SSAT Vocab (A through F)
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| abdicate | To give up a position, right or power; quit, resign renounce, step down | With the angry mob clamoring outside the palace, the king abdicated his throne and fled the country.
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| abduct | To forcefully and wrongfully carry, take or lead away; kidnap, carry off | The kidnappers planned to abduct the child and hold her for ransom.
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| abhor | To hate, to view with repugnance, to detest; loathe, abominate | After repeated failure to learn the Pythagorean theorum, Susan began to abhor geometry.
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| absurd | Ridiculously unreasonable, lacking logic; ridiculous, ludicrous, preposterous, bizarre | Ironing one's underwear is absurd.
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| abyss | Deep hole; deep immeasurable space, gulf or cavity; chasm, pit | Looking down into the abyss was terrifying, for I could not see the bottom.
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| accelerate | To increase in speed, cause to move faster; speed up, hasten, expedite | The new disease has spread like wildfire, causing researchers to accelerate their search for a cure.
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| acclaim | (n) praise, enthusiastic approval (v) to approve, to welcome with applause and praise; cheer, applaud, praise, honor | The artist won international acclaim; critics and viewers all over the world were intrigued by the works.
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| acute | Sharp in some way or sharp in intellect; crucial; perceptive, keen, shrewd | There is an acute shortage of food, which will ultimately result in a famine if something is not done soon to increase the food supply.
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| adage | Old saying, proverb; maxim | "A penny saved is a penny earned" is a popular adage.
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| adhere | To stick fast; to hold to; follow | After we put glue on his pants, John adhered to the chair.
Cathy was a strict Catholic who adhered to all the teachings of the Church.
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| adjourn | To postpone; to suspend (a meeting) for a period of time; recess | Since it was late in the day, the prosecutor moved that the court adjourn for the day.
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| adjunct | Something or someone associated with another but in a defendant or secondary position; additional, supporting, assisting, accessory | An adjunct professor is one not given the same full-time status as other faculty members.
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| admonish | To scold (sometimes in a good natured way); to urge to duty, remind; to advise against something; warn, caution, scold | My mother began to admonish me for not cleaning my room.
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| adorn | To decorate or add beauty to, for instance with ornaments; to make pleasing, more attractive; decorate, ornament, embellish | She adorned her hair with flowers.
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| adversary | Opponent, enemy, foe | Democrats and Republicans are usually adversaries in the political world.
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| aeronautic | Relating to aircraft | The Air Force's stealth plane is reported to be a masterpiece of aeronautic design.
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| affable | Pleasantly easy to get along with; friendly and warm; agreeable, amiable | She was an affable hostess and made us feel right at home.
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| affectation | Attempt to appear to be what one is not for The purpose of impressing others; pretension, unnaturalness, artificiality, pretense, airs, facade | Justin once spent three months in France and has not acquired the silly affectation of using French phrases in casual conversation.
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| aghast | Overcome by surprise, disgust, or amazement; seized with terror; shocked; astounded, dismayed, appalled, astonished, shocked | The investigator was aghast at the horrible conditions in the nursing home.
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| agility | Condition of being able to move quickly and easily or being mentally alert; skillfulness, dexterity, nimbleness | Strength and agility are important for an athlete.
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| agitate | To shake or grow excited; to move around a lot, to disturb or excite emotionally; upset, stir up | The bat's flight into the classroom managed to agitate the teacher so much that he went home early.
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| aimless | Lacking purpose or goals; haphazard | After its engine died, the boat drifted aimlessly for days.
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| alleviate | To make easier to bear, lessen; relieve, allay, assuage, ease, decrease, lessen, mitigate | The medicine will help to alleviate the pain.
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| allure | Fascination, appeal; temptation, attraction | Video games have an allure that some people find impossible to resist.
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| aloof | Distant in relations with other people; detached, cool, blase, remote | The newcomer remained aloof from all our activities and therefore made no new friends.
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| altruistic | Concerned for the welfare of others; benevolent, charitable, compassionate, humane | The altruistic woman gave out money to all who seemed needy.
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| amateur | Someone not paid to engage in a hobby, sport, art, etc.; devotee, dabbler, enthusiast, buff, non-professional | Since professionals weren't allowed to play, only amateur athletes participated in the Olympics.
