Algebra Word Search PDF for Algebra 1 Vocabulary Review

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Algebra Word Search

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0 of 16 words found

SSXOEIZEIBQORIB

OLLHAMALGCUEOYS

LODNPOKAAOAFYBI

UPGRAPHAHCDZNAM

TENPEFACTORAESP

IFINXNLINEARZEL

OUNYPACONSTANTI

NNECOEFFICIENTF

HCQRNINTERCEPTY

VTUIELFIDIRVVLV

XIARNUGGNSSOLVE

GOLUTERMBAMDREV

JNITYIACQCESLHN

TRTHRIUOWELIBHE

NMYDSDLYDNRRVGV

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

ConstantCONSTANT
CoefficientCOEFFICIENT
TermTERM
SimplifySIMPLIFY
InequalityINEQUALITY
SolveSOLVE
SolutionSOLUTION
ExponentEXPONENT
BaseBASE
FactorFACTOR
QuadraticQUADRATIC
FunctionFUNCTION
GraphGRAPH
SlopeSLOPE
InterceptINTERCEPT
LinearLINEAR

16 of 24 words from the Algebra Key Terms list.

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Answer key: Algebra Word Search

SSXOEIZEIBQORIB

OLLHAMALGCUEOYS

LODNPOKAAOAFYBI

UPGRAPHAHCDZNAM

TENPEFACTORAESP

IFINXNLINEARZEL

OUNYPACONSTANTI

NNECOEFFICIENTF

HCQRNINTERCEPTY

VTUIELFIDIRVVLV

XIARNUGGNSSOLVE

GOLUTERMBAMDREV

JNITYIACQCESLHN

TRTHRIUOWELIBHE

NMYDSDLYDNRRVGV

CONSTANT, COEFFICIENT, TERM, SIMPLIFY, INEQUALITY, SOLVE, SOLUTION, EXPONENT, BASE, FACTOR, QUADRATIC, FUNCTION, GRAPH, SLOPE, INTERCEPT, LINEAR

Next step Make a puzzle from your own unit's vocabulary

All 183 words

Expressions and Terms 20

Algebra The branch of math that uses letters for numbers. Its name comes from the Arabic al-jabr.
Bracket A square grouping sign, [ or ], often used around a set of parentheses.
Coefficient The number multiplied by a letter, like the 4 in 4x.
Combine To join like terms into one: 3x + 5x becomes 8x.
Constant A number on its own with a fixed value, like the 5 in 2x + 5.
Distribute To multiply each term inside the parentheses by the factor outside.
Evaluate To find the number an expression is worth once each letter is given a value.
Expand To multiply out the parentheses: 2(x + 3) becomes 2x + 6.
Expression Numbers, letters and operation signs with no equals sign, like 5x + 3.
Numerical Made of numbers only, with no letters: 3 + 4 is this kind of expression.
Operation Adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing. Each one is a kind of this.
Parentheses Curved grouping signs ( ). What sits inside them is worked out first.
Quantity An amount or number. A letter in algebra stands for one.
Simplify To rewrite an expression in a shorter form that is worth the same.
Substitute To put a number or an expression in place of a letter.
Symbol A letter or sign that stands for a number or an operation, such as x or +.
Term One part of an expression, split from the next by a plus or minus sign. 3x + 7 has 2.
Unknown The quantity you are asked to find, most often written as x.
Value The number that a letter or an expression is worth.
Variable A letter such as x that stands for a number that can change or is not yet known.

Show all 183 words (163 more)

Equations and Inequalities 21

Absolute value A number's distance from zero, written |x|. For both 3 and −3 it is 3.
Balance Keep both sides level: what you do to one side, do to the other as well.
Boundary The point or line where the solutions of an inequality start or stop.
Check To put your answer back into the original equation and see that it works.
Compound Describes two inequalities joined into one, such as −1 ≤ x < 4.
Equation A statement that two expressions are equal, such as 2x + 1 = 7.
Equivalent Having the same solutions or the same value, like 2x = 6 and x = 3.
Extraneous Describes an answer that turns up while solving but fails in the original equation.
Formula An equation that shows how quantities are related, like d = rt.
Greater What the sign > says about the left side compared with the right.
Inequality A statement that uses <, >, ≤ or ≥ in place of an equals sign.
Infinite Without end. An identity such as x + x = 2x has this many solutions.
Interval All the numbers between two endpoints, written like [2, 5] or (2, 5).
Isolate To get the letter alone on one side of the equals sign.
Literal Made mostly of letters. A = lw is this kind of equation.
Reverse What you do to an inequality sign when you multiply both sides by a negative.
Satisfy To make an equation or inequality true, as 3 does for x + 2 = 5.
Solution A value that makes an equation true. For x − 7 = 4 it is 11.
Solve To find every value of the letter that makes an equation true.
Undo To cancel a step with its opposite: subtract 7 to cancel adding 7.
Verify To show that an answer is right by testing it.

