Is The Picture of Dorian Gray hard to read? Its reading level from A1 to C2
How many words in every 100 you will probably not know, at each level from A1 to C2. Estimated over the whole book with Solaread’s own word-difficulty model.
- Author
- Oscar Wilde
- First published
- 1890
- Length
- About 76,100 words
- Copyright
- Public domain
Short answer
Just right from C1: 4.9 new words in every 100. At B1 it is a little hard, 9.6 in 100. It is the ninth easiest of the 20 English classics we measured.
New words per 100, by level
Estimated over all 76,116 running words. Character names are left out. The labels follow Solaread’s difficulty scale: Easy means knowing 98 of every 100 words, Just right 95, A little hard 90, and below that Too hard.
The Picture of Dorian Gray vocabulary by level
At A2
- cry111×
- lip68×
- passion69×
- laugh84×
- lord248×
- lad53×
- portrait53×
- sin55×
- smile64×
- duchess44×
- dear73×
- dreadful43×
The 12 words an A2 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 4% of the new words at this level.
At B1
- murmured42×
- lad53×
- dreadful43×
- duchess44×
- lip68×
- to-night31×
- hideous32×
- painter42×
- delightful29×
- monstrous25×
- exquisite26×
- creep30×
The 12 words a B1 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 5% of the new words at this level.
At B2
- murmured42×
- to-night31×
- hideous32×
- dreadful43×
- exclaim22×
- monstrous25×
- mutter17×
- flung20×
- tremble17×
- duchess44×
- frown18×
- exquisite26×
The 12 words a B2 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 5% of the new words at this level.
The opening lines
The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.
Open the free EPUB in Solaread and the words it marks follow your own level, with glosses in the language you choose.
Books with a similar level
- Anne of Green Gables9.5 new words per 100 at B1
- Treasure Island9.7 at B1
- The Great Gatsby9.7 at B1
Questions
Is The Picture of Dorian Gray hard to read?
At B1 it is a little hard, with 9.6 new words in every 100 (about one in 10). It is just right from C1.
What is the reading level of The Picture of Dorian Gray?
On Solaread’s scale it is just right from C1, and the ninth easiest of the 20 English classics we measured. At B2, 6.1 in every 100 words are new.
Where can I get The Picture of Dorian Gray for free?
It is in the public domain. Project Gutenberg has a free EPUB you can import into Solaread.
Read it with help only where you need it
Import the free EPUB. Solaread marks the words you probably don’t know, at your level.