Note: If you are really serious about improving your vocabulary, we highly recommend you check out the popular Ultimate Vocabulary Builder

Best Vocabulary Software

How do you find the best vocabulary software? You figure out why you need to improve your vocabulary, and then you start looking at features. There are many different vocabulary programs available, some of them can be downloaded off the internet in minutes. The programs can help you study for a standardized test, improve your business vocabulary, or let your kid have fun with words. Some programs are geared towards memorizing lists of words and definitions, while others are designed to help you internalize the words for use in your writing and speech. Some programs have a limited number of words for you to study, but let you add your own in as well. Some programs just have tons of words already.

WordSmart is one of the most well-known vocabulary programs, thanks to its widespread infomercials and telemarketer advertising campaign. While WordSmart has some good features, the activities provided only allow users to learn 400 new words. The commercials claim up to 10,000 words, but the program only pronounced most of those, no definition included. The WordSmart company has been reported by many customers for its high-pressure sales tactics, including claiming that your child’s school gave them your information. Add to that a fraudulent return policy, rude customer service, and a price tag in excess of $300, and you can see why many people choose to avoid WordSmart.

Vocaboly is a much more reliable and less scam-ridden vocabulary program. It includes a 12,000 word dictionary and word lists specifically for people who are studying for the GRE, SAT, GMAt, and TOEFL. Vocaboly is one of the least expensive vocabulary programs for adults, at around $40. It is suitable for high school students, college and graduate students, adults, and those who are learning English as a second language.

Power Vocabulary Builder is another adult vocabulary program, though it also has words suitable for middle school students to begin with. Like Vocaboly, Power Vocabular Builder has specific word lists for people who need to target certain words for a test. This program also has many different filters to help users find the words they really need to learn. Power Vocabulary Builder is still a value at around $70, but the word list is limited to 2,200 words.

Ultimate Vocabulary is very similar to Power Vocabulary Builder, but with more words and more information per word. Since you are more likely to remember a word when you know all about it, Ultimate Vocabulary has tons of information about each word, including many different sentences that use the word, and even links to Wikipedia. At a price around $70 and with a dictionary of over 140,000 words, Ultimate Vocabulary is a great value.