Explore Movie Vocabulary
Learn English with movies. Discover how much of a movie’s vocabulary you already know and review unfamiliar words before watching.
The Great Dictator
Unique vocabulary and phrases by level
How difficult is The Great Dictator in English?
The Great Dictator: 63.9% A1–A2 vocabulary; 16.4% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary. Vocabulary size: 1,325.
Unique vocabulary
- For A2 learners: 27.8% of unique vocabulary is above A2 or marked rare. Expect substantial preparation; start with short scenes and English subtitles.
- For B1 learners: 16.4% of unique vocabulary is above B1 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
- For B2 learners: 11.6% of unique vocabulary is above B2 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
8.3% Unclassified. Unclassified vocabulary has no reliable level assignment.
Vocabulary weighted by word occurrences
89.8% A1–A2 vocabulary; 4.5% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary; 2.3% Unclassified.
This counts repeated eligible words. Phrases are excluded from this calculation to avoid counting their component words twice.
Recurring words and phrases to preview
- war (B1): 14 occurrences in available subtitles.
English meaning: Armed fighting between countries or groups.
Subtitle example:
At the end of the World War Tomainia weakened.
- trooper (rare): 10 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
in case the storm troopers start their monkey business again.
- commander (C1): 9 occurrences in available subtitles.
English meaning: A person who is in charge, especially in a military organization.
Subtitle example:
Commander Schultz!
- ghetto (C1): 8 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
You're right. Things have been quiet in the ghetto lately.
- aryan (rare): 7 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
We shall never have peace till we have a pure Aryan race.
Compare with titles in similar genres
- Catch-22: 14.6% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (1.8 percentage points less than The Great Dictator).
- War Machine: 18.8% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (2.4 percentage points more than The Great Dictator).
- Stalag 17: 19.0% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (2.6 percentage points more than The Great Dictator).
These percentages describe vocabulary, not the proportion of dialogue you will understand. CEFR labels are estimates, not official film ratings. Accent, speed, songs, context, and your own vocabulary also affect comprehension. Repeated occurrences may include repeated dialogue or lyrics.
How we estimate vocabulary difficulty · Evidence generated: