4th Grade  Vocabulary Words

Use these  4th grade vocabulary words to enhance your students' written and spoken vocabularies. Follow the suggestions at the bottom of the page to give students practice in using the words on this list. You're sure to find many more ways to incorporate them in your language learning activities all year long!

This first list contains 200 words in alphabetical order. Below the big list, you'll find 100 of the words arranged in ten categories. I've created an engaging printable page for students' use. They can refer back to this shortened list throughout their fourth grade year for extra words to include in their writing. 

4th Grade Vocabulary Words

Printable list of 200 4th Grade Vocabulary Words

Teacher's Tips:

As a former classroom teacher and former homeschool mom, I know the importance of a rich vocabulary. Words open doors to better writing and speaking, now in elementary school, later in high school, and all through adult life. Don't wait any longer to build your students' vocabularies!

It's a bit daunting to present fourth graders with a 200-word list and say, "Learn these!" It's much better to follow these guidelines:

• Introduce these new words naturally, in subject matter lessons and/or in normal conversations.
• Give students small batches of 8-10 words to study.  Teach the words in context, and encourage students to use words in sentences or short stories to show they understand word meanings and correct usage.
• Begin with the illustrated printable list below in which the words are sorted into meaningful categories.

Shorter List of 4th Grade Vocabulary Words

I've arranged 100 words from the big list into useful categories that will help kids quickly understand their meanings. Students can keep their own copies of this list in their notebooks or desks. Or they can take them home to review frequently.

Here's a peek at the printable page. The full version also appears below. 

Places: arena, fairground, orchard, meadow, frontier, entrance, burrow, border, peninsula, plaza

Math: equation, computation, parallel, perpendicular, isosceles, scalene, right angle, mean, median, mode

Science: adaption, carnivore, omnivore, herbivore, vertebrate, invertebrate, ecosystem, weathering, metamorphic, sedimentary

Social studies: boundary, exploration, agriculture, democracy, independence, judicial, legislative, executive, population, colony

Compound words: lighthouse, toothpaste, tightrope, hardship, teammate, windshield, fingerprint, cardboard, weekend, earthworm

Homophone sets:   feat/feet, seam/seem, cent/scent/sent, scene/seen, hole/whole, idle/idol, soar/sore, pain/pane, fair/fare, road/rode

Adjectives:  maximum, minimum, obvious, invisible, basic, capable, humble, sturdy, tidy, weary

Verbs: sprint, convince, demonstrate, prepare, create, practice, assist, recommend, inspire, request

People: ancestor, infant, host, guest, competitor, patient, surgeon, caregiver, immigrant, attorney

Plants: seedling, sprout, blossom, wildflower, thistle, fern, mushroom, herb, cactus, bamboo

Extension Activities

Choose from these extension activities to give your child/students extra practice using words from the 4th grade vocabulary list. Add more activities of your own. 

1) Find two pairs of adjectives on the list with opposite meanings. Add three more pairs of new adjectives of your own that also have opposite meanings.

2) List two examples each of a carnivore, herbivore and omnivore.

3) Write a sentence or two about some of these topics:

• Tell about an interesting ancestor in your family.
• Tell who you would most like to invite to your home as a guest and why. 
• What is your favorite kind of orchard? Why?
• At a fairground, would you rather ride a Ferris wheel, eat elephant ears, or look at animal exhibits? Why?
• Write a sentence correctly using pain and pane. 

4) Work with a partner or family helper to write a story using at least 10 words on the list. Draw at least one picture about the story. 

More Fourth Grade Resources

NEW! Fourth Grade Find-A-Word Puzzles: Words from our 4th grade spelling word list are hidden in this fun "4" shape for students' FUN and LEARNING! This word search puzzle features words with silent letters. It's printable for your convenience. Don't miss the special twist!

Fourth grade spelling words - Our list of 300 words most fourth graders should know or learn this year.

 4th Grade Lesson Plans - 25 spelling dictation sentences and full instructions. Use a few of these each week to provide students with extra practice in writing, spelling and using spelling words in context. 

4th Grade Writing Prompts, Set 1 - Here's a great assortment of 4th grade writing prompts! Your students will like to write about some wacky, and also some fairly realistic situations. While their creativity is flowing, they'll also be practicing important language skills and spelling words! These are great prompts in which to use the 4th grade vocabulary list!

Silence, Please! - Kids supply the missing silent letters in frequently-used words in this kids' crossword puzzle. Fun spelling practice!

Fourth Grade Worksheets

Our free fourth grade worksheets provide fun spelling practice! Teachers, use these pages to supplement your classroom instruction. Parents, print them out for your kids to get some fun extra practice with important word skills.

Compound Confusions! - This woodpecker  introduces your students to a great compound word challenge!  Students need to match word parts to form new compound words. Extra activity and spelling tip included.

 Three Part Puzzler - Students must reconstruct 12 familiar words, syllable by syllable, one from each of three columns,  in this challenging page. 

 A Snowy Situation - Give students valuable spelling AND vocabulary practice with this engaging worksheet.

All Vocabulary Lists

Kindergarten Vocabulary Words - 175 engaging, empowering vocabulary words, in alphabetical order, that every kindergartner should be learning. Use our convenient printable page. A second list features 100 of the words in helpful categories such as shapes, feelings, community helpers and more. 

First Grade Vocabulary Words - 175 great vocab words on a variety of topics for 1st grade students to learn to use in conversation, along with suggested activities. 100 words appear in meaningful categories including sports, animals, compound words and more. 

Second Grade Vocabulary Words : 200 words for 2nd grade students to learn and enjoy! 100 of the words are arranged in helpful categories and are arranged on an engaging printable for your students. Challenge your second graders with more words to use in their speaking and written vocabularies.

3rd Grade Vocabulary Words - 200 words to boost your child's spoken and written language skills, arranged alphabetically!  Print the complete list from the web page for best results. 100 of the words also appear in an engaging printable, arranged by helpful topics. 

4th Grade Vocabulary Words - 200 4th grade vocab words to keep your students on track all year long! Half of the words are also arranged in meaningful categories to help students with word meaning. 

5th Grade Vocabulary Words - Boost your fifth graders' spoken and written vocabularies with this BIG list of 200 words, arranged in alphabetical order. I've also selected 100 of these words to put into 10 engaging topics. Try the extension activities for best results!

6th Grade Vocabulary Words - Improve your students' understanding of LOTS of areas of learning by covering these 200 important words! I've included many ways to put these words into use, and I have links to other related pages, too!

7th Grade Vocabulary Words - Here are 240 challenging words to stretch your upper grade students this year! Follow all the tips and extra activities listed to get the most out of this mega list of vocabulary words!

NEW! 8th Grade Vocabulary Words - Stretch your own vocabulary as well as your students' with this challenging list of 250 words! Lots of extension activities are also included. 

These are lists of spelling words that you may wish to explore with your student. 

• Third grade spelling words
• 3rd grade spelling bee words
• Fourth grade spelling words
• 4th grade spelling bee words
  
• Fifth grade spelling words
• Tricky elementary spelling words

Ann Richmond Fisher is a longtime published educational writer, a former classroom teacher and a former homeschool teacher. Ann's spelling bee resources, graded spelling word lists, spelling games, worksheets, and other language arts resources have become respected around the globe since she launched Spelling-Words-Well in 2010.

Ann is also the creator of www.word-game-world.com.

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