SAT Reading Strategy

Figurative and Connotative Language on the SAT

How to Decode What Words Really Mean

Track the author’s logic, locate evidence quickly, and sharpen your reasoning.

7 Min Read

Reading Skill

Evidence-First

5 Practice Qs

Anchor every answer in the exact line that proves it. If you cannot point to the words, it is not the answer.

Read the question, then scan for the line that directly supports a choice.
Match wording, not vibe: synonyms are fine, new ideas are not.
If two answers feel close, eliminate the one with any extra claim.

Rarely does the SAT Reading and Writing section ask you to define a word in isolation. Instead, questions focus on what a word does within a specific context: how it shapes meaning, shifts tone, or creates a picture the author wants you to see. These are figurative and connotative language questions, and they show up on nearly every SAT Reading module.

The good news? You don't need a massive vocabulary to get these right. What you need is a reliable way of thinking about why an author chose one word over another. Once you develop that instinct, these questions become some of the most predictable, and most scoreable, on the entire test. This guide will show you exactly how.

What Is This Skill?

Every word carries two layers of meaning. The denotation is the literal, dictionary definition, what the word technically means. The connotation is the emotional weight, the associations, the feeling the word brings with it. Consider the difference between calling someone thrifty versus cheap. Both describe a person who doesn't spend much money, but thrifty sounds wise and disciplined, while cheap sounds negative and stingy. Same denotation, entirely different connotation.

Figurative language takes this a step further. When a writer uses a metaphor, simile, personification, or other figure of speech, they're asking you to understand something beyond the literal meaning of the words. If a historian writes that a new policy "ignited a firestorm of opposition," no actual fire occurred. The author chose that image to convey intensity, rapid spread, and destruction, all packed into a single phrase.

On the SAT, this skill shows up in two main ways:

Words-in-context questions, where you're asked what a word or phrase most nearly means as used in the text.
Purpose and effect questions, where you're asked why the author used a particular word, image, or comparison and what it accomplishes.

In both cases, the test is measuring the same core ability: can you move past the surface of a word and understand the meaning the author intended to create?

How the SAT Tests This Skill

SAT figurative and connotative language questions are designed to reward careful, contextual reading, and to punish students who rely on a word's most common meaning without checking the passage. Here's what to expect:

Read the Sentence, Not Just the Word
Before you even look at the answer choices, go back to the passage and read the full sentence where the word or phrase appears. Read the sentence before it and the sentence after it, too. Context is everything. The meaning of a word is shaped by the words around it, and the SAT is specifically testing whether you honor that context.
Replace the Word with Your Own
Cover the answer choices and ask yourself: "If I had to replace this word with a simpler one, what would I use?" Come up with your own synonym based purely on the passage. This is the most powerful move you can make, because it forces you to commit to a meaning before the answer choices try to influence you. If the passage says a character's voice was "measured," you might think "careful" or "controlled." Now you have a target to match against.
Match Your Word to the Closest Answer
Look at the four choices and find the one that best matches your word. If your synonym was "controlled" and one of the choices is "deliberate," that's likely your answer. Be wary of choices that match the word's most common definition but don't fit the passage, those are the traps.
Plug It Back In
Take your chosen answer and read it back into the original sentence. Does the sentence still make sense? Does it preserve the tone and logic of the passage? If it sounds awkward or shifts the meaning, reconsider. This final check catches errors that speed alone can miss.

For figurative language questions specifically, add one more mental step: ask yourself, "What quality or feeling is the author borrowing from this comparison?" That question cuts straight to the heart of any metaphor or simile the SAT throws at you.

Default meaning: Choosing the literal, everyday definition instead of the figurative one in context.
Keyword echo: Picking an answer that repeats a word from the passage but ignores the author's tone or intent.

Practice Figurative and Connotative Language with SAT-Style Questions

Note: The passages below are original, SAT-style constructions for practice; any names or details are fictionalized.

Now let's put the strategy to work. Each question below uses a short, SAT-style passage. Read carefully, apply the four steps, and trust the process. Pay attention not just to what the right answer is, but to why the wrong ones don't fit, that's where the real learning happens.

Passage

The committee's enthusiasm for the new transit proposal was tepid at best. While several members acknowledged the plan's potential to reduce congestion, their endorsement carried the warmth of a form letter, technically supportive but devoid of genuine conviction.

medium

As used in the text, the comparison of the endorsement to "a form letter" primarily serves to emphasize that the committee's support was

Passage

In the decades following the Industrial Revolution, London's population surged with an almost gravitational force, pulling laborers from the countryside into a city whose infrastructure groaned under the weight of its own ambition. Housing that had once served single families was carved into tenements, and streets designed for horse carts buckled beneath the press of modern commerce.

medium

As used in the text, the word "groaned" most nearly means

Passage

Dr. Lena Okafor's research into coral bleaching events has been described by colleagues as "quietly revolutionary." Her longitudinal studies, spanning fifteen years of fieldwork in the Indo-Pacific, have methodically dismantled the prevailing assumption that bleaching recovery follows a linear trajectory.

hard

The phrase "quietly revolutionary" most nearly suggests that Dr. Okafor's research has been

Passage

Maya hesitated at the threshold of the auditorium, the low murmur of three hundred voices washing over her like a tide she wasn't sure she could swim against. She had rehearsed the opening line of her speech so many times that the words had gone smooth and featureless in her mind, like river stones worn down by repetition.

hard

The comparison of Maya's rehearsed words to "river stones worn down by repetition" most strongly suggests that

Passage

The senator's proposed education bill, once hailed as a landmark achievement, has since been met with a more sober assessment. Critics now characterize the legislation as ornamental, a well-intentioned gesture that addresses the architecture of the problem without ever stepping inside.

medium

As used in the text, the word "ornamental" most nearly means

Key Takeaways for Figurative and Connotative Language

Context always overrules the dictionary. On the SAT, a word means what the passage needs it to mean. Your job is to figure out that specific meaning, not to recall the most common one.
Connotation is about feeling, not definition. Two words can share a denotation and create completely different impressions. The SAT tests whether you can detect the emotional and tonal charge a word carries.
Figurative language transfers qualities. When an author compares one thing to another, ask yourself what specific quality is being borrowed. That quality, not the literal comparison, is what the question is really about.
Predict before you peek. Always form your own understanding of a word or phrase before reading the answer choices. This single habit protects you from the test's most common traps.
The plug-in test is your safety net. Substitute your answer back into the original sentence. If the meaning shifts or the tone changes, something is wrong. Trust this check.

Conclusion: The Core Rule for Figurative and Connotative Language

Figurative and connotative language questions can feel slippery at first, like the test is asking you to read the author's mind. But the truth is, these questions are deeply logical. Authors choose specific words for specific reasons, and the passage always contains the evidence you need to figure out those reasons. You're not guessing. You're reading with precision.

The strategy you practiced here, reading in context, predicting your own answer, matching it to the choices, and plugging it back in, works on every version of this question type. The more you use it, the faster it becomes. And here's what's worth remembering: this isn't just an SAT skill. The ability to notice how language works, to catch the difference between what words say and what they mean, is one of the most valuable reading skills you can develop. It will serve you in college lectures, in professional communication, and in every piece of complex writing you encounter for the rest of your life.

You've already started building that skill today. Keep going.

About the Instructor

Thomas Meli

Founder, Deep Test Prep

"Viewing the SAT as a transformative rite of passage, my approach builds self-awareness, sharpens critical thinking, and fosters a love of learning that supports students far beyond test day."

With over 20 years of teaching and 500+ hours of training in compassionate communication, Thomas uses scientifically proven methods to help students target and achieve their SAT goals.