<p>A few summers ago I analyzed over 60 past SATs and PSATs to find the top vocabulary words. We call them "Repeat Offenders." Since I can't give you the website with the definitions, I decided to just post the words here. They are too valuable not to share.</p>
<p>The numbers below show the percentage of tests that contained each individual word or a form of that word. For example, 49% of tests had a form of aesthetic, such as aesthete, aesthetically, aesthetics, etc. I recommend discarding any word you know and defining the ones that you do not. There are many, many more but obviously they are less common---let me know if you want me to post them.</p>
<p>Happy Sunday!</p>
<p>49% aesthetic
49% undermine
45% profound
45% refute
45% skeptical
44% ambivalent
44% hostile
40% condemn
38% assert
38% nostalgia
38% pretense
36% cynical
36% obscure
35% conventions
33% contempt
33% foster
33% pragmatic
33% revere
31% anecdote
31% disparage
31% exemplary
31% substantiate
31% trivial
29% depict
29% indifferent
27% anthropology
27% futile
27% indignant
27% reconcile
27% sarcasm
25% abstract
25% advocate
25% ambiguous
25% eccentric
25% implausible
25% intemperate
25% plausible
25% rhetoric
25% rigorous
25% subtle
25% temperate
24% archaeological
24% arrogant
24% complacent
24% embellish
24% evoke
24% immodest
24% modest
24% prudent
24% suppress
24% vindicated
22% deride
22% diligent
22% disdain
22% empathy
22% erroneous
22% fundamental
22% improvise
22% mundane
22% na</p>
<p>Words 412-1304:
7% absurdity
7% adamant
7% adroit
7% affable
7% affected
7% allude
7% ameliorate
7% anarchic
7% antiquated
7% arbitrary
7% aristocrat
7% ascertain
7% ascetic
7% assimilate
7% attain
7% avarice
7% benefactor
7% bereave
7% bombast
7% bureaucratic
7% cerebral
7% chronicle
7% circumvent
7% clandestine
7% coerce
7% commonplace
7% concession
7% concur
7% conflagration
7% conjecture
7% constitute
7% convene
7% convergence
7% cosmopolitan
7% credible
7% crude
7% cryptic
7% cursory
7% curtail
7% daunt
7% decimate
7% defiant
7% deficit
7% defunct
7% demagogue
7% demonstrative
7% despondent
7% destitute
7% diminutive
7% disavow
7% discourse
7% discretion
7% diverse
7% elusive
7% embittered
7% embody
7% emergent
7% eminent
7% endeavor
7% enervated
7% enthrall
7% epilogue
7% erratic
7% espoused
7% formidable
7% formulaic
7% forthright
7% frivolous
7% furtive
7% garrulous
7% genial
7% gratuitous
7% guile
7% ideology
7% immersed
7% impede
7% impertinent
7% impugn
7% indeterminate
7% inept
7% inexplicable
7% infallible
7% inscrutable
7% insightful
7% insinuate
7% insular
7% intricate
7% intrigued
7% inundate
7% itinerant
7% jubilant
7% lauded
7% lofty
7% lucid
7% magnanimous
7% malleable
7% melancholy
7% metaphor
7% minute
7% misanthrope
7% miser
7% narcissistic
7% nefarious
7% novelty
7% obsequious
7% ominous
7% outmoded
7% overt
7% parch
7% parenthetical
7% penchant
7% penitent
7% peril
7% pertinent
7% philanthropic
7% polarize
7% precipitate
7% precursor
7% predecessor
7% prestige
7% profusion
7% propensity
7% pseudonym
7% query
7% raucous
7% raze
7% rebuke
7% reciprocal
7% renounce
7% repressed
7% reproach
7% rouse
7% ruthless
7% salutary
7% scoff
7% shrewd
7% solicitous
7% spurious
7% squelch
7% stagnant
7% steadfast
7% stringent
7% stymie
7% subordinate
7% subversive
7% sully
7% supplement
7% synthesis
7% systematic
7% tangible
7% transitory
7% trite
7% unassuming
7% utopia
7% veiled
7% verbose
7% versatile
7% vex
7% viable
7% virtuoso
7% vitality
7% vociferous
7% wane
7% wistful
5% abash
5% abridge
5% abstain
5% acrid
5% affinity
5% affluence
5% alacrity
5% allege
5% allegiance
5% altruism
5% amalgam
5% amenable
5% amorphous
5% animosity
5% annul
5% anomaly
5% anthology
5% apprehensive
5% arboreal
5% arcane
5% arduous
5% atrocity
5% attribute
5% auspicious
5% belabor
5% belligerent
5% benign
5% bequest
5% berate
5% blatant
5% boor
5% buttress
5% cacophony
5% castigate
5% cathartic
5% chicanery
5% circuitous
5% circumspect
5% clairvoyant
5% clientele
5% cloying
5% colleagues
5% colloquial
5% communal
5% compliant
5% comprehensive
5% condone
5% confection
5% consecrated
5% contradictory
5% conundrum
5% correlate
5% corrode
5% curriculum
5% dalliance
5% debacle
5% decorous
5% decry
5% deft
5% deject
5% delude
5% demise
5% deplete
5% deplore
5% depraved
5% deprecate
5% deterred
5% devious
5% dexterity
5% diffident
5% diffuse
5% dignitary
5% dilettante
5% dire
5% dissemble
5% dissipate
5% distill
5% diverge
5% divisive
5% divulge
5% doctrinaire
5% dour
5% drubbed
5% elated
5% emaciated
5% encumbrance
5% enumerate
5% ephemeral
5% equitable
5% equivocate
5% euphoric
5% exacting
5% exhilarated
5% expedite
5% expendable
5% explanatory
5% facile
5% farce
5% fastidious
5% fathom
5% felicities
5% fidelity
5% flamboyant
5% foreboding
5% foresight
5% forgo
5% fragility
5% frenetic
5% gaffe
5% galvanized
5% garish
5% grandeur
5% grandiose
5% grudging
5% heterogeneous
5% hindered
5% homogeneous
5% humdrum
5% hypocrisy
5% hypocrite
5% ignominious
5% illicit
5% immutable
5% impeccable
5% impenetrable
5% imperious
5% impromptu
5% inaudible
5% inception
5% incision
5% inclination
5% incoherent
5% incorrigible
5% indecorous
5% indiscriminate
5% inevitability
5% inexorable
5% infamous
5% inferred
5% infuse
5% innate
5% inoculate
5% insatiable
5% insidious
5% insoluble
5% insolvent
5% interminable
5% intrepid
5% jaunt
5% jocular
5% laconic
5% languid
5% latent
5% laypeople
5% lithe
5% machinations
5% malevolent
5% meager
5% mediate
5% menace
5% mercenary
5% mercurial
5% meritocracy
5% mimicry
5% mirth
5% modicum
5% monumental
5% morbid
5% mortality
5% multifaceted
5% multiplicity
5% multitude
5% munificent
5% novice
5% obliged
5% oblique
5% obliterate
5% obstreperous
5% obtrusive
5% obtuse
5% omnipresent
5% onerous
5% ostracize
5% paradigm
5% patron
5% pedantic
5% perennial
5% permeated
5% perseverance
5% petulant
5% phlegmatic
5% picayune
5% placate
5% pluralism
5% poignant
5% ponders
5% predominant
5% preeminent
5% prescient
5% prodigy
5% prohibitive
5% promulgated
5% proponent
5% proprietor
5% prosperity
5% provoke
5% pundit
5% pungent
5% quaint
5% querulous
5% quiescent
5% reciprocity
5% recount
5% rectify
5% refracted
5% refurbish
5% regressive
5% relic
5% relinquish
5% repeal
5% repetitious
5% replicate
5% resigned
5% revelry
5% rigidity
5% robust
5% romanticized
5% rustic
5% sagacious
5% scathing
5% scheme
5% scintillating
5% sensationalism
5% servile
5% shroud
5% skulk
5% soliciting
5% soluble
5% solvent
5% soporific
5% sporadic
5% squalid
5% squander
5% status quo
5% stoic
5% subterfuge
5% succinct
5% sullen
5% taint
5% tangential
5% terrestrial
5% terse
5% theoretical
5% tractable
