SAT VOCAB Unit 16-19
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- ebb
-
V. recede; lessen
Mrs. Dalloway sat on the beach and watched the tide ebb. - ebullient
-
ADJ. showing excitement; overflowing with enthusiasm
Her ebullient nature could not be repressed; she was always bubbling over with exuberance. - eccentric
-
ADJ. irregular; odd; whimsical; bizarre
The comet veered dangerously close to the earth in its eccentric orbit. - eclectic
-
ADJ. drawn from disparate sources
His style of interior decoration was eclectic. - ectasy
-
N. rapture; joy; any overpowering emotion
When Allison received her long-hoped-for letter of acceptance from Harvard, she was in ectasy. - effervescence
-
N. inner excitement or exuberance; bubbling from fermentation or carbonation
Nothing depressed Sue from long; her natural effervescence soon reasserted itself. - effrontery
-
N. arrogant boldness
Lady Bracknell was shocked taht Jack, a man of no rank or breeding, had possessed the effrontery to court the daughter of a noble family. - egotistical
-
ADJ. excessively self-centered; self-important; conceited
Typical egotistical remark: "But enough of this chit-chat about you and your little problems. Let's talk about what's really important: "ME"! - egregious
-
ADJ. notorious; gross; shocking
She was an egregious liar; we all knew better than to believe a word she said. - elicit
-
V. draw out; call forth
The camp couselor's humorous remarks finally elicited a smile from the shy new camper. - eloquence
-
N. expressiveness; persuasive speech
The crowds were stirred by Martin Luther King's eloquence. - elucidate
-
V. explain; enlighten
He was called upon to elucidate the disputed points in his article. - elusive
-
ADJ. evasive; baffling; hard to grasp
Trying to pin down exactly when the contractors would be done remodeling the house, Nancy was frustrated by their elusive replies. - emanate
-
V. issue forth
A strong odor of sulfer emanated from the spring. - empathy
-
N. ability to identify with another's feelings, ideas, etc.
What made Ann such a fine counselor was her empathy, her ability to put herself in her client's place and feel his emotions as if they were her own. - empirical
-
ADJ. based on experience
He distrusted hunches and intuitive flashes; he placed his reliance entirely on empirical data. - encumber
-
V. burden
Some people encumber themselves with too much luggage when they go for short trips. - engross
-
V. occupy fully
John was so engrossed in his studies that he did not hear his mother call. - enterprising
-
ADJ. ready to undertake ambitious projects
An enterprising young man, Matt saw business opportunities on every side and was always eager to capitalize them. - entice
-
V. lure; attract; tempt
She always tried to entice her baby brother into mischief. - enumerate
-
V. list; mention one by one
Huck hung his head in shame as Miss Watson enumerated his many flaws. - equivocal
-
ADJ. ambiguous; intentionally misleading
Rejecting the candidate's equivocal comments on tax reform, the reporters pressed him to state clearly where he stood on the issue. - esoteric
-
ADJ. hard to understand; known only to the chosen few
New Yorker short stories often included esoteric allusions to obscure people and events. - estranged
-
ADJ. separated; alienated
The estranged wife sought a divorce. - ethereal
-
ADJ. light; heavenly; unusually refined
In Shakespeare's The Tempest, the spirit Ariel is an ethereal creature, too airy and unearthly for our mortal world. - evenhanded
-
ADJ. impartial; fair
Do men and women receive evenhanded treatment from their teachers, or, as recent studies suggest, do teachers pay more attention to male students than females? - eventuality
-
N. possible occurence
The government instituted new security procedures to prepare of the eventuality of a terrorist attack. - exacting
-
ADJ. extremel demanding
Cleaning the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was an exacting task, one that demanded extremely meticulous care on the part of the restorers. - exculpate
-
V. clear from blame
Though Sid came up with excuse after excuse to exculpate himself, Samantha still blamed him for his conduct. - exonerate
-
V. acquit; exculpate
The defense team feverishly sought fresh evidence that might exonerate its client. - expansive
-
ADJ. outgoing and sociable; able to increase in size
Mr. Fezziwig was in an expansive humor, cheerfully urging his guests to join in the Christmas feast. - expedient
-
ADJ. suitable to achieve a particular end; practical
A pragmatic politician, he was guided by what was expedient rather than by what was ethical. - explicate
-
V. explain; interpret; clarify
Harry Levin explicated James Joyce's often bewildering novels with such clarity that even Finnegan's Wake seemed comprehensible to his students. - exploit
-
N. deed or action, particularly a brave deed
Raoule Wallenberg was noted for his exploits in rescuing Jews from Hitler's forces. - expunge
-
V. wipe out; remove; destroy
If you hit the "Delete" key by mistake, you can accidentally expunge an entire block of text. - expurgate
-
V. clean; remove offensive parts of a book
The editors felt that certain passages in the book had to be expurgated before it could be used in the classroom. - extraneous
-
ADJ. not essential; superfluous
No wonder Ted can't think straight! His mind is so cluttered up with extraneous trivia, he can't concentrate on the essentials. - extrapolate
-
