150 Most Difficult ACT Vocabulary Words You Must Know in 2024

Is the ACT vocabulary section giving you nightmares? Do you find yourself staring blankly at passages filled with words that seem straight out of a dictionary?

This is where your vocabulary revolution begins. We’ve compiled a list of 150+ essential ACT vocabulary words, each carefully chosen to prepare you to understand hidden meanings and challenging sentence structures. This isn’t just another list of dry definitions. We’ll provide engaging examples and strategic tips to help you not just memorize, but truly understand and apply these words.

How Does the ACT Test Vocabulary?

The ACT is moving away from isolated vocabulary memorization and toward assessing your ability to understand words in context. While direct definition questions still exist, they’re less frequent. This shift prioritizes your ability to comprehend complex passages and grasp nuanced meanings based on the surrounding text.

Even with the reduced focus on definitions, a robust vocabulary remains crucial for good ACT scores. Why?

• Emphasis on context: The ACT vocabulary questions now test your ability to define and grasp the meaning of unfamiliar words within a specific passage.
• Focus on common words: While some questions might feature uncommon words, most test vocabulary you’ve likely encountered before. For example, words like “cumbersome,” “thorny,” “strenuous,” and “gawky” might not instantly recall every nuance, but you’ve likely seen them before, and the context helps you choose the correct answer.

Read Also: ACT Test Dates for 2024 in USA

150+ ACT Vocabulary Words You Must Know

This comprehensive table compiles 150+ Most Difficult ACT vocabulary words you must know in 2024. It equips you to take the Reading and Writing sections with confidence. Each word comes with a clear definition and an informative example sentence for deeper understanding.

