Having a good vocabulary bank exhibits a good mind. Whatever their profession or service they provide, a person will make a good and lasting impression on others because it adds value and sophistication to their work. More importantly, it shows your level of mastery of your job.

However, such skills should not curtail the message you want to convey. Instead, you want to communicate with clarity and precision. You want to be understood, not to show off. Moreover, you also want to be more tactful instead of bluntly saying or writing words that may be insulting or offending others.

Here is some useful vocabulary that you can use or be adapted by psychotherapists, counselors, and coaches. These words are actually worth adding to your vocabulary. Try utilizing them in your writings and conversations with your clients, or just have fun using them with your friends for laughs.

These words are listed according to the frequency of use, not alphabetically. Enjoy enriching your word bank!

abject: despicable, pitiable. How unfortunate to see both parties in this divorce be in an abject situation.

enervate: weaken mentally or morally drained. Losing a job can be enervating for people.

effete: over-refined, affected, and ineffectual. He got his effete mannerisms from his women-dominated family.

fatuous: silly yet smug, idiotic. Jokes told at the wrong time and place makes the person look fatuous.

credulity, gullibility, and readiness to believe. Do your own research and do not be easily carried away by your credulity in hearsays and fake news.

remonstrate: forceful. argue in protest. She remonstrated when she was accused of cheating.

n’est-ce pas (pronounced ness-pah): tag question for Right?Isn’t? Tough crowd, n’est-ce pas?

reprobate: without scruples, unworthy. Dishonesty makes a person reprobate of trust.

insouciant: indifferent. His experiences of heartbreaks made him insouciant with his relationships.

risible: laughable, ridiculous. Blaming others for her mistake is risible to me.

mien: demeanor. Teachers are dignified in mien.

mawkish: insincerely emotional, feeble. Her mawkish facial expression obviously tells us how bored she is at this funeral.

execrable: detestable, hateful. The criminal in the documentary had an execrable plan.

fulsome: insincere, mawkish, overdone, or gross. Fulsome flattery will do you no good.

fractious: irritable, quarrelsome. The fractious man tends to be impulsive when he is angry.

abjure: renounce, withdraw. Your rights to visit the children will be abjured until you consistently give child support.

fulminate: denounce forcefully, express vehement protest. People fulminated when their candidate didn’t win the election.

importune: beg or harass persistently. Give him some space to think. Try not to importune him to forgive you.

proscribe command against, forbidden by law. Abortion is proscribed in some countries.

imperious: arrogant and domineering. An imperious boss had a hard time connecting with his employees. His employees were very intimidated by him.

descry: catch sight of, detect. The cameras were able to descry the act in the supermarket.

roué: cad, womanizer. The wife cried upon knowing that she married a roué.

martinet: demander of conformity, a strict disciplinarian. The martinet old man implemented strict regulations and consequences in his household.

cavil: quibble, object. Please try to go through the activity first before you cavil over the task.

querulous: peevish. whine. My son was querulous when I told him to stop playing with his tablet.

tendentious: biased, promote a particular cause. Think about the argument first so you will not make a tendentious judgment

timorous: beyond timid, fearful. The timorous candidate awaited the results of the contest. She did not want to lose again.

expiate: make amends for, atone. She wants to expiate for her negligence and so she has sincerely extended her apologies to her husband.

calumny: slander. He filed a case against his ex-wife for making calumny statements in her op-ed.

apotheosis: supreme example, climax. The viewers were amazed by the apotheosis of the movie.

impecunious: having too little money. She was impecunious so she had no choice but to apply for a loan.

interlocutor: a go-between in a conversation. They hired an interlocutor to settle the divorce.

noisome: annoying, having an extremely offensive smell. The noisome office needed some clean-up and make-over.

orotund: bombastic, imposing, clear. My boss has given an orotund reminder for our next week’s work.

asperity: the harshness of tone. The asperity shown by the teacher has made the students uncomfortable and threatened.

ipso facto: a logical extension, by that very fact. She was not included among the ones called by the boss. Ipso facto, she knew her contract will not be renewed.

obeisance: deferential respect. The young kids were trained to show obeisance to their elders.

solipsism: self-centeredness. He doesn’t want to accept resolutions because of his solipsism.

sapient: wise, usually said ironically. If you’re so sapient, why don’t you try and solve the problem yourself?

dissimulate: hide or conceal under a false appearance. She was grieving over the loss of a loved one but she needs to dissimulate it because she had to go to work.

parvenu: newly rich, celebrity. Her life changed when she won the title; a parvenu overnight!

sententious: pompous moralizing. His anger made him say hurtful and sententious statements.

cynosure: center of attention or admiration. Her posts on her social media account made her the cynosure among her peers.

portmanteau: amalgam or combined of qualities. His portmanteau of abilities made him a sought-after actor.

sang-froid: equanimity, composure. He maintained his sang-froid despite their comments.

Weltschmerz: melancholy. Some felt Weltschmerzduring the pandemic.