100 Common SATs Words You Must Know in 2024
This article is on 100 Common SATs Words You Must Know in 2024. The SAT is a standardised test which will help you get into the college of your choice.
It is used by colleges to assess how well a student can perform in school, and how well they will do academically at their university. The test contains sections in Mathematics, Critical Reading and Writing skills.
The SATs words consists of three sections: Critical Reading, Math and Writing. Each section has a maximum score of 800 points (the writing section also has a scaled score). In this blog, we’ll take a look at what are SAT words, the list of top SAT vocabulary words, tips to study the most common SAT words to ace your exam and more!
What Are SAT Words?
SAT words are those that appear in the SAT, which is a standardised test for college admissions in the United States. These tests have been around since 1901, and the current version of them is called College Board’s Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section.
The exam is a three-section test that measures students’ abilities to read and understand academic texts; write clear, organized essays; and reason through math problems. In this article, we’ll focus on reading comprehension questions that involve identifying vocabulary words as either being or not being common English words.
Vocabulary Required For SAT Exams
The words you need for the SAT are not especially difficult to understand. They’re common SAT words that you will use in everyday life, but they’re used in a specific context. For example, if you see the word “credulous,” it could mean believing something without evidence or relying too much on someone else’s judgment.
But if you see this word in an SAT passage about science, it probably means believing something without evidence; i.e., being gullible or trusting someone too much. Many of these words have different meanings depending on their usage and context; their definitions are often similar yet slightly different from one another and they’re all pretty useful!
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What Do The SAT Vocabulary Questions Look Like?
The most common SAT vocab words appear in vocabulary questions of multiple choice ones. In this case, you will be given a word and several synonyms or other expressions that mean the same thing as it. You need to pick the synonym that is closest in meaning to the word in question.
In some cases, however, antonyms may be tested instead (i.e: words that have opposite meanings). If this happens, you should select the answer choice with an opposite meaning for your answer. The SAT does not test you on definitions; instead, it tests how well you can use these words within the context and how well you understand them based on what they mean within different contexts or sentences when compared with other similar words.
Top SAT Vocabulary Words That Are Common
- Abandon: Give up completely.
- Abate: Become less intense or widespread.
- Abet: Encourage or assist.
- Accede: Accent or agree to a demand.
- Berate: Scold or criticise.
- Bovine: Of or relating to cattle.
- Braggart: A person who boasts about achievements.
- Burnish: Polish by rubbing.
- Cache: A collection of similar items stored in a secret place.
- Cacophony: Harsh discordant mixture of sounds.
- Catalyst: Substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction.
- Censorious: Severely critical of others.
- Dearth: Scarcity or lack of something.
- Demagogue: A political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires rather than reason.
- Diluvial: Of or relating to a flood.
- Dispassionate: Not influenced by strong emotion.
- Effluvia: An unpleasant or harmful odour.
- Emulate: Match or surpass.
- Epochal: Extremely significant.
- Expound: Explain or present.
- Facile: Appearing comprehensive by ignoring the complexities of the situation.
- Fictive: Created by imagination.
- Flippant: Not showing a serious attitude.
- Gauche: Lacking grace.
- Gregarious: Outgoing or social.
- Grotto: Small cave or cave-like structure.
- Hedonist: A person who believes the pursuit of pleasure is the most important aspect of life.
- Heretical: Practicing religious heresy.
- Hubris: Excessive pride.
- Hypocrite: A person who says one thing and does another.
- Ignoble: Not honourable in character.
- Imbibe: Drink alcohol
- Imperious: Assuming power without justification.
- Importunate: Persistent.
- Jettison: Throw or drop for an aeroplane or ship.
- Jocular: Humorous or playful.
- Junta: Military group that rules after taking by force.
- Kismet: Destiny.
- Lexicon: Vocabulary of a person.
- Licentious: Immoral.
- Limber: Flexible.
- Loquacious: Talkative.
- Malapropism: Mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding word.
- Malfeasance: Wrongdoing.
- Mawkish: Sentimental in a sickening way.
- Misnomer: Wrong or inaccurate name in the designation.
- Modicum: Small or minimal portion.
- Mote: Tiny piece of a substance.
- Necromancy: Practice of communicating with the dead.
- Nihilism: Rejection of religion
- Nomenclature: The choosing of names for things.
- Novel: Fictitious prose narrative.
- Obfuscate: To confuse.
- Olfactory: Of or relating to the sense of smell.
- Opprobrious: Compressing scorn.
- Ostracize: Exclude from a society or group.
- Palatial: Resembling a palace.
