The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), administered by the College Board, is a crucial exam for students aiming to study in the United States. A significant component of the SAT evaluates reading and writing skills, making a strong SAT vocabulary vital for success.
In this article, we explore the challenges of mastering SAT words and offer valuable resources and strategies to enhance your vocabulary. Discover essential tips to excel in this aspect of the exam, including effective study methods and top resources for learning SAT vocabulary. By focusing on these strategies, you can significantly improve your performance and boost your chances of achieving a high SAT score.
The SAT poses unique challenges, particularly in the realm of SAT vocabulary. Unlike conventional exams, the SAT demands not only strong English comprehension but also a nuanced understanding of specialized SAT words. Test-takers must handle passages on diverse topics such as economics, literature, law, culture, and science.
Many students find the vocabulary section daunting due to its inclusion of complex and often unfamiliar terms. The SAT frequently features rare or archaic words, complicating preparation. For international students, especially those whose native language differs significantly from English, mastering SAT vocabulary can be especially challenging. This article offers essential strategies and resources to help you effectively tackle the SAT words and excel in this crucial section of the test.
100 Difficult SAT Words with Meanings
To assist you in your SAT preparation, we've compiled a list of 100 challenging SAT words along with their meanings. This curated selection encompasses a diverse range of vocabulary themes commonly found on the exam:
Abject: of the most contemptible kind
Aberration: a state or condition markedly different from the norm
Abjure: formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief
Abnegation: the denial and rejection of a doctrine or belief
Abrogate: revoke formally
Abscond: run away, often taking something or somebody along
Abstruse: difficult to understand
Accede: yield to another’s wish or opinion
Accost: approach and speak to someone aggressively or insistently
Accretion: an increase by natural growth or addition
Acumen: shrewdness shown by keen insight
Adamant: insistent; unwilling to change one’s mind or opinion
Admonish: scold or reprimand; take to task
Adumbrate: describe roughly or give the main points or summary of
Adverse: in an opposing direction
Advocate: a person who pleads for a person, cause, or idea
Affluent: having an abundant supply of money or possessions of value
Aggrandize: embellish; increase the scope, power, or importance of
Alacrity: liveliness and eagerness
Alias: a name that has been assumed temporarily
Ambivalent: uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow
Amenable: disposed or willing to comply
Amorphous: having no definite form or distinct shape
Anachronistic: chronologically misplaced
Anathema: a formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by ex-communication
Annex: attach to
Antediluvian: of or relating to the period before the biblical flood
Antiseptic: thoroughly clean and free of disease-causing organisms
Apathetic: showing little or no emotion or animation
Antithesis: the exact opposite
Apocryphal: being of questionable authenticity
Approbation: official acceptance or agreement
Arbitrary: based on or subject to individual discretion or preference
Arboreal: of or relating to or formed by trees
Arcane: requiring secret or mysterious knowledge
Archetypal: of an original pattern on which other things are modelled
Arrogate: seize and take control without authority
Ascetic: someone who practises self-denial as a spiritual discipline
Aspersion: a disparaging remark
Assiduous: marked by care and persistent effort
Atrophy: a decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse
Bane: something causing misery or death
Bashful: self-consciously timid
Beguile: influence by slyness
Bereft: lacking or deprived of something
Blandishment: flattery intended to persuade
Bilk: cheat somebody out of what is due, especially money
Bombastic: ostentatiously lofty in style
Cajole: influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
Callous: emotionally hardened
Calumny: a false accusation of an offence
Camaraderie: the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability
Candour: the quality of being honest and straightforward
Capitulate: surrender under agreed conditions
Carouse: engage in boisterous, drunken merrymaking
Carp: any of various freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae
Caucus: meet to select a candidate or promote a policy
Cavort: play boisterously
Circumlocution: an indirect way of expressing something
Circumscribe: draw a geometric figure around another figure
Circumvent: surround so as to force to give up
Clamour: utter or proclaim insistently and noisily
Cleave: separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument
Cobbler: a person who makes or repairs shoes
Cogent: powerfully persuasive
Cognizant: having or showing knowledge or understanding or realisation
commensurate: corresponding in size or degree or extent
Complement: something added to embellish or make perfect
Compunction: a feeling of deep regret, usually for some misdeed
Concomitant: following or accompanying as a consequence
Conduit: a passage through which water or electric wires can pass
Conflagration: a very intense and uncontrolled fire
Congruity: the quality of agreeing; being suitable and appropriate
Connive: form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner
Consign: give over to another for care or safekeeping
Constituent: one of the individual parts making up a composite entity
Construe: make sense of; assign a meaning to
Contusion: an injury in which the skin is not broken
Contrite: feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offences
Contentious: showing an inclination to disagree
Contravene: go against, as of rules and laws
Convivial: occupied with or fond of the pleasures of good company
