Studying for the SATs can be a trying experience. One easy way to raise your score is to memorize SAT vocabulary words. The Critical Reading section will test your ability to recognize words in context, so knowing as many of these words as possible in advance is a great way to increase your score. We’ve made a list of the 100 most common SAT words to improve your vocabulary skills and raise your overall SAT score.
SAT Vocabulary List
The Critical Reading Section of the SAT has both a reading comprehension component and an SAT vocabulary component. The vocabulary component, which asks you to select a word from a multiple choice list, tests your knowledge of the definition of common words. The 100 words below all appear frequently on the test.
Easier Words
The SAT doesn’t test many easy words, alas. However, the following list is fairly straightforward, both in presenting words you might have encountered before and in definitions that are simple and without much ambiguity. On a few occasions, the words can be more than one part of speech. We’ve provided notes to make that clear.
Word | Definition | Word | Definition |
Abate (v.) | To reduce, to lessen | Emulate (v.) | Following someone else's example |
Abstain (v.) | To refrain from doing something | Empathy (n.) | Feeling what someone else is feeling |
Adversity (n.) | Hardship, misfortune | Exemplary (adj.) | Outstanding |
Arid (v.) | Very dry | Florid (adj.) | Ornate |
Benevolent (adj.) | Well-meaning, helpful | Fortitude (n.) | Strength |
Bias (v., n.) | Prejudice for or against something, or to prejudice someone for or against something | Fortuitous (adj.) | Lucky |
Brazen (adj.) | Bold | Foster (v.) | Promote, aid |
Collaborate (v.) | Work together | Frugal (adj.) | Thrifty |
Compassion (n.) | Sympathy | Inconsequential (adj.) | Without consequence, trivial, doesn't matter |
Compromise (v., n.) | To meet in the middle, to settle differences | Longevity (n.) | Long, esp. of life |
Condescending (adj.) | Patronizing, talking down to | Mundane (adj.) | Boring, ordinary |
Conformist (adj., n.) | Someone who follows the majority | Nonchalant (adj.) | Casual, calm, at ease |
Convergence (n.) | Coming together | Procrastinate (v.) | To delay, often unnecessarily |
Diligent (adj.) | Hardworking, dedicated | Prosperity (n.) | Wealth |
Discredit (v.) | To dishonor someone, or prove something untrue | Prudent (adj.) | Careful, wise |
Disdain (n., v.) | To regard with scorn | Restrained (adj.) | Controlled, not free |
Divergent (adj.) | Moving apart, going in different directions | Reverence (n.) | Deep respect |
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Intermediate Words
These are a bit tougher. The definitions are still fairly straightforward, but the words themselves are less commonly used. Again, when it’s possible a word might appear on the test in either of two parts of speech in the same form, we’ve noted it for you.
Word | Definition | Word | Definition |
Aesthetic (adj., n.) | About beauty, or a particular perspective on beauty | Intrepid (adj.) | Fearless |
Amicable (adj.) | Agreeable | Intuitive (adj.): | Knowing something by instinct |
Boisterous (adj.): | Enthusiastic, loud | Lobbyist (n.): | One who represents an interest group to government officials |
Brusque (adj.): | Short, rude | Opulent (adj.): | Wealthy |
Camaraderie (n.): | Togetherness, trust, friendship | Orator (n.): | Speaker |
Canny (adj.): | Careful, showing good judgment | Parched (v., adj.): | To have removed water from, or when something is dried up |
Clairvoyant (adj., n.): | Able to predict the future, or one who can predict the future | Pragmatic (adj.): | Practical |
Conditional (adj.): | Contingent upon something else | Pretentious (adj.): | Thinking yourself better than others |
Demagogue (n.) | Rabble-rousing leader | Provocative (adj.): | Causes a fuss, inflammatory, likely to get people riled up |
Digression (n.): | Straying from the main point | Reclusive (adj.): | Hermit, withdrawn |
Fraught (adj.) | Filled with, especially of tension or negative emotion | Reconciliation (n.): | The act of bringing people together or making an agreement |
Haughty (n.): | Being arrogant, talking down to people | Renovation (n.): | Being new, being redone |
Hypothesis (n.): | Unproven theory, educated guess | Sagacity (n.) | Wisdom |
Inevitable (adj.): | Unavoidable, definitely going to happen | Scrutinize (v.): | To look at carefully |
Inspect (v.) | To look at closely, to assess | Spontaneous (adj.): | Being impulsive, acting without thinking |
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Challenging Words
These are the toughest words we’re presenting. Don’t despair! There’s nothing intrinsically mysterious about these words. They’re just uncommon in everyday conversation and on occasion their definitions are a bit ambiguous.
