LSAT Logical Reasoning Vocabulary Words

The words that trip people up on LSAT Logical Reasoning aren't usually rare, they're common words used in a less familiar sense, like "phenomenon" meaning "event" or "advance" meaning "to promote an argument." This list rounds up the vocabulary, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and confusable pairs worth a quick glance before test day, pulled from actual Logical Reasoning sections.

UPDATE: If you want even more help with LSAT vocabulary than the words below (and don’t want to have to memorize hundreds and hundreds of words), check out the LSAT Vocabulary Builder: Words You Need to Know.

You probably know the meanings of most words in the Logical Reasoning section.

However, if you know what all the words mean, the arguments will be much easier to understand.

I’ve compiled a list of common, but difficult, vocabulary words just from glancing through 4-5 sections of Logical Reasoning (and throwing in some words that you absolutely must know), so this list is obviously not intended to be comprehensive.

Because the LSAT is not intended to be a vocabulary test, you probably know most of the below words already.

However, take a quick glance through this list and make sure you know them all.

Don’t spend a great deal of time focusing on vocabulary in your preparation. However, when you see a word you don’t understand, look it up. Just as the same concepts and types of arguments appear on multiple exams, the same words and phrases also appear on multiple exams.

Watch for less-common meanings

Keep in mind that the LSAT sometimes uses one of a word’s less-common meanings

For example:

The LSAT often uses the word “phenomenon” to mean “event” rather than “something unusual.”

The LSAT often uses the word “advance” to mean “to promote an argument” rather than “to literally move something forward.”

Words directly related to arguments

Antecedent

Assertion

Assumption

Claim

Consequent

Contention

Correlation

Counterexample

Flaw

Inference

Necessary

Paradox

Premise

Principle

Proposition

Rebuttal

Subsidiary

Subsequent

Sufficient

Common verbs

Accumulate

Advance

Advocate

Afford

Aggravate

Attribute

Betray

Circumvent

Compel

Conform

Constitute

Derive

Endorse

Ensure

Entail

Eschew

Equivocate

Guarantee

Imply

Impose

Indicate

Hold

Hypothesize

Justify

Oblige

Posit

Preclude

Predispose

Presuppose

Prevaricate

Qualify

Refute

Sustain

Undermine

Verify

Common adverbs

Correspondingly

Intrinsically

Invariably

Manifestly

Purportedly

Solely

Strenuously

Common adjectives

Aggregate

Altruistic

Ambiguous

Ample

Categorical

Coherent / Incoherent

Compatible / Incompatible

Confirming / Disconfirming

Consistent / Inconsistent

Cryptic

Crucial

Eccentric

Extant

Foreseeable

Imperturbable

Improbable

Indigenous

Indispensable

Mundane

Principal

Primary

Prominent

Questionable

Sedentary

Temporal

Unequivocal

Unwarranted

Unique

Valid / Invalid

Viable

Vulnerable (to criticism)

Common nouns

Anomaly

Condition

Contingency

Extent

Generalization

Hearsay

Impediment

Impetus

Inflation

Irony

Jurisprudence

Liability

Phenomenon

Placebo

Proportion

Pundit

Skeptic

Trial

Phrases and confusable pairs

Either or / Neither nor

Contrast

Principal vs. Principle

Extant vs. Extent

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Photo by solbronumberone / CC BY-SA 2.0

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to memorize vocabulary for the LSAT?

No. The LSAT isn't a vocabulary test, and you likely already know most of these words. Look up any word you don't recognize as you study, since the same words repeat across multiple exams.

What LSAT words have meanings that trip people up?

Words like "phenomenon" (meaning "event," not "something unusual") and "advance" (meaning "to promote an argument," not "to move something forward") use less common definitions on the LSAT than in everyday speech. The flaw names are their own vocabulary; that list is in LSAT Logical Reasoning flaws and fallacies.

What are some confusable word pairs on the LSAT?

Principal versus principle and extant versus extent are 2 pairs worth knowing cold, since mixing them up can change how you read an answer choice or a stimulus.

Is there a full LSAT vocabulary resource beyond this list?

Yes. The LSAT Vocabulary Builder covers more words than this page without requiring you to memorize hundreds of terms.

Watch a related lesson

I've written free explanations for every question in LSAT PrepTest 159, 158, 157, 156, 155 and 154, with the right answer and why each wrong answer fails. All LSAT explanations are here.

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