My first Android creation was a game called Vocabulary Builder. The gameplay is simple: match words with definitions and vice versa. It has multiple skill levels, tracks your progress, and has a built-in dictionary.
Today, it is the number one Google search result for Android Vocabulary Builder, has a 4/5 star rating, and has around 100k installs. It is monetized with ads and a 99 cent ad-free pro version. Being as this is Android, this translates into me having made roughly $100 dollars from it throughout its entire lifetime. No, seriously. Despite cleverly sneaking ads in between definitions, it’s CPM is practically nothing (an order of magnitude less than some of my iOS games) and of the 100k installs, a whopping 82 have converted to pro users.
But that is neither here nor there. What is interesting (and hopefully worth sharing), is the analytics data that has been collected. Using a free Google App Engine account, I have collected the anonymized result of every single question (within the free account quota). This equates to over a million data points. Ironically, due to the size of the data set, in order to bulk download all of this data in a timely fashion, I had to temporarily upgrade to a paid account. Here I share the toughest and the easiest vocabulary words.
The 25 Toughest Words
To qualify this data, the dictionary used in the game is based on a well known list of difficult GRE-style words. It is not based on the entire English dictionary.
| Rank | Word | Definition | Correct Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | transport | strong emotion; rapture | 0.1078838174 |
| 2 | husband | use sparingly; conserve; save | 0.1198156682 |
| 3 | career | rush wildly; go at full speed | 0.1380952381 |
| 4 | disport | amuse | 0.1697247706 |
| 5 | nicety | precision; accuracy; minute distinction or difference | 0.1991150442 |
| 6 | cupidity | greed (for wealth) | 0.2042553191 |
| 7 | cow | terrorize; intimidate | 0.2044444444 |
| 8 | dint | means; effort | 0.2064220183 |
| 9 | affected | artificial; pretended | 0.2127659574 |
| 10 | exceptionable | objectionable; likely to cause dislike; offensive | 0.224137931 |
| 11 | base | contemptible; morally bad; inferior in value or quality | 0.2282157676 |
| 12 | brook | tolerate; endure | 0.2307692308 |
| 13 | qualified | limited; restricted | 0.2322274882 |
| 14 | guy | cable or chain attached to something that needs to be braced or steadied | 0.2339449541 |
| 15 | gloss | brief explanation note or translation of a difficult expression | 0.2355769231 |
| 16 | enjoin | command; order; forbid | 0.2358974359 |
| 17 | mountebank | charlatan; boastful pretender | 0.2380952381 |
| 18 | pluck | courage | 0.2476190476 |
| 19 | bearing | deportment; connection | 0.2511210762 |
| 20 | flag | droop; grow feeble; decline in vigor or strength | 0.2525252525 |
| 21 | wont | (the stated person's) habit or custom; habitual procedure | 0.2525773196 |
| 22 | pan | criticize harshly | 0.2526315789 |
| 23 | waffle | speak equivocally about an issue | 0.2565445026 |
| 24 | ferment | agitation; commotion(noisy and excited activity); unrest (of a political kind) | 0.2566371681 |
| 25 | mettle | courage (to continue bravely in spite of difficulties); spirit | 0.2581967213 |
Interestingly, most of these words are not that uncommon, but are clearly used in the context of their 2nd or 3rd definition.
The 25 Easiest Words
For contrast, here is the other end of the spectrum:
| Rank | Word | Definition | Correct Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | psychiatrist | doctor who treats mental diseases | 0.9957264957 |
| 2 | healthy | possessing good health; healthful | 0.9911894273 |
| 3 | vaporize | turn into vapor (steam, gas, fog, etc.) | 0.9868421053 |
| 4 | sibling | brother or sister | 0.9855769231 |
| 5 | optician | maker and seller of eyeglasses | 0.9821428571 |
| 6 | judiciary | judicial branch of government | 0.981981982 |
| 7 | plumber | one who installs and repairs pipes and plumbing(pipes) | 0.9815668203 |
| 8 | exhale | breathe out | 0.9814814815 |
| 9 | renovate | restore to good condition; renew | 0.981042654 |
| 10 | lubricate | apply a lubricant to | 0.9807692308 |
| 11 | replicate | reproduce; duplicate | 0.9787234043 |
| 12 | reminiscent | suggestive of something (in the past); of reminiscence | 0.9782608696 |
| 13 | artery | blood-vessel | 0.9779735683 |
| 14 | morgue | mortuary; place where bodies are kept before burial or cremation | 0.9779735683 |
| 15 | negligence | neglect; failure to take reasonable care | 0.9777777778 |
| 16 | nauseous | causing nausea; feeling nausea | 0.9774774775 |
| 17 | cardiologist | doctor specializing in ailments of the heart | 0.9771689498 |
| 18 | mentor | counselor; teacher | 0.9770642202 |
| 19 | oversee | watch over and direct; supervise | 0.9768518519 |
| 20 | nectar | drink of the gods; sweet liquid collected by bees | 0.976744186 |
| 21 | amphibian | able to live both on land and in water | 0.9764150943 |
| 22 | dermatologist | one who studies the skin and its diseases | 0.9763033175 |
| 23 | kneel | go down on one's knee(s) | 0.9759615385 |
| 24 | toxic | poisonous | 0.9758454106 |
| 25 | hibernate | sleep throughout the winter | 0.9757281553 |
If you are reading this and you are interested in word games, check out some of my other titles: Beworded (Android Market, App Store) and Word Topple (App Store).