Properties and Number Sets 20

Additive Having to do with adding. Zero is the identity of this kind.
Associative Moving the parentheses changes nothing: (2 + 3) + 4 = 2 + (3 + 4).
Closure A set has this under an operation when every answer lands back in the set.
Commutative The order can switch: 3 + 4 = 4 + 3. The word was first recorded in 1814.
Distributive Multiplying a sum equals multiplying each part: 2(1 + 3) = 2 × 1 + 2 × 3.
Element One member of a set. The number 3 is one in the set of integers.
Equal Having the same value. The sign for it, =, dates from 1557.
Identity A number that leaves others unchanged: 0 for adding, 1 for multiplying.
Integer Any of ..., −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, ... The name is Latin for whole.
Inverse The number that undoes another: −5 for 5 when adding, 1/5 when multiplying.
Natural The counting numbers 1, 2, 3 and so on, sometimes starting at 0.
Property A rule that is always true for an operation, such as a + b = b + a.
Rational Able to be written as a fraction of two integers, like 3/7 or −5.
Real Any number on the number line. Descartes gave the name in the 1600s.
Reciprocal One divided by a number. The two multiply to 1, so for 7 it is 1/7.
Reflexive Every number equals itself: a = a.
Subset A set whose members all belong to a bigger set, as the integers do to the rationals.
Symmetric Equality reads both ways: if a = b, then b = a.
Transitive If a = b and b = c, then a = c.
Zero Add it and nothing changes. Any other number raised to this power is 1.

Exponents and Radicals 22

Base The number that gets multiplied by itself: the 2 in 2 to the third.
Conjugate The partner of a + √b with the middle sign switched: a − √b.
Cube root A number that, used as a factor 3 times, gives the starting number. For 8 it is 2.
Cubed Raised to the exponent 3, named for the volume of a cube with that side.
Decay A fall by the same factor again and again, as in 10, 5, 2.5, 1.25.
Exponent The small raised number that tells how many times the base is multiplied by itself.
Growth A rise by the same factor again and again, as in 2, 6, 18, 54.
Index The small number tucked into the √ sign that tells which root: 3 for a cube root.
Irrational Not able to be written as a fraction of integers, like √2 or pi.
Logarithm The exponent a base needs to reach a number. For 1000 in base 10 it is 3.
Notation A system of symbols for writing math, such as f(x) or raised exponents.
Perfect A square of this kind is an integer times itself, like 49.
Power A base raised to an exponent, such as 2 to the third, which is 8.
Product The answer to a multiplication. For powers of one base, add the exponents.
Quotient The answer to a division. A rational number is one of two integers.
Radical The sign √, or an expression written with it.
Radicand The number or expression under the √ sign: the 3 in √3.
Rationalize To clear the radicals out of a denominator without changing the value.
Scientific This kind of notation writes 10,492 as 1.0492 × 10 to the 4th.
Square root A number that, multiplied by itself, gives the starting number. For 25: 5 or −5.
Squared Raised to the exponent 2, named for the area of a square with that side.
Surd An old name for a root that does not come out exactly, such as √2.

Polynomials and Factoring 19

Binomial A polynomial with 2 terms, such as x + 3.
Common Shared by every term, like the 2x in 2x² + 6x.
Cubic Of degree 3, like x³ − 3x + 2.
Degree The highest exponent in a polynomial with one letter. For x³ + 2x it is 3.
Descending Going down in order, as the exponents do in 3x² − 5x + 4.
Difference The answer to a subtraction. One of 2 squares factors: a² − b² = (a + b)(a − b).
Expansion The long form you get by multiplying out: (x + 1)² becomes x² + 2x + 1.
Factor One of the pieces multiplied together. x + 2 is one of x² − 3x − 10.
Greatest Largest. Pull out this shared factor first when you factor.
Grouping Factoring 4 terms in pairs: 4x² + 20x + 3xy + 15y = (4x + 3y)(x + 5).
Irreducible Not able to be factored any further. x⁴ + 1 is like this over the integers.
Leading Describes the coefficient of the highest power: the 4 in 4x³ + x.
Monomial A polynomial with just 1 term, such as 7x².
Polynomial One or more terms added or subtracted, like x² − 5x + 6. Greek poly means many.
Quartic Of degree 4. It is the highest degree with a general formula for its roots.
Remainder What is left over after one polynomial is divided by another.
Standard This form of a polynomial lists the terms from the highest power down to the constant.
Synthetic This short kind of division works with the coefficients and skips the letters.
Trinomial A polynomial with 3 terms, such as x² + 4x − 3.

