A strong vocabulary helps on every major admissions test, but each test uses it differently. Some questions ask what a word means in a sentence. Others reward you for reading a dense passage quickly because you don’t trip over unfamiliar words.
The common advice is to memorize a list of a few thousand “test words.” Most people give up halfway through, and they forget much of what they memorized by test day. A better approach is to learn fewer words, learn them well and review them often.
How vocabulary shows up on each test
The SAT
The digital SAT doesn’t ask you to define obscure words on their own. Instead, its Reading and Writing section includes short passages that ask which word best fits the context or what a word means as it’s used in the text. These are often common words with a less common meaning. For example, qualified can mean “limited” (a qualified success), not just “having the right skills.”
The ACT
The ACT has no separate vocabulary section. Vocabulary still matters, because the English and Reading sections move fast. When you know the words in a passage, you read it faster and understand it better, so you have more time for the questions.
The GRE
The GRE relies on vocabulary more than the other two tests. Its Verbal Reasoning section includes Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions, where you choose the words that best complete a sentence. These questions use advanced words like laconic, obdurate and equivocate, and a few unknown words can cost you several questions.
Why memorizing word lists doesn’t work
A word you’ve read once on a list is easy to recognize and hard to use. On test day you need more than a vague sense that you’ve seen it before. You need to know what it means in a sentence, how it differs from similar words and whether it sounds positive or negative.
Lists also tend to be front-loaded. Students learn the first 200 words well and barely touch the rest. Spreading your study out over time fixes both problems.
A study plan that works
1. Learn a small number of words each day
Ten to fifteen new words a day is plenty. Over two months that adds up to more than 600 words, which is more than most students actually learn from a 3,000-word list.
2. Always learn words in a sentence
For each word, read or write at least one example sentence. Laconic means “using very few words.” His laconic reply, “Fine,” told us nothing about the trip is much easier to remember than the definition alone.
3. Review on a schedule
Review new words the next day, again a few days later and again after a week or two. Each review takes a few seconds, and spacing reviews out like this helps words move into long-term memory. Words you keep missing come back sooner. Words you know well come back less often.
4. Use roots, prefixes and suffixes
Many test words are built from a small set of Latin and Greek parts. Learn the parts and you can often work out a word you’ve never seen.
- bene- (good): benevolent, benefactor, beneficial
- mal- (bad): malevolent, malice, malign
- loqu/locu (speak): loquacious, eloquent, circumlocution
- -phile (lover of): bibliophile, audiophile
- ambi- (both): ambivalent, ambiguous
5. Notice a word’s tone
Even when you don’t know a word exactly, knowing whether it’s positive or negative can help you rule out answer choices. Disparage, censure and deride are all negative. Laud, extol and commend are all positive.
6. Read harder material
Long-form journalism, science magazines and classic novels use the same kinds of words the tests do. Reading for 20 minutes a day builds vocabulary and reading speed together, which helps on all three tests.
7. Quiz yourself instead of rereading
Rereading a list feels productive, but recalling a word from memory is what makes it stick. Cover the definition and try to remember it, or use a quiz app. Mistakes are fine. Each one shows you a word to review again.
Words that often trip students up
These words appear in test prep materials again and again, and many are easy to mix up:
- Ambivalent: having mixed feelings, not a lack of feelings.
- Disinterested: impartial, not uninterested.
- Enervate: to weaken or drain energy, not to energize.
- Equivocate: to speak vaguely to avoid committing to something.
- Pragmatic: focused on what works in practice.
- Ubiquitous: found everywhere.
- Prosaic: ordinary or dull.
- Mitigate: to make something less severe.
- Esoteric: understood by only a small group.
- Candid: honest and direct.
How much time do you need?
If your test is two or three months away, 15 to 20 minutes a day is enough to make a real difference. If it’s only a few weeks away, focus on roots and on the most common test words rather than trying to cover everything. In either case, daily practice beats a long weekend session.
Practice with Aloquent (coming soon)
We’re building Aloquent, an iPhone and iPad app that turns grammar, vocabulary and spelling practice into a scrolling feed of short lessons and quick quizzes, synced between your devices with iCloud. You can choose a vocabulary focus, and the four levels go from high school basics to college. It’s designed for students preparing for the SAT, ACT and GRE.
Aloquent isn’t on the App Store yet. Visit the Aloquent page to see what’s coming, and check back for the launch.
Frequently asked questions
Does the SAT still test vocabulary?
Yes, but in context. The digital SAT asks what a word means in a passage or which word best fits a sentence, rather than asking you to define words on their own.
Is vocabulary important for the ACT?
There’s no vocabulary section on the ACT, but a strong vocabulary helps you read the English and Reading passages faster and more accurately.
How many words do I need to know for the GRE?
There’s no official number. Many students study somewhere between 500 and 1,000 words. Knowing a smaller set well is better than half-knowing a large one.
What’s the fastest way to learn new words?
Learn a few words a day in example sentences, quiz yourself instead of rereading, and review each word again over the following days and weeks.
Try Aloquent. Built by Atkinson Interactive. Learn more about Aloquent →