Grade 6 Vocabulary Word List for Students: 35 Words with a Self-Study Method

This page is written for students who want to study vocabulary independently. The title uses the international term Grade 6, while much of eduKate’s teaching context is Singapore Primary 6. These labels are not a claim that different national curricula are identical; the shared focus here is upper-primary English vocabulary learning.

The 35 words below came from a historical 2019 eduKate comprehension resource. They are an eduKate learning bank, not an official prescribed examination list.

The 35-Word Bank

figure, forlornly, active, astute, dazed, chores, caregiver, perked up, transfixed, stylish, perched, reprimanded, severe, practically, disciplinarian, retired, inseparable, jeered, snorted, conversation, coincidence, occurred, discovered, incident, thrilled, roared, swerved, indelible, forbidden, licence, interrupted, familiar, swiftly, gleaming, speechless.

Step 1 — Learn in Small Sets

Split the bank into sets of about 5–8 words. A short set lets you do more than recognise the spelling: you can learn meaning, grammar and use.

Step 2 — Make a Five-Column Record

Step 3 — Learn Important Contrasts

• dazed / transfixed: dazed = confused; transfixed = intensely absorbed, shocked or fascinated.
• incident / coincidence: incident = an event; coincidence = a surprising correspondence between events.
• active / astute: active = energetic or involved; astute = perceptive and good at judging.
• gleaming / stylish: gleaming = shining; stylish = fashionable or attractively designed.
• thrilled / speechless: thrilled names an emotion; speechless describes a reaction.

Step 4 — Notice Word Forms

• forlorn → forlornly
• swift → swiftly
• active → activity / actively
• severe → severity / severely
• occur → occurred

In Singapore/British English, licence is the noun and license is the verb.

Step 5 — Self-Test Without Looking

1. A word meaning perceptive and good at judging situations: ________.
2. A phrase meaning became more cheerful or alert: ________.
3. A word meaning changed direction suddenly: ________.
4. A word meaning impossible to erase or forget: ________.
5. A word meaning temporarily unable to speak because of strong emotion: ________.

Answers: astute; perked up; swerved; indelible; speechless.

Step 6 — Transfer into Writing

Choose only three words and write a short paragraph. Do not force all the words into one composition. If a word does not fit the scene naturally, leave it out.

Example:

The cyclist swerved sharply around the corner. For a moment, Amir stood transfixed as the bicycle missed him by inches. The near accident left an indelible memory of why he should never step into the road without looking.

Step 7 — Transfer into Reading

Cover the word bank and infer a target word from a fresh sentence. This checks whether you can use context rather than list order.

Example: “After the announcement, the usually quiet girl ________ and began asking excited questions.” → perked up.

Step 8 — Review Later

Return after several days. Shuffle the words and test them again. If you only remember them in the original sequence, retrieval is still too dependent on the list.

When Is a Word Secure?

A strong learner can:

• explain the word simply;
• identify its word class;
• name a natural phrase or collocation;
• distinguish it from a nearby word;
• retrieve it from a clue;
• use it correctly in a new sentence.

Related eduKate Resources

• Primary 6 Vocabulary Words: full 35-word meanings and examples
• How to organise vocabulary word lists
• Primary 6 Vocabulary Worksheet
• Vocabulary Lists hub

Historical Media