Quadratics and Parabolas 19

Axis A reference line on a graph. A parabola's line of symmetry is one too.
Complete What you do to the square when you rewrite ax² + bx + c as a(x − h)² + k.
Complex Describes numbers written a + bi, with i² = −1.
Curve A line that bends. The graph of a quadratic is one, not a straight line.
Directrix The fixed line of a parabola. Each point is as far from it as from the focus.
Discriminant The quantity b² − 4ac. Positive means 2 real roots, 0 means 1, negative means none.
Double Describes a root counted twice, as when the discriminant is 0.
Downward The way y = ax² opens when a is negative.
Focus The fixed point used to define a parabola, paired with a fixed line.
Imaginary Descartes' 1637 name for a negative number's square root.
Maximum The highest value. A parabola that opens downward has one at its vertex.
Minimum The lowest value. A parabola that opens upward has one at its vertex.
Parabola The U-shaped, mirror-symmetrical curve that graphs a quadratic function.
Quadratic Of degree 2, like ax² + bx + c. From the Latin quadratus, square.
Root A value of x that makes a polynomial equal 0. A quadratic has at most 2.
Symmetry A parabola has this: its left half mirrors its right half.
Trajectory The path of a thrown ball. Galileo showed that it follows a parabola.
Upward The way y = ax² opens when a is positive.
Vertex The turning point of a parabola, where it crosses its line of symmetry.

Functions and Relations 21

Argument Another name for the input of a function: the x in f(x).
Asymptote A line that a curve gets closer and closer to. Greek for not falling together.
Composition Feeding one function into another, written f(g(x)) and read f of g.
Continuous Drawn without a break, so the pencil never lifts.
Decreasing Going down from left to right, as a line with negative slope does.
Dependent Describes the output variable, y, whose value hangs on the choice of x.
Discrete Made of separate points and not a connected line, like a count of people.
Domain The set of all inputs a function can take.
Euler Leonhard, the mathematician who first used the notation f(x), in 1734.
Exponential Describes a function with x in the exponent, like y = 2 to the x.
Function A rule that gives exactly one output for each input, often written f(x).
Graph The picture of an equation or function, made of all its (x, y) points.
Increasing Going up from left to right, as a line with positive slope does.
Input The value that goes into a function, usually x.
Mapping Another name for a function, which sends each x to its y.
Nonlinear With a graph that is not a straight line, like y = x².
Output The value that comes out of a function, usually y.
Range The set of all outputs a function can give.
Relation Any set of ordered pairs. It need not give just one y for each x.
Rule The instruction that turns each x into its y, such as times 2, plus 1.
Unique One and only one. Each input of a function has an output like this.

Lines and Graphing 21

Abscissa The formal name for the x-value of a point. Latin for a line cut off.
Cartesian The name of the x and y grid system, after Descartes, who published the idea in 1637.
Coordinate One of the two numbers, x or y, that locate a point on a graph.
Descartes French thinker whose 1637 book made x, y and z the usual letters for unknowns.
Direct This kind of variation is y = kx: when x doubles, y doubles too.
Horizontal Flat, left to right. A line like this has a slope of 0.
Independent Describes the input variable, x, plotted along the horizontal axis.
Intercept The point where a graph crosses the x-axis or y-axis. In y = mx + b it is b.
Linear With a graph that is a straight line, or of degree 1.
Origin The point (0, 0), where the x-axis and y-axis cross.
Parallel Lines that never meet. Their slopes are equal.
Plot To mark a point on a graph from its x and y values.
Proportional Related by a constant multiplier, so that y = kx.
Rise The vertical change between two points on a line.
Run The horizontal change between two points on a line.
Scatter This kind of plot shows paired data as dots, to look for a trend.
Slope Rise over run: how steep a line is. It is usually written m.
Steep What a line is when the absolute value of its slope is large.
Trend The overall direction of the dots in a data plot. A line of best fit shows it.
Variation A rule for how one quantity changes with another, such as y = kx.
Vertical Straight up and down. A line like this has an undefined slope.

