Sparknotes's 250 Common SAT Vocabulary Words
Terms
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- abjure
- (v) to reject, renounce
- abrogate
- (v) to abolish, usually by authority
- acerbic
- (adj) biting, bitter in tone or taste
- acrimony
- (n) bitterness, discord
- acumen
- (n) keen insight
- adumbrate
- (v) to sketch out in a vague way
- anathema
- (n) a cursed, detested person
- alacrity
- (n) eagerness speed
- antipathy
- (n) a strong dislike, repungnance
- approbation
- (n) praise
- arrogate
- (v) to take without justification
- ascetic
- (adj) practicing restraing as a means of self-discipline, usually religious
- aspersion
- (n) a curse, expression of ill-will
- assiduous
- (adj) hard-working, diligent
- blandish
- (v) to coax by using flattery
- boon
- (n) a gift or blessing
- brusque
- (adj) short, abrupt, dismissive
- buffet
-
(v) to strike with force
(n) an arrangment of food set out on a table - burnish
- (v) to polish, shine
- buttress
-
(v) to support, hold up
(n) something that offers support - cacophony
- (n) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound
- cajole
- (v) to urge, coax
- capricious
- (adj) subject to whim, fickle
- clemency
- (n) mercy
- congent
- (adj) intellectualy convincing
- concomitant
- (adj) accompanying in a subordinate fasion
- conflagration
- (n) great fire
- contrite
- (adj) penitent, eager to be forgiven
- conundrum
- (n) puzzle, problem
- credulity
- (n) readiness to believe
- calumny
- (n) an attempt to spoil someone else's reputation by spreading lies
- cupidity
- (n) greed, strong desire
- cursory
- (adj) brief to the point of being superficial
- decry
- (v) to criticize openly
- defile
- (v) to make unclean, impure
- deleterious
- (adj) harmful
- demure
- )edj) quiet, modest, reserved
- deprecate
- (v) to belittle, depreciate
- deride
- )v_ to laugh at mockingly, scorn
- dececrate
- (v) to violate the sacredness of a thing or place
- desiccated
- (adj) dried up, dehydrated
- diaphanous
- (adj) light, airy, transparant
- diffident
- (adj) shy, quiet, modest
- discursive
- (adj) rambling, lacking order
- dissemble
- (v) to conceal, fake
- dither
- (v) to be indecisive
- ebullient
- (adj) extremely lively, enthusiastic
- effrontery
- (n) impudence, nerve, insolence
- effulgent
- (adj) radiant, splendorous
- ennervate
- (v) to weaken exhaust
- ephemeral
- (adj) short-lived, fleeting
- eschew
- (v) to shun , avoid
- evanescent
- (adj) fleeting, momentary
- evince
- (v) to show, reveal
- exculpate
- (v) to free from guilt or blame, exonerate
- execrable
- (adj) loathsome, detestable
- exigent
- (adj) urgent, critical
- expiate
- (v) to make amends for, atone
- expunge
- (v) to obliterate, eradicate
- extant
- (adj) existing, not destroyed or lost
- extol
- to praise, revere
- fallacious
- (adj) incorrect, misleading
- fastitious
- (adj) meticulous, demanding, having high and often unattainable standards
- fatuous
- (adj) silly, foolish
- fecund
- (adj) fruitful, fertile
- feral
- (adj) wild, savage
- fetid
- (adj) having a foul odor
- florid
- (adj) flowery, ornate
- fractious
- (adj) troublesome or irritable
- garrulous
- (adj) talkative, wordy
- grandiloquence
- lofty, pompous language
- gregarious
- (adj) drawn to the company of others, sociable
- hackneyed
- (adj) unoriginal, trite
- hapless
- (adj) unlucky
- harangeue
-
(n) a ranting speech
(v) to give such a speech - hegemony
- (n) domination over others
- iconoclast
- (n) one who attacks common beliefs or institutions
- ignominious
- (adj) humiliating, disgracing
- impassive
- (adj) stoic, not susceptible to suffering
- imperious
- (adj) commanding, domineering
- impertinent
- (adj) rude, insolent
- impervious
- (adj) impenetrable, incapable of being affected
- impetuous
- (adj) rash; hastily done
- impinge
-
(v) to impact, affect, make an impression
(v) to encroach, infringe - implacable
- (adj) incapable of being appeased or mitigated
- impudent
