Dictionary

SAT word en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌɛsˌeɪ̯ˈti ˌwɝd/ (US)

Etymology

An idiomatic usage that derives from the former (pre-2016) Reading section of the SAT Reasoning Test where students had to define and understand obscure words, often above their level.

Meanings

1. (figuratively) A particularly difficult or obscure word.
   • Add to this a partnership, also announced today, with Khan Academy to provide free test-prep materials for the SAT -- adaptive software, dashboards, feedback -- and there are probably a lot of (alert: SAT word) melancholy tutors right now. Of course, the College Board cannot erase the test-prep industry in one fell swoop. Change will still bring (alert: another SAT word) trepidation, something a professional tutor will happily accept an hourly fee to (OK, last SAT word) assuage. 2014 March 5, Editorial Board, “The New SAT Is a) Better b) Worse c) Both”, in Bloomberg Opinion:
   • Laverne Cox dropped a serious SAT word during her virtual red carpet interview at Sunday’s Golden Globes. 2021 February 28, Lawrence Yee, “Golden Globes: Laverne Cox Just Asked Us to Google ‘Extradiegetic,’ So We Did”, in The Wrap:
   • “Today, when we say that someone has used an SAT word, it often means a word you have not heard before and are not likely to soon hear again,” Coleman explained in his announcement. […] Drop “mellifluous” or “loquacious” into a sentence after the college applications are sent, and you can actually stop to appreciate it – “Hey, I just used an SAT word!” 2014 March 17, Jamie Gumbrecht, “The SAT word is dead, long live the SAT word”, in CNN:
   • Here's an SAT word for you: "aptronym." An aptronym is a proper name that's especially "apt" for describing the person who bears it. 2019 June 4, Maureen Corrigan, “An Immigrant Yearns For Connection In 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous'”, in NPR:
   • He was just dropping SAT words left and right! Like who even says "whence" anymore?!
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see SAT, word.

Forms