Systems and Sequences 20

Arithmetic This kind of sequence adds the same number each time: 5, 7, 9, 11, 13.
Coincide What two lines do when they are really the same line, giving endless solutions.
Consistent Describes a set of equations with at least one solution in common.
Constraint A condition, often an inequality, that a solution has to meet.
Determinant For the 2 by 2 array with rows a, b and c, d, it is ad − bc.
Elimination Adding or subtracting two equations so that one letter drops out.
Explicit Describes a rule that gives the nth term directly, with no need for earlier ones.
Fibonacci Name on the list 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, which reached Europe in a book of 1202.
Finite Having an end. The list 2, 4, 6, 8 is like this.
Geometric This kind of sequence multiplies by the same number each time: 2, 6, 18, 54.
Intersection The point where two graphs cross. It is the solution both equations share.
Matrix A rectangular array of numbers set out in rows and columns.
Pattern A regularity you can describe with a rule, as in 3, 6, 9, 12.
Ratio In 2, 6, 18, 54 the common one is 3: each number divided by the one before.
Recursive Describes a rule that builds each term from the ones before it.
Sequence An ordered list of numbers that follows a rule, like 5, 7, 9, 11.
Series The terms of a sequence added together.
Simultaneous Describes equations that must all be true at once.
Substitution Solving one equation for a letter, then swapping that into the other equation.
System Two or more equations that share the same letters and are solved together.

How this list was compiled: 183 algebra words chosen and defined for this site, in nine themed lists plus a key terms list, an easy list of words of 3 to 5 letters and a hard list of words of 9 letters or more. Spellings and most meanings were checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, https://www.ahdictionary.com/, on 2026-09-19. Dates, word origins and the meanings the dictionary does not give were checked the same day in the English Wikipedia article on each term, https://en.wikipedia.org/. A word is left out where a list-mate would read inside it in the grid, such as Line beside Linear. Clues are our own wording. Licence: own work

How it works

For an algebra word search PDF, press Print and choose Save as PDF: puzzle and answer key go into one file. The grid hides 16 of 24 key terms such as Slope, and nine themed lists follow Algebra 1.

Read the full guide

Pick the list for this week's unit

Under the puzzle, Start from a list holds nine lists in course order, from Expressions and Terms through Quadratics and Parabolas to Systems and Sequences, with 19 to 22 words each. Absolute value is hidden as one run, ABSOLUTEVALUE, so keep Equations and Inequalities at 13 by 13 or larger. To drill the same terms, open the algebra flashcards.

Tick Show clues, not words, to turn the algebra word search puzzle into a quiz: "Every number equals itself: a = a" hides Reflexive.
Pre-algebra: pick Easy Algebra (31 words of 3 to 5 letters), then Large print under More options.
Review: pick Hard Algebra (61 words of 9 letters or more) and press Hard.

Questions and answers

Is this an algebra 1 word search or an algebra 2 word search?

Both. Algebra Key Terms and the first lists are Algebra 1: Variable, Slope, Inequality. Hard Algebra and the later lists reach Algebra 2 with Logarithm, Asymptote, Imaginary, Conjugate and Determinant. For an algebra vocabulary word search on one chapter, pick the list with that name.

Why are Rational and Irrational in different lists?

Because RATIONAL reads inside IRRATIONAL, and a pupil who circles it there has found a word the answer key does not mark. Rational sits in Properties and Number Sets, Irrational in Exponents and Radicals. Dependent and Independent are split the same way.

Do any clues teach math history?

Yes, seven clues carry a year. The equals sign dates from 1557, a 1637 book by Descartes made x, y and z the usual unknowns, and Euler first wrote f(x) in 1734. Each was read on Wikipedia in September 2026.

Can I add formulas or terms from my textbook?

Terms, yes; formulas, no. The grid keeps only letters, so y = mx + b would be hidden as YMXB. Type each word at the end of the list under the grid and press Enter.

All 183 words

Expressions and Terms 20

Equations and Inequalities 21

Properties and Number Sets 20

Exponents and Radicals 22

Polynomials and Factoring 19

Quadratics and Parabolas 19

Functions and Relations 21

Lines and Graphing 21

Systems and Sequences 20

How it works

Pick the list for this week's unit

Questions and answers

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