V. infer; project from known data into the unknown; make a conjecture
Based on what they could extrapolate from the results of the primaries on Super Tuesday, the networks predicted that Bob Dole would be the Republican candidate for the presidency. - extricate
-
V. free; disentangle
The fox could not extricate itself from the trap. - facile
-
ADJ. easy; superficial
Words came easily to John: he was a facile speaker and prided himself on being ready to make a speech at a moment's notice. - fallible
-
ADJ. liable to error
I know I am fallible, but I feel confident that I am right this time. - farce
-
N. braod comedy; mockery
Nothing went right; the entire interview degenerated into a farce. - fastidious
-
ADJ. difficult to please; squeamish
Bobby was such a fastidious eater that he would eat a sandwich only if his mother first cut off every scrap of crust. - fawning
-
ADJ. seeking favor by cringing and flattering; obsequious
"Stop crawling around like a bootlicker! I can't stand your sweet talk and fawning ways." - ferment
-
N. agitation; commotion
With the breakup of the Soviet Union, much of Eastern Europe was in a state of ferment. - Fervor
-
N. glowing ardor; intensity of feeling
At the protest rally, the students cheered the strikers and booed the dean with equal fervor. - fester
-
V. provoke keen irritation or resentment
Joe's insult festered in Anne's mind for days, and made her too angry to speak to him. - fetid
-
ADJ. having a foul, disgusting odor
Change the kitty litter in the cat box right now! No selfrespecting cat would use a litter box with such a fetid smell. - fetter
-
V. shackle
The prisoner was fettered to the wall. - fiasco
-
N. total failure
Tanya's attempt to look sophisticated by smoking was a fiasco. - fiery
-
ADJ. easily provoked; passionate; burning
By reputation, redheads have fiery tempers. - finesse
-
N. delicate skill
The finesse and adroitness with which the surgeon wielded her scalpel impressed the observers in the operating theater. - firebrand
-
N. hothead; troublemaker
The police tried to keep track of all the local firebrands when the president came to town. - fissure
-
N. crevice
The mountain climbers secured footholds in tiny fissures in the rock. - fitful
-
ADJ. spasmodic; intermittent
After several fitful attempts, he decided to postpone the start of the project until he felt more energetic. - flippant
-
ADJ. lacking proper seriousness
When Mark told Mona he loved her, she dismissed his earnest declaration with a flippant "Oh, you say that to all the girls!" - flout
-
V. reject; mock
The headstrong youth flouted all authority; he refused to be curbed. - foible
-
N. weakness; slight fault
We can overlook the foibles of our friends; no one is perfect. - foliage
-
N. masses of leaves
Every autumn before the leaves fell he promised himself he would drive through New England to admire the colorful fall foliage. - forbearance
-
N. patience
We must use forbearance in dealing with him because he is still weak from his illness. - foreboding
-
N. premonition of evil
Suspecting no conspiracies against him, Caesar gently riduculed his wife's forebodings about the Ides of March. - forestall
-
V. prevent by taking action in advance
By setting up a prenuptial agreement, the prospective bride and groom hoped to forestall any potential arguments about money in the event of a divorce. - formidable
-
ADJ. inspiring fear or apprehension; difficult; awe-inspiring
In the film Meet the Parents, the hero is understandably nervous about meeting his fiancee's father, a former CIA agent. - forthright
-
ADJ. outspoken; frank
Never aftraid to call a spade a spade, she was perhaps too forthright to be a successful party politician. - fortuitous
-
ADJ. accidental; by chance
Though he pretended their encounter was fortuitous, he'd actually been hanging around her usual haunts for the past two weeks, hoping she'd turn up. - foster
-
V. rear; encourage
According to the legend, Romulus and Remus were fostered by a she-wolf who raised the abandoned infants as her own. - fraudulent
-
ADJ. cheating; deceitful
The government seeks to prevent fraudulent and misleading advertising. - frivolous
-
ADJ. lacking in seriousness; self-indulgently carefree; unimportant
Though Nancy enjoyed Bill's frivolous, lighthearted companionship, she sometimes wondered wheter he could ever be serious. - furtive
-
ADJ. stealthy; sneaky
Noticing the furtive glance the customer gave the diamond bracelet on the counter, the jeweler wondered whether he had a potential shoplifter on his hands. - futile
-
ADJ. useless; hopeless; ineffectual
It is futile for me to try to get any work done around here while the telephone is ringing every thirty seconds. - gale
-
N. windstorm; gust of winds; emotional outburst
The Weather Channel warned viewers about a rising gale. - galvanize
-
V. stimulate by shock; stir up; revitalize
News that the prince was almost at their door galvanized the ugly stepsisters into a frenzy of combing and primping. - garble
-
V. mix up; distort
A favorite party game involves passing a whispered message from one person to another, till, by the time it reaches the last player, everyone has totally garbled the message. - garish
-
ADJ. over-bright in color; gaudy
She wore a gaudy rhinestone necklace with an excessively garish gold lame dress. - garrulous
-
ADJ. loquacious; wordy; talkative
My Uncle Henry can out-talk any three people I know.l He is the most garrulous person in the village.