- adversity -- (n) misfortune, an unfavorable turn of events
- Even students that face great adversity can succeed on the SAT.
- antagonist -- (n) foe, opponent, adversary
- Some people would say that the SAT is their antagonist.
- congregation -- (n) a crowd of people, an assembly
- Every test day, at congregation of students gather at the SAT testing center.
- exasperation -- (n) irritation, frustration
- The student showed his exasperation by crumpling his SAT practice test.
- hedonist -- (n) person who pursues pleasure as a goal
- A hedonist might spend all day, sleeping, eating and watching TV, instead of studying for the SAT.
- hypothesis -- (n) assumption, theory requiring proof
- My hypothesis is if you study many hours for the SAT, you will do well.
- integrity -- (n) decency, honesty, wholeness
- The student demonstrated integrity by not cheating on his SAT.
- jubilation -- (n) joy, celebration, exultation
- You could see the jubilation in the teenager’s eyes after he handed in his SAT.
- lobbyist -- (n) person who seeks to influence political events
- The lobbyist went to the state capitol to get more money for the schools’ SAT prep program.
- longevity -- (n) long life
- The longevity of the SAT in college admissions is due in part to its effective evaluation of test takers.
- orator -- (n) lecturer, speaker
- The orator was a nationally acclaimed SAT instructor and teacher.
- prosperity -- (n) wealth or success
- The SAT student tells about his prosperity by writing a review about his great experience in his SAT prep class.
- renovation -- (n) repair, making something new again
- The location of the SAT test will have to change due to renovations in the old center.
- sagacity -- (n) wisdom
- The experienced SAT tutor has more sagacity than his students.
- spontaneity -- (n) impulsive action, unplanned events
- The SAT instructor showed her spontaneity by stopping the lesson to stand on her head.
SAT Prep Vocabulary - Verbs
- abbreviate -- (v) to shorten, abridge
- Most people abbreviate the Standardized Aptitude Test as the SAT.
- compromise -- (v) to settle a dispute by terms agreeable to both sides
- Both kids wanted the same SAT tutor, so they decided to compromise by taking a group course.
- censure -- (v) to criticize harshly
- If you censure me for coming to the SAT late, then I will leave.
- discredit -- (v) to harm the reputation of, dishonor or disgrace
- One strategy on the SAT is to discredit incorrect answers.
- emulate -- (v) to imitate, follow an example
- I am a unique SAT taker because I don’t emulate anybody else.
- enhance -- (v) to improve, bring to a greater level of intensity
- Memorizing the test tips in the SAT book would enhance my grade.
- procrastinate -- (v) to unnecessarily delay, postpone, put off
- Even SAT students sometimes procrastinate with their homework.
- scrutinize -- (v) to observe carefully
- You don’t need to scrutinize me, I am going to do my SAT homework.
- suppress -- (v) to end an activity, e.g., to prevent the dissemination of information
- He took three deep breaths to try to suppress his anxiety about the SAT practice test.
- vindicate -- (v) to clear from blame or suspicion
- The student felt vindicated by their high SAT score.
SAT Prep Vocabulary - Adjectives
- amicable -- (adj) friendly, agreeable
- The two friendly SAT students had an amicable discussion.
- anonymous -- (adj) nameless, without a disclosed identity
- Nothing showed up the SAT tutor’s caller ID—the caller was anonymous.
- benevolent -- (adj) friendly and helpful
- SAT tutors are known for being benevolent people.
- clairvoyant -- (adj) exceptionally insightful, able to foresee the future
- Sometimes I think my SAT tutor is clairvoyant! He knew I would get a 2400.
- condescending -- (adj) possessing an attitude of superiority, patronizing
- As an SAT instructor, I try not to be condescending to my students.
- deleterious -- (adj) harmful, destructive, detrimental
- Doing poorly on an SAT has a deleterious effect on your college admissions chances
- divergent -- (adj) separating, moving in different directions from a particular point
- The two roads were divergent, and I didn’t know which path to take to get to my SAT test center.
