Should You Study Vocabulary for the Digital SAT?

It depends. And that's not a cop-out: it's the honest answer. Whether or not vocab prep makes sense for you depends heavily on your score goals and where you are in your prep journey.

The short answer: dedicated SAT vocabulary prep is only truly beneficial for high scorers, generally those aiming for 1500+ on the SAT. For most other students, intensive vocab memorization is not the most efficient use of study time.

When Does Studying Vocab for the SAT Make Sense?

If you're aiming for a 1500+ score (which usually means a Reading score above a 750), vocabulary questions can help squeeze out those final few points. At that level, every question matters, and oftentimes, vocab is the difference between a 750 and a 780. As one SAT expert noted to a 1480+ scorer, "the difference between you and many of the rest (those scoring below 650) is that they mostly have easier verbal points to gain elsewhere, whereas [vocabulary] is a huge percentage of your remaining points."

Students below the top tier usually have more fundamental reading and grammar skills to improve first, so vocab isn't their first priority. But for an elite scorer hovering in the mid-700s on Reading and Writing, mastering a handful of high-frequency SAT words could be the key to converting those last hard questions into correct answers.

Figure 1: Frequency of the most common vocabulary words on official Digital SAT exams (2024–2025).

Evidence from the Digital SAT's existing practice exams and their associated scoring algorithms support this focus for high achievers. The computer-adaptive format means only students who perform very well see the hardest module (Module 2 at the "hard" level), and that's where the most challenging vocab tends to appear.

How Much Does Vocabulary Actually Affect Your SAT Score?

According to the College Board's breakdown, only one of the four question domains, Craft and Structure, even involves vocabulary as a tested skill. This domain makes up roughly 13–15 questions (about 28%) of the section, and even within those questions, pure "what does this word mean?" items are just a subset.

Figure 2: Breakdown of Digital SAT Reading & Writing domains and their frequency in Modules 1 and 2.

That doesn't mean this is the only place you'll use your vocabulary expertise, however. Vocabulary is just as critical in other question types, like Information and Idea's "Command of Evidence" or "Inferences" questions. On harder questions, missing a word like "paradigm" or "repudiation" derails the efficiency and accuracy of your reading comprehension, making vocabulary prep pivotal for more than just "Words in Context" questions.

So, while there's a variety of vocab tested on the exam, the ones that simply require actual definitions often appear as single, high-difficulty questions. Because the SAT uses a weighted scoring system, these questions may only move your score a couple of points (if at all). Worse, some are "pretest" questions, which means:

"The inclusion of these questions allows College Board to collect performance data on them and evaluate their suitability for possible use in future tests. Student responses to these pretest questions don't affect their scores." — College Board Scoring Guidelines

In other words: a tough vocab question may not count toward your score at all. Here's a closer breakdown of how many pre-test questions you get per exam. Remember, they don't impact your overall score, even if you answer correctly.

Figure 3: Distribution of scored and unscored questions in the Digital SAT Reading & Writing section.

Another key note: unlike the old SAT, the digital SAT never tests vocab in isolation (i.e. simply if this student understands the definition or not) – you always get surrounding context to help deduce meaning, hence the name "Words in CONTEXT." The exam writers have largely moved away from obscure words; "you generally shouldn't see any as hard as those on the old SAT," one guide notes.

As another SAT tutor bluntly put it, "Memorizing 100 random words probably won't make a substantial difference and tackling a vocab list of 3,000 words takes forever."

On the strategy end, it makes more sense to focus on skills of reading comprehension instead of learning vocabulary. Improving the efficiency and accuracy of your reading comprehension allows you to get questions that actually matter, ones that are medium or easy difficulty, correct, which in turn improves the overall score.

What Should You Study Instead of Vocabulary?

Most students benefit more from focusing on high-impact question types like:

These high-impact areas appear frequently and carry significantly more weight in scoring. A student might see dozens of grammar/usage and logical connection questions on test day, but only a couple of pure vocab-in-context items.

Standard English Conventions cover grammar and punctuation questions (comma placement, pronoun agreement, sentence structure, etc.). They're relatively straightforward, and thus the value the SAT places on these questions is extremely high. Believe us: a student aiming for a 1500 cannot risk missing even ONE grammar question, as a single grammar question can drop a score 20–50 points. We've seen students drop 50 points from ONE grammar error! Thus, grammar easily becomes the highest-value area for students looking for quick score gain. Improve with content and practice, as mastering these can yield quick gains because the rules are finite and the method is systematic, compared to "Words in Context."

