It is normal enough for students to think of vocabulary when they hear SAT. So the question is, how essential are SAT vocab words for doing well on the test? If you plan for a high score, you will surely want to allocate more time for learning key SAT words.
This guide gives you a complete list of the most important and common SAT vocabulary words.
How Exactly is Vocabulary Tested on the SAT?
In , the SAT received a severe redesign, and after that, the vocabulary has become a far less critical part of the test. This all happened because fewer vocabulary questions on the current SAT compare to those on the old SAT. This does not matter if you are targeting a high or a perfect score. Learning SAT vocab words is only going to benefit you.
All SAT vocab words we have mentioned are about the medium difficulty and are tested in the context of reading passages.
Context clues make remembering SAT vocab words less critical on the current SAT than on the old SAT. Earlier, you had to memorize several mysterious words and answer questions that dealt with isolated sentences, also known as “Sentence Completion problems.” This all made vocab questions hard since you were given minimal context to solve them.
Have a look at the Official SAT Practice Test see vocab questions on Writing and Language
303 Important SAT Vocab Words You are about to see on Test Day
Our team has dug through the official SAT practice test to compile the list. We look into the Reading and Writing sections, not just the questions but also the answer choices and passages. We have also mentioned SAT words from other online vocab lists.
However, it is difficult to memorize all the words mentioned below. Still, you can get familiar with most of the terms, which will help you better identify the tones of passages and make you effective at answering questions correctly on SAT Reading and Writing.
Our list includes words that are important and quite difficult in SAT Reading and Writing.
- abject
of the most shameful kind
- aberration
a state or condition markedly different from the norm
- abjure
formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief
- abnegation
the denial and rejection of a doctrine or belief
- abrogate
revoke formally
- abscond
run away, often taking something or somebody along
- abstruse
difficult to understand
- accede
yield to another's wish or opinion
- accost
approach and speak to someone aggressively or insistently
- Accretion
an increase by natural growth or addition
- acumen
shrewdness showed by keen insight
- adamant
impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
- admonish
scold or reprimand; take to task
- adumbrate
describe roughly or give the main points or summary of
- adverse
in an opposing direction
- advocate
a person who pleads for a person, cause, or idea
- affluent
having an abundant supply of money or possessions of value
- aggrandize
embellish; increase the scope, power, or importance of
- alacrity
liveliness and eagerness
- alias
a name that has been assumed temporarily
- ambivalent
uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow
- amenable
disposed or willing to comply
- amorphous
having no definite form or distinct shape
- anachronistic
chronologically misplaced
- anathema
a formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by ex-communication
- annex
attach to
- antediluvian
of or relating to the period before the biblical flood
- antiseptic
thoroughly clean and free of disease-causing organisms
- apathetic
showing little or no emotion or animation
- antithesis
exact opposite
- apocryphal
being of questionable authenticity
- approbation
official acceptance or agreement.
- arbitrary
based on or subject to individual discretion or preference
- arboreal
of or relating to or formed by trees
- arcane
requiring secret or mysterious knowledge
- archetypal
of an original type after which other things are patterned
- arrogate
seize and take control without authority
- ascetic
someone who practices self-denial as a spiritual discipline
- aspersion
a disparaging remark
- assiduous
marked by care and persistent effort
- atrophy
a decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse
- bane
something causing misery or death
- bashful
self-consciously timid
- beguile
influence by slyness
- bereft
lacking or deprived of something
- blandishment
flattery intended to persuade
- bilk
cheat somebody out of what is due, especially money
- bombastic
ostentatiously lofty in style
- cajole
influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
- callous
emotionally hardened
- calumny
a false accusation of an offense
- camaraderie
the quality of affording comfortable familiarity and sociability
- candor
the quality of being honest and straightforward
- carouse
engage in boisterous, drunken merrymaking
- carp
any of various freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae
- caucus
meet to select a candidate or promote a policy
- cavort
play boisterously.