Word	Meaning	Example Sentence
Abate	To lessen in intensity or degree	The storm abated, and the sun came out.
Abjure	To formally renounce or reject something	The king abjured his claim to the throne.
Abridge	To shorten	The publisher had to abridge the novel for the children’s edition.
Acquiesce	To accept reluctantly but without protest	She had no choice but to acquiesce to their demands.
Acumen	Sharply insightful; keen judgment	The detective’s sharp acumen helped crack the case.
Aesthetic	Concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty	The minimalist design had a pleasing aesthetic.
Alleviate	To relieve	Taking aspirin can alleviate a headache.
Altruistic	Unselfishly concerned for others	Her altruistic actions earned her the community’s admiration.
Amalgamate	To merge or combine into one; unite	The company will amalgamate its two marketing departments for better efficiency.
Amicable	Friendly; peaceable	The neighbors reached an amicable agreement regarding the property line.
Apathy	Lack of interest or emotion	The student’s apathy towards learning was evident in his grades.
Appal	Shock or horrify	The brutality of the war appalled the entire world.
Appease	To calm or pacify someone by giving them what they want	The king tried to appease the angry mob with promises of reform.
Apprehensive	Feeling anxious or fearful; worried	John was apprehensive about his upcoming presentation.
Arcane	Mysterious and difficult to understand; obscure	The ancient text contained arcane symbols and rituals.
Belie	To contradict or misrepresent	His calm demeanor belied the turmoil inside him.
Bellicose	Demonstrating aggression or willingness to fight	His bellicose demeanor often led to arguments with his peers.
Belligerent	Hostile and aggressive	The belligerent customer argued with the store manager.
Benevolent	Kind-hearted	The benevolent woman spent her weekends volunteering at the shelter.
Bolster	To support or strengthen	The new evidence helped bolster their case in court.
Bombastic	Pompous; inflated language	The politician’s bombastic speeches failed to impress the voters.
Cacophony	Harsh, discordant mixture of sounds	The city streets were filled with the cacophony of traffic.
Cadence	The rhythm or flow of sound	The poet used cadence to create a musical effect in his verses.
Candor	Frankness; openness in speech	He appreciated her candor during their conversation.
Capitulate	To surrender	The army had no choice but to capitulate to the enemy forces.
Capricious	Unpredictable; impulsive	Her capricious nature made it difficult to anticipate her actions.
Caustic	Severely critical or sarcastic; harsh	The comedian’s caustic remarks left the audience squirming.
Chicanery	Deceitful trickery or cheating	The politician’s chicanery was exposed by the media.
Circumspect	Cautious; wary	He was circumspect in his dealings with strangers.
Cogent	Convincing; reasonable	She presented a cogent argument in favor of her proposal.
Concomitant	Accompanying or associated with something else; existing at the same time	The rise in popularity of social media had a concomitant increase in cyberbullying.
Conspicuous	Easy to see or notice; prominent	Her bright red dress made her conspicuous in the crowd.
Conundrum	A difficult problem or question	The conundrum of balancing work and family life is a common challenge.
Debilitate	To weaken	The illness debilitated him, and he was unable to work.
Deleterious	Harmful; damaging	Smoking has deleterious effects on one’s health.
Delineate	To describe or portray precisely	The artist delineated the features of the landscape.
Desiccate	Dry out completely	The hot desert sun desiccated the plants.
Diatribe	A forceful and bitter verbal attack	The politician’s speech turned into a diatribe against his opponents.
Dilemma	A situation where a difficult choice must be made between two equally undesirable options	He faced a dilemma: accept the promotion and move away or stay in his current city and miss out on the opportunity.
Disdain	Contempt; scorn	She looked at him with disdain after his rude comment.
Disingenuous	Insincere or misleading; lacking in candor	Her disingenuous apology only made things worse.
Disparate	Fundamentally different; unrelated	The two sisters had disparate interests and hobbies.
Dogmatic	Asserting opinions as if they were facts	His dogmatic attitude made it difficult to have a constructive discussion.
Ebullient	Overflowing with excitement; exhilarated	She was ebullient upon hearing the news of her promotion.
Effervescent	Lively and bubbly; full of enthusiasm	The crowd was effervescent with excitement at the concert.
Effusive	Warmly enthusiastic and expressive	She gave her best friend an effusive hug.
Egregious	Outstandingly bad; shocking	The team’s performance was egregious, resulting in a humiliating defeat.
Elicit	To draw out or evoke a response	The teacher used open-ended questions to elicit thoughtful answers from her students.
Eloquent	Fluent or persuasive in speaking or writing	The speaker delivered an eloquent speech that moved the audience to tears.
Enervate	To weaken or sap the energy of something; make powerless	The long commute enervated her, leaving her too tired to cook dinner.
