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SAT VOCAB Unit 11-15

Terms

undefined, object
copy deck
contentious
ADJ. quarrelsome
Disagreeing violently with the referees' ruling, the coach became so contentious that they threw him out of the game.
contigent (ADJ)
ADJ. depend on; conditional
Cher's father informed her that any raise in her allowance was contigent on the quality of her final grades.
contigent (N)
N. group that makes up part of a gathering
The New York contigent of delegates at the Democratic National Convention was a boisterous, sometimes rowdy lot.
contortion
N. twisting; distortion
Watching the contortions of the gymnast as he twisted and heaved his body from one side to the other of the pommel horse, we were awed by his strength and flexibility.
contrite
ADJ. penitent; feeling regretful
Her contrite tears did not influence the judge when he imposed sentences.
converge
V. approach; tend to meet; come together
African-Ameriacan men from all over the United States converged on Washington to take part in the historic Million Man march.
corroborate
V. confirm; support
Though Huck was quite willing to corroborate Tom's story, Aunt Pollly knew better than to believe either of them.
cosmopolitan
ADJ. sophisticated
Her years in teh capital had transformed her into a cosmopolitan young woman highly aware of international affairs.
countenance
V. approve; tolerate
He refused to countenance such rude behavior on their part.
covert
ADJ. secret; hidden; implied
Investigations of the CIA and other secret service networks reveal that such covert operations can get out of control.
covetous
ADJ. avaricious; eagerly desirous of
The child was covetous by nature and wanted to take the toys belonging to his classmates.
cower
V. shrink quivering
The frightened child cowered in the corner of the room.
crass
ADJ. very unrefined; grossly insensible
The film critic deplored the crass commercialism of movie makers who abandon artistic standards in order to make a quick buck.
cryptic
ADJ. mysterious; hidden; secret
Thoroughly baffled by Holmes's cryptic remarks, Watson wondered whether Holmes was intentionally concealing his thoughts about the crime.
culinary
ADJ. relating to cooking
Many chefs attributed their culinary skill to the wise use of spices.
cull
V. pick out; reject
Every month the farmer culls the nonlaying hens from his flock and sells them to the local butcher.
culmination
N. attainment of highest point
Her inauguration as President of the United States marked the culmination of her political career.
culpable
ADJ. deserving blame
Corrupt politicians who condone the illegal activities of gamblers are equally culpable.
cursory
ADJ. casual; hastily done
Because a cursory examination of the ruins indicates the possibility of arson, we believe the insurance agency should undertake a more extensive investigation of the fire's cause.
dabble
V. work at in a non-serious fashion
The amateur painter dabbled at art, but seldom produced a finished piece.
dwadle
V. loister; waste time
At the mall, Mother grew impatient with Jo and Amy because they tended to dawdle as they went from store to store.
dearth
N. scarcity
The dearth of skilled labor compelled the emplyers to open trade schools.
decadence
N. decay or decline, especially moral; self-indulgence
We named our best-selling ice cream flavor "chocolate decadence" because only truly self-indulgent people would treat themselves to something so calorific and cholesterol-laden.
decorous
ADJ. proper
Prudence's decorous behavior was praised by her teachers, who wished they had a classroom full of such polite and proper little girls.
decoy
N. lure or bait.
The wild ducks were not fooled by the decoy.
decry
V. express strong disapproval of; disparage
The founder of the Children's Defence Fund, Marian Wright Edelman, strongly decries the lack of financial and moral support for children in America today.
deface
V. mar; difigure
If you deface a library a book, you will have to pay a hefty fine.
defamation
N. harming a person's reputation
Defamation of character may result in a slander suit.
defeatist
ADJ. attitude of one who is ready to accept defeat as a natural outcome
If you maintain your defeatist attitude, you will never succeed.
deference
N. courteous regard for another's wish
In deference to the minister's request, please do not take photographs during the wedding service.
