400+ curated SAT-level vocabulary words with definitions, audio pronunciation, example sentences, and root-word etymology. Filter by difficulty, root language, and part of speech — no login required.
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Academic Vocabulary Words for the SAT are higher-level words test-takers should master for the SAT reading and writing tests, such as perfunctory, ameliorate, perspicacious, and recalcitrant. Note that although the vocabulary test for the SAT has been removed from the test as of the 2016 redesign of the test and the conversion to a computer-administered test, there are still many vocabulary words in the Reading and Writing Tests that are administered. These words are found in so-called "Words in Context" test questions, which require test takers to choose from four words the best word to complete a given sentence.
Most of the vocabulary that appears on the test is common academic vocabulary that strong readers will encounter in serious nonfiction, in scientific writing, in literary criticism, and in historical sources. Words like candid, nuanced, arbitrary, substantiate, tenuous, and extraneous are very common. Many test items will compare two near-synonyms and ask the test-taker to determine which is more appropriate in a given context. So, in addition to knowing a word's meaning, understanding connotation is critical.
This comprehensive vocabulary list includes over 400 words of varying difficulty that are currently relevant to the SAT test. Each word is labeled with its part of speech, root language, difficulty, and an example sentence so you can see how it's used in context. You can filter words by category, randomly generate a word for practice, listen to audio pronunciations, mark words for later review, and even practice individual words in a unique Practice Mode.
Most of SAT vocabulary stems from a couple of hundred Latin and Greek words and their modifications, and learning these roots is a far more efficient way to learn vocabulary than studying the definitions of 400 words in isolation. Learning one root, like the Latin root -dict-, allows you to learn 11 words: dictate, edict, predict, contradict, interdict, malediction, benediction, dictum, indictment, and jurisdiction.
A short tour of high-yield roots that appear frequently on the SAT:
Learning one root enables rapid growth of your vocabulary. The Root Language filter in this tool allows you to study the vocabulary derived from the same language in groups. For example, choosing 'Latin' in the filter below will generate a list of words that contain Latin roots. You will find that, within a short session of studying one root, connections to many other words become obvious without needing to create flashcards for each.
These sessions are very simple: 1) generate a list of words; 2) go through the list of words in sequence; 3) save any words you couldn't remember for later review; 4) review the words you had previously missed.
The same thing applies to building your vocabulary as to your physical training: Consistency is far more important than Intensity. Rather than three hours of cramming the night before the test, a twenty-minute study session each day for six weeks will help you retain much more. Here is a plan for vocabulary study using every filter on this tool.
Week 1: Start with 'easy words' and aim for 15 words per day. Set aside 15 to 30 minutes to study every day for six weeks. Obviously, sessions will become more difficult as you go along as the workload increases. The important thing is consistency so that you don't forget the words you're studying. Try to use these words in a sentence when you talk with your friends and family to help with retention.
Week 2: Focus on Latin root words. Under the filter 'root language,' choose Latin and set the difficulty to 'medium.' A large portion of SAT vocabulary comes from Latin, so focus on it this week. Generate 20 words per session for study and review. Save or print it out, whatever works for the student. Practice these words daily. Students can use the 'practice mode' on the page or do it on their own.
Week 3: Focus on Greek roots. Choose a mixture of 'medium' and 'hard' for this week using the Greek root language. If you know your dictionary work for science, philosophy, literary criticism, and other corresponding test areas, then you know that the vast majority of words derived from Greek are rooted in several of the following patterns: -phil-, -chron-, -graph-, -logy-, -pathy-, -morph-.
Week 4: Focus on French and other roots. This is the final week before the test, so focus on learning word families that originate from French as well as Anglo-Saxon and other roots. These words often carry different connotations, especially literary and political, and are seen in many of the essay-style passages in which SAT vocabulary is tested.
Week 5: Probably the toughest week. Focus on the 'hard' difficulty and all root words. Hard words are those that can be trashed between 700 and 750 reading and writing scores. In this week, we set all words to Hard difficulty and ROOT to All Roots. We review about 5-10 words that we have Heart-Saved in each session.
Week 6: Review the mixed list. In this final session, open your saved words, copy them, and spend half the time reviewing saved words and the other half generating a new mixed list of vocabulary using all the filters for "All". For the last 48 hours before the test, do not try to learn any more vocabulary and simply review what you have learned.
The principle discussed here is utilizing spaced repetition. This means that words that you have difficulty learning will be brought back to you at increasingly longer time intervals. As words move off the front of the list, they move to the back. In addition to this natural implementation of spaced repetition, every session contains re-reviewing of already learned words.
The biggest mistake students make when studying SAT vocabulary is assuming that knowing or memorizing the dictionary definition is enough. However,
The single most common mistake students make when studying SAT vocabulary is thinking that knowing the dictionary definition is enough. Reading words in context is the hallmark of the SAT's new form of "Words in Context" questions. That's the core of these tests: which word best fits the sentence's meaning, tone, and register?
Consider a question like this: "The chemist's findings _______ the long-held theory that the reaction occurred at room temperature." There are four possible completions here: contradicted, disputed, opposed, belied. Only one — typically belied — has exactly the right sense: showed to be untrue by contrary evidence. Someone reading just the definitions of these four words would miss this question. Someone who has read a few example sentences for each of the words and has a sense for the connotations and the register of each word will get it.
We also often test different meanings of single words, such as qualify and arrest. You might know that to qualify for a college means to meet requirements to apply, but when taking the test, you will most often see qualify in the sense of to limit or moderate something ("she qualified her statement"), and you will see arrested in the sense of halted or stopped in their tracks ("an arrested development"). We test the less common sense, so knowing that there are different senses of a single word and that we almost always test the second, third, etc. sense of a word is very helpful.
Each word in the vocabulary tool is listed with an example sentence. Studying a word in the context of a sentence helps you learn its connotation and register; it's far more effective than studying a definition alone. When you study words, don't just read the example sentence provided for you – write your own sentence using the word in the same way.
At its core, reading isn't just about memorizing vocabulary and comprehension. Nothing replaces extensive reading of books and nonfiction articles, whether it's the Bible, sports stories, history, or science. This tool is meant to be a focused supplement to your reading, helping you to improve your vocabulary most efficiently.
There's a lot more to learning language than preparing for SAT vocabulary. For now, you can use the 7th Grade Spelling Bee Words tool to practice vocabulary for the words you'll encounter in your upcoming Middle School Spelling Bee competitions. To help you build the kind of descriptive vocabulary you need for your essays, the Random Adjective Generator and Random Verb Generator tools select random words from a large word set and include their definitions. These tools are especially useful for warming up before you sit down to write a SAT essay or any other kind of analytical writing. For a complete list of Word Tools for building vocabulary, for practicing spelling, and for playing with words, go to the Word Tools page.