Warning: 25 cent lyrics may make you smarter. They may increase your vocabulary and may even make you think.

So what is a 25 cent word? It’s a bigger, bolder word that is used instead of a common one (which is usually valued at 5 cents). For instance, why use the word “make” when you can say “fabricate”? They make widgets. Wait, no! They FABRICATE widgets.

Artists mentioned on this site followed their teacher’s advice to incorporate 25 cent words into their vocabulary. They may not have scored a perfect 800 on the SAT verbal test, but they aren’t afraid to incorporate intelligent or interesting words into their lyrics.

If a song requires you to grab a dictionary, don’t call it pretentious. Instead, tell us the artist, song and word that sparked your curiosity. It’s nice when music can make you smarter.

If you ever wondered why smart words are worth 25¢, please check out this English teacher’s explanation.