 When you're recording vocabulary, what you have to do is you have to record everything about that word. The synonyms, the antonyms, the collocations, the type of the word, example sentences, pronunciation because you really need to know what that word means and how it is used. That's why I also say to learn vocabulary in context because if you don't learn the word in context, you will never really know what it means. Improve your general vocabulary and don't take risks. Don't use words you don't fully understand. If you don't know, don't use it.