200+ Vocabulary Words to Know for the Digital SAT
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Mastering the digital SAT Reading and Writing section requires strong vocabulary skills, but enhancing your lexicon can feel like a daunting task. Because it’s hard to know where to even begin, you may be tempted to overlook this aspect of test prep entirely.
But think about how frustrating it can be when encountering a challenging text (a certainty when taking the digital SAT): it can feel like playing a game of Mad Libs, with each unfamiliar word seeming no different than a blank that you must fill. And with every blank, you drift farther and farther away from basic comprehension of the text—how can you possibly analyze a text if you don’t even understand it? Therefore, the best course of action is to make a pointed effort to develop your vocabulary, one word at a time.
Why Studying Vocabulary is Important for the Digital SAT
Words In Context Questions
Vocabulary is specifically tested within Words in Context questions on the digital SAT. This is the first type of question you’ll see when you start the Reading and Writing module. There are two types of Words in Context questions. The first type has a blank within a passage and requires you to select the best word to complete the sentence. The second type underlines a specific word in the passage and requires you to select a suitable replacement.
The challenge of Words in Context questions is twofold: you not only need to identify the word that best fits the text, but you must also know what the words mean in the first place. Thus, by having a solid foundation of vocabulary words, you will have a much easier time answering these kinds of questions (the inverse is true as well—not knowing what an answer choice means automatically puts you at a disadvantage).
To illustrate the point, let’s take a look at the following example from one of Test Innovators’ practice exercises:
Without looking at the answer choices, you can probably determine that you need a word that means “confirm” or “support.” However, if you aren’t familiar with even two of the answer choices, it doesn’t matter that you can logically fill in the blank with your own word—you still need to know what the supplied answer choices mean.
Transitions Questions
Transitions are another question type for which studying vocabulary is directly beneficial. For these questions, you’re asked to fill in the blank with the choice that “completes the text with the most logical transition.” Unlike Words in Context questions, Transition questions tend to draw from a finite pool of conjunctive adverbs and phrases, so once you understand how they function, your task of selecting the best transition for a text should become a lot easier.
To learn more about how to tackle this question type, check out our guide to digital SAT Transitions questions.
Other Questions on the Reading and Writing Section
While the other question types don’t explicitly test vocabulary, challenging words can show up in passages and answer choices. The stronger your vocabulary, the easier it will be to tackle all the Reading and Writing questions.
The following question is a Text Structure and Purpose question you might see on the digital SAT:
There are many words within this passage that may give you pause: “ebullition,” “effervesced,” “Arcadian,” “copiously,” and so on. It would be very difficult to parse the text to identify how the underlined sentence relates to the whole if you do not know what these words mean.
Although it’s important to read the entire text, let’s focus specifically on the sentence before the underlined part: it’s essentially saying that Donatello prefers to stay silent as he rarely feels the need to use his words to express himself. We can then move on to the underlined portion to see that it further elaborates on this idea—Donatello usually relies on nonverbal communication such as gesturing, body language, and facial expressions, which can express more than his words alone. After translating this, it should be clear that the best answer is Choice B because the underlined portion of the text is clarifying the previous claim about Donatello’s communication habits.
Granted, Nathaniel Hawthorne was a verbose fellow who was notorious for his complicated and colorful vocabulary. But authors like Hawthorne are quite likely to be featured in the reading passages, as excerpts from “the greats” offer rich material for analysis through a literary lens.
How to Study Vocabulary for the Digital SAT
Quizlet: Flashcards but Better!
So, in preparation for questions that rely on advanced vocabulary, what can you do?
Start studying, of course! Flashcards are a tried-and-true method for building vocabulary.
Test Innovators has free digital flashcard sets on Quizlet for anyone to use, with lists specifically curated to reflect the words that have been used on the digital SAT practice tests. The Quizlet sets are periodically updated as we learn more about the digital SAT, so it’s a good idea to regularly visit Test Innovators’ Quizlet page for updates (the especially wise student will bookmark this page on their browser as well)! Test Innovators has flashcard sets that go beyond basic vocabulary too, from transition words to grammar terms and even math concepts.
For the general vocabulary set, each study term will include its corresponding part of speech abbreviation (“n.” for noun, “adj.” for adjective, and so on). Do not ignore this part! The part of speech tells you exactly how to use a given word. For example, if you see that “immaculate” is an adjective, you know that you would use it to modify a noun/pronoun—it’s not, for instance, a verb, so you can’t “immaculate” a floor, but you can mop (verb) a floor to make it immaculate (adjective).
In a perfect world, we could provide you with a definitive list of all the tricky words that will appear on the digital SAT. But, of course, we have no way of knowing for sure what will emerge from the murky depths of the vocab pool, so our best bet is to examine the words that have been featured on the Bluebook practice tests. According to feedback we’ve received from students who have taken the official test and based on what we’ve seen historically, the vocabulary words are likely to be recycled (at least to some extent), so it’s reasonable to expect that you may see these words when it’s your turn to take the test.
Quizlet is a convenient tool for on-the-go practice, since you can download the app right to your phone and practice your flashcards in short bursts of time. Whether you’re waiting for your ride, twiddling your thumbs on the bus, or perhaps loafing on the couch until dinner’s ready, a few minutes of idle time is a great opportunity to pull up Quizlet and bolster your vocabulary. See if you can integrate your newly-acquired vocabulary into your everyday conversations!
200+ Words to Know for the Digital SAT
Other Ways to Build Your Vocabulary
Ultimately, you’re going to need to take some initiative to truly master new vocabulary. Quizlet is a useful resource, but apart from memorizing definitions and respective parts of speech, you should look up example sentences to see how the word is used in practice. One way to go about this is to look up the word in an online dictionary like Merriam-Webster (which, by the way, was recently recognized as Associated Press Stylebook’s official dictionary of choice due to its frequent updates) and refer to the “Example Sentences” section for the entry.
On a final note, if you feel that you need to improve your overall vocabulary, the solution is simple: read more! Explore a variety of different reading materials, from contemporary fiction to news articles to poetry. And when you come across an unknown word (which you inevitably will), look it up and consider adding it to your own personal Quizlet set. When creating your flashcards, you can even add in the sentence from the text that uses the unfamiliar word. Learning is an active process, so challenge yourself to go a step beyond mere memorization.
While having a strong vocabulary is only half the battle when taking the digital SAT, it’s still a worthwhile investment to develop your vocabulary skills. Aside from increasing your chances of zipping through Words in Context questions without breaking a sweat, developing an advanced vocabulary will continue to benefit you long after you’ve taken the test.
Ready to put your new vocab skills to the test?
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Amanda Eakin
Amanda is a member of the content team at Test Innovators and specializes in creating reading and writing content for our practice tests. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Education, Integrated Language Arts (grades 7-12), and Creative Writing. Before joining Test Innovators, Amanda was an English teacher for several years before transitioning to a learning and development role at a Fortune 500 company. She has come full circle by returning to the education world and is thrilled to help Test Innovators produce high-quality educational content.
