To ace the SAT, you need a solid vocabulary. In the reading section, there are 19 questions on sentence completion. Those questions test your vocabulary skills directly. For example:
“Before accepting payment, the cashier verified that the currency was ……………………”.
a. Virulent
b. Veritable
c. Vitreous
d. Vociferous
If you didn't know the meanings of the words in the answer choices, you may not have answered correctly (the answer is B, by the way). So it’s probably a good idea to start memorizing (and using) some of these words.
Another reason to expand your vocabulary is to improve your score in reading comprehension. There are 48 reading comprehension questions on the SAT. These require you to read a short passage, usually about half a page long, and answer questions about the meaning of the passage. If you don’t understand some of the key words in the passage, you may be entirely baffled (i.e. SAT word for “confused”) by the questions.
So how in the world are you going to memorize the thousands of words you need to know for the SAT?
Well, you probably won’t be able to memorize ALL of the words. There are just too many to memorize in such a short amount of time. But the more words you learn, the better you will be at guessing the meaning of words you don’t know. For example, maybe you studied the word “amiable” and you know it means “friendly.” If you’re taking the exam and you see the word “amicable,” you may think that it sounds a whole lot like “amiable” and assume that they mean the same thing. And you’d be right! Another example is if you know the meaning of “sanctity” (holy, pious) and you see the word “sanctimonious” on the exam, you could infer that it has something to do with being holy. And again, you’d be right!
The point I am trying to make is this – don’t get frustrated trying to learn 5,000 words. Learn as many words as you can so that you’ll be ready to make some educated guesses on the test.
Naturally, I have a great FREE RESOURCE for you to start learning and practicing your vocabulary.
I have created an interactive list of SAT words using Vocabulary.com. My list is compiled of words that have appeared on real SAT exams, as well as some other words that I think may show up or are useful to learn. There are plenty of other lists out there that you can find if you Google “SAT vocabulary,” but I think Vocabulary.com is the best resource because of the interactive quiz functions. Refer to the video for instructions on how to use the list.
Free SAT Vocabulary List:
How to Memorize:
The best way to memorize SAT words is to read the definition and relate the word to something in your life. For example:
Definition: “Lament” means “to mourn.”
Relation to life: “I greatly lament the death of my goldfish, Sparky.”
It helps if the relation is a little bit funny so that it will stand out in your mind. Another good tip is to try to use the word in conversation. I've heard that if you use a word 3 times in conversation, the word becomes “yours,” meaning that you’ll remember it forever. That has been true in my experience. Try it yourself!
After you've memorized some of the words, try the quiz feature in Vocabulary.com to quiz yourself. See how many points you can get! Then leave me a comment and let me know how far you've gotten.
How to Use Vocabulary.com:
Last Tip:
Follow me on Twitter to receive the “Word of the Day” and a link to the definition and sentence examples on Vocabulary.com.