defrock
V. strip a priest or minister of church authority
We knew the minister had violated church regulations, but we had not realized his offense was serious enough for people to seek to defrock him.
defunct
ADJ. dead; no longer in use or existence
The lawyers sought to examine the books of the defunct corporation.
deign
V. condescend; stoop
The celebrated fashion designer would not deign to speak to a mere seamstress.
deleterious
ADJ. harmful
If you believe taht smoking is deleterious to your health, then quit!
delirium
N. mental disorder marked by confusion
In his delirium, the drunkard saw pink panthers and talking pigs.
delusion
N. false belief; hallucination
Don suffers from delusions of grandeur: he thinks he is a famous author when he's published just one paperback book.
demolish
V. destroy; tear down
Before building a new hotel along the waterfront, the construction company had to demolish several rundown warehouses on that site.
demur
V. object; hesitate
When offered a post on the board of directors, David demurred.
demure
ADJ. grave; serious; coy
She was demure and reserved, a nice modest girl whom any young man would be proud to take home to his mother.
deplore
V. regret strongly; express grief over
Although Ann Landers deplored the disintegration of the modern family, she recognized that not every marriage could be saved.
depreciate
V. lessen in value
If you neglect this property, it will depreciate.
derelict
ADJ. abandoned; negligent
Whoever abandoned the boat was derelict in living up to his or her responsibilities as a boat owner.
derision
N. riducule; mockery
Greeting his pretentious dialogues with derision, the critics refused to consider his play seriously.
despondent
ADJ. depressed; gloomy
To the dismay of his parentsm William became so seriously despondent after he broke up with Jan that they despaired of finding a cure for his gloom.
desultory
ADJ. aimless; haphazard; digressing at random
In prison Malcolm X set himself the task of reading straight through the dictionary; to him, reading was purposeful, not desultory.
deterrent
N. something that discourages; hinderance
Does the threat of capital punishment serve as a deterrent to potential killers?
dexterous
ADJ. skillful
The magician was so dexterous that we could not follow him as he performed his tricks.
dichtomy
N. split; branching into two parts
Willie didn't know how to resolve the dichotomy between his ambition to go to college and his childhood longing to run away to join the circus.
diehard
N. unyielding opponent
Even the popular new president could not win support for his universal health care plan from the diehards in his party.
diffident
ADJ. shy; lacking confidence; reserved
Can a naturally diffident person become a fast-talking, successful used car salesman?
diffuse
ADJ. wordy; rambling
If you pay authors by the word, you tempt them to produce diffuse manuscripts rather than brief ones.
digression
N. wandering away from the subject
Nobody minded when Professor Renoir's lectures wandered away from their official them; his digressions were always more interesting than the topic of the day.
dilettante
N. amateur; dabbler
He was not serious in his painting; he was rather a dilettante.
din
N. continued loud noise
The din of the jackhammers outside teh classroom window drowned out the lecturer's voice.
dirge
N. lament with music
The funeral dirge stirred us to tears.
disavowal
N. denial; disclaiming
His disavowal of his part in the conspiracy was not believed by the jury.
disclaimer
N. denial of a legal claim or right
Reporter Joe Kleing issued a disclaimer stating that he was not the author of the book.
disconcert
V. confuse; upset; embarrass
The lawyer was disconcerted by the evidence produced by her adversary.
discursive
ADJ. disgressing; rambling
As the lecturer wandered from topic to topic, we wondered what if any point there was to his discursive remarks.
disembark
V. go ashore; unload cargo from a ship
Before the passengers could disembark, they had to pick up their passports from the ship's purser.
disparate
ADJ. basically different; unrelated
Unfortunately, Tony and Tina have disparate notions of marriage.
dispassionate
ADJ. calm; impartial
Known in the company for his cool judgment, Bill could impartially examine the causes of a problem, giving a dispassionate analsis of what had gone wrong, and go on to suggest how to correct the mess.
dispatch
N. speediