We study a model problem describing vibrational resonance by means of a high-order averaging technique based on so-called word series. With the technique applied here, the tasks of constructing the averaged system and the associated change of variables are divided into two parts. It is first necessary to build recursively a set of so-called word basis functions and, after that, all the required manipulations involve only scalar coefficients that are computed by means of simple recursions. As distinct from the situation with other approaches, with word-series, high-order averaged systems may be derived without having to compute the associated change of variables. In the system considered here, the construction of high-order averaged systems makes it possible to obtain very precise approximations to the true dynamics.