SAT Vocab Audit: October 2024

Tracking the most troublesome tested words

While Roots2Words supports fluency across a broad spectrum of academic and practical vocabulary, our specific selections definitely tilt towards my specific interest in the kind of vocabulary tested on standardized exams. That's why I avidly amass (see below) insights into what words most frustrate test takers on important exams. 

My expansive network of educators and the broader legion of self-prep heroes on the r/SAT subreddit had a lot to say about the most challenging vocabulary on the October 5 SAT.  Here are the encountered words we've already featured:

ambiguous (adj) - open to or having two or more possible meanings or interpretations
BREAKDOWN: AMBI- (both) + IG- (do) + -OUS (full of)

demarcation (noun) - the act, process, or result of marking off a boundary; an established line of separation
BREAKDOWN: DE- (down) + MARC- (boundary) + -ATION (action)

evince (verb) - to show or demonstrate convincingly; to prove
BREAKDOWN: E- (out) + VINC- (overcome)

mitigate (verb) - to lessen or make less severe
BREAKDOWN: MIT- (mild) + IG- (drive) + -ATE (to make)

nebulous (adj) - uncertain, ambiguous, or vague; difficult to understand or describe; nebular
BREAKDOWN: NEB- (cloud) + -UL (relating to) + -OUS (full of)

recalcitrant (adj) - extremely stubborn and unwilling to obey; hard to deal with or manage
BREAKDOWN: RE- (back) + CALC- (heel) + -ANT (inclined to)

sanguine (adj) - confidently cheerful and optimistic, sometimes to an unrealistic extent; hopeful; ruddy or reddish in color
BREAKDOWN: SANG- (blood) + -INE (quality) 

vindicate (verb) - to clear from guilt or accusation; to uphold or defend; to justify or redeem
BREAKDOWN: VIN- (force) + DIC- (show) + -ATE (to do)

Not bad, right? Here are the words we expect to feature in the future that SAT test takers should learn ASAP:

amass
conflate
desultory
discretion
earnest
inconspicuous
induce
intercede
misanthropic
nominal
notional
placate
preclude
veritable

Did we miss any particularly challenging words from the October SAT?

“From your past emerges the present, and from the present is born your future.” —Muhammad Iqbal