5% travesty
5% understudy
5% unwitting
5% urbane
5% usurp
5% vague
5% valor
5% vapid
5% vehemence
5% vestige
5% vignettes
5% virtuous
5% vivacious
5% wayward
4% aberration
4% abrupt
4% absolve
4% acclaim
4% accord
4% accumulated
4% acquit
4% admonish
4% adorned
4% affiliate
4% afflicted
4% aggrandize
4% allocated
4% allure
4% aloof
4% amenities
4% ample
4% annex
4% antipathy
4% appease
4% approbation
4% appropriate
4% arable
4% archipelago
4% assail
4% asylum
4% atrophy
4% attuned
4% audacious
4% aura
4% authenticate
4% autocrat
4% avenge
4% avow
4% balm
4% bane
4% belittle
4% bemuse
4% beneficiary
4% blithe
4% boisterous
4% boon
4% bounty
4% bourgeois
4% brandish
4% bravado
4% brevity
4% brittle
4% brusque
4% bucolic
4% buoyancy
4% cadence
4% calamity
4% carnivore
4% carouse
4% carp
4% cartography
4% cataclysms
4% censorious
4% champion
4% charisma
4% chronic
4% chronological
4% clamorous
4% coalition
4% cogent
4% cognizant
4% collusion
4% colossus
4% combatants
4% combustible
4% commandeer
4% commerce
4% commodity
4% compatriot
4% compensate
4% compliance
4% compounded
4% compulsion
4% condensed
4% condolence
4% confer
4% conflated
4% congenial
4% congregate
4% connoisseur
4% connotation
4% constituents
4% continuity
4% coronation
4% crass
4% culminate
4% culpable
4% cultivate
4% cumulative
4% defector
4% definitive
4% degrade
4% demean
4% demure
4% demystify
4% denuded
4% denunciation
4% derelict
4% derogate
4% desolate
4% despoiled
4% differential
4% disenfranchised
4% dishearten
4% disheveled
4% dispassionate
4% dispatch
4% disrepute
4% divisible
4% dormant
4% drone
4% dupe
4% duplicitous
4% eclipsed
4% ecstatic
4% efface
4% effervescent
4% efficacious
4% effrontery
4% elegy
4% elongate
4% elude
4% emollient
4% encroaching
4% endow
4% engrossed
4% enmity
4% entice
4% entity
4% entourage
4% entreat
4% entrenched
4% entrepreneurs
4% episodic
4% erudition
4% eschew
4% evanescent
4% exalt
4% excavated
4% excerpt
4% exerted
4% exhortation
4% exotic
4% expatriate
4% explication
4% expropriated
4% expunge
4% extant
4% extenuating
4% extrapolated
4% extricate
4% extrinsic
4% exultant
4% fa</p>
<p>Thanks for the list!! it looks about 70% the same as DH at first glance.</p>
<p>this is FANTASTIC! which 60 tests? (don’t list them all, but going back how many years and up until 2010 tests?) </p>
<p>also, were these just sentence completions or also found in the Critical reading answers?</p>
<p>Finally, were these all CORRECT answer choices, or did you include incorrect answer choices?</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your hard work!</p>
<p>The tests were really random, based on what we had collected and been given by students. The oldest was from 1995, I believe, and the newest were likely the winter and spring 2009 tests (I did this 2 summers ago). They included both SATs and PSATs.</p>
<p>I took words from Sentence Completion questions and answer choices (right and wrong) and from Passage-Based Reading questions and answer choices (right and wrong). There were also some words taken from the analogy sections of the old tests. I did not take words from the passages themselves because they were not written by the test makers. An overwhelming majority of the words, however, came from SC answer choices.</p>
<p>Link to the stickied thread has been added.</p>