English Word Lists

Curated English vocabulary lists — every word with a short definition and translations. Pick a list, then learn it one tap at a time with spaced-repetition flashcards in OpenWords.

500 Most Common Words

The common core — the 500 most frequent words cover a huge share of everyday English, each with a short definition.

500 words
Travel Vocabulary

The essential English words for airports, transport, hotels, and directions — everything you need to get around on a trip.

107 words
Workplace Vocabulary

The English words for meetings, emails, and everyday office tasks — practical vocabulary for the workplace.

70 words
Cooking Vocabulary

The English words for ingredients, cooking methods, and kitchen equipment — vocabulary for recipes and the kitchen.

185 words
Football Vocabulary

The English words for matches, players, positions, and tactics — everything you need to follow a game and talk about it.

49 words
Harry Potter Vocabulary

The English words and terms from the world of Harry Potter — vocabulary to read the books and enjoy the story.

64 words
How it works

Lists ready to learn in OpenWords

Every list here is available in the app — from install to daily review in four steps.

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Find a list

Browse the curated lists or search for the words you need.

Add words to your list

Tap to save the words you want to learn into your personal word list.

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Review with multi-format flashcards, scheduled by spaced repetition.

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FAQ

Questions learners ask

Should I learn words by frequency or by topic?
Both have their place. A frequency list builds the foundation the fastest — the most common words appear everywhere, so they give the biggest jump in comprehension for the least effort. A topic list — travel, work, a hobby — gets you the specific vocabulary you'll actually use sooner. Many learners do both: a frequency list for coverage, topic lists for the words that matter to them.
How many English words do you need to be fluent?
Around 3,000 word families get you to comfortable everyday fluency — but the first 1,000 already cover about 85% of ordinary conversation. Learning common, high-frequency words first is the fastest way to raise how much you understand.
What's the difference between passive and active vocabulary?
Your passive vocabulary is the words you recognise when you read or hear them; your active vocabulary is the words you can actually produce when you speak or write. Passive is always the larger of the two — the real goal of study is moving words from passive to active, and meeting a word in more than one context, spread out over time, is what makes that shift happen.
What's the fastest way to memorise a word list?
Reading a list isn't the same as remembering it. Spaced repetition — reviewing each word right before you'd forget it — is far more effective than re-reading, especially when you meet the word in more than one form: recognition, recall, and in context.
Why learn these lists in OpenWords?
Because it closes the gap between seeing a word and owning it. Every word comes with a clear definition, examples and translations; you save the ones you want in a single tap; and spaced-repetition flashcards bring each one back — as recognition, recall and in-context cards — right before you'd forget it. It's free, needs no account, and works offline.
OpenWords mascot with saved vocabulary
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