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SSAT Study Words I
SSAT Vocab (A through F)
| Word | Def. | Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| 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. |
| 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. |
| abhor | To hate, to view with repugnance, to detest; loathe, abominate | After repeated failure to learn the Pythagorean theorum, Susan began to abhor geometry. |
| absurd | Ridiculously unreasonable, lacking logic; ridiculous, ludicrous, preposterous, bizarre | Ironing one's underwear is absurd. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| adage | Old saying, proverb; maxim | "A penny saved is a penny earned" is a popular adage. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| adversary | Opponent, enemy, foe | Democrats and Republicans are usually adversaries in the political world. |
| aeronautic | Relating to aircraft | The Air Force's stealth plane is reported to be a masterpiece of aeronautic design. |
| affable | Pleasantly easy to get along with; friendly and warm; agreeable, amiable | She was an affable hostess and made us feel right at home. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| aimless | Lacking purpose or goals; haphazard | After its engine died, the boat drifted aimlessly for days. |
| alleviate | To make easier to bear, lessen; relieve, allay, assuage, ease, decrease, lessen, mitigate | The medicine will help to alleviate the pain. |
| allure | Fascination, appeal; temptation, attraction | Video games have an allure that some people find impossible to resist. |
| 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. |
| altruistic | Concerned for the welfare of others; benevolent, charitable, compassionate, humane | The altruistic woman gave out money to all who seemed needy. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| amorous | Having to do with love; romantic | The love-sick young poet wrote many amorous poems about his girlfriend. |
| amorphous | Lacking a specific shape; shapeless, vague | |
| amphibian | Animal at home on both land and in the water | |
| angular | Having clear angles or thin and bony facial features; lanky, gaunt, bony | |
| animosity | Feeling of ill will, intense dislike for someone or something; hatred | |
| annihilate | To destroy completely; demolish | |
| antidote | Remedy to relieve the effects of poison | |
| aperture | Opening; hole, gap, space, crack | |
| aqueous | Similar to, or composed of water; watery, aquatic, hydrous, liquid | |
| ardent | Characterized by passion or desire; passionate, enthusiastic, fervent | |
| arid | Very dry, lacking moisture; unproductive, unimaginative; parched, barren, dull, uninteresting, insipid | |
| aroma | Pleasing fragrance; any odor or smell | |
| articulate | (adj.) Well-spoken, lucidly presented; eloquent, glib (v) To pronounce clearly, enunciate | |
| artifice | (1) Trickery, clever ruse; stratagem, trick, ploy, deception (2) Ability to create or imagine; creativity, inventiveness, innovation, resourcefulness, ingenuity | |
| ascertain | To find out or discover by examination; determine, unearth | |
| assailable | Able to be attacked or assaulted by blows or words; vulnerable, exposed, unprotected | |
| astound | To overwhelm with amazement; stupefy, stun | |
| astute | Shrewd and perceptive; able to understand clearly and quickly; keen, discerning, penetrating, incisive, crafty, foxy, wily | |
| atrocity | Horrible, unusually brutal act; horror, barbarity, outrage | |
| audacity | Boldness or daring, especially with disregard for personal safety; a lot of nerve, impudence | |
| authoritative | Having a great authority; masterful | |
| banal | Boringly predictable; dull, bland, insipid | |
| banish | To send away; get rid of, exile, deport | |
| barrier | Anything that makes progress harder or impossible; something that blocks or limits, obstacle | |
| beguile | To deceive by trickery; charm, allure, bewitch, captivate | |
| belligerence | Aggressive hostility; combativeness | |
| benefactor | Someone giving financial or general assistance; patron, backer, donor | |
| beneficial | Advantageous, helpful; conferring benefit; favorable | |
| benevolence | Inclination to do good deeds; largess | |
| bewildered | Completely confused or puzzled; perplexed | |
| bias | (n) Prejudice, particular tendency; partiality (v) To cause prejudice in a person; to influence unfairly; show favor | |
| bile | Ill temper, irritability; bitterness, bad temper | |