- circumlocution
an indirect way of expressing something
- circumscribe
draw a geometric figure around another figure
- circumvent
surround so as to force to give up
- clamor
utter or proclaim insistently and noisily
- cleave
separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument
- cobbler
a person who makes or repairs shoes
- cogent
powerfully persuasive
- cognizant
having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization
- commensurate
corresponding in size or degree, or extent
- complement
something added to embellish or make perfect
- compunction
a feeling of deep regret, usually for some misdeed
- concomitant
following or accompanying as a consequence
- conduit
a passage through which water or electric wires can pass
- conflagration
a very intense and uncontrolled fire
- congruity
the quality of agreeing; being suitable and appropriate
- connive
form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner
- consign
give over to another for care or safekeeping
- constituent
one of the individual parts making up a composite entity
- construe
make sense of; assign a meaning to
- contusion
an injury in which the skin is not broken
- contrite
feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses
- contentious
showing an inclination to disagree
- contravene
go against, as of rules and laws
- convivial
occupied with or fond of the pleasures of good company
- corpulence
the property of excessive fatness
- covet
wish, long, or crave for
- cupidity
extreme greed for material wealth
- dearth
an insufficient quantity or number
- debacle
a sudden and complete disaster
- debauch
a wild gathering involving excessive drinking
- dbunk
expose while ridiculing
- defunct
no longer in force or use; inactive
- demagogue
a leader who seeks support by appealing to popular passions
- denigrate
attack the good name and reputation of someone
- derivative
a compound obtained from another compound
- despot
a cruel and oppressive dictator
- diaphanous
so thin as to transmit light
- didactic
instructive, especially excessively
- dirge
a song or hymn of mourning as a memorial to a dead person
- disaffected
discontented as toward authority
- discomfit
cause to lose one's composure
- disparate
fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind
- dispel
cause to separate and go in different directions
- disrepute
the state of being held in low esteem
- divisive
causing or characterized by disagreement or disunity
- dogmatic
pertaining to a code of beliefs accepted as authoritative
- dour
showing a brooding ill humor
- duplicity
the act of deceiving or acting in bad faith
- duress
compulsory force or threat
- eclectic
selecting what seems best of various styles or ideas
- edict
a formal or authoritative proclamation
- ebullient
joyously unrestrained
- egregious
conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
- elegy
a mournful poem; a lament for the dead
- elicit
call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
- embezzlement
the fraudulent appropriation of funds or property
- emend
make corrections to
- emollient
a substance with a soothing effect when applied to the skin
- empirical
derived from experiment and observation rather than theory
- emulate
strive to equal or match, especially by imitating
- enervate
weaken physically, mentally, or morally
- enfranchise
grant freedom to, as from slavery or servitude
- engender
call forth
- ephemeral
anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day
- epistolary
written in the form of letters or correspondence
- equanimity
steadiness of mind under stress
- equivocal
open to two or more interpretations
- espouse
choose and follow a theory, idea, policy, etc.