Corpulence: the property of excessive fatness
Covet: wish, long, or crave for
Cupidity: extreme greed for material wealth
Dearth: an insufficient quantity or number
Debacle: a sudden and complete disaster
Debauch: a wild gathering involving excessive drinking
Debunk: expose while ridiculing
Defunct: no longer in force or use; inactive
Demagogue: a leader who seeks support by appealing to popular passions
Denigrate: attack the good name and reputation of someone
Derivative: a compound obtained from another compound
Despot: a cruel and oppressive dictator
Diaphanous: so thin as to transmit light
Didactic: instructive, especially excessively
Dirge: a song or hymn of mourning as a memorial to a dead person
Disaffected: discontented as toward authority
Discomfit: cause to lose one’s composure
Disparate: fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind
150 Difficult SAT Words that will Elevate your SAT Preparation
Expanding upon the previous list, here are 150 additional SAT words designed to enhance your vocabulary prowess:
Dispel: cause to separate and go in different directions
Disrepute: the state of being held in low esteem
Divisive: causing or characterised by disagreement or disunity
Dogmatic: pertaining to a code of beliefs accepted as authoritative
Dour: showing a brooding ill humour
Duplicity: the act of deceiving or acting in bad faith
Duress: compulsory force or threat
Eclectic: selecting what seems best of various styles or ideas
Edict: a formal or authoritative proclamation
Ebullient: joyously unrestrained
Egregious: conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
Elegy: a mournful poem; a lament for the dead
Elicit: call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
Embezzlement: the fraudulent appropriation of funds or property
Emend: make corrections to
Emollient: a substance with a soothing effect when applied to the skin
Empirical: derived from experiment and observation rather than theory
Emulate: strive to equal or match, especially by imitating
Enervate: weaken physically, mentally, or morally
Enfranchise: grant freedom to, as from slavery or servitude
Engender: call forth
Ephemeral: anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day
Epistolary: written in the form of letters or correspondence
Equanimity: steadiness of mind under stress
Equivocal: open to two or more interpretations
Espouse: choose and follow a theory, idea, policy, etc.
Evanescent: short-lived; tending to vanish or disappear
Evince: give expression to
Exacerbate: make worse
Exhort: spur on or encourage especially by cheers and shouts
Execrable: unequivocally detestable
Exigent: demanding immediate attention
Expedient: appropriate to a purpose
Expunge: remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line
Extraneous: not belonging to that in which it is contained
Extol: praise, glorify, or honour
Extant: still in existence; not extinct or destroyed or lost
Expurgate: edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
Fallacious: containing or based on incorrect reasoning
Fatuous: devoid of intelligence
Fetter: a shackle for the ankles or feet
Flagrant: conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
Foil: hinder or prevent, as an effort, plan, or desire
Foment: instigate or stir up
Forbearance: good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence
Fortuitous: lucky; occurring by happy chance
Fractious: easily irritated or annoyed
Garrulous: full of trivial conversation
Gourmand: a person who is devoted to eating and drinking to excess
Grandiloquent: lofty in style
Gratuitous: unnecessary and unwarranted
Hapless: unfortunate and deserving pity
Hegemony: the dominance or leadership of one social group over others
Heterogenous: consisting of elements that are not of the same kind
Iconoclast: someone who attacks cherished ideas or institutions
Idiosyncratic: peculiar to the individual
Impecunious: not having enough money to pay for necessities
Impetuous: characterized by undue haste and lack of thought
Impinge: infringe upon
Impute: attribute or credit to
Inane: devoid of intelligence
Inchoate: only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
Incontrovertible: impossible to deny or disprove
Incumbent: necessary as a duty or responsibility; morally binding
Inexorable: impossible to prevent, resist, or stop
Inimical: tending to obstruct or cause harm
Injunction: a judicial remedy to prohibit a party from doing something
Inoculate: inject or treat with the germ of a disease to render immune
Insidious: working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
Instigate: provoke or stir up
Insurgent: in opposition to a civil authority or government
Interlocutor: a person who takes part in a conversation
Intimation: a slight suggestion or vague understanding
Inure: cause to accept or become hardened to
Invective: abusive language used to express blame or censure
Intransigent: impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
Inveterate: habitual
Irreverence: a mental attitude showing lack of due respect
Knell: the sound of a bell rung slowly to announce a death
Laconic: brief and to the point
Largesse: liberality in bestowing gifts
Legerdemain: an illusory feat
Libertarian: an advocate of freedom of thought and speech
Licentious: lacking moral discipline
Linchpin: a central cohesive source of support and stability
Litigant: a party to a lawsuit
Maelstrom: a powerful circular current of water
Maudlin: effusively or insincerely emotional
Maverick: someone who exhibits independence in thought and action
Mawkish: effusively or insincerely emotional
Maxim: a saying that is widely accepted on its own merits
Mendacious: given to lying
Modicum: a small or moderate or token amount
Morass: a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
Mores: the conventions embodying the fundamental values of a group
Munificent: very generous
Multifarious: having many aspects
Nadir: the lowest point of anything
Negligent: characterised by undue lack of attention or concern
Neophyte: any new participant in some activity
Noisome: offensively malodorous
Noxious: injurious to physical or mental health