The brilliant author James Joyce was an amateur singer.
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| amend | To improve; to alter, to add to, or to subtract from by formal procedure; repair, mend, make better, ameliorate | Congress will amend the bill so that the President will sign it.
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| amorous | Having to do with love; romantic | The love-sick young poet wrote many amorous poems about his girlfriend.
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| amorphous | Lacking a specific shape; shapeless, vague |
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| amphibian | Animal at home on both land and in the water |
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| angular | Having clear angles or thin and bony facial features; lanky, gaunt, bony |
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| animosity | Feeling of ill will, intense dislike for someone or something; hatred |
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| annihilate | To destroy completely; demolish |
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| antidote | Remedy to relieve the effects of poison |
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| aperture | Opening; hole, gap, space, crack |
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| aqueous | Similar to, or composed of water; watery, aquatic, hydrous, liquid |
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| ardent | Characterized by passion or desire; passionate, enthusiastic, fervent |
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| arid | Very dry, lacking moisture; unproductive, unimaginative; parched, barren, dull, uninteresting, insipid |
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| aroma | Pleasing fragrance; any odor or smell |
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| articulate | (adj.) Well-spoken, lucidly presented; eloquent, glib (v) To pronounce clearly, enunciate |
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| artifice | (1) Trickery, clever ruse; stratagem, trick, ploy, deception (2) Ability to create or imagine; creativity, inventiveness, innovation, resourcefulness, ingenuity |
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| ascertain | To find out or discover by examination; determine, unearth |
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| assailable | Able to be attacked or assaulted by blows or words; vulnerable, exposed, unprotected |
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| astound | To overwhelm with amazement; stupefy, stun |
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| astute | Shrewd and perceptive; able to understand clearly and quickly; keen, discerning, penetrating, incisive, crafty, foxy, wily |
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| atrocity | Horrible, unusually brutal act; horror, barbarity, outrage |
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| audacity | Boldness or daring, especially with disregard for personal safety; a lot of nerve, impudence |
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| authoritative | Having a great authority; masterful |
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| banal | Boringly predictable; dull, bland, insipid |
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| banish | To send away; get rid of, exile, deport |
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| barrier | Anything that makes progress harder or impossible; something that blocks or limits, obstacle |
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| beguile | To deceive by trickery; charm, allure, bewitch, captivate |
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| belligerence | Aggressive hostility; combativeness |
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| benefactor | Someone giving financial or general assistance; patron, backer, donor |
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| beneficial | Advantageous, helpful; conferring benefit; favorable |
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| benevolence | Inclination to do good deeds; largess |
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| bewildered | Completely confused or puzzled; perplexed |
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| bias | (n) Prejudice, particular tendency; partiality (v) To cause prejudice in a person; to influence unfairly; show favor |
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| bile | Ill temper, irritability; bitterness, bad temper |
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| bliss | Supreme happiness, utter joy or contentment; heaven, paradise; delight, ecstasy |
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| boisterous | Loud and unrestrained; noisy, raucous |
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| botanist | Scientist specializing in study of plants |
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| bounty | Generosity of giving; reward; abundance, cornucopia, reward, loot |
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| bravado | Showy and pretentious display of courage; bluster, bombast, swagger |
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| brevity | State of being brief, of not lasting a long time; shortness, fleetness, swiftness |
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| brig | Ship's prison; jail |
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| burnish | (v) to make shine by rubbing, as with a cloth; polish, buff, varnish (n) shininess produced by burnishing; shine, luster, gleam, brilliance |
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| cache | Hiding place for treasures, etc.; anything that's in such a hiding place; stash |
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| cajole | To wheedle, persuade with promise or flattery; coax |
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| camouflage | (n) Disguise worn in order to deceive an enemy; for instance uniforms the color of trees or dirt (v) disguise, obscure, cloud, hide |
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| candor | Frankness and sincerity; fairness; honesty |
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| canine | Relating to dogs |
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| cantankerous | Quarrelsome and grouchy; argumentative, ill-tempered |
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| caprice | Sudden, unpredictable change; impulse, whim, fancy |
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| cascade | (n) Waterfall, torrent (v) to fall like a waterfall |
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| catastrophe | Disastrous event; disaster, ruin, devastation |
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| celestial | Relating to the heavens; heavenly, divine, spiritual |
