SSAT Vocabulary Words 2
Terms
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- abase
- to lower; demean; degrade
- abate
- to lessen; to reduce in severity
- abbreviate
- to shorten; reduce
- abdicate
- to give up power or position; to fail to fulfill
- abduct
- kidnap
- aberration
- a deviation from the expected course
- abhor
- to hate; loathe
- abide
- to obey; to put up with; tolerate
- abject
- of the most miserable or contemptible kind
- abort
- to give up unfinished
- abridge
- to shorten; cut down
- abrogate
- to abolish; often by authority
- abscond
- to sneak away and hide
- absurd
- unreasonable; ridiculous
- abundant
- in great numbers
- abyss
- bottomless gulf; something too deep for measurement
- accede
- to agree
- accelerate
- to increase in speed
- accentuate
- to emphasize; to highlight
- acclaim
- enthusiastic applause or approval
- accommodating
- obliging; helpful
- accomplish
- achieve
- accost
- to approach or confront aggressively
- acumen
- keen insight
- acute
- very sharp; severe
- adage
- wise; old saying
- adept
- very skilled
- adhere
- to stick to
- adjourn
- to suspend [a meeting] for a period of time
- adjunct
- a non-essential supplement; something additional; accessory;
- admiring
- regarding with approval or respect
- admonish
- to reprove; to warn
- adorn
- to decorate
- advantageous
- profitable; helpful
- adversary
- an enemy; an opponent; a foe
- adverse
- unfavorable; bringing harm
- affable
- friendly; easy-going; amiable
- affectation
- artificial behavior
- affluent
- rich; wealthy
- aforementioned
- said or written before
- aggrandize
- to increase or make greater
- aggregate
- to gather; amass; combine; collection; collective
- aghast
- feeling great horror or dismay; struck by amazement
- agility
- quickness & ease of movement; nimbleness; liveliness
- agitate
- to stir or shake up
- agoraphobia
- an abnormal fear of open or public places
- aimless
- having no purpose
- akimbo
- with hands on hips and elbows extending outward
- akin
- related; similar
- alacrity
- speed; readiness
- algid
- frigid; cold
- allay
- to sooth; assuage
- allege
- to declare without proof
- alleviate
- to relieve; to ease a pain
- allure
- to entice; to attract
- aloof
- detached; reserved; indifferent; distant
- altercation
- an argument; dispute
- altruism
- unselfishness; generosity
- altruistic
- kind
- amalgamation
- a union; a merger
- amateur
- not professional; done for pleasure; unskillful
- ambivalent
- having opposed or mixed feelings or contradictory feelings
- amble
- to stroll; walk
- ameliorate
- to improve; to make better
- amend
- to change; alter slightly
- amiable
- friendly; affable
- amorous
- relating to or showing love
- amorphous
- without shape or borders
- amphibian
- living in both water and on land
- analytical
- intending to understand the nature of something
- androgynous
- bisexual
- angular
- characterized by sharp angles
- animosity
- hatred; hostility
- annihilate
- to destroy entirely
- anomaly
- something that does not fit into the normal order
- antechamber
- a waiting room
- antidote
- substance that counteracts a poison
- anxiety
- an emotional state of fear and uncertainty; uneasiness
- aperture
- an opening; a hole
- aphorism
- a short saying
- apiary
- place where people keep bees
- apocalypse
- total devastation; the end of the world
- apparel
- garb
- apparitional
- ghostly; spectral
- apt
- likely; relevant
- aqueous
- like water; related to water; formed by water
- arbitrator
- one who settles controversy between two sides
- ardent
- passionate
- arid
- extremely dry; very boring
- aroma
- a pleasant odor
- arouse
- to awaken
- articulate
- able to express oneself coherently
- artifice
- skill or ingenuity
- ascertain
- to find out with certainty
- aspirant
- applicant; hopeful
- aspire
- to hope; to have ambition
- assail
- to attack violently
- assailable
- vulnerable
- assess
- to judge; to determine amount or value
- assimilate
- adjust; absorb
- assuage
- to ease; pacify
- astound
- to astonish greatly
- astute
- shrewd; observant; clever
- atone
- to apologize; make amends
- atrocious
- very wicked; very bad
- audacious
- bold; daring; fearless
- augment
- to increase or make larger
- austere
- very bare; bleak; simple
- authoritative
- having authority; commanding
- aviary
- large cage where birds are kept as pets
- azure
- blue
- baleful
- harmful; threatening
- banal
- commonplace & predictable; trite
- banish
- to exile; to drive away
- bard
- a poet; often a singer as well
- barrage
- a curtain of artillery; any prolonged attack
- barrier
- an obstruction; anything that hinders or blocks
- barter
- to exchange goods or property
- battery
- an assault or an array of similar things intended for use together
- beguile
- to deceive
- behold
- to look at; to observe
- belligerent
- contentious; ready to fight; aggressive
- benefactor