Obdurate: stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
Obfuscate: make obscure or unclear
Obstreperous: noisily and stubbornly defiant
Officious: intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
Onerous: burdensome or difficult to endure
Ostensible: appearing as such but not necessarily so
Ostracism: the act of excluding someone from society by general consent
Palliate: lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
Panacea: hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases
Paradigm: a standard or typical example
Pariah: a person who is rejected from society or home
Partisan: a fervent and even militant proponent of something
Pert: characterised by a lightly saucy or impudent quality
Pernicious: exceedingly harmful
Pertinacious: stubbornly unyielding
Phlegmatic: showing little emotion
Philanthropic: of or relating to charitable giving
Pithy: concise and full of meaning
Platitude: a trite or obvious remark
Plaudit: enthusiastic approval
Plenitude: a full supply
Plethora: extreme excess
Portent: a sign of something about to happen
Potentate: a powerful ruler, especially one who is unconstrained by law
Preclude: make impossible, especially beforehand
Predilection: a predisposition in favour of something
Preponderance: exceeding in heaviness; having greater weight
Presage: a foreboding about what is about to happen
Probity: complete and confirmed integrity
Proclivity: a natural inclination
Profligate: unrestrained by convention or morality
Promulgate: state or announce
Proscribe: command against
Protean: taking on different forms
Prurient: characterised by lust
Puerile: displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity
Pugnacious: ready and able to resort to force or violence
Pulchritude: physical beauty, especially of a woman
Punctilious: marked by precise accordance with details
Quaint: attractively old-fashioned
Quixotic: not sensible about practical matters
Quandary: state of uncertainty in a choice between unfavourable options
Recalcitrant: stubbornly resistant to authority or control
50 Difficult SAT Words for Your SAT Preparation
Another list of 50 difficult words for your SAT preparation:
Redoubtable: inspiring fear
Relegate: assign to a lower position
Remiss: failing in what duty requires
Reprieve: postpone the punishment of a convicted criminal
Reprobate: a person without moral scruples
Rescind: cancel officially
Requisition: an authoritative demand
Rife: excessively abundant
Sanctimonious: excessively or hypocritically pious
Sanguine: confidently optimistic and cheerful
Scurrilous: expressing offensive, insulting, or scandalous criticism
Semaphore: an apparatus for visual signalling
Serendipity: good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries
Sobriety: the state of being unaffected or not intoxicated by alcohol
Solicitous: full of anxiety and concern
Solipsism: the philosophical theory that the self is all that exists
Spurious: plausible but false
Staid: characterised by dignity and propriety
Stolid: having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
Subjugate: make subservient; force to submit or subdue
Surfeit: indulge (one’s appetite) to satiety
Surreptitious: marked by quiet and caution and secrecy
Swarthy: naturally having the skin of a dark colour
Tangential: of superficial relevance, if any
Tirade: a speech of violent denunciation
Tome: a large and scholarly book
Toady: a person who tries to please someone to gain an advantage
Torpid: in a condition of biological rest or suspended animation
Travesty: a composition that imitates or misrepresents a style
Trenchant: having keenness and forcefulness and penetration in thought
Trite: repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
Truculent: defiantly aggressive
Turpitude: a corrupt or depraved or degenerate act or practice
Ubiquitous: being present everywhere at once
Umbrage: a feeling of anger caused by being offended
Upbraid: express criticism towards
Utilitarian: having a useful function
Veracity: unwillingness to tell lies
Vestige: an indication that something has been present
Vicissitude: a variation in circumstances or fortune
Vilify: spread negative information about
Virtuoso: someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
Vitriolic: harsh, bitter, or malicious in tone
Vituperate: spread negative information about
Vociferous: conspicuously and offensively loud
Wanton: a lewd or immoral person
Wily: marked by skill in deception
Winsome: charming in a childlike or naive way
Yoke: join with stable gear, as two draft animals
Zephyr: a slight wind
Tips to Improve your SAT Vocabulary
Building a robust vocabulary is a gradual process that requires dedication and practice. Here are some effective strategies to enhance your SAT vocabulary:
Read Widely: Engage with a variety of texts, including novels, newspapers, and academic articles. Reading exposes you to new words in context, making it easier to understand and remember them.
Utilize a Dictionary: Whenever you encounter unfamiliar words, make it a habit to look them up in a dictionary. Understanding the definitions and usage of words will deepen your comprehension and retention.
Practice Writing: Incorporate SAT words into your writing exercises. Formulating sentences and paragraphs using new vocabulary reinforces your understanding and application of words.
Flashcards: Create flashcards with SAT words on one side and their definitions on the other. Reviewing flashcards regularly helps reinforce memorization.
Consistency is Key: Dedicate consistent time to vocabulary study each day. Set aside specific study sessions focused solely on expanding your vocabulary.
Mastering SAT vocabulary is a crucial aspect of achieving success on the exam. By familiarizing yourself with a wide range of words, practicing consistently, and utilizing effective study techniques, you can enhance your vocabulary skills and boost your overall SAT performance.
Remember, patience and perseverance are key as you work towards your academic goals. With diligence and strategic preparation, you can conquer the SAT and take the first step towards realizing your educational aspirations.