- (adj) Casually rude, insolent, impertinent
- inchoate
- (adj) unformed or formless, in a beginning stage
- incontrovertible
- (adj) indisputable
- indefatigable
- (adj) incapable of defeat, failure, decay
- ineffable
- (adj) unspeakable, incapable of being expressed through words
- inexorable
- (adj) incapable of being persuaded or placated
- ingenuous
- (adj) not devious; innocent and candid
- inimical
- (adj) hostile
- iniquity
- (n) wickedness or sin
- insiduous
- (adj) appealing bt imperceptibly harmful, seductive
- intransigent
- (adj) refusing to compromise, often on an extreme opinion
- inure
- (v) to cause someone or something to become accustomed to a situation
- invective
- (n) an angry verbal attack
- inveterate
- (adj) subbornly established by habit
- jubilant
- (adj) extremely joyful, happy
- juxtaposition
- (n) the act of placing two things next to each other for implicit comparision
- laconic
- (adj) terse in speech or writing
- languid
- (adj) sluggish from fatique or weakness
- largess
- (n) the gnerous giving of lavish gifts
- latent
- (adj) hidden, but capable of being exposed
- legerdemain
- (n) deception, slight-of-hant
- licentious
- (adj) displaying a lack of moral or legal restraints
- limpid
- (n) clear, transparent
- maelstrom
- (n) a destructive whirlpool which rapidly sucks in objects
- magnanimous
- (adj) nobel, generous
- malediction
- (n) a curse
- malevolent
- (adj) wanting harm to befall others
- manifold
- (adj) diverse, varied
- maudlin
- (adj) weakly sentimental
- mawkish
- characterized by sick sentimentality
- mendacious
- (adj) having a lying, false character
- mercurial
- (adj) characterized by rapid change or temperamentality
- modicum
- (n) a small amount of something
- morass
- (n) a wet, swampy bog; figuratively, something that traps and confuses
- multifarious
- (adj) having great diversity or variety
- munificence
- (n) generosity in giving
- myriad
- (adj) consisting of a very great number
- nadir
- (n) the lowest point of something
- nascent
- (adj) in the process of being born or coming into existence
- nefarious
- (adj) heinously villainous
- neophyte
- (n) someone who is young or inexperienced
- obdurate
- (n) unyeilding to persuasion or moral influences
- obfuscate
- (v) to render incomprehensible
- oblique
- (adj) diverging from a straight line or course
- obsequious
- (adj) excessively compliant or submissive
- obstreperous
- (adj) noisy, unruly
- obtuse
- (adj) lacking quickness of sensibility or intellect
- odious
- (adj) instilling hatred or intense displeasure
- officious
- (adj) offering one's services when they are neither wanted nor needed
- opulent
- (adj) characterized by rich abundance verging on ostentation
- ostensible
- (adj) appearing as supalliatech, seemingly
- palliate
- (v) to reduce the severity of
- pallid
- (adj) lacking color
- panacea
- (n) a remedy for all ills or difficulties
- paragon
- (n) a model of excellence or perfection
- pariah
- (n) an outcast
- parsimony
- (n) frugality, stinginess
- pathos
- (n) an emotion of sympathy
- paucity
- (adj) small in quantity
- pejorative
- (adj) derogatory, uncomplimentary
- pellucid
- (adj) easily intelligible, clear
- penurious
- (adj) miserly, stingy
- perfidious
- disloyal, unfaithful
- perfunctory
- showing little interest or enthusiasm
- pernicious
- (adj) extremely destructive or harmful
- perspicacity
- (adj) shrewdness, perceptiveness
- pertinacious
- (adj)stubbornly persistent
- petulance
- (n) rudeness, irritability
- pithy
- (adj) concisely meaningful
- platitude
- an uninspired remark, cliche
- plethora
- (n) an abundance, excess
- polemic
- (n) an aggressive argument against a specific opinion
- portent
- (n) an omen
- precocious
- (adj) advanced, developing ahead of time
- prescient
- (adj) to have foreknowledge of events
- primeval
- original, ancient
- probity
- (n) virtue, integrity
- proclivity
- (n) a strong inclination toward something
