SSAT & ISEE Prep 2023 - Princeton Review 2023
Learning vocabulary
The basics of both tests
Note: Primary Level ISEE students can skip this chapter.
THE IMPORTANCE OF VOCABULARY
Both the ISEE and the SSAT test synonyms, and you need to know the tested words to get those questions right. While ISEE Sentence Completions and SSAT Analogies allow for a more strategic approach, the fact remains that knowing words is important to scoring points on these questions.
Having a strong vocabulary will also help you throughout your life: on other standardized tests (of course), in college, in your job, and when you read.
BUILDING A VOCABULARY
The best way to build a great vocabulary is to keep a dictionary and flashcards on hand and look up any new words you encounter. For each word you find, make a flashcard, and review your flashcards frequently. We’ll discuss effective ways of making flashcards shortly.
Flashcards
Making effective flashcards is important. We’ll address how to do so shortly!
Reading a lot helps ensure that you will encounter new words. Read newspapers, magazines, and books. If you think you don’t like reading, you just haven’t found the right material to read. Identify your interests—science, sports, current events, fantasy, you name it—and there will be plenty of material out there that you will look forward to reading.
Not sure what you should read? Ask a favorite teacher or adult whose vocabulary you admire. Below are just a few suggestions based on your test level, but there are many more.
Test Level |
Title |
Lower |
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster |
Call of the Wild by Jack London |
|
Middle |
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien |
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith |
|
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee |
|
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton |
|
Upper |
Editorial and op-ed pages of The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal |
Time Magazine |
|
The Economist |
|
The New Yorker |
|
Scientific American |
|
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou |
|
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams |
|
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini |
|
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison |
|
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien |
|
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass |
You can also learn words through vocab-building websites, such as vocabulary.com or quizlet.com, which present drills in the form of addictive and rewarding games.
Finally, in the coming pages, you will find lists of words that you may see on the SSAT or ISEE.
Making Effective Flashcards
Most people make flashcards by writing the word on one side and the definition on the other. That’s fine as far as it goes, but you can do much better. An effective flashcard will provide information that will help you remember the word. Different people learn words in different ways, and you should do what works best for you. Here are some ideas, along with a couple of examples.
Relating Words to Personal Experience
If the definition of a word reminds you of someone or something, write a sentence on the back of your flashcard using the word and that person or thing. Suppose, for example, you have a friend named Scott who is very clumsy. Here’s a flashcard for a word you may not know:
Relating Words to Roots
Many words are derived from Latin or Greek words. These words often have roots—parts of words—that have specific meanings. If you recognize the roots, you can figure out what the word probably means. Consider the word benevolent. It may not surprise you that “bene” means good (think beneficial). “Vol” comes from a word that means wish and also gives us the word voluntary. Thus, benevolent describes someone who is good-hearted (good wish). Your flashcard can mention the roots as well as the words beneficial and voluntary to help you remember how the roots relate to benevolent.
Often if you don’t know the exact meaning of a word, you can make a good guess as to what the tone of the word is. For example, you may not know what “terse” means, but if a teacher said “My, you’re being very terse today,” you’d probably assume it meant something bad. Knowing the tone of words can be very helpful even if you can’t remember the exact definition. As you go through your flashcards, you can separate them into three piles: positive, negative, and neutral. This will help you more rapidly recognize the tone of advanced vocabulary.
The table below provides some examples of common roots, along with their meanings and examples of vocabulary words that include them.
Root |
Meaning |
Example |
ambi |
both |
ambidextrous |
a/an/anti |
not/against |
amoral, antibiotics |
anim |
life |
animated |
auto |
self |
autograph |
ben |
good |
beneficial |
chron |
time |
chronology |
cis/cise |
cut/shorten |
scissors, concise |
cred |
belief |
credibility |
de/dis |
away from/not |
deficient, dissent |
equ |
equal |
equality, equate |
fort |
strength |
fortress |
gress |
movement |
progress |
il/im/in |
not |
illegal, imperfect |
laud |
praise |
applaud |
loc/loq |
speech |
eloquent |
mag/magna |
great |
magnify, magnificent |
mal |
bad |
malicious |
mis |
wrong |
mistake |
ob |
against |
obstruct |
pac |
peace |
pact, pacifier |
path |
feeling |
sympathy, apathetic |
phil/phile |
love |
philanthropy, bibliophile |
ver |
truth |
verify |
vit/viv |
life |
vital, revive |
Other Methods
There are many other ways to remember words. If you are visually inclined, you might draw pictures to help you remember words. Others use mnemonics (a word that comes from a Greek word for memory), such as sound associations or acronyms (such as PEMDAS: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally). Some people remember words if they speak the words and definitions out loud, in addition to writing flashcards. A great way to remember a word is to start using it in conversation. Ultimately, whatever works for you is the right approach!
PEMDAS is a clever way of remembering the order of operations in math. You’ll read more about that later in this book.
Here are some words that could show up on test day. How many can you define? Write down the definitions of the words you know and have a parent or an adult check them. Then use your favorite dictionary to look up the rest and make flashcards.
SSAT ELEMENTARY LEVEL AND ISEE LOWER LEVEL VOCABULARY
abolish
adhesive
approximate
blunt
burrow
capable
conceal
contradiction
debate
decline
detrimental
envy
evacuate
fragile
furious
generous
guardian
hardship
hazard
idealism
illuminate
jagged
jubilation
kin
liberate
luxurious
moral
myth
nonchalant
novel
obsolete
orchard
petrify
plentiful
protagonist
queasy
restore
reveal
route
salvage
seldom
shabby
taunt
tragedy
uproot
valiant
vivid
weary
withdraw
zany
SSAT AND ISEE MIDDLE LEVEL VOCABULARY LIST
abrupt
adapt
anxious
barren
braggart
capricious
concise
controversial
drastic
duration
economize
endeavor
falter
flourish
gratified
gullible
haphazard
homely
incident
inundate
irate
jovial
keen
knack
lofty
lure
meager
mimic
noncommittal
notorious
obstinate
omit
peak
predicament
presume
quest
revere
robust
soothe
steadfast
subtle
tangible
thrive
unruly
urgent
vibrant
vigorous
willful
wrath
yearn
You can find more Lower and Middle Level vocabulary words when you register your book online following the instructions on the “Get More (Free) Content!” page.
SSAT AND ISEE UPPER VOCABULARY LIST
acclaim
affluent
allege
aloof
ambition
appease
appraise
arrogant
asset
audacious
augment
banter
belligerent
cache
chronic
clarify
console
contrite
crude
deception
demolition
descendant
devious
devout
discern
inquisitive
jeopardy
lavish
lull
memoir
muse
mythic
neglect
novice
nuance
obedient
obscure
obstruction
peeve
persist
plausible
plunder
profound
prophet
provoke
rebuke
reckless
refine
reluctant
remedy
disuse
docile
endorse
epoch
equilibrium
evade
exemplify
expenditure
extravagant
facilitate
fastidious
fortify
foster
genuine
hinder
hoard
ignorant
immune
impeccable
impostor
impromptu
incessant
incite
incumbent
indifferent
remorse
renounce
renown
repel
resilience
restraint
revenue
rogue
rue
sage
sentimental
shackle
skeptical
slander
stamina
stronghold
succumb
synopsis
timid
transgression
tycoon
undermine
verify
vigilant
voracious