Enigmatic	Mysterious; puzzling	The enigmatic smile on her face left everyone curious.
Ephemeral	Lasting for a very short time	The beauty of the cherry blossoms is ephemeral.
Exacerbate	To make something worse; intensify	The argument only exacerbated the already tense situation.
Facetious	Treating serious issues with inappropriate humor	His facetious remarks during the meeting were not appreciated.
Fastidious	Very attentive to detail; meticulous	She was fastidious about keeping her house clean.
Fervent	Intensely passionate or earnest	He was a fervent supporter of human rights.
Fortuitous	Happening by chance or luck	It was fortuitous that she found the lost keys.
Frugal	Thrifty	She lived a frugal lifestyle, saving money wherever she could.
Furtive	Secretive; sly	The thief cast a furtive glance around before stealing the jewels.
Garrulous	Excessively talkative	The garrulous old man told stories for hours.
Glib	Fluent but insincere or shallow	His glib response to the question revealed his lack of understanding.
Gregarious	Sociable	Mark was gregarious and made friends easily at the party.
Hackneyed	Overused; lacking significance	The actor’s speech was filled with hackneyed phrases.
Hapless	Unfortunate; unlucky	The hapless traveler lost his wallet on the trip.
Haughty	Arrogant	The haughty aristocrat looked down on those she considered beneath her.
Histrionic	Overly dramatic; theatrical	Her histrionic reaction to the news startled everyone.
Hubris	Excessive pride or self-confidence	His hubris led to his downfall in the end.
Imbibe	To drink or absorb	He imbibed too much wine at the party and ended up having a headache the next day.
Impasse	A situation in which progress is impossible; a deadlock	The negotiations reached an impasse.
Impassive	Showing no emotion or feeling; indifferent	The actor remained impassive despite the chaos unfolding around him.
Impetuous	Acting without thinking	His impetuous decision led to regret later on.
Imprudent	Lacking good judgment; unwise	It was imprudent of her to go swimming alone in the dark.
Incandescent	Emitting light as a result of being heated	The incandescent bulb illuminated the room.
Incessant	Continuing without interruption	The incessant noise from the construction site was annoying.
Ineffable	Too great or extreme to be expressed in words	The beauty of the sunset was ineffable.
Ingenious	Clever, original, and inventive	The engineer’s design for the bridge was ingenious and solved a major obstacle.
Inimical	Hostile or harmful	The harsh environment was inimical to the survival of the plants.
Innuendo	An indirect or suggestive remark	His innuendo implied that she was responsible for the mistake.
Insidious	Proceeding in a gradual, subtle way	The insidious disease went undetected until it was too late.
Interminable	Seemingly endless; very long and tiring	The meeting seemed interminable, dragging on for hours.
Intransigent	Unwilling to compromise or change one’s mind; stubborn	The intransigent leader refused to listen to any alternative solutions.
Jocular	Playful and humorous; lighthearted	He told a jocular joke to break the tension in the room.
Jubilant	Extremely joyful	The team was jubilant after winning the championship.
Juxtapose	To place side by side for comparison	The artist juxtaposed light and dark in her paintings.
Kindle	To ignite	The teacher hoped to kindle an interest in science among her students.
Knell	The sound of a bell, especially when rung solemnly for a death or funeral	The knell of the church bell signaled the end of the service.
Lachrymose	Tending to weep or cry often; tearful	The lachrymose movie made the entire audience cry.
Laconic	Using few words; concise	The detective gave a laconic response to the question.
Lament	To mourn; express sorrow or regret	The villagers lamented the loss of their crops to the drought.
Languid	Lacking energy; slow and relaxed	The hot weather made him feel languid and sleepy.
Languish	To become weak or feeble	The plants began to languish during the drought.
Lethargic	Sluggish	After a heavy meal, he felt lethargic and sleepy.
Maladroit	Clumsy or awkward in movement or behavior	He tried to help, but his maladroit attempts only made things worse.
Malaise	A general feeling of discomfort, illness, or uneasiness	A sense of malaise hung over the city after the natural disaster.
Malicious	Intending to do harm	The rumors were spread with malicious intent.
Mawkish	Excessively sentimental; sappy	The movie’s mawkish ending left the audience rolling their eyes.
Meticulous	Paying great attention to detail; careful and precise	The scientist was meticulous in her lab work, ensuring accurate results.
Mollify	To soothe; appease	She tried to mollify her angry boss with an apology.
Meticulous	Extremely careful about details	The artist was meticulous in every brushstroke.
Nebulous	Unclear; vague	The instructions were nebulous, leaving us confused.
Nefarious	Wicked or criminal	The gang was involved in nefarious activities throughout the city.
Nonchalant	Appearing casually unconcerned or indifferent	He acted nonchalant about the news, but deep down, he was worried.
Nonplussed	Surprised and confused	She was nonplussed by the sudden turn of events.
Oblivious	Unaware	She was so deep in thought that she was oblivious to her surroundings.
