Learning vocabulary - The basics of both tests

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