- evanescent
short-lived; tending to vanish or disappear
- evince
give expression to
- exacerbate
make worse
- exhort
spur on or encourage especially by cheers and shouts
- execrable
unequivocally detestable
- exigent
demanding immediate attention
- expedient
appropriate to a purpose
- expiate
make amends for
- expunge
remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line
- extraneous
not belonging to that in which it is contained
- extol
praise, glorify, or honor
- extant
still in existence; not extinct or destroyed or lost
- expurgate
edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
- fallacious
containing or based on incorrect reasoning
- fatuous
devoid of intelligence
- fetter
a shackle for the ankles or feet
- flagrant
conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
- foil
hinder or prevent, as an effort, plan, or desire
- forbearance
good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence
- fortuitous
lucky; occurring by happy chance
- fractious
easily irritated or annoyed
- garrulous
full of trivial conversation
- gourmand
a person who is devoted to eating and drinking to excess
- grandiloquent
lofty in style
- gratuitous
unnecessary and unwarranted
- hapless
unfortunate and deserving pity
- hegemony
the dominance or leadership of one social group over others
- heterogenous
consisting of elements that are not of the same kind
- iconoclast
someone who attacks cherished ideas or institutions
- idiosyncratic
peculiar to the individual
- impecunious
not having enough money to pay for necessities
- impetuous
characterized by undue haste and lack of thought
- impinge
infringe upon
- impute
attribute or credit to
- inane
devoid of intelligence
- inchoate
only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
- incontrovertible
impossible to deny or disprove
- incumbent
necessary as a duty or responsibility; morally binding
- inexorable
impossible to prevent, resist, or stop
- inimical
not friendly
- injunction
a judicial remedy to prohibit a party from doing something
- inoculate
inject or treat with the germ of a disease to render immune
- insidious
working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
- instigate
provoke or stir up
- insurgent
in opposition to a civil authority or government
- interlocutor
a person who takes part in a conversation
- intimation
a slight suggestion or vague understanding
- inure
cause to accept or become hardened to
- invective
abusive language used to express blame or censure
- intransigent
impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
- inveterate
Habitual
- irreverence
a mental attitude showing lack of due respect
- knell
the sound of a bell rung slowly to announce a death
- laconic
brief and to the point
- largesse
liberality in bestowing gifts
- Legerdemain
an illusory feat
- libertarian
an advocate of freedom of thought and speech
- licentious
lacking moral discipline
- linchpin
a central cohesive source of support and stability
- litigant
a party to a lawsuit
- maelstrom
a powerful circular current of water
- maudlin
effusively or insincerely emotional
- maverick
someone who exhibits independence in thought and action
- mawkish
effusively or insincerely emotional
- maxim
a saying that is widely accepted on its own merits
- mendacious
given to lying
- modicum
a small or moderate or token amount
- morass
a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
- mores
the conventions embodying the fundamental values of a group
- munificent
very generous
- multifarious
having many aspects
- nadir
the lowest point of anything
- negligent
characterized by undue lack of attention or concern
- neophyte
any new participant in some activity
- noisome
offensively malodorous
- noxious
injurious to physical or mental health
- obdurate
stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
- obfuscate
make obscure or unclear
- obstreperous
noisily and stubbornly defiant
- officious
intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
- onerous
burdensome or difficult to endure
- ostensible
appearing as such but not necessarily so
- ostracism
the act of excluding someone from society by general consent
- palliate
lessen or to try to reduce the seriousness or extent of
- panacea
hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases
- paradigm
a standard or typical example
- pariah
a person who is rejected from society or home
- partisan
a fervent and even militant proponent of something
- paucity
an insufficient quantity or number
- pejorative
expressing disapproval
- pellucid
transparently clear; easily understandable
- penchant
a strong liking
- penurious
excessively unwilling to spend
- pert
characterized by a lightly saucy or impudent quality
- pernicious
exceedingly harmful
- pertinacious
stubbornly unyielding
- phlegmatic
showing little emotion
- philanthropic
of or relating to charitable giving
- pithy
concise and full of meaning
- platitude
a trite or obvious remark
- plaudit
enthusiastic approval
- plenitude
a full supply
- plethora
extreme excess
- portent
a sign of something about to happen
- potentate
a powerful ruler, especially one who is unconstrained by law
- preclude
make impossible, especially beforehand
- predilection
a predisposition in favor of something
- preponderance
exceeding in heaviness; having greater weight
- presage
a foreboding about what is about to happen
- probity
