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

affect v effect

assure v. ensure

it's, its

prey v. pray

their, there, they'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