Obfuscate	To make something unclear or difficult to understand	The politician’s answer obfuscated the real issue rather than addressing it directly.
Obsequious	Obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree	The obsequious assistant always agreed with his boss.
Opaque	Not transparent; not allowing light to pass through	The windows were opaque, preventing anyone from seeing inside.
Ostensible	Apparent or seeming, but not necessarily true	His ostensible reason for being late was car trouble, but it was probably something else.
Ostentatious	Showy; intended to impress others	Her ostentatious display of wealth made others uncomfortable.
Paradigm	A typical example or pattern	The discovery was a paradigm shift in the field of medicine.
Parsimonious	Stingy; excessively frugal	His parsimonious nature made him reluctant to spend money.
Pedantic	Overly concerned with minor details and rules; fussy	The professor’s pedantic lectures often bored his students.
Pernicious	Harmful	The pernicious effects of smoking are well-documented.
Plausible	Believable; credible	His explanation seemed plausible, given the circumstances.
Portentous	Suggesting the occurrence of something important or ominous	The dark clouds were a portentous sign of an approaching storm.
Precipitous	Sudden and steep; abrupt	The stock market took a precipitous drop after the bad news.
Precipitate	Sudden and steep; abrupt	The stock market took a precipitous drop after the bad news.
Quell	To suppress; put an end to	The police were called to quell the riot.
Querulous	Complaining	His querulous nature made him difficult to work with.
Quixotic	Idealistic but impractical	His quixotic dreams of world peace were admirable but unrealistic.
Rebuke	To criticize or express disapproval of someone or something	The teacher gently rebuked the student for talking in class.
Recondite	Difficult to understand; obscure	The book was filled with recondite philosophical concepts.
Reprehensible	Deserving criticism or condemnation	His actions were deemed reprehensible by society.
Resilient	Able to recover quickly from difficulties	Despite facing many setbacks, she remained resilient and optimistic.
Reticent	Reserved; reluctant to speak	She was reticent about discussing her personal life.
Sagacious	Wise	The sagacious old man gave valuable advice to the young prince.
Salient	Most noticeable or important	The salient features of the proposal were highlighted.
Sanguine	Optimistic; cheerful	Despite the setback, he remained sanguine about the future.
Sedulous	Showing great care and persistent effort	He was a sedulous student who always went above and beyond.
Solicitous	Showing care and concern for the welfare of others; attentive	The nurse was solicitous of the patient’s needs.
Soliloquy	A speech delivered by a character alone on stage	The actor delivered a powerful soliloquy that revealed his character’s inner turmoil.
Stoic	Not showing feeling or emotion; unemotional	He remained stoic even when faced with great adversity.
Sumptuous	Rich, splendid, and luxurious	The king lived a sumptuous life in his palace.
Supercilious	Behaving as if one thinks one is superior to others; arrogant	The professor’s supercilious attitude alienated his students.
Superfluous	Unnecessary; more than enough	The extra decorations were superfluous and cluttered the room.
Surreptitious	Secretive; stealthy	She made a surreptitious exit from the party.
Taciturn	Reserved; uncommunicative	The taciturn man preferred listening to speaking.
Tenacious	Persistent	She was tenacious in her pursuit of a career in medicine.
Tenuous	Weak or unreliable; flimsy	The evidence supporting their claim was very tenuous.
Transient	Lasting for only a short time	The transient feeling of happiness soon faded away.
Trepidation	Fear; apprehension	She approached the haunted house with trepidation.
Ubiquitous	Being everywhere at the same time	In today’s world, smartphones are ubiquitous.
Unanimous	In complete agreement	The committee reached a unanimous decision.
Vacillate	To waver between different opinions or actions	He vacillated between accepting the job offer and staying at his current position.
Vehement	Showing strong feeling; passionate	He was vehement in his opposition to the proposal.
Venerable	Worthy of respect due to age, wisdom, or character	The venerable professor had taught at the university for over 50 years.
Wane	To decrease gradually in size or intensity	The moon’s brightness began to wane as it entered its last phase.
Wary	Cautious	She was wary of strangers offering her help.
Wistful	Yearning; longing with sadness	As she looked at the old photographs, she felt wistful.
Xenophile	A person who is attracted to foreign cultures or people	As a xenophile, she loved traveling and experiencing new cultures.
Xenophobia	Fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers	The rise of xenophobia in the country was concerning.
Yearn	To have a strong desire or longing	He yearned for adventure and travel.
Zeal	Enthusiasm	She tackled her new project with great zeal.
Zealous	Filled with zeal; fervent	The volunteers were zealous in their efforts to help.
Zephyr	A gentle breeze	The zephyr rustled the leaves of the trees in the park.

