50 Common SAT/ACT Vocab Words to Know – How many do you know?
For many parents, “SAT prep” brings up PTSD memories of flashcards. The SAT and ACT test vocabulary very differently than they used to, but a strong vocabulary is still a major advantage on both exams.
On the SAT, vocabulary isn’t tested in isolation with analogies anymore. Instead, it appears within reading passages and writing questions where you’re expected to interpret meaning from context and select the best word or phrase based on tone, nuance, and usage.
The ACT similarly embeds challenging words in reading passages and requires you to understand meaning and connotation in context. While neither test has a strictly standalone vocab section anymore, your ability to recognize and understand advanced vocabulary can improve both reading speed and accuracy on questions. (This matters a lot for passages with complex rhetoric or subtle answer distinctions.)
Below are 50 key vocabulary words with definitions written for quick reference and review. If you practice these and see them in context, you’ll be better equipped to navigate both tests.
📘 50 Common SAT/ACT Words (and What They Mean)
- Abate – to become less intense or widespread
- Abhorrent – extremely repugnant; hateful
- Adulation – excessive praise or admiration
- Amiable – friendly, pleasant
- Anachronism – something out of its proper time period
- Antipathy – strong dislike
- Auspicious – favorable; suggesting a positive outcome
- Banal – unoriginal, ordinary
- Benevolent – kind and generous
- Bias – a prejudice or predisposition toward something
- Censure – strong criticism or disapproval
- Complacent – self-satisfied, unconcerned
- Concise – brief and to the point
- Conditional – dependent on something else
- Consensus – general agreement
- Credulous – too willing to believe; gullible
- Debacle – a complete failure or collapse
- Deference – respectful submission to another’s opinion
- Delineate – to describe or outline clearly
- Demure – modest and shy
- Deride – to mock or ridicule
- Desolate – bleak, empty, lifeless
- Discrepancy – a difference or inconsistency
- Disseminate – to spread widely
- Dubious – doubtful or hesitant
- Eloquent – movingly expressive in speech or writing
- Empirical – based on observation or experience
- Equivocal – ambiguous; unclear in meaning
- Esoteric – understood by only a few; obscure
- Euphemism – a mild expression in place of a harsh one
- Exacerbate – to make worse
- Exculpate – to clear from blame
- Fervent – passionate, intense
- Frugal – economical; careful with money
- Hubris – excessive pride or confidence
- Inevitable – certain to happen; unavoidable
- Lucid – clear and easy to understand
- Mundane – ordinary, commonplace
- Nefarious – wicked or criminal
- Obstinate – stubborn, resistant to change
- Ostensible – appearing one way but not necessarily so
- Perfunctory – done without care; superficial
- Plausible – believable; credible
- Pragmatic – practical; focused on results
- Precarious – dangerously unstable
- Prosaic – dull, unimaginative
- Resilient – able to recover quickly
- Scrupulous – principled; attentive to detail
- Substantiate – to provide evidence for
- Zealous – passionate; fervently committed
How to Use This List
Knowing these words isn’t just about memorizing definitions, it’s about recognizing them in reading contexts and understanding their nuances, which is exactly what both the SAT and ACT ask you to do.
Instead of trying to memorize definitions in isolation, try these approaches:
Read example sentences and highlight how the word is used
Example:
Rather than proposing an idealistic but unrealistic solution, the committee adopted a pragmatic approach that could be implemented immediately.
Contrast clue:
“idealistic but unrealistic”
Context clue:
“could be implemented immediately”
Conclusion:
pragmatic = practical and realistic
Group words by theme, identifying synonyms
Example:
Theme: Judgment & Evaluation
Dubious – doubtful or skeptical
Credulous – too willing to believe
Scrupulous – careful and principled
Plausible – believable
Ostensible – appearing true, but possibly misleading
Why does this help?
If a question asks for a word that suggests skepticism, you can immediately rule out credulous and lean toward dubious—even if you don’t remember every definition perfectly.
Practice in context, reading passages and questions from practice tests
Example:
Passage Excerpt:
Although the researcher initially presented her findings with great confidence, subsequent experiments revealed several methodological flaws, making her conclusions far less tenable than she had claimed.
Question:
As used in the passage, tenable most nearly means:
A. defensible
B. popular
C. innovative
D. controversial
Some things to pick up on:
Clue phrase:
“revealed several methodological flaws”
Effect:
conclusions are now weaker
Best match:
defensible
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