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| censor | To remove material from books, plays, magazines, etc., for moral, political or religious reasons; suppress, delete |
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| chasm | Gorge or deep canyon; ravine, abyss |
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| choleric | Bad-tempered |
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| choreographer | Person creating and arranging dances for stage performances |
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| chorus | Group acting together; band |
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| chronic | Continuing over a long period of time, long-standing; continuous, constant, persistent |
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| circumscribe | To encircle with a line; to limit in any way; outline, bound, define, encompass |
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| collision | Crash, clash or conflict; impact |
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| communicative | Talkative and likely to communicate; articulate, vocal, expressive |
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| compassion | Deep feeling of pity or sympathy for others; mercy |
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| compel | To force someone or something to act; coerce, goad, motivate |
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| competent | Having enough skill for some purpose; adequate but not exceptional; qualified, capable, fit |
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| concise | Brief and compact; succinct |
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| condone | To pardon, forgive or overlook; excuse, absolve, accept, tolerate, allow, permit, suffer, endure, bear, stomach |
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| confidential | Done secretly or in confidence; secret, covert, off-the-record |
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| constrict | To squeeze, make tighter; choke, stifle, contract, smother |
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| contemplation | Thoughtful observation; thought, deliberation, meditation, reflection |
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| contend | To fight or struggle against; to debate, argue, assert |
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| contentious | Eager to quarrel; quarrelsome, cantankerous, feisty, combative, irascible, pugnacious |
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| convene | To assemble or meet; gather |
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| conventional | Established or approved by general usage; customary, well-established, habitual |
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| copious | Abundant, large in number or quantity, plentiful; profuse |
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| countenance | (n) Face or facial expression, or the general appearance or behavior of something or someone; face, aspect, bearing, demeanor, air, visage (v) to approve or support; sanction, endorse, bless, favor, encourage, condone |
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| couplet | Unit of poetry with two rhyming lines |
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| courier | Person who carries messages, news or information; messenger, runner, carrier |
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| cue | Hint or guiding suggestion; prompt, signal |
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| curvature | State of being curved; arc, arch, bow |
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| dawdle | To waste time with idle lingering; delay, dally |
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| deadlock | A standoff caused by opposition of two conflicting forces; stalemate, standstill |
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| dearth | Scarcity, lack, shortage |
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| debris | Charred or spoiled remains of something that has been destroyed; trash, rubbish, wreckage |
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| decade | Period of 10 years |
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| deceit | Deception or trickery; falseness, dishonesty, fraudulence |
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| deceive | To delude or mislead; trick, dupe, lie |
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| declamation | Exercise in speech giving, attack or protest; long speech, harangue |
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| deficient | Defective, insufficient or inadequate; failing, lacking |
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| dehydrate | To remove water from; dry out, parch |
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| deject | To depress or make sad; sadden, depress, discourage, dishearten |
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| delude | To deceive, mislead; dupe, hoax, trick |
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| deluge | (n) Flood, large overflowing of water; inundation, torrent (v) To overflow, to inundate, to flood; engulf, overwhelm |
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| demote | To reduce to a lower grade or class (opposite of promote); downgrade |
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| deplore | To regard as deeply regrettable and hateful; regret, lament, bemoan, bewail, mourn, grieve for, denounce, condemn, protest, oppose, despise, loathe, abominate |
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| desolation | Condition of being deserted and destroyed; barrenness, desertion, bleakness |
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| despicable | Deserving contempt; hateful, contemptible, base, mean, vile, detestable, depraved |
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| despondent | In a state of depression; depressed, morose, gloomy, sad, brooding, desolate, forlorn, woeful, mournful, dejected |
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| destitute | Bereft (of something), without or left without (something); poor, devoid, lacking, impoverished |
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| devastate | To lay waste, make desolate; to overwhelm; ruin, wreck |
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| devotee | Someone passionately devoted; enthusiast, fan, admirer |
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| devout | Deeply religious; pious, reverent |
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| dexterity | Skill in using the hands or body; agility; cleverness |
