SAT Vocabulary — Familiar Words, Unfamiliar Senses 1 flashcards
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The digital SAT's Words in Context questions test words as they are used in a passage, and a common word can carry a less common sense there. Eighty such words, each with the less common sense, three example sentences in that sense and a note on the everyday meaning.
Learn deck · part of Digital SAT · written against: Digital SAT (2024 onward). Updated 2026-10-10.
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level (v.) · LEV-uhlto target someone with a criticism, charge or accusationMaking Claims
Critics leveled charges of carelessness against the bridge's builders.
Much of the criticism was leveled at the museum's new admission fee.
The historian levels a pointed accusation at the colony's first governor.
Watch out: Everyday sense: flat or even; here it means to aim, as a charge at someone. -
found (v.) · FOWNDto make particular evidence or ideas the grounds on which a belief, claim or theory restsEvidence & Proof
Her argument is founded on twenty years of weather records.
Their fears proved well founded when the old bridge collapsed.
The astronomer founded her theory on the wobble of a single star.
Watch out: Everyday sense: the past tense of find, or to establish (found a school); here it means to base on. -
open (adj.) · OH-puhnawaiting a final decision or resolution; still able to be arguedClear & Unclear
Until everyone replies, the date of the reunion is an open question.
We're keeping our options open until we see the forecast.
Whether early humans made the tools remains open, the archaeologist writes.
Watch out: Everyday sense: not closed, like a door; here it means undecided. -
current (n.) · KUR-uhntthe overall direction in which opinion or events are movingChange & Growth
Over the decade, the current of local opinion shifted toward building the new park.
Her novels ran against the main current of the era's fiction.
The historian traces the political currents that led to the reform.
Watch out: Everyday sense: a flow of water or electricity; here it means a trend or tendency. -
stay (v.) · STAYto keep something, especially a legal action, from going forward, whether by stopping it, delaying it or holding it backHelp & Hinder
The city stayed the old theater's demolition while preservationists argued to save it.
An appeals court stayed the ruling, so the law cannot yet take effect.
The general stayed his hand, hoping the city would surrender peacefully.
Watch out: Everyday sense: to remain in a place; here it means to stop or delay. -
back (v.) · BAKto support a person, plan or claim, with help, money or evidenceAgreement & Conflict
Most teachers backed the plan for a longer lunch period.
Her argument is backed by decades of careful research.
Wealthy merchants backed the voyage, hoping to profit from new trade routes.
Watch out: Everyday sense: the rear part of something; here it means to support. -
just (adj.) · JUHSTfair and morally sound; deserved or appropriateAttitudes & Judgment
The workers believed they were fighting for a just cause.
The referee's ruling struck both teams as just.
Philosophers have long debated what makes a society just.
Watch out: Everyday sense: only or simply (an adverb); here it means fair or morally right. -
mean (adj.) · MEENaverage: found by adding values and dividing by how many there areAmount & Degree
The mean temperature in July was two degrees above normal.
Researchers recorded the mean height of the seedlings each week.
Mean test scores rose after the school lengthened recess, the report found.
Watch out: Everyday sense: unkind; here it means average. -
court (v.) · KORTto act in a way that risks or invites something bad; to try to win someone's favorCause & Effect
Hikers who ignore storm warnings are courting disaster.
Both candidates courted young voters with promises of lower tuition.
Colonial merchants courted the governor's favor to win shipping contracts.
Watch out: Everyday sense: a courtroom or sports court; here it means to invite risk or seek favor. -
trying (adj.) · TRIGH-ingdifficult or annoying in a way that tests one's patience or strengthFeasibility & Strength
It has been a trying week for everyone.
The long delays proved trying for the passengers.
The nurse's diary calls the epidemic's final month the most trying of all.
Watch out: Everyday sense: attempting (a verb form); here it means difficult or exhausting.
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About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- Senses, parts of speech and pronunciations checked against Merriam-Webster.com, The American Heritage Dictionary (5th edition, ahdictionary.com), Oxford Learner's Dictionaries, the Cambridge Dictionary and Longman; all definitions, notes and example sentences are original.
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