SAT VOCAB Unit 1-10

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Terms

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accolate: N. award of merit
In the world of public relations, a "Clio" is the highest accolate an advertising campaign can receive.
affix: V. add on; fasten; attach
First the registrar had to affix her signature to the license; then she had to affix her official seal.
aloft: ADV. upward
The salor climbed aloft into the rigging.
altruistic: ADJ. unselfishly generous; concerned for others
The star received no fee for appearing at the benefit; it was purely altruistic act.
ancillary: ADJ. serving as an aid or accessory; auxiliary
In an ancillary capacity Doctor Watson was helpful.
anticlimax: N. letdown in thought or emotion
After the fine performance in the first act, the rest of the play was an anticlimax.
antipathy: N. aversion; dislike
Tom's extreme antipathy for disputes keeps him from getting into arguments with his temperamental wife.
aplomb: N. poise; assurance
Gwen's aplomb in handling potentially embarrassing moments was legendary around the office.
apocryphal: ADJ. untrue; made up
To impress his friends, Tom invented apocryphal tales of his adventures in the big city.
append: V. attach
I shall append this chart to my report.
appropriate: V. acquire; take possession of for one's own use; set aside for a special purpose
The ranchers appropriated lands that had originally been intended for Indian use.
aria: N. operatic solo
At her Metropolitan Opera audition, Marian Anderson san an aria from the opera Norma.
ascendancy: N. controlling influence
President Marcos failed to maintain his ascendancy over the Philippines.
assail: V. assualt
He was assailed with questions after his lecture.
assuage: V. ease or lessen (pain)
Jilted by Jane, Dick tried to assuage his heartache by indulging in ice cream.
astute: ADJ. wise; shrewd; keen
As tutor, she made astute observations about how to take multiple-choice tests.
attribute: N. essential quality
His outstanding attribute was his kindness.
avarice: N. greediness for wealth
King Midas is a perfect example of avarice, for he was so greedy that he wished everthing he touched would turn to gold.
avert: V. prevent; turn aside
"Watch out!" she cried, hoping to avert an accident.
babble: V. chatter idly
The little girl babbled about her dolls and pets.
balk: V. foil or thwart; stop short; refuse to go on
When the warden learned that several inmates were planning to escape, he took steps to balk their attempt.
bane: N. cause of ruin; curse
Lucy's little brother was the bane of her existence.
begrudge: V. resent
I begrudge every minute I have to sepnd attending meetings; they're a complete waste of time.
beguile: V. mislead or delude; cheat; pass time
With flattery and big talk of easy money, the con men beguiled Kyle into betting his allowance on the shell game.
belie: V. contradict; give a false impression of
His coarse, hard-bitten exterior belied his underlying sensitivity.
bland: ADJ. soothing; mild; dull
Unless you want your stomach lining to be eaten away, stick to a bland diet.
blandishment: N. flattery
Despite the salesperson's blahdishments, the customer did not buy the outfit.
blare: N. loud, harsh roar; screech
I don't know which is worse: the steady blare of a teenager's boom box deafening your ears or a sudden blaze of flashbulbs dazzling your eyes.
blithe: ADJ. gay, joyous; carefree
Without a care in the world, Beth went her blithe, light-hearted way.
boisterous: ADJ. rough and noisy; rowdy; stormy
The unruly crowd of demonstrators became even more boisterous when the mayor tried to quiet them.
boon: N. blessing; benefit
The recent rains that filled our empty reservoirs were a bbon to the whole community.
bountiful: ADJ. abundant; graciously generous
THanks to the good harvest, we had a bountiful supply of food and we could be as bountiful as we liked in distributing food to the needy.
brandish: V. wave around; flourish
Alarmed, Doctor Watson widly brandished his gun until Holmes told him to put the thing away before he shot himself.
brine: N. salt water; seawater
If you pack a peck of peppers in brine, waht do you get?
brusque: ADJ. blunt; abrupt
Jill was offended by Jack's brusque reply; he had no right to be so impatient with her.
bungle: V. mismanage; blunder
Don't botch this assignment; if you bungle the job, you're fired!
burgeon: V. bloom; develop rapidly; flourish
From its start as a small Seattle coffeehouse, Starbucks seemed to burgeon almost overnight into a major national chain.
bustle: V. move about energetically; teem
David and the children bustled about hte house getting in each other's way as they tried to pack for the camping trip.
buttress: V. support or prop up
The government is considering price supports to buttress the declining economy.
camaraderie: N. good-fellowship
What Giinger loved best about her job was the sense of camaraderie she and her co-workers shared.
candor: N. frankness; open honesty
Jack can carry candor too far: when he told Jill his honest opinion of her, she nearly slapped his face.