Note: This list serves as a valuable tool, not a mandatory checklist. Focus on learning the words that resonate most with you and gradually expanding your vocabulary.

Our methodology

To curate this list, we meticulously analyzed every publicly available official ACT practice exam. We scanned not just the questions but also the answer choices and passages in both the Reading and Writing sections. Additionally, we have leveraged our expertise in standardized testing to select words with high a statistical appearance probability.

Why it matters

While memorizing every word might seem difficult, becoming familiar with most of them offers significant benefits. You’ll be able to:

• Grasp the nuanced vocabulary choices used in the passages, which will enable you to accurately understand their overall tone and message.
• Recognizing key vocabulary terms will significantly speed up your ability to interpret information and answer questions correctly.

Read Also: 20 Critical ACT Math Formulas for 2024

How Should You Study ACT Vocabulary Words?

Scoring well in the ACT’s Reading and English sections isn’t just about memorizing a dictionary’s worth of words. It’s about understanding context and how meaning shifts within a sentence.

• Flashcards are your friends, but not the old-fashioned kind. Utilize apps like Anki that employ spaced repetition, a scientifically proven method that shows you flashcards strategically based on your recall difficulty. Focus on words you struggle with, not just reviewing everything equally.
• Don’t treat vocabulary in isolation. Immerse yourself in rich reading materials like news articles, classic literature, or even well-written blogs. Pay attention to how unfamiliar words are used, inferring their meaning from the surrounding context. This not only builds vocabulary but also hones your reading comprehension skills.
• Get into the word’s origins! Understanding root words and prefixes can simplify the meaning of many related words. For example, “ambivalent” comes from “ambi” (both) and “valere” (to be worth), making its meaning of having mixed feelings instantly clear.
• Memory tricks can be powerful tools. Create silly stories, funny images, or even rhymes to associate with challenging words. The more bizarre and memorable it is, the better it sticks!
• Don’t just study; actively test yourself. Utilize official ACT practice tests or online resources with vocabulary-focused quizzes. Analyze your mistakes, understand why certain answer choices were wrong, and learn from them.
• Turn vocabulary practice into a fun challenge. Play online vocabulary games, compete with friends using spaced repetition apps, or reward yourself for achieving milestones. Making it enjoyable boosts motivation and retention.
• The ACT loves testing your understanding of similar and opposite meanings. Pay attention to the synonyms and antonyms provided when learning new words. This refines your understanding of the semantic nuances that the test often hinges on.

Read Also: 5 Best ACT Tips and Tricks to Achieve Your Desired Score

From the Desk of Yocket

While cramming vocabulary lists can feel like a necessity for the ACT, we believe that it’s important to approach it from a slightly different perspective. Instead of viewing it as a rote memorization exercise, consider vocabulary building a valuable investment in your overall language skills. Expanding your vocabulary goes far beyond the ACT. It helps you to express yourself more effectively, understand complex ideas, and have nuanced conversations. This skill set benefits you in academics, your career, and even personal interactions.

The ACT doesn’t simply test your ability to use synonyms. It assesses your understanding of words within context. By actively engaging with challenging material and analyzing how unfamiliar words are used, you develop critical thinking skills that transcend the test. Instead of mindlessly memorizing definitions, focus on understanding the nuances of a word’s meaning, its synonyms and antonyms, and how it interacts with other words in a sentence. Yocket experts will assist you, leading to better retention and making you a more confident reader and writer.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

How important is vocabulary for the ACT?

Vocabulary is very important for the ACT exam, especially for the Reading and English sections. Knowing keywords can help you understand passages and answer questions more accurately.

How many vocabulary words do I need to learn for the ACT?

There’s no fixed number, but focusing on high-frequency words (around 200–300) is a good starting point. Prioritize words you come across in practice tests and ACT materials.

Does the ACT have synonyms or antonyms?

Yes, the ACT has both synonyms and antonyms. The ACT often uses context clues to test your understanding of a word’s meaning, not just its exact synonym or antonym.

What are some common mistakes to avoid when learning vocab for the ACT?

Cramming right before the test, relying solely on memorization without understanding, and neglecting context clues are common pitfalls. Focus on spaced repetition, understanding usage, and actively engaging with the words.