complete and confirmed integrity
- proclivity
a natural inclination
- profligate
unrestrained by convention or morality
- promulgate
state or announce
- proscribe
command against
- protean
taking on different forms
- prurient
characterized by lust
- puerile
displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity
- pugnacious
ready and able to resort to force or violence
- pulchritude
physical beauty, especially of a woman
- punctilious
marked by precise accordance with details
- quaint
attractively old-fashioned
- quixotic
not sensible about practical matters
- quandary
state of uncertainty in a choice between unfavorable options
- recalcitrant
stubbornly resistant to authority or control
- redoubtable
inspiring fear
- relegate
assign to a lower position
- remiss
failing in what duty requires
- reprieve
postpone the punishment of a convicted criminal
- reprobate
a person without moral scruples
- rescind
cancel officially
- requisition
an authoritative demand
- rife
excessively abundant
- sanctimonious
excessively or hypocritically pious
- sanguine
confidently optimistic and cheerful
- scurrilous
expressing offensive, insulting, or scandalous criticism
- semaphore
an apparatus for visual signaling
- serendipity
good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries
- sobriety
the state of being unaffected or not intoxicated by alcohol
- solicitous
full of anxiety and concern
- solipsism
the philosophical theory that the self is all that exists
- spurious
plausible but false
- staid
characterized by dignity and propriety
- stolid
having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
- subjugate
make subservient; force to submit or subdue
- surfeit
indulge (one's appetite) to satiety
- surreptitious
marked by quiet and caution and secrecy
- swarthy
naturally having the skin of a dark color
- tangential
of superficial relevance, if any
- tome
an extensive and scholarly book
- toady
a person who tries to please someone to gain an advantage
- torpid
in a condition of biological rest or suspended animation
- travesty
a composition that imitates or misrepresents a style
- trenchant
having keenness and forcefulness and penetration in thought
- trite
repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
- truculent
defiantly aggressive
- turpitude
a corrupt or depraved or degenerate act or practice
- ubiquitous
being present everywhere at once
- umbrage
a feeling of anger caused by being offended
- upbraid
express criticism towards
- utilitarian
having a useful function
- veracity
unwillingness to tell lies
- vestige
an indication that something has been present
- vicissitude
a variation in circumstances or fortune
- vilify
spread negative information about
- virtuoso
someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
- vitriolic
harsh, bitter, or malicious in tone
- vituperate
spread negative information about
- vociferous
conspicuously and offensively loud
- wanton
a lewd or immoral person
- winsome
charming in a childlike or naive way
- yoke
join with stable gear, as two draft animals
- zephyr
a slight wind
- wily
marked by skill in deception
- tirade
a speech of violent denunciation
Tips to get the most out of your SAT vocab studies.
You have got your long list of the words, now what is the best way to study them.
Use Flashcards and Waterfall Method
The best way to study SAT vocab words is to use flashcards; with this, you can control which SAT words you study and even randomizes them not accidentally to memorize words in a predetermined order.
We also suggest using the waterfall method to study your flashcards. With this technique, you will get to easily see all the words in your deck, going over the Most challenging words more often than the ones you already know or sort of know.
We recommend making your flashcards, and you can also buy pre-made ones. We suggest buying Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know, a series of exercises to master keywords and idioms, or Manhattan's GRE flashcards if you are looking for a challenge.
Learn the Words You Don’t Know
If you do not want to study the whole list and only want to focus on the SAT words you do not know, you can prepare your vocab list.
So if you know a word on test day, skip it and instead focus on the info you have the most trouble remembering. After creating your list, use the waterfall method to study it.
Take the Official SAT practice test
After you have studied all SAT words, you can put your knowledge to the test by taking an Official SAT practice test. This will help you know the meanings of the words and whether you can get the right answers in the context of a full-length real SAT.
To Conclude: Significance of Studying SAT Vocabulary
You will indeed have some questions on both the Reading and Writing sections that will test your knowledge of SAT words, so it is crucial to study those most likely to appear on test day.
The perfect way to study SAT vocabulary is to make flashcards and use the waterfall method.
The vast list of words we have mentioned above comes from official SAT practice tests, so you are guaranteed to come across them in some form. Regardless of how you set to study SAT vocab words, be sure to test out what you have learned in the situation of full-length practice tests.
Take a look at AP Guru’s Free SAT Training.
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