👤 By the CinnaEntry Content Team🕐 Updated 2026-09-06🏷️ HESI Vocabulary🔖 Free to read, print, and share
Also known as: clinical vocabulary · chart words · distended · patent · adverse · lethargic · flushed · intact · occluded · prognosis
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Use this one-page guide to lock in Medical Vocabulary You Must Know for the ATI TEAS 7 and HESI A2. Keep it handy during review and on exam day.
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📒 The 1-minute cheat sheet
🩺 Describing A Finding
Distended — swollen, stretched by pressure
Flushed — red and warm · Pallor — pale
Flaccid — limp, no tone · Rigid — stiff
Intact — whole, unbroken · Gaping — wide open
Symmetric — both sides equal
📌 Describing A Course
Acute — sudden, short · Chronic — long-lasting
Insidious — creeps up unnoticed
Transient — passes quickly · Latent — present but silent
Labile — swings up and down
Recur — comes back after being gone
📌 Words That Trap You
Patent = OPEN (not 'an invention')
Void = urinate (not 'cancel')
Approximated = edges brought together (not 'estimated')
Discrete = separate · Discreet = private
Incidence = NEW cases · Prevalence = ALL existing cases
📚 Medical Vocabulary You Must Know — full study notes
The cheat sheet above is your quick recall card. These notes go deeper — what it is, what to do first, what must be reported, and what to teach.
The HESI's Vocabulary & General Knowledge section leans on ordinary English words that take on a precise meaning in a clinical setting. The trap is that you already 'know' the word — 'patent', 'void', 'discrete' — but the chart meaning is not the everyday one. Learn the pairs, not the words in isolation.
Describing a course: acute (sudden, short) vs chronic (long-lasting); insidious (creeps up) vs precipitous (very fast); transient (passes) vs persistent.
Patent means OPEN and flowing — the opposite is occluded (blocked).
Void means to urinate; it has nothing to do with cancelling.
Incidence counts NEW cases in a period; prevalence counts ALL existing cases at a point in time.
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Study first
Where to start
A chart reads: 'Abdomen distended, bowel sounds absent, patient NPO.' Distended = swollen and stretched; NPO = nothing by mouth. Together they describe a patient whose gut is not moving.
'IV patent, site intact, no edema.' Every word is a normal finding: the line is open, the skin is unbroken, there is no swelling.
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Red flags — report now
Escalate immediately
Reading 'patent' as the invention sense, or 'void' as cancel — both are the everyday meaning, not the chart meaning.
Confusing discrete (separate, distinct) with discreet (private, careful) — they are different words that sound identical.
Treating incidence and prevalence as interchangeable; the exam tests exactly that distinction.
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Commonly tested
What comes up most
Learn the words in OPPOSITE PAIRS — patent/occluded, acute/chronic, proximal/distal. Pairs stick far better than lists.
When a word looks familiar, pause and ask whether the clinical meaning differs from the everyday one. That hesitation is worth marks.
❓ Medical Vocabulary You Must Know: TEAS & HESI FAQs
What should I focus on first when studying Medical Vocabulary You Must Know?
A chart reads: 'Abdomen distended, bowel sounds absent, patient NPO.' Distended = swollen and stretched; NPO = nothing by mouth. Together they describe a patient whose gut is not moving. 'IV patent, site intact, no edema.' Every word is a normal finding: the line is open, the skin is unbroken, there is no swelling.
What are the warning signs of Medical Vocabulary You Must Know a nurse must report?
Reading 'patent' as the invention sense, or 'void' as cancel — both are the everyday meaning, not the chart meaning. Confusing discrete (separate, distinct) with discreet (private, careful) — they are different words that sound identical. Treating incidence and prevalence as interchangeable; the exam tests exactly that distinction.
What do I need to know about Medical Vocabulary You Must Know for the TEAS or HESI?
Describing a finding: distended (swollen), flushed (red/warm), pallor (pale), flaccid (limp), intact (unbroken), symmetric (both sides equal). Describing a course: acute (sudden, short) vs chronic (long-lasting); insidious (creeps up) vs precipitous (very fast); transient (passes) vs persistent. Patent means OPEN and flowing — the opposite is occluded (blocked). Void means to urinate; it has nothing to do with cancelling.
What are the most commonly tested points on Medical Vocabulary You Must Know?
Learn the words in OPPOSITE PAIRS — patent/occluded, acute/chronic, proximal/distal. Pairs stick far better than lists. When a word looks familiar, pause and ask whether the clinical meaning differs from the everyday one. That hesitation is worth marks.