I have found this website which searches for words and phrases and their frequency. Very useful! http://www.wordandphrase.info/frequencyList.asp It will show you the rank of the word in common publications, as well as the category of where the word is found. Try it out! For example, "concomitantly" is ranked at 30000th or so, and is used primarily in academic publications. "Denim" is ranked 10000th and found more in fiction and magazines. I can say from everyday speech, "denim" is much more frequent then "concomitantly". The website would agree as "denim" is found in more common publications (magazines) and "concomitantly" is limited to academic papers.

Well, your colleague is right. If by normal English, you mean general conversation then most of these words are not going to be used with any great frequency.It sounds like he was joking with you a little, but there is a point there. However, don't be too disheartened because given that you indicate that you have a C1 level, and thus an advanced level in English these are the type of words that can help you express nuances in the language, but most of them are probably going to be more useful in the written rather than the spoken language. The words I would say are not worth learning are 'obviate', 'triage' and 'hysteresis' (whatever the hell that means.) The others I could see being useful to you to expand your vocabulary, although in 'normal' English as you describe it, you wouldn't need many of them very often. It will make you sound educated if you do though!

Hi Mark! The way your colleague said that sounds a little bit rude, but I understand where he was coming from. Some of those words might be good to know, but most of them are not very common. I would say "connotation", "jarring", "denim", "scruffy", "intricate" , "elated", and "to hobble" would make your vocabulary more rich and full, but they are not necessary to be understood or understand most conversations. The rest of the words are not likely to be used in regular conversation at all. I guess it depends on the level of English you're currently at and the level you are hoping to get to. If you want to have strong academic English, you should probably still try to learn many of these words. This is a very advanced word list in my opinion. I don't know if there is a way to determine how common a word is online, but this is a list of the 500 most common English words http://www.world-english.org/english500.htm If you are practicing more advanced vocabulary then you probably know these words though. I also don't know about online tests for different levels, sorry! If you have any questions or want me to clarify anything, just comment below! Good luck!

Marc, are you getting your vocabulary lists from an instructor? Or are you making them yourself by pulling random words from a dictionary? In your list, I've found a few I've never spoken in my life, two that I simply don't know and one that sounds like a medical condition (hysteresis?). Even though you obviously have a good grasp of English, it's very important to concentrate on learning those words that are most commonly used. It will simply get you farther in your studies.

In my opinion, these are all advanced words used mostly by educated speakers, with these exceptions: jarring, burly, denim, scruffy, elevation, rickety. This website claims to test your vocabulary: http://testyourvocab.com What I'd suggest is to look for in the language section of a bookstore and pick out some relatively small, cheap, beginner's dictionary. Then if it isn't in that dictionary, you know it's advanced.