Latin is Not a Dead Language
As mentioned earlier, many of the most challenging words in the English language derive their
sounds and meanings from Latin. Don’t worry; you need not memorize any complex
conjugations in order to understand a few basic Latin roots. And we promise that knowing
these roots will make learning multiple words a whole lot easier.
What Are “Feeling Words”?
Test writers love to test you on “feeling words,” which usually appear on the Reading section of
the SAT. A feeling word is exactly what it sounds like—a word that describes an emotion or
state of being. Whenever a question asks about the author’s tone or the attitude of a particular
character, feeling words usually come into play. You know the basic emotions: happy, sad,
angry, fearful, and so on. But on a standardized test you are more likely to see higher-level
vocabulary words like jubilant, despondent, indignant, or apprehensive to describe emotions.
Take a look at the following example:
In line 20, the author mentions “jelly beans” in order to demonstrate that he is
A)jubilant at the sight of a familiar treat.B)despondent at the end of each school day.C)indignant at the sight of more food.D)apprehensive at mealtimes.These words do mean “happy” (jubilant), “sad” (despondent), “angry” (indignant), and “fearful”
(apprehensive).
Why is the English language so complex? Don’t ask why; let’s just roll up our sleeves and learn
some feeling words!
The list that follows contains some common Latin roots that show up in many words, including
feeling words you should be familiar with, particularly for the SAT. Consider making flashcards
for this list, with the root on the front of the card and various words the root appears in on the
back.