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 terms that will show up in test questions include:

critical

• important, emergency situation
• analytical, investigated thoughtfully

hypothetical/ hypothetically

• = 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

• = "only"
• the SAT frequently measures student comprehension of this word
• note that "merely" is different from "a little," "a few" or "few"

nevertheless

• = "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

skeptical

• = 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

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

Digital SAT Vocabulary from official practice tests (2023)

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

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

Homophones & homonyms

affect v effect

assure v. ensure

it's, its

prey v. pray

their, there, they're