canine: ADJ. related to dogs; dog-like
Some days the canine population of Berkeley seems almost to outnumber the human population.
cant: N. insincere, hypocritical speech
Shocked by news of the minister's extramarital lovve affairs, the worshippers dismissed his talk about the sacredness of marriage as mere cant.
capricious: ADJ. unpredictable; fickle
The storm was capricious: it changed course constantly.
caricature: N. distortion; burlesque
The caricatures he drew always emphasized a personal weakness of the people he burlesqued.
castigation: V. punishment, severe criticism
Sensitive to even mild criticism, Virginia Woolf could not bear the castigation that she met in certain reviews.
catacomb: N. subterranean cemetery; underground passway
Londoners refer to their catacomb-like subway system as the Underground.
censure: V. blame, criticize
Though I don't blame Tony for leaving Tina, I do censure him for failing to pay child support.
cessation: N. stopping
The airline workers threatened a cessation of all work if management fialed to meet their demands.
chaff: N. left overs; worthless
When you separate the wheat from the chaff, be sure you throw out the chaff.
chagrin: N. vexation caused by humiliation; disappointment
Embarrassed by his parents' shabby appearance, he felt their visit to his school would bring him nothing but chargrin.
charlatan: N. quack; pretender to knowledge
WHen they realized that Wizard didn't know how to get them back to Kansas, Dorothy and her friends were sure they'd been duped by his charlatan.
chary: ADJ. cautious; sparing or restrained about giving
A prudent, thrifty, New Englander, DeWitt was as chary of paying people unnecessary compliments.
chasm: N. opening; abyss
They could not see the bottom of the chasm.
chastise: V. punish physically; scold verbally
"Spare the rod and spoil the child," Miss Watson said, grabbing her birch wand and preceeding to chastise poor Huck thoroughly.
chauvinist: N. blindly devoted patriot
Chauvinists cannot recognize any faults in their country, no matter how flagrant they may be.
chicanery: N. trickery; deception
Those sneaky lawyers misrepresented what occurred, made up all sorts of implausible alternative scenarios to confuse the jurors, andi n general depended on chicanery to win the case.
circumscribe: V. limit; confine
Although I do not wish to circumscribe your activities, I must insist that you complete this assignment before you start anything else.
clairvoyant: ADJ., N. having foresight; fortune-teller
Cassandra's clairvoyant warning was not heeded by the Trojans.
clemency: N. disposition to be lenient; mildness, as of the weather
THe lawyer was pleased when the case was sent to Judge Smith's chambers because Smith was noted for her clemency toward first offenders.
clique: N. small exclusive group
Fitzgerald wished that he belonged to the clique of popular athletes and big men on campus who seemed to run Princeton's social life.
cogitate: V. think over
Cogitate on this problem; the solution will come.
collusion: N. conspiring in a fraudulent scheme
The swindlers were found guilty of collusion.
comely: ADJ. attractive; agreeable
I would rather have a poor but comely wife than a rich and homely one.
commiserate: V. feel or express pity or sympathy for
Her friends commiserated with the widow.
complacent: ADJ. self-satisfied; smug
Feeling complacent about his latest victories, he looked smugly at the row of trophies on his mantelpiece.
composure: N. mental calmness
Even the latest work crisis failed to shake her composure.
concerted: ADJ. mutually agreed on; done together
All the Girl Scouts made a concerted effort to raise funds for their annual outing.
concoct: V. prepare by combining; make up in concert
How did the inventive chef ever concoct such a strange dish?
condescend: V. act conscious of descending to a lower level
Though Jill was a star softball player in college, she condescended to her teammates when she played a pickup game at the local park.
conflagration: N. great fire
In the conflagration that followed the 1906 earthquake, much of San Francisco burned to the ground.
connotation: N. suggested or implied meaning of an expression
Foreigners frequently are unaware of the connotations of the words they use.
consequence: N. self-importance; pomposity
Convinced of his own importance, the actor struttled about hte dressing room with air of consequence.
console: V. lessen sadness or disappointment; give comfort
When her father died, Marius did his best to console Cosette.
conspicuous: ADJ. easily seen; noticeable
Janet was conspicuous both for her red hair and for her height.
constituent: N. part working for a whole
THe congressman received hundreds of letters from angry constituents after the Equal Rights Amendment failed to pass.
contagion: N. infection
Fearing contagion, the health authorities took reat steps to prevent the spread of the disease.
contention: N. claim; thesis
It is our contention that, if you follow our tactics, you will boost your score on the PSAT.

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Number of cards 78