| bliss | Supreme happiness, utter joy or contentment; heaven, paradise; delight, ecstasy | |
| boisterous | Loud and unrestrained; noisy, raucous | |
| botanist | Scientist specializing in study of plants | |
| bounty | Generosity of giving; reward; abundance, cornucopia, reward, loot | |
| bravado | Showy and pretentious display of courage; bluster, bombast, swagger | |
| brevity | State of being brief, of not lasting a long time; shortness, fleetness, swiftness | |
| brig | Ship's prison; jail | |
| burnish | (v) to make shine by rubbing, as with a cloth; polish, buff, varnish (n) shininess produced by burnishing; shine, luster, gleam, brilliance | |
| cache | Hiding place for treasures, etc.; anything that's in such a hiding place; stash | |
| cajole | To wheedle, persuade with promise or flattery; coax | |
| camouflage | (n) Disguise worn in order to deceive an enemy; for instance uniforms the color of trees or dirt (v) disguise, obscure, cloud, hide | |
| candor | Frankness and sincerity; fairness; honesty | |
| canine | Relating to dogs | |
| cantankerous | Quarrelsome and grouchy; argumentative, ill-tempered | |
| caprice | Sudden, unpredictable change; impulse, whim, fancy | |
| cascade | (n) Waterfall, torrent (v) to fall like a waterfall | |
| catastrophe | Disastrous event; disaster, ruin, devastation | |
| celestial | Relating to the heavens; heavenly, divine, spiritual | |
| censor | To remove material from books, plays, magazines, etc., for moral, political or religious reasons; suppress, delete | |
| chasm | Gorge or deep canyon; ravine, abyss | |
| choleric | Bad-tempered | |
| choreographer | Person creating and arranging dances for stage performances | |
| chorus | Group acting together; band | |
| chronic | Continuing over a long period of time, long-standing; continuous, constant, persistent | |
| circumscribe | To encircle with a line; to limit in any way; outline, bound, define, encompass | |
| collision | Crash, clash or conflict; impact | |
| communicative | Talkative and likely to communicate; articulate, vocal, expressive | |
| compassion | Deep feeling of pity or sympathy for others; mercy | |
| compel | To force someone or something to act; coerce, goad, motivate | |
| competent | Having enough skill for some purpose; adequate but not exceptional; qualified, capable, fit | |
| concise | Brief and compact; succinct | |
| condone | To pardon, forgive or overlook; excuse, absolve, accept, tolerate, allow, permit, suffer, endure, bear, stomach | |
| confidential | Done secretly or in confidence; secret, covert, off-the-record | |
| constrict | To squeeze, make tighter; choke, stifle, contract, smother | |
| contemplation | Thoughtful observation; thought, deliberation, meditation, reflection | |
| contend | To fight or struggle against; to debate, argue, assert | |
| contentious | Eager to quarrel; quarrelsome, cantankerous, feisty, combative, irascible, pugnacious | |
| convene | To assemble or meet; gather | |
| conventional | Established or approved by general usage; customary, well-established, habitual | |
| copious | Abundant, large in number or quantity, plentiful; profuse | |
| 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 | |
| couplet | Unit of poetry with two rhyming lines | |
| courier | Person who carries messages, news or information; messenger, runner, carrier | |
| cue | Hint or guiding suggestion; prompt, signal | |
| curvature | State of being curved; arc, arch, bow | |
| dawdle | To waste time with idle lingering; delay, dally | |
| deadlock | A standoff caused by opposition of two conflicting forces; stalemate, standstill | |
| dearth | Scarcity, lack, shortage | |
| debris | Charred or spoiled remains of something that has been destroyed; trash, rubbish, wreckage | |
| decade | Period of 10 years | |
| deceit | Deception or trickery; falseness, dishonesty, fraudulence | |
| deceive | To delude or mislead; trick, dupe, lie | |
| declamation | Exercise in speech giving, attack or protest; long speech, harangue | |
| deficient | Defective, insufficient or inadequate; failing, lacking | |
| dehydrate | To remove water from; dry out, parch | |
| deject | To depress or make sad; sadden, depress, discourage, dishearten | |
| delude | To deceive, mislead; dupe, hoax, trick | |
| deluge | (n) Flood, large overflowing of water; inundation, torrent (v) To overflow, to inundate, to flood; engulf, overwhelm | |
| demote | To reduce to a lower grade or class (opposite of promote); downgrade | |
| deplore | To regard as deeply regrettable and hateful; regret, lament, bemoan, bewail, mourn, grieve for, denounce, condemn, protest, oppose, despise, loathe, abominate | |
