SAT Vocabulary Boost: Word List + Tips to Master Them

🔍 About This Blog

This post is part of Eddo’s Test Prep Essentials Series, where we share proven tools and strategies for SAT, ACT, and AP success. Each resource is designed to help you study smarter, not longer—so you can focus on what actually boosts your score.

Introduction

A strong vocabulary makes the SAT Reading & Writing section so much easier. You don’t need to memorize thousands of words—but you do need to focus on high-frequency words and learn how prefixes, suffixes, and roots reveal meaning.

This newsletter gives you:

1. A longer starter list of SAT-level words

2. Common roots, prefixes, and suffixes to decode unfamiliar terms

3. Tips for studying effectively

📎 Want the full master list of 200+ SAT words? → [Download Here via Google Docs]

Extended SAT Vocabulary List (30 Words)

• Aberration – abnormality, deviation

• Abstain – to refrain from doing something

• Alleviate – to make less severe

• Ambivalent – having mixed or opposing feelings

• Austere – strict, plain, without luxury

• Belligerent – hostile, aggressive

• Capricious – unpredictable, impulsive

• Convoluted – complex, difficult to follow

• Deleterious – harmful, damaging

• Didactic – instructional, teaching

• Emulate – to imitate, match, or surpass

• Enervate – to weaken or drain energy

• Ephemeral – lasting a very short time

• Equivocal – ambiguous, unclear

• Fastidious – very detail-oriented, picky

• Furtive – secretive, sneaky

• Iconoclast – someone who challenges tradition

• Ineffable – too great to be expressed in words

• Loquacious – talkative, chatty

• Magnanimous – generous, forgiving

• Mitigate – to lessen the severity of

• Obsequious – excessively obedient

• Perfunctory – done without effort or enthusiasm

• Pragmatic – practical, realistic

• Prosaic – dull, ordinary, lacking imagination

• Recalcitrant – stubborn, resistant to authority

• Sagacious – wise, shrewd

• Sycophant – flatterer, bootlicker

• Ubiquitous – found everywhere

• Zealous – passionate, intensely devoted
  

Prefixes, Suffixes, & Roots You Must Know

📌 Common Prefixes

• bene- = good → benefit, benevolent

• mal- = bad → malicious, malfunction

• ante- = before → antecedent, antedate

• trans- = across → transport, transcend

📌 Common Suffixes

• -ology = study of → biology, psychology

• -ous = full of → loquacious, sagacious

• -tion = act or state → completion, narration

• -ist = one who does → scientist, pacifist

📌 Useful Roots

• cred = believe → credible, incredulous

• dict = speak → predict, contradict

• scrib/script = write → describe, manuscript

• voc/vok = call → vocal, invoke

Learning roots, prefixes, and suffixes helps you guess meanings on test day even if you’ve never seen the word before.

Study Tips & Tricks

• Use spaced repetition apps (Anki, Quizlet)

• Read SAT-like sources (The Atlantic, The Economist) and highlight words in context

• Practice with sentences, not just definitions

• Review consistently—10 words a day beats cramming 100 the night before

  
  

📌 Get the Full List

• This is just a preview! 📎 [Click here to access the full SAT Vocabulary Google Doc] (200+ words). Use it to:

  • Track words you know vs. don’t know

  • Write your own example sentences

  • Quiz yourself weekly

    
    

Wrapping Up

At Eddo, we’re committed to helping students like you stay organized, discover new opportunities, and plan for the future with confidence.

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