	reinforce	to strengthen or support	The new data reinforce the theory.
8	revise	to change after review	We revised the estimate downward.
8	theme	a main subject or idea	Inequality is the central theme.
8	widespread	spread over a large area	The practice is now widespread.

Sublist 9

Sublist	Word	Meaning	Example
9	anticipate	to expect and prepare for	We anticipate a small rise in costs.
9	cease	to stop or come to an end	Funding ceased at the end of the year.
9	coherent	clear and logically connected	The essay needs a more coherent structure.
9	commence	to begin (formal)	The study commenced in March.
9	controversy	public disagreement	The result sparked some controversy.
9	diminish	to make or become smaller	The effect diminishes over time.
9	inherent	a natural, permanent part of	There is risk inherent in the method.
9	mature	fully developed	The field is now a mature discipline.
9	norm	a standard or usual pattern	Remote work has become the norm.
9	preliminary	coming before the main part	These are only preliminary findings.
9	scenario	a possible sequence of events	We model a worst-case scenario.
9	temporary	lasting only a short time	The drop was temporary, not lasting.

Sublist 10 (the shortest sublist)

Sublist	Word	Meaning	Example
10	albeit	although; even though	The gain was real, albeit small.
10	assemble	to bring or come together	We assembled a panel of experts.
10	compile	to collect and put together	The team compiled a full dataset.
10	conceive	to form an idea; to imagine	The project was conceived in 2019.
10	encounter	to meet or come across	We encountered several missing values.
10	intrinsic	belonging naturally; essential	Curiosity has intrinsic value.
10	likewise	in the same way; also	Costs rose; revenue, likewise, climbed.
10	nonetheless	in spite of that	The sample was small; nonetheless, it held.
10	ongoing	continuing; still happening	The research is ongoing.
10	undergo	to experience or go through	The samples undergo three tests.

Example sentences

Play each line, then say it aloud. These show Set 2 words in essay-style patterns.

The authors acknowledge a clear limitation.

acknowledge (sublist 6): admit the truth of.
She cites four earlier studies in the introduction.

cite (sublist 6): refer to a source.
The instructions are explicit on this point.

explicit (sublist 6): stated clearly.
The policy transformed the whole sector.

transform (sublist 6): change completely.
The board comprises nine members.

comprise (sublist 7): be made up of.
From this result we infer a causal link.

infer (sublist 7): work out from evidence.
We isolate the effect of a single factor.

isolate (sublist 7): separate from others.
The phenomenon is well documented in the field.

phenomenon (sublist 7): an observed event.
This step is crucial to the whole argument.

crucial (sublist 8): extremely important.
The claim is only implicit in the model.

implicit (sublist 8): suggested, not stated.
Some loss of detail is inevitable here.

inevitable (sublist 8): certain to happen.
The new data reinforce the theory.

reinforce (sublist 8): strengthen.
The essay needs a more coherent structure.

coherent (sublist 9): logically connected.
These are only preliminary findings.

preliminary (sublist 9): before the main part.
We model a worst-case scenario.

scenario (sublist 9): a possible sequence of events.
The drop in sales was temporary.

temporary (sublist 9): short-lived.
The gain was real, albeit small.

albeit (sublist 10): although; a short concession.
The team compiled a full dataset.

compile (sublist 10): collect and put together.
The sample was small; nonetheless, the pattern held.

nonetheless (sublist 10): in spite of that.
Each sample must undergo three separate tests.

undergo (sublist 10): experience or go through.

Recap cheat-sheet

A few patterns to remember before the quiz.

Cheat sheet: Academic Word List Set 2, sublists 6 to 10 with example words

Quick recap before the quiz.

Point	Example
Set 2 = sublists	6 to 10 (less frequent)
sublist 10 size	only 30 families
imply vs infer	writer implies, reader infers
explicit vs implicit	stated vs suggested

Practice

AWL Set 2 practice

Try each one, then press Check. No sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere — it all runs in your browser.

1 Match each word with its meaning.

acknowledge Match for acknowledge
crucial Match for crucial
coherent Match for coherent
undergo Match for undergo

Show answer

acknowledge → admit the truth of
crucial → extremely important
coherent → logically connected
undergo → experience or go through

These headwords come from sublists 6, 8, 9 and 10.

2 The writer ____ that costs will rise (hints at it).

Hint: a writer hints; a reader works it out

Show answer

implies — A writer implies; a reader infers.

3 These are only ____ findings, so treat them with care.

Hint: coming before the main results

Show answer

preliminary — Preliminary (sublist 9) means before the main part.

4 Which word means suggested but not stated directly? explicit implicit coherent diverse

Show answer

implicit — Implicit means suggested, not stated; explicit is the opposite.

5 Which sublist in the AWL has only 30 word families? sublist 1 sublist 6 sublist 9 sublist 10

Show answer

sublist 10 — Sublist 10 is the shortest, with 30 families.

6 Put the words in order.

Show answer

the gain was real albeit small — Albeit introduces a short concession: the gain was real, albeit small.

Quiz

Start with the most frequent words: Academic Word List: Set 1 (sublists 1 to 5)
See academic words in essay patterns: English Academic Vocabulary
Practice formal word partners: Common English Collocations
New here? Start with Start Learning English Here

Academic Word List: Set 2

By the end of this page you can…

How this set fits the AWL

Sublist 6

Sublist 7

Sublist 8

Sublist 9

Sublist 10 (the shortest sublist)

Example sentences

Recap cheat-sheet

Practice

AWL Set 2 practice

Quiz

AWL Set 2 quiz

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