VOCABULARY—STILL ESSENTIAL
Hold up! Why do we have to brush up on our vocabulary? Didn’t the SAT
remove vocab questions from the test?
Unfortunately, there is still plenty of vocab tested on the SAT. First, we still
have the “vocabulary in context” questions that are often easier if you already
know the meaning(s) of the word. But more important, the reading passages will
include a lot of “academic vocabulary” of the sort you would find in college
textbooks and lectures, so even if there is no question about a specific word, you
need to have a good vocabulary to comprehend these passages. And then, if you
choose to do the Essay section, it’s not a bad idea to use a few big words in your
essay (as long as you use the words correctly). Technically, the test scorers won’t
give you points for fancy vocabulary, but in practice it signals to them that you
are a sophisticated intellectual, and that makes them give you the benefit of the
doubt.
So let’s start with these essential words:
hypogyrrationalrhombocuboids
diffeomorphism
supermartingale
myelomeningocele
dacryocystorhinostomy
floccinaucinihilipilification
In first grade, I misspelled “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” by one letter, and I’m still not over it.