Dealing with Words You Dont Know

No list will ever cover all the vocab words that might appear on the SAT. There are just too many words. In fact, we
can pretty much guarantee that somewhere on the new SAT, youll come across a word you havent studied or just
cant remember. No problem. Well show you what to do.

Word Roots: The Building Blocks of Words

Lots of test-prep companies advise students to study Greek and Latin roots of English words to help figure out the
meaning of an SAT vocabulary word. Some students even take Latin in high school with the sole aim of using it to
learn vocabulary roots for the SAT. English words are often made up of bits and pieces derived from Latin or Greek,
which we call word roots. For example, lets say you come across the wordantebellum on the SAT and dont know
what it means. The word root ante means before, and bellum means war, so you might think that antebellum
means before the war. Youre correct! Heres a list of the 28 most common word roots thatll help you puzzle out the
meanings of unfamiliar SAT words.
Word Root

What It
Means

SAT Vocab Words

ante

before

antebellum, antediluvian

anti

against

antithesis, antipathy, antiseptic

auto

self

bene

good, well

chron

time

circum

around

con, com

against

cred

to believe

dict

to speak

dis

not

equi

equal

ex, e

out, away

hyper

benefactor, benevolent, benediction

anachronism, asynchronous
circumnavigate, circumference, circumlocution,
circumvent, circumscribe

with, together convene, concatenate, conjoin, companionable

contra,
counter

flu, flux

autocratic

flow

contradict, counteract, contravene

credo, credible, credence, credulity, incredulous
verdict, malediction, dictate, dictum, indict
disperse, dissuade, distemper, disarray, disjointed
equidistant, equilateral, equilibrium, equinox, equitable,
equanimity
emit, enervate, excise, extirpate, expunge, exonerate,
exacerbate
effluence, effluvium, fluctuate, confluence

above, over hyperbolic

in, im

not

inviolate, innocuous, intractable, impregnable,

impermeable, impervious

inter

between

mal

bad

multi

many

neo

new

omni

all

per

through

sanct

holy

scrib, script

to write

inscription, prescribe, proscribe, ascribe, conscript,

scribble, scribe

spect

to look

circumspect, retrospect, prospect, spectacle, aspect

tract

to drag, to
draw

intermittent, introvert, interdict, interrogate

malformation, maladjusted, dismal, malady, malcontent,
malfeasance
multitude, multivalent
neologism, neophyte
omnipotent, omnivorous, omniscient
persuade, impervious, persistent, persecute
sanctify, sanctuary, sanction, sanctimonious, sacrosanct

protract, detract, intractable

trans

across

transduce, intransigent

vert

to turn

extrovert, introvert