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SAT Vocab W
SAT VOCAB BUILDER
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| abate (v.) | to reduce, lessen (The rain poured down for a while, then abated.) |
| abdicate (v.) | to give up a position, usually one of leadership (When he realized that the revolutionaries would surely win, the king abdicated his throne.) |
| aberration (n.) | something that differs from the norm (In 1918, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series, but the success turned out to be an aberration, and the Red Sox have not won a World Series since.) |
| abet (v.) | to aid, help, encourage (The spy succeeded only because he had a friend on the inside to abet him.) |
| abjure (v.) | to reject, renounce (To prove his honesty, the President abjured the evil policies of his wicked predecessor.) |
| abnegation (n.) | denial of comfort to oneself (The holy man slept on the floor, took only cold showers, and generally followed other practices of abnegation.) |
| abridge (v.) | to cut down, shorten (The publisher thought the dictionary was too long and abridged it.) 2. (adj.) shortened (Moby-Dick is such a long book that even the abridged version is longer than most normal books.) |
| abrogate (v.) | to abolish, usually by authority (The Bill of Rights assures that the government cannot abrogate our right to a free press.) |
| abscond (v.) | to sneak away and hide (In the confusion, the super-spy absconded into the night with the secret plans.) |
| abstruse (adj.) | hard to comprehend (Everyone else in the class understood geometry easily, but John found the subject abstruse.) |
| accretion (n.) slow growth in size or amount (Stalactites are formed by the accretion of minerals from the roofs of caves.) | slow growth in size or amount (Stalactites are formed by the accretion of minerals from the roofs of caves.) |
| S A acrimony (n.) | bitterness, discord (Though they vowed that no girl would ever come between them, Biff and Trevor could not keep acrimony from overwhelming their friendship after they both fell in love with the lovely Teresa.) |
| adamant (adj.) | impervious, immovable, unyielding (Though public pressure was intense, the President remained adamant about his proposal.) |
| admonish (v.) | to caution, criticize, reprove (Joe’s mother admonished him not to ruin his appetite by eating cookies before dinner.) |
| adroit (adj.) | skillful, dexterous (The adroit thief could pick someone’s pocket without attracting notice.) |
| adulation (n.) | extreme praise (Though the book was pretty good, Marcy did not believe it deserved the adulation it received.) |
| adumbrate (v.) | to sketch out in a vague way (The coach adumbrated a game plan, but none of the players knew precisely what to do.) |
| affable (adj.) | friendly, amiable (People like to be around George because he is so affable and good-natured.) |
| aggrandize (v.) | to increase or make greater (Joseph always dropped the names of the famous people his father knew as a way to aggrandize his personal stature.) |
| aggregate 1. (n.) | a whole or total (The three branches of the U.S. Government form an aggregate much more powerful than its individual parts.) 2. (v.) to gather into a mass (The dictator tried to aggregate as many people into his army as he possibly could.) |
| agnostic (adj.) | believing that the existence of God cannot be proven or disproven (Joey’s parents are very religious, but he is agnostic.) |
| alacrity (n.) | eagerness, speed (For some reason, Chuck loved to help his mother whenever he could, so when his mother asked him to set the table he did so with alacrity.) |
| allege (v.) | to assert, usually without proof (The policeman had alleged that Marshall committed the crime, but after the investigation turned up no evidence, Marshall was set free.) |
| amalgamate (v.) | to bring together, unite (Because of his great charisma, the presidential candidate was able to amalgamate all democrats and republicans under his banner.) |
| ambivalent (adj.) | having opposing feelings (My feelings about Calvin are ambivalent because on one hand he is a loyal friend, but on the other, he is a cruel and vicious thief.) |
| ameliorate (v.) | to improve (The tense situation was ameliorated when Sam proposed a solution everyone could agree upon.) |
| analgesic (n.) | something that reduces pain (Put this analgesic on the wound so that the poor man at least feels a little better.) |
| anathema (n.) | a cursed, detested person (I never want to see that murderer. He is an anathema to me.) |
| antipathy (n.) | a strong dislike, repugnance (I know you love me, but because you are a liar and a thief, I feel nothing but antipathy for you.) |
| antithesis (n.) | the absolute opposite (Your values, which hold war and violence in the highest esteem, are the antithesis of my pacifist beliefs.) |
| apocryphal (adj.) | fictitious, false, wrong (Because I am standing before you, it seems obvious that the stories circulating about my demise were apocryphal.) |
| approbation (n.) | praise (The crowd welcomed the heroes with approbation.) |
| appropriate (v.) | to take, make use of (The government appropriated the farmer’s land without justification.) |
| arbiter (n.) | one who can resolve a dispute, make a decision (The divorce court judge will serve as the arbiter between the estranged husband and wife.) |
| arbitration (n.) | the process or act of resolving a dispute (The employee sought official arbitration when he could not resolve a disagreement with his supervisor.) |
| arcane (adj.) | obscure, secret, known only by a few (The professor is an expert in arcane Lithuanian literature.) |
| ardor (n.) | extreme vigor, energy, enthusiasm (The soldiers conveyed their ardor with impassioned battle cries.) |
| arid (adj.) | excessively dry (Little other than palm trees and cacti grow successfully in arid environments.) |
| ascetic (adj.) | practicing restraint as a means of self-discipline, usually religious (The priest lives an ascetic life devoid of television, savory foods, and other pleasures.) |
| ascribe (v.) | to assign, credit, attribute to (Some ascribe the invention of fireworks and dynamite to the Chinese.) |
| aspersion (n.) | a curse, expression of ill-will (The rival politicians repeatedly cast aspersions on each others’ integrity.) |
| assail (v.) | to attack (At dawn, the war planes assailed the boats in the harbor.) |
| assiduous (adj.) | hard-working, diligent (The construction workers erected the skyscraper during two years of assiduous labor.) |
| atone (v.) | to repent, make amends (The man atoned for forgetting his wife’s birthday by buying her five dozen roses.) |
| audacious (adj.) | excessively bold (The security guard was shocked by the fan’s audacious attempt to offer him a bribe.) |
| augment (v.) | to add to, expand (The eager student seeks to augment his knowledge of French vocabulary by reading French literature.) |
| auspicious (adj.) | favorable, indicative of good things (The tennis player considered the sunny forecast an auspicious sign that she would win her match.) |
| avarice (n.) | excessive greed (The banker’s avarice led him to amass a tremendous personal fortune.) |
| aversion (n.) | a particular dislike for something (Because he’s from Hawaii, Ben has an aversion to autumn, winter, and cold climates in general.) |
Created by:
etkuhn
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