- Pandemic: Disease prevalent over an entire country or multiple countries.
- Paramount: More important than anything else.
- Patrician: An aristocrat.
- Polyglot: Knowing or using several languages.
- Prestidigitation: Magic tricks performed for entertainment.
- Provincial: Of or concerning a province or country.
- Rancor: Bitterness or resentfulness.
- Rarefy: To make or become more dense or solid.
- Recapitulate: Summarize and state again the main points.
- Refute: Prove to be wrong or false.
- Repose: A state of rest.
- Resilient: Able to withstand.
- Revile: Criticize in an abusive manner.
- Rife: Of common occurrence.
- Sanctimonious: Making a show of being morally superior.
- Scrupulous: Diligent attention to detail.
- Sedition: Conduct or speech inciting people to rebel.
- Sinecure: Position requiring little or no work.
- Stint: Supply an inadequate amount of something.
- Sybarite: Self-indulgent person.
- Tawdry: Showy but cheap.
- Tenacious: Keep a firm hold on something.
- Terse: Sparing in the use of words.
- Tout: Attempt to sell something by aggressively pestering.
- Trounce: Defeat heavily in a contest.
- Tutelage: Authority over someone or something.
- Unconscionable: Not right or reasonable.
- Untoward: Unexpected.
- Usury: Lending money at unlawful rates.
- Vehemently: Showing strong feelings.
- Veritable: Using as an intensifier.
- Vilify: Write or speak in an abusively disparaging way.
- Vociferous: Vehement.
- Wan: Pale with the appearance of illness.
- Wield: Hold and use typically a weapon or tool.
- Winsome: Attractive appearance or character.
- Wry: Using dry or mocking humour.
- Xenophobe: Fear or dislike for people of different countries.
- Yeoman: A man holding and cultivating a field.
- Yen: Japanese monetary unit.
- Yowl: A loud wailing cry.
- Zenith: Peak.
- Zephyr: Soft gentle breeze.
Commonly Confused Words In SAT Vocabulary
- It’s vs. Its
- They’re vs. Their vs. There
- You’re vs. Your
- Accept vs. Except
- Access vs. Excess
- Affect vs. Effect
- Afflict vs. Inflict
- Alludes vs. Eludes
- Allusion vs. Illusion
- Cite vs. Site vs. Sight
- Conscious vs. Conscience
- Could of vs. Could have vs. Could’ve
- Illicit vs. Elicit
- Eminent vs. Imminent
- Empathetic vs. Emphatic
- Fewer vs. Less
- Many vs. Much
- Imitated vs. Intimated
- Ingenuous vs. Ingenious
- Patience vs. Patients
- Perspective vs. Prospective
- Respectfully vs. Respectively
- Than vs. Then
- Wander vs. Wonder
Tips To Study The Most Common SAT Words
When it comes to studying common SAT words, there are a number of ways you can go about preparing yourself for the test. You could read a lot, practise your vocabulary skills and use flashcards, but these methods can become very tedious if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing.
To avoid this situation, make sure that your studying is done in a way that keeps the process fun! One way to do this is by using mnemonics. A mnemonic is a word or phrase that helps us remember something else by making an association between two things that share some kind of association (in this case, words). For example, if we want to remember how many years there are in one decade, we can create an image out of ten fingers and associate each finger with one year in order until we reach ten fingers—and voila! We now know how long one decade is.
Another method worth trying out when learning new vocabulary words on tests like the SAT involves using your own personal dictionary as well as other reference books such as Thesaurus dictionaries which contain synonyms for common SAT words found within most dictionaries’ pages! These tools will allow students who struggle with remembering definitions particularly challenging ones such as those used within sentences instead of focusing solely on memorization alone through repetition.
FAQs
1. What does it mean for a word to be “common” (or not)?
Common SAT words can be found in everyday conversation or written words like “dog,” “cat,” “truck,” etc.—and they tend to be easily identifiable within their context. For example, “The dog barks loudly across the yard while the cat watches quietly from the window ledge above.”
2. What do SAT word lists look like?
They’re typically organized into groups based on the difficulty level of easy, medium or hard with each group containing between 20 – 40 items.
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3. Do these lists help you prepare for the SAT?
Yes! Common SAT words may appear on other standardised tests such as GMATs or LSATs too, so knowing how these terms work together will help you advance your educational goals.
4. How can I improve my SAT Vocabulary?
To improve your SAT Vocabulary you can invest in a prep book, keep reading a lot, use a dictionary if you have any doubts about particular words, make a like of new SAT words on your own, and practice with flashcards or by writing it down.