- ephemeral -- (adj) momentary, transient, fleeting
- The satisfaction that the student felt after taking the SAT was ephemeral and dissipated when she received her SAT score.
- exemplary -- (adj) outstanding, an example to others
- Exemplary SAT students turn in all their homework and participate actively in class.
- florid -- (adj) red-colored, flushed; gaudy, ornate
- The SAT student’s cheeks turned florid when he answered the question incorrectly.
- hackneyed -- (adj) cliched, worn out by overuse
- “Winging it” is a hackneyed expression about preparing for the SAT.
- incompatible -- (adj) opposed in nature, not able to live or work together
- The SAT tutor and the poor student were incompatible so they chose not to work together.
- inevitable -- (adj) certain, unavoidable
- After staying awake all night studying for the SAT, sleep is inevitable.
- intrepid -- (adj) fearless, adventurous
- The intrepid student tried to take 3 practice SAT tests consecutively.
- mundane -- (adj) ordinary, commonplace
- Mundane SAT drills are usually boring.
- nonchalant -- (adj) calm, casual, seeming unexcited
- Brian tried to appear nonchalant after scoring poorly on his diagnostic SAT before he started studying, but you could tell he was disappointed.
- opulent -- (adj) wealthy
- After studying for weeks in coffee shops, the SAT student felt surprised to try studying at the opulent library.
- parched -- (adj) dried up, shriveled
- “My throat is parched because I haven’t drunk any water all day” said the SAT student.
- precocious -- (adj) unusually advanced or talented at an early age
- The precocious SAT student already scored an 800 on her math section.
- provocative -- (adj) tending to provoke a response, e.g., anger or disagreement
- The provocative SAT student attempted to get a rise out of his instructor by questioning vociferously every answer choice.
- rancorous -- (adj) bitter, hateful
- Some students have rancorous feelings towards the SAT.
- reclusive -- (adj) preferring to live in isolation
- My reclusive SAT tutor only comes out of his house to tutor his students.
- submissive -- (adj) tending to meekness, to submit to the will of others
- A submissive SAT student would not talk back to his teacher.
- subtle -- (adj) hard to detect or describe; perceptive
- There are subtle differences between the SAT and the ACT.
- superfluous -- (adj) extra, more than enough, redundant
- After my mom told me to do my SAT prep homework, my dad made a superfluous comment about homework.
- anachronistic -- (adj) out-of-date, not attributed to the correct historical period
- The kid in my SAT class who wears bow ties and suspenders has an anachronistic sense of style.
- arid -- (adj) extremely dry or deathly boring
- I fell asleep during the arid SAT tutoring session.
- circuitous -- (adj) indirect, taking the longest route
- The student took a circuitous route to his SAT test because of street construction.
- conditional -- (adj) depending on a condition, e.g., in a contract
- SAT students believe that doing their homework is not conditional and should be done on time.
- diligent -- (adj) careful and hard-working
- If you are diligent in your preparation, you can improve your SAT score.
- enervating -- (adj) weakening, tiring
- Teaching SAT students all day can be enervating.
- evanescent -- (adj) quickly fading, short-lived, esp. an image
- SAT tips should not be evanescent; you need to remember them in order to do well.
- fortuitous -- (adj) happening by luck, fortunate
- I lost my SAT prep book and my tutor had a fortuitous extra copy for me.
- haughty -- (adj) arrogant and condescending
- SAT tutors often have trouble working with haughty students.
- impetuous -- (adj) rash, impulsive, acting without thinking
- The impetuous SAT student got in trouble for shouting out inappropriate words in class.
- inconsequential -- (adj) unimportant, trivial
- Eating jellybeans is inconsequential to your performance on the SAT math test.
- intuitive -- (adj) instinctive, untaught
- The SAT tutor has an intuitive ability to train students to do well on the exam.
- ostentatious -- (adj) showy, displaying wealth
- If the SAT student always wears flashy jewelry, some people may say she is ostentatious.
- perfidious -- (adj) faithless, disloyal, untrustworthy
- The perfidious, cheating student could not be trusted to take the SAT with other people in the room.
- prosaic -- (adj) relating to prose; dull, commonplace
- The SAT tutor’s account of the incident was so prosaic that I nodded off while reading it.
- prudent -- (adj) careful, cautious
- It is prudent to bring multiple pens and pencils to your SAT.
- querulous -- (adj) complaining, irritable
- The querulous SAT students in the classroom wouldn’t stop complaining about the summer heat.
- resilient -- (adj) quick to recover, bounce back
- The resilient SAT student studied harder after he did not do as well as he hoped on the first test he took.
- spurious -- (adj) lacking authenticity, false
- The SAT student gave spurious excuses for being thirty minutes late.
- superficial -- (adj) shallow, lacking in depth
- Judging an SAT tutor based on her physical appearance is superficial.
- tenacious -- (adj) determined, keeping a firm grip on
- The SAT student was a tenacious studier of exam tricks.
- transient -- (adj) temporary, short-lived, fleeting
- The transient SAT tutor found a new student to tutor every day.
- venerable -- (adj) respected because of age
- I had the honor of meeting the venerable SAT tutor who had tutored for 20 years.
- wary -- (adj) careful, cautious
- The SAT tutor told the student to be wary of prepositional phrases in the sentence correction section.
SAT Prep Vocabulary - Advanced Words
- adulation -- (n) high praise
- Professional SAT tutors receive adulation from satisfied customers across the country.
- anecdote -- (n) short, usually funny account of an event
- My SAT tutor used to tell anecdotes about her past testing experiences during review sessions.
- assiduous -- (adj) persistent, hard-working
- The assiduous SAT student did incredibly well on his test after attending all his prep sessions.
- camaraderie -- (n) trust, sociability amongst friends
- After the SAT prep course was over, the students showed camaraderie by promising each other to keep in touch.
- collaborate -- (v) to cooperate, work together
- Students collaborate with one another while preparing to succeed on the SAT test.
- compassion -- (n) sympathy, helpfulness or mercy
- The SAT instructor demonstrated compassion when he saw one of his students lagging behind and slowed his pace.
- conformist -- (n) person who complies with accepted rules and customs
- A conformist does not question the SAT’s testing of vocabulary.
- convergence -- (n) the state of separate elements joining or coming together
- We planned study for the SAT at the coffee shop at the convergence of our two streets.
- digression -- (n) the act of turning aside, straying from the main point, esp. in a speech or argument
- The digression in the lesson provided background on the SAT instructor’s personal life.
- disdain -- (v) to regard with scorn or contempt
- She disdained studying for the SAT but in the end realized how beneficial it was.
- empathy -- (n) identification with the feelings of others
- The boy demonstrated empathy by sharing his SAT notes with his friend.
- extenuating -- (adj) excusing, lessening the seriousness of guilt or crime, e.g., of mitigating factors
- Your SAT prep homework will be considered late unless you have extenuating circumstances.
- frugal -- (adj) thrifty, cheap
- A frugal person saves money whenever possible, for example on discounted SAT classes.
- impute -- (v) to attribute an action to particular person or group
- The student imputed his 800 on the math section of the SAT to his SAT tutor.
- novice -- (n) apprentice, beginner
- I’m a novice at using SAT strategies, but I would like to get better.
- pretentious -- (adj) pretending to be important, intelligent or cultured
- People who think they know everything about the SAT can be pretentious.
- reconciliation -- (n) the act of agreement after a quarrel, the resolution of a dispute
- After their reconciliation, the two SAT students agreed not to fight ever again.
- restrained -- (adj) controlled, repressed, restricted
- The SAT proctor restrained his temper, but I could tell that he was very angry that the student was talking during the test.
- reverence -- (n) worship, profound respect
- Students were full of reference for the the student that scored a perfect score on the SAT.
- substantiate -- (v) to verify, confirm, provide supporting evidence
- Can you substantiate your claim that this SAT section is the most difficult?