Transitions and Connecting Ideas show up often as part of the Expression of Ideas category. The SAT includes many questions asking you to select the correct transitional word or phrase to link ideas in a passage. Knowing how to distinguish contrast transitions from continuation or cause-effect ones is a high-yield skill. Here's a breakdown of the most common transitions questions.

Figure 4: Figure 4: Frequency of the most common transition words on official Digital SAT exams (2024–2025).

Rhetorical Synthesis is a newer question type (not before seen on the Physical SAT or ACT) that requires you to integrate or synthesize information from multiple sources. These questions tap your ability to see the bigger picture and logical flow, appearing regularly in the test's adaptive modules. Like Grammar and Transitions, these are relatively easy questions; thus, score gain potential is big, if you're making errors on these questions.

What Are the Best Vocabulary Resources for the Digital SAT?

If you are targeting a top score, or just love vocab and want to be extra prepared, it's important to choose the right resources. Most vocab books and random Quizlets are inefficient at best, and misleading at worst.

I strongly advise against generic vocab books or random word lists from the internet, as those often include many low-frequency words that might never appear on an SAT. The best vocab resources are those derived from official SAT materials – in other words, lists of words that have actually shown up on recent SAT exams.

Here's what actually works:

Use vocab pulled directly from real DSAT exams. Words like "repudiation", "tenuous", and "buttress" have appeared on multiple exams in recent years, and there's real data behind that claim.

Extensive analysis has been done to identify high-frequency SAT vocab. Veteran SAT tutors like us have combed through all the Bluebook official tests and released exams to tally which words recur most often. One such analysis produced a "high-frequency SAT vocab" list of 75 words that appeared more than once across official digital SAT tests. We also have a large bank of words from students directly reporting what words they saw on test day, where.

For example:

• "Tenuous" (meaning weak or flimsy) appeared in official SAT materials 4 times

• "Repudiate" (meaning to reject or disavow) showed up multiple times as well

These aren't random GRE-style words; they're verified by data to be relevant to the SAT. We've compiled vocab lists based on the last several released digital SATs and cross-referenced them with feedback from students and educators around the world. You'll find these lists here:

1. Official June 2025 Set

2. Official May 2025 Set

3. Official March 2025 Set

When using these resources, use your judgment. Just because a word appeared doesn't mean it's worth your time. Many are still pretest items or extremely low point value, so make sure your time is going to words that actually move your score.

How to Effectively Study SAT Vocabulary

If you do decide to prep vocab, treat it like real studying, not just scrolling through flashcards. That means:

• Prioritizing high-frequency, high-value words

• Using spaced repetition to lock them in

• Actively testing yourself in context

Focus on High-Yield Words First

As one SAT guide puts it, you can stop worrying about "thousands of obscure words" and instead concentrate on "deeply understanding a core group of academic words and how they function in a sentence." In practice, this means maybe a few hundred well-chosen words, not an endless dictionary.

Use Spaced Repetition and Active Recall

Don't just read a definition and hope you'll remember it – quiz yourself repeatedly over time. Many students find flashcards to be extremely effective for this. You might use an app like Anki or Quizlet, which leverage spaced-repetition software to show you words at gradually increasing intervals so you don't forget them.

Research shows that "reviewing information at increasing intervals is far more effective than cramming" for long-term memory. For instance, you could learn 10 new words a day, but make sure to review those 10 the next day, again a few days later, then a week later, and so on.

Learn Words in Context

The digital SAT will seldom simply ask "What does X mean?" – instead, it asks which word best fits a certain sentence or how a word is being used in context. When you study a word, learn it with an example sentence (ideally similar to an SAT usage) or note its common secondary meanings.

It's one thing to recognize that "augment" means "to increase," but you should also practice seeing it in a sentence about "augmenting an argument with evidence." The goal is to not only recall a definition but also apply the word's meaning in context.

We've built a system that does exactly this, targeting retention and relevance. If you want help identifying what's holding your Reading score back, or just want to build a study plan that actually leads to results, we're here to help.

The Bottom Line

For most students preparing for the digital SAT, vocabulary study isn't the highest-impact use of your time. Focus first on mastering grammar rules, transition logic, and synthesis questions – these appear more frequently and offer better score improvement potential.

However, if you're already scoring in the 1500+ range and looking to squeeze out those final points, strategic vocabulary study with official, data-backed word lists can make a difference. Just remember: quality over quantity, context over isolation, and spaced repetition over cramming.

At Educo, 9 out of 10 students reached their score goals in 2024 – compared to approximately 40% industry average. Our systematic approach focuses on the highest-impact areas for each individual student, whether that includes vocabulary or not.

If we don't get your score, you don't pay. Book a free, 60-minute consultation today.