Word | Definition | Word | Definition |
Aberration (n.) | Something unusual, different from the norm | Hackneyed (adj.) | Clichéd |
Abdicate (v.) | Give up a position | Hedonist (n., adj.) | Person who acts in pursuit of pleasure |
Abhor (v.) | To really hate | Impetuous (adj.) | Rash, impulsive |
Anachronistic (adj.) | Out of the context of time, out of date | Impute (v.) | To assign or attribute to someone |
Anomaly (n.) | Something out of place, a strangeness | Jubilation (n.) | Extreme happiness, joy |
Apex (n.) | Peak | Melodramatic (adj.) | Exaggerated, extreme |
Asylum (n.) | Sanctuary, place of safety | Null (adj.) | Void, meaningless |
Capacious (adj.) | Very large, spacious | Ostentatious (adj.) | Flaunting wealth |
Capitulate (v.) | Surrender | Perfidious (adj.) | Disloyal |
Corroborate (v.) | To back up a claim | Precocious (adj.) | Gifted or talented beyond one's years |
Deleterious (adj.) | Harmful | Querulous (adj.) | Irritable, prone to argument |
Demur (v.) | Object to | Rancorous (adj.) | Hateful, unpleasant |
Enervating (adj.) | Tiring | Spurious (adj.) | False, untrue |
Entail (v.) | To involve or include | Substantiate (v.) | To confirm, prove |
Ephemeral (adj.) | Fleeting, temporary | Superfluous (adj.) | Unnecessary, too much |
Evanescent (adj.) | Not lasting long | Surreptitious (adj.) | Secret |
Extenuating (adj.) | Something that makes the situation not as bad | Venerable (adj.) | Respectable because of its age |
Forbearance (n.): | Patience, restraint | Vindicate (v.) | To free from blame, to justify in a belief |
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Tips for Learning SAT Vocabulary Words
Learning vocabulary words can be difficult. Here are some tips to help learn these 100 words, and any other SAT vocabulary words you may come across in the future.
Create Flashcards With Unfamiliar Words
Memorizing words with flashcards is a classic way to study up on unfamiliar vocabulary. You can even use our editable flashcard template PDF for the purpose.
Make an Audio Recording
This is a great tip for auditory learners. If you find it easiest to remember a word and its definition when you’ve heard it out loud, simply read it out loud! Put together a recording with each word and its definition, and you’ll be well on your way.
Use New Words in a Sentence
The most important trick to learning new words is context. The best way to get that context is the same way it will be presented to you on the SAT: in a sentence. We’ve provided a few examples here:
- The student procrastinated until just before the SAT to start studying; he didn’t do as well as he had hoped.
- Her admission to college was conditional on her performance on the SAT Verbal, so she studied hard.
- There was much jubilation in class after all the students scored high on the SAT.
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List the Words in Logical Groups
Breaking our lists into smaller groups makes them easier to grasp. Consider making your own lists based on parts of speech, degree of difficulty, positive or negative connotation, categories of context, or any other logical grouping.
The Final Word
Now that you have a starting point, explore the many resources available to help you achieve full mastery of SAT vocabulary words. Free Vocabulary has a list of 5,000 SAT words, and Vocabulary University has a list of the top 180 SAT words. Or, right here at YourDictionary, you can check out our lists of the 100 Most Common Words, 140 Beautiful Words and Words With Multiple Meanings for more vocabulary enrichment.