SAT Verbal sections terms & vocabulary

From A+ Club Lesson Planner & Study Guide

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

Vocabulary and terms for Reading Questions[edit | edit source]

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

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 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[edit | edit source]

Historical terms[edit | edit source]

Transition words (conjunctive adverbs)[edit | edit source]

Homophones & homonyms[edit | edit source]

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)[edit | edit source]

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


Digital SAT Vocabulary terms used in passages[edit | edit source]