SAT vocabulary words: 12 high-frequency terms with definitions
B2–C112 words
The modern SAT tests words in context rather than in isolation, so the useful list is not the longest one — it is the set of mid-difficulty words that keep turning up in reading passages and answer choices. These twelve are that kind of word: common enough to appear, abstract enough to trip you up.
Where you will use it: SAT reading, writing and language questions.
SAT Vocabulary — The word list
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ambiguous | Open to more than one interpretation.“The author's final line is deliberately ambiguous.” |
| advocate | To publicly support an idea; a person who does so.“She advocates for smaller class sizes.” |
| undermine | To weaken something gradually.“The new data undermines his conclusion.” |
| pragmatic | Dealing with things practically rather than ideally.“They took a pragmatic approach to the budget.” |
| nuance | A subtle difference in meaning or tone.“The translation loses the nuance of the original.” |
| compelling | Convincing, or holding your attention strongly.“The essay makes a compelling case.” |
| arbitrary | Based on chance or personal whim, not reason.“The deadline felt arbitrary.” |
| skeptical | Doubting that something is true.“Readers remain skeptical of the claim.” |
| articulate | To express an idea clearly.“He articulated the problem in one sentence.” |
| inevitable | Certain to happen and impossible to avoid.“Conflict between the two groups was inevitable.” |
| novel | New and original.“The study proposes a novel explanation.” |
| substantiate | To provide evidence for a claim.“No source substantiates the figure.” |
How to study this list
Add five or six of these words a day rather than all twelve at once, keep the example sentence on the card, and review them when they come due. WordNest schedules each word across seven growing intervals — same day, then 1, 3, 7, 14, 30 and 60 days — so the list is still with you months later. Read how spaced repetition works if you want the reasoning behind those numbers.
Studying sat vocabulary pairs well with our GRE vocabulary list, Academic Word List (AWL) vocabulary and B2 English vocabulary list, or browse all free English word lists.
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