| desolation | Condition of being deserted and destroyed; barrenness, desertion, bleakness | |
| despicable | Deserving contempt; hateful, contemptible, base, mean, vile, detestable, depraved | |
| despondent | In a state of depression; depressed, morose, gloomy, sad, brooding, desolate, forlorn, woeful, mournful, dejected | |
| destitute | Bereft (of something), without or left without (something); poor, devoid, lacking, impoverished | |
| devastate | To lay waste, make desolate; to overwhelm; ruin, wreck | |
| devotee | Someone passionately devoted; enthusiast, fan, admirer | |
| devout | Deeply religious; pious, reverent | |
| dexterity | Skill in using the hands or body; agility; cleverness | |
| diminish | To become or to make smaller in size, number or degree; decrease, lessen, dwindle, shrink, contract, decline, subside, wane, fade, recede, weaken, moderate | |
| din | Loud, confused noise; uproar, clamor | |
| dingy | Dark or drab in color; dirty, shabby, squalid, filthy | |
| diplomatic | Tactful; skilled in the art of conducting negotiations and other relations between nations; polite | |
| disclaim | To deny ownership of or association with; repudiate, reject, disown, disavow, renounce | |
| discursive | Covering a wide area or digressing from a topic; digressive, rambling | |
| dismal | Causing gloom; cheerless; miserable, dreary | |
| dispute | (n) Argument or quarrel; disagreement (v) To argue or quarrel; disagree with | |
| disseminate | To scatter or spread widely; broadcast, disperse | |
| divert | (1) To change the course of; deflect, reroute, turn, detour (2) To draw someone's attention by amusing them; amuse, entertain, distract | |
| doff | To remove or take off, as clothing | |
| dogged | Persistent in effort; stubbornly tenacious; obstinate | |
| dogmatic | Asserting without proof; stating opinion as if it were fact in a definite and forceful manner; absolute, opinionated, dictatorial, authoritative, arrogant | |
| doze | To nap or sleep lightly | |
| dungeon | Underground room in fortress often used to keep prisoners; vault, cellar | |
| ebullient | Overflowing with fervor, enthusiasm, or excitement; high-spirited, bubbling, enthusiastic, exuberant | |
| 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 | |
| ecstatic | Deliriously happy; delighted, overjoyed, euphoric | |
| eddy | Small whirlpool or any similar current; swirling water | |
| effect | (n) Result, impression (v) To produce, make or bring about; cause | |
| elusive | Hard to find or express; slippery, evasive | |
| embellish | To add detail, make more complicated; elaborate, expand, ornament | |
| eminent | Distinguished, high in rank or station; prominent, well-known, famous, distinguished, noteworthy | |
| emulate | To imitate or copy; simulate, follow | |
| enact | To make into law; pass (a law), decree; act out | |
| encompass | To form a circle or ring around; encircle, circumscribe | |
| endorse | To approve, sustain, support; accept, authorize, accredit, encourage, advocate, favor, support | |
| enigma | Mystery or riddle; puzzle | |
| enigmatic | Unexplainable, mysterious; inexplicable, incomprehensible, strange, puzzling, baffling, bewildering, perplexing, cryptic | |
| ensnare | To capture in, or involve, as in a snare; trap | |
| entice | To lure or attract by feeding desires; tempt | |
| entourage | Group of followers, attendants or assistants; retinue, coterie | |
| era | Period of time; age, epoch | |
| err | To make a mistake (as in error); go wrong, sin | |
| erudite | Knowledgeable and learned; wise, informed | |
| essential | Of the innermost nature of something; basic, fundamental; of great importance; central, important, crucial, urgent, necessary | |
| etiquette | Code of social behavior; manners, propriety, decorum | |
| evacuate | To empty out, remove, or withdraw; expel, vacate | |
| exotic | Of foreign origin or character; strange, exciting, alien, unfamiliar | |
| expand | To make greater, broader, larger or more detailed; enlarge, increase, augment, extend, broaden, widen, stretch, spread, swell, inflate, dilate, bloat | |
| expunge | To delete or omit completely; erase, obliterate, strike out | |
| extraction | Process of removal or something removed | |
| extricate | To release from difficulty or an entanglement; disengage, release, withdraw | |
| extroverted | Outgoing or interested in people; gregarious |
Created by:
Karina Geneva
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