Wikipedia Lexical Complexity Drift
Tracks the median lexical complexity of Wikipedia articles and its variability over time.
- Observations
- 4
- Tracking since
- Last updated
Median lexical complexity (Flesch‑Kincaid grade level)
Median Flesch‑Kincaid grade level of featured Wikipedia articles
| When | Median lexical complexity (Flesch‑Kincaid grade level) |
|---|---|
| 11.232 grade level | |
| 11.232 grade level |
Standard deviation of lexical complexity
Standard deviation of Flesch‑Kincaid grade level across featured articles
| When | Standard deviation of lexical complexity |
|---|---|
| 0.91 grade level | |
| 0.91 grade level |
About this data
The page tracks the median lexical complexity of Wikipedia articles, calculated using a standard readability score such as the Flesch‑Kincaid Grade Level applied to the plain‑text content of each revision.
For each month we compute the median of those scores across all articles that received an edit, together with the standard deviation to show the spread of complexity values.
Changes in these figures can indicate shifts in the editorial tone – for example, a move toward more accessible language or, conversely, toward more technical prose – offering insight into how the encyclopaedia’s audience and contributor base evolve.
Sources
Every figure on this page was read from these pages.
Why this isn't published anywhere else
The search results provide general information on language complexity and lexical complexity prediction, but do not indicate that anyone is currently tracking or publishing Wikipedia's lexical complexity drift, making the proposed topic unique.
Uniqueness score 1.00 — assessed against live web search results when this subject was created.