While vocabulary is less important on the new SAT, that doesn’t mean it’s totally unimportant. Not at all. A great vocabulary will definitely still help you on the test, especially throughout the Critical Reading section. So, despite what the press might say, the era of the SAT word isn’t really over. You’ll never again have to figure out how horrid relates to horticulture (it doesn’t), but a good vocabulary will help boost your score on the Critical Reading and Writing sections of the new SAT.