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| diminish | To become or to make smaller in size, number or degree; decrease, lessen, dwindle, shrink, contract, decline, subside, wane, fade, recede, weaken, moderate |
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| din | Loud, confused noise; uproar, clamor |
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| dingy | Dark or drab in color; dirty, shabby, squalid, filthy |
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| diplomatic | Tactful; skilled in the art of conducting negotiations and other relations between nations; polite |
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| disclaim | To deny ownership of or association with; repudiate, reject, disown, disavow, renounce |
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| discursive | Covering a wide area or digressing from a topic; digressive, rambling |
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| dismal | Causing gloom; cheerless; miserable, dreary |
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| dispute | (n) Argument or quarrel; disagreement (v) To argue or quarrel; disagree with |
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| disseminate | To scatter or spread widely; broadcast, disperse |
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| divert | (1) To change the course of; deflect, reroute, turn, detour (2) To draw someone's attention by amusing them; amuse, entertain, distract |
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| doff | To remove or take off, as clothing |
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| dogged | Persistent in effort; stubbornly tenacious; obstinate |
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| dogmatic | Asserting without proof; stating opinion as if it were fact in a definite and forceful manner; absolute, opinionated, dictatorial, authoritative, arrogant |
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| doze | To nap or sleep lightly |
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| dungeon | Underground room in fortress often used to keep prisoners; vault, cellar |
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| ebullient | Overflowing with fervor, enthusiasm, or excitement; high-spirited, bubbling, enthusiastic, exuberant |
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| eccentric | (n) person who differs from the accepted norms in an odd way; freak, oddball, weirdo, nonconformist (adj) deviating from accepted conduct; odd, unorthodox, unconventional, offbeat |
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| ecstatic | Deliriously happy; delighted, overjoyed, euphoric |
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| eddy | Small whirlpool or any similar current; swirling water |
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| effect | (n) Result, impression (v) To produce, make or bring about; cause |
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| elusive | Hard to find or express; slippery, evasive |
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| embellish | To add detail, make more complicated; elaborate, expand, ornament |
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| eminent | Distinguished, high in rank or station; prominent, well-known, famous, distinguished, noteworthy |
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| emulate | To imitate or copy; simulate, follow |
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| enact | To make into law; pass (a law), decree; act out |
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| encompass | To form a circle or ring around; encircle, circumscribe |
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| endorse | To approve, sustain, support; accept, authorize, accredit, encourage, advocate, favor, support |
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| enigma | Mystery or riddle; puzzle |
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| enigmatic | Unexplainable, mysterious; inexplicable, incomprehensible, strange, puzzling, baffling, bewildering, perplexing, cryptic |
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| ensnare | To capture in, or involve, as in a snare; trap |
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| entice | To lure or attract by feeding desires; tempt |
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| entourage | Group of followers, attendants or assistants; retinue, coterie |
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| era | Period of time; age, epoch |
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| err | To make a mistake (as in error); go wrong, sin |
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| erudite | Knowledgeable and learned; wise, informed |
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| essential | Of the innermost nature of something; basic, fundamental; of great importance; central, important, crucial, urgent, necessary |
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| etiquette | Code of social behavior; manners, propriety, decorum |
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| evacuate | To empty out, remove, or withdraw; expel, vacate |
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| exotic | Of foreign origin or character; strange, exciting, alien, unfamiliar |
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| expand | To make greater, broader, larger or more detailed; enlarge, increase, augment, extend, broaden, widen, stretch, spread, swell, inflate, dilate, bloat |
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| expunge | To delete or omit completely; erase, obliterate, strike out |
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| extraction | Process of removal or something removed |
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| extricate | To release from difficulty or an entanglement; disengage, release, withdraw |
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| extroverted | Outgoing or interested in people; gregarious |
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Review the information in the table. When you are ready to quiz yourself you can hide individual columns or the entire table. Then you can click on the empty cells to reveal the answer. Try to recall what will be displayed before clicking the empty cell.
To hide a column, click on the column name.
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To hide a column, click on the column name.
To hide the entire table, click on the "Hide All" button.
You may also shuffle the rows of the table by clicking on the "Shuffle" button.
Or sort by any of the columns using the down arrow next to any column heading.
If you know all the data on any row, you can temporarily remove it by tapping the trash can to the right of the row.
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