- promulgate
- to proclaim, make known
- propensity
- (n) an inclination, preference
- propitious
- (adj) favorable
- prosaic
- (adj) plain, lacking liveliness
- proscribe
- (v) to condemn, outlaw
- protean
- (adj) able to change shape; displaying great variety
- prurient
- (adj) eliciting or possessing an extraordinary interest in sex
- puerile
- (adj) juvenile, immature
- pugnacious
- (adj) quarrelsome, combative
- pulchritude
- (adj) physical beauty
- punctilious
- (adj) eager to follow rules or conventions
- quagmire
- (n) a difficult situation
- querulous
- (adj) whiny, complaining
- quixotic
- (adj) idealistic, impractical
- rancor
- (n) deep, bitter resentment
- rebuke
- (v) to scold, criticize
- recalcitrant
- (adj) defiant, unapologetic
- rectitude
- (n) uprightness, extreme morality
- replete
- (adj) full, abundant
- reprobate
- (adj) evil, unprincipled
- reprove
- (v) to scold, rebuke
- repudiate
- (v) to reject, refuse to accept
- rescind
- (v) to take back, repeal
- restive
- (adj) resistant, stubborn, impatient
- ribald
- (adj) coarsely, crudely humorous
- rife
- (adj) abundant
- ruse
- (n) a trick
- sacrosanct
- (adj) holy, something that should not be criticized
- sagacity
- (n) shrewdness, souncess of perspective
- salient
- (adj) significant, conspicuous
- sanctimonious
- (adj) giving a hypocritical appearance of piety
- sanguine
- (adj) optimistic, cheery
- scurrilous
- (adj) vulgar, coarse
- serendipity
- (n) luck, finding good things without looking for them
- servile
- (adj) subservient
- solicitous
- (adj) concerned, attentive
- solipsistic
- (adj) believing that oneself is all that exists
- somnolent
- (adj) sleepy, drowsy
- spurious
- (adj) false but designed to seem plausible
- staid
- (adj) sedate, serious, self-restrained
- stolid
- (adj) expressing little sensibility, unemotional
- stupefy
- (v) to astonish, make insensible
- surfeit
- (n) an overabundant supply or indulgence
- surmise
- (v) to infer with little evidence
- surreptitious
- (adj) stealthy
- sycophant
- (n) one who flatters for self-gain
- tacit
- (adj) expressed without words
- taciturn
- (adj) not inclined to talk
- tantamount
- (adj) equivalent in value or significance
- temerity
- (n) audacity, recklessness
- tenuous
- (adj) having little substance or strength
- timorous
- (adj) timid, fearful
- torpid
- (adj) lethargic, dormant, lacking motion
- tractable
- (adj) easily controlled
- tansient
- (adj) passing through briefly; passing into and out of existence
- transmute
- (v) to change or alter in form
- trenchant
- (adj) effective, articulate, clear-cut
- truculent
- (adj) ready to firhgt, cruel
- turgid
- (adj) swollen, excessively embellished in a style or language
- turpitude
- (n) depravity, moral corruption
- ubiquitous
- (adj) existing everywhere, widespread
- umbrage
- (n) resentment, offsense
- unctuous
- (adj) smooth or greasy in texture, appearance, manner
- undulate
- (v) to move in waves
- upbraid
- (v) to criticize or scold severly
- usurp
- (v) to seize by force, take possession of without right
- vacillate
- (v) to fluctuate, hesitate
- vacuous
- (adj) lack of content or ideas, stupid
- vapid
- (adj) lacking liveliness, dull
- variegated
- (adj) diversified, distinctly marked
- venerate
- (v) to regard with respect or to honor
- veracity
- (n) truthfulness, accuracy
- verdant
- (adj) green in tint or color
- vex
- (v) to confuse or annoy
- vicarious
- (adj) experiencing through another
- vicissitude
- (n) event that occurs by chance
- vilify
- (v) to lowever in importance, defame
- viscous
- (adj) not free flowing, syrupy
- vitriolic
- (adj) having caustic quality
- vituperate
- (v) to berate
- wanton
- (adj) undisciplined, lewd, lustful
- winsome
- (adj) charming, pleasing
- wistful
- (adj) full of yearning; musginly sad
- wizened
- (adj) dry, shruken, wrinkled
- zenith
- (n) the highest peak, culminating point
- zephyr
- (n) a gentle breeze