SAT Verbal sections terms & vocabulary

Terms and definitions useful for answer questions on the SAT Reading and Writing sections.

Vocabulary and terms for Reading Questions

Effective test-taking requires full comprehension of the questions themselves.

Some key terms that will show up in test questions or passages include:

characterize (v.)

• to generalize regarding the distinctive nature or key features of someone/something
• to state in a general sense, categorize according to core features

control (n.)
● an element in an experiment that does not change
● as opposed to the "variable," which does change
●note that in the SAT these words will be used to evaluate experiments or studies
● some of which have faults because of faulty "controls" or unclear or multiple "variables"

concede (v.)

• to admit, yield, or accept
  • used on SAT as in "to accept for the sake of the argument"

context, contextual(n, adj)
● in relation to a situation or place
● literally "with" (con-) "what is woven together" (text)
● "text" comes from the Latin texere for "to weave, what is woven"
● words and situations have "context"

critical (adj.)

• important, of an emergency situation
• analytical, investigated thoughtfully

hierarchy, hierarchical (n., adv.)
● an organization or system of ranking
● levels of importance, authority or significance
● classification

hypothetical, hypothetically (n., adv.)

• = an estimate, theory
• or, an idea or situation that is not real but could be
• used to test a "hypothesis" or theoretical prediction or observation that has not been tested in reality
• SAT Reading section uses it frequently for inference questions
• i.e., "Given the hypothetical condition, then..." = "if this were true, then..."

merely (adj.)
● = "only"
● the SAT frequently measures student comprehension of this word
● note that "merely" is different from "a little," "a few" or "few"

nevertheless (adv.)

• = "yes, but..."
• used to accept a prior argument or statement, then deflect, negate, or contradict it.
• for Reading section, transition words mark important statements an author wants to make or emphasize

novel (adj.)
● new, unusual
● different from what is common
● note that as a noun, "a novel" is a popular genre (form) of fiction
● novels are called "novel" because the genre was "novel" (new) when it was introduced in the 19th century)

relevant

• related, in context to, matters for

skeptical, skeptic (adj., noun)
● = doubtful, uncertain of, seeing as unproven
● a "skeptic" is one who doubts or questions the veracity of something
● on the SAT, the word "skeptical" may be used to indicate a perspective of doubt
● ex., if the question asks, "Scholars are skeptical of the idea that people would behave that way"
● = scholars doubt people would behave that way
● i.e., use "backwards thought" or "inversion" to make sense of the question

standard (n.)

• a baseline measurement
• what is common or commonly accepted

structure (n.)
● the arrangement of an organization or object
● esp. in terms of the inter-relationship of its parts and underlying elements

tone (n.) as in "author tone"

• "author's tone" or "passage's tone'" refers to the "feeling" or "atmosphere" of a passage
• different "tones" may include:
  • academic, authoritative, definitive
  • character study, psychological
  • detailed, descriptive
  • informal, conversational
  • journalistic, reporting
  • light-hearted, amusing, cheerful
  • narrative (story-telling)
  • satirical, comedic, ironic

Other terms to know

Historical terms

• see SAT Reading section historical timeline & themes)

Transition words (conjunctive adverbs)

• see:Transition words translations

Homophones & homonyms

ad, add

affect v effect

assure v. ensure

bare, bear

cite, site, sight

complement, compliment

it's, its

past, passed

principal, principle

prey, pray

their, there, they're

to, too, two

waist, waste

weather, whether

whose, who's

your, you're

Digital SAT Vocabulary terms from official practice tests (2023)

Words taken from Vocabulary questions (selected not inclusive):

abrupt

adhere

annotate

assume

atypical

buttress

capitalize

commercialize / commercialization

conflicted

conform / conformity

contrive / contrived

deference

depleted

discern / discernable

disconcerting

disengage

disparage / disparagement

disparate

diverge

diverse

dynamic

eclipse

elusive

ensured

exasperate / exasperated

fallible

fluctuate / fluctuation

forge / forged

fragment

grapple

imminent

impartial/ impartiality

implement (verb)

indecipherable

indifference

inexplicable

infallible

infrequent

innocuous

inordinate

interject

intriguing

inventive

latent

lucrative

mandatory

mimic

momentous

nominal

novel

nuance / nuanced

obscure

obstinate

obtuse

operative

ornamental

paucity

peripheral

predatory

prescribe

presume

profuse

profusion of

proponent

quarrel

quilt (verb)

recant

reciprocate

renounce

repudiate

resilient

saturated

secretive

speculate

sturdy/ sturdily

subtle

substantial

substantiate / substantiated

succumb

surmise

susceptible

synchronize / synchronization

tedious

tenuous

underscore

unobtrusive

unprecedented

unsympathetic

validate / validated

verisimilitude