- a donor
- beneficial
- helpful
- benevolent
- Kind; good; caring; generous; charitable; well-meaning
- benign
- non-threatening; innocuous
- berate
- to scold severely
- bereft
- without; devoid of
- bewildered
- to confuse hopelessly; to befuddle
- biased
- favoring one side or opinion or another; prejudiced; influenced
- bide
- to wait; or remain in a condition
- bile
- the bitter; greenish fluid secreted by the liver
- bilk
- to cheat; to swindle
- bind
- to tie or fasten
- bizarre
- very odd or unusual
- blandish
- to coax through flattery
- bliss
- great happiness; spiritual joy
- bloated
- swollen; bigger than desired
- boisterous
- loud; energetic; cheerfully noisy
- botanist
- scientist who studies plants
- bounty
- generosity; a generous gift
- bourgeois
- middle class
- brand
- trademark
- brash
- bold; hasty & reckless; insolent; impudent; lacking in sensitivity
- bravado
- pretend courage; feigned confidence
- brazen
- excessively bold; brash
- brevity
- conciseness; briefness
- brig
- a two masted ship; a jail on a ship
- browbeat
- badger; bully
- brumal
- wintry; relating to winter
- brusque
- short; abrupt; dismissive
- buffet (n)
- a spread of food involving choices
- buffet (v)
- to hit or strike
- burgeon
- to come forth; blossom
- burnish
- to polish; to make smooth & shiny
- cache
- a place where food or treasure is hidden
- cacophony
- noise; discordant sound
- cadence
- rhythm
- cajole
- to persuade; to coax; to urge
- callous
- harsh; cold; unfeeling
- calumny
- an attempt to defame another’s reputation
- camaraderie
- cheerful unity among a group
- camouflage
- to disguise; to conceal from the enemy
- candid
- honest; truthful
- candor
- frankness; sincerity
- canine
- relating to dogs; like a dog
- cantankerous
- bad-tempered; quarrelsome; grumpy
- canvas
- a piece of cloth on which an artist paints
- capricious
- fickle; impulsive; unpredictable; subject to whim
- captivate
- to hold the interest of; to gain the attention of
- carouse
- to revel; to party
- cascade
- a small; steep waterfall
- casement
- window
- catastrophe
- any sudden great disaster
- cautious
- careful
- cavity
- a hole
- cavort
- to frolic; leap; prance
- celestial
- of the heavens or the sky
- censor
- to prohibit objectionable material; a person with the authority to prohibit material
- chasm
- a deep crack in the earth's surface; any large break or gap
- choleric
- easily angered; very angry; easily annoyed
- choreographer
- one who devises dances or ballets
- chronic
- lasting a long time
- circulate
- to pass around; move from place to place
- circumscribe
- to draw a line around; to encircle; to limit narrowly
- clarity
- clearness
- classify
- to organize in groups or categories
- cleave
- split
- coalesce
- to come together; to unite; combine
- collision
- a crash; a colliding
- colossal
- immense
- communicative
- giving or exchanging information or messages
- compassion
- deep sympathy; pity
- compel
- force
- compelling
- demanding of attention
- competent
- capable; fit for the task
- compulsion
- force; urge; obligation
- conceal
- to hide; to keep secret
- concise
- condensed; brief; to the point
- condone
- to overlook; to forgive; to allow
- confidential
- secret
- conform
- to follow rules; to obey
- congenial
- friendly; pleasant; agreeable
- congregate
- to gather together
- conserve
- to save; prevent wastage
- constrict
- to make smaller or narrower by squeezing
- contemplate
- to think about intently
- contend
- to compete; to struggle; to argue
- contentious
- quarrelsome; argumentative
- contiguous
- in contact; touching; near; next
- contrivance
- plot
- convene
- to meet; to come together
- conventional
- traditional
- copious
- plentiful; large in quantity
- corpulence
- fatness; obesity
- corpulent
- obese; fat
- corral
- shut within
- counsel
- a lawyer or group of lawyers
- countenance
- to favor; to support; a person's face or expressions
- couplet
- two successive rhyming lines of poetry
- courier
- a messenger
- critic
- one who judges
- cue
- a signal; a hint
- curvature
- a curving; being curved
- dawdle
- to waste time; to loiter
- deadlock
- a standstill between equal and opposed forces; an unbreakable tie
- dearth
- scarcity; insufficiency
- debilitate
- to weaken; to enfeeble
- debris
- bits of rubbish and stone
- debunk
- to discredit
- decade
- a period of ten years
- decay
- to spoil; to go bad; to rot
- deceit
- a lie
- declaim
- to speak in a dramatic way
- decree
- an official order or decision
- deficient
- lacking; incomplete; not enough
- deft
- skillful
- dehydrate
- to remove water from
- deject
- to dishearten; to depress
- delude
- to mislead; to deceive
- deluge
- a great flood
- demote
- to reduce to a lower rank
- deplore
- to express strong disapproval
- desolate
- lifeless; empty
- desolation
- misery; isolation
- despicable
- deserving scorn; contemptible