Last Updated on December 29, 2022
There’s a lot of advice out there to write more simply. More than half of Americans between the ages of 16 and 74 (54%) read below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level. (source)
So the argument is to write simply to be more accessible. This is a fair argument and makes sense, but it diminishes the benefit of growing a broad vocabulary.
When you learn and use new words, you can communicate in a more fine grained way. Your reading and writing is richer. There’s more meaning in it. And often less chance of misinterpretation.
Like many things – both ideas are actually correct depending on what perspective you are coming at it from.