SAT Prep - Verbal Section - Vocabulary

SAT Prep Vocabulary - Nouns

  • 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?