SAT Vocab Audit: June 2025

Tracking the most troublesome tested words

As long as the College Board uses vocabulary knowledge as a marker of reading ability and college readiness, we’ll continue to analyze reports from official administration. The June SAT subjected test takers to a broad survey of traditionally tough words. Thanks to all those self-prep heroes on the r/SAT subreddit—led by supermod yodatsracist—who shared the most challenging vocabulary they encountered on the U.S. and International administrations of the June 2025 SAT.

Here are the challenging June 2025 words we've already featured on Roots2Words:

abate (verb) - to diminish in force or intensity
BREAKDOWN: A- (toward) + BAT- (beat)

capricious (adj) - given to sudden, impulsive, and often undesirable or erratic changes of mood or behavior; flighty or fickle
BREAKDOWN: Based on either the Latin capra meaning goat or the root CAP- meaning head

conflate (verb) - to bring together, blend, or merge into one
BREAKDOWN: CON- (together) + FLAT- (to blow)

conjecture (noun) - an inference or opinion based on incomplete information
BREAKDOWN: CON- (together) + JECT- (throw) + -URE (act or state)

cursory (adj) - hasty and superficial; going over something without looking at details
BREAKDOWN: CURS- (run) + -ORY (relating to)

discerning (adj) - to perceive, distinguish, or recognize
BREAKDOWN: DIS- (apart) + CERN- (to sift) + -ING (act or state)

epitomize (verb) - to be a perfect example of something; to represent, exemplify, or typify
BREAKDOWN: EPI- (in addition) + TOM- (to cut) + -IZE (make or do)

eschew (verb) - to intentionally avoid, abstain, or keep away from
BREAKDOWN: E- (completely) + SCHEU- (fear, shrink from)

exhaustive (adj) - including or considering all possibilities; fully comprehensive; tending to drain or deplete
BREAKDOWN: EX- (out) + HAUST- (to draw up) + -IVE (act of)

imperious (adj) - arrogant, domineering, and overbearing; dictatorial; urgent or imperative
BREAKDOWN: IMPER- (rule, authority) + -IOUS (full of)

manifest (verb) - to exhibit or reveal plainly or distinctly; to use clear intentions, visualization, affirmation, and other indirect actions to help achieve goals and attract wealth and success
BREAKDOWN: MAN- (hand) + FEST- (seize)

myriad (noun) - exactly 10,000 or or indefinitely great number of persons or things.
BREAKDOWN: MYRIA- (ten thousand) + -AD (group or unit)

quotidian (adj) - daily or happening every day; commonplace, mundane, or everyday
BREAKDOWN: QUO- (commonplace) + DI- (day) + -IAN (of or pertaining to)

ubiquitous (adj) - seeming to appear or exist everywhere; omnipresent
BREAKDOWN: The Latin ubique means everywhere and can be broken down into UBI meaning where and QUE which can mean many things but, in this case, means both every and also maybe where.

undermine (verb) - to subvert, weaken, or erode, often gradually and in secret; to damage or destroy the foundations of something
BREAKDOWN: The word literally and figuratively means to mine under something.

verisimilitude (noun) - the appearance of truth; realistic or resembling reality
BREAKDOWN: VER- (true) + SIMIL- (like) + -TUDE (state of)

vindictive (adj) - vengeful; inclined or disposed to seek revenge
BREAKDOWN: VIN- (force) + DICT- (speak) + -IVE (prone to)

Many of the challenging words we haven’t covered (yet) were based on word roots:

abound (verb) - to be plentiful, prevalent, or overflowing with
BREAKDOWN: AB- (away from) + OUND- (flow)

attenuate (verb) - to weaken or reduce in amount, force, or magnitude; to make longer and thinner
BREAKDOWN: A- (to) + TENU- (stretch) + -ATE (to make)

capacious (adj) - able to hold much; spacious or roomy
BREAKDOWN: CAP- (to grasp) + -ACIOUS (inclined to)

decisive (adj) - producing a conclusive result; able to make choices quickly and confidently
BREAKDOWN: DE- (off) + CIS- (to cut) + -IVE (quality)

emanate (verb) - to issue, originate, or flow from; to give off or emit
BREAKDOWN: E- (out) + MANA- (to flow) + -ATE (make or do)

excise (verb) - to remove surgically; to cut out
BREAKDOWN: EX- (out) + CIS- (to cut)

expound (verb) - to set forth; to make a detailed statement
BREAKDOWN: EX- (forth) + -POUND (to put)

heterogeneous (adj) - composed of unrelated or unlike elements
BREAKDOWN: HETERO- (other) + GEN- (class) + -OUS (full of)

impervious (adj) - not allowing entrance, passage, or harm; impenetrable
BREAKDOWN: IM- (not) + PER- (through) + VI- (way) + -OUS (quality)

impugn (verb) - to criticize; to oppose or attack as lacking integrity
BREAKDOWN: IM- (against) + PUGN- (to fight)

lambaste (verb) - to violently attack verbally or physically
BREAKDOWN: LAM- (to lame) + BASTE- (beat or strike)

outmoded (adj) - old-fashioned or no longer in style
BREAKDOWN: OUT- (out) + MOD- (manner) + -ED (made or done)

pernicious (adj) - very harmful or destructive, especially in a gradual or subtle way; wicked
BREAKDOWN: PER- (thoroughly) + NEC- (harm, kill) + -IOUS (full of)

synopsis (noun) - a brief summary or outline
BREAKDOWN: SYN- (together) + OP- (to see) + -SIS (state)

testament (noun) - attestation, tribute, or proof; a will; a covenant
BREAKDOWN: TEST- (witness) + -MENT (act or state of)

unnerved (adj) - rendered nervous, fearful, or worried; distressed or disturbed
BREAKDOWN: UN- (opposite) + NERV- (nerve) + -ED (made or done)

Only one June 2025 word—hamper—lacked a clear connection to classical roots but should still be high on the list of words to learn for the SAT.

If the SAT is in your future, you should learn all of these words. For more Vocab Audits, explore our SAT/ACT Resources page.

“Nothing is more powerful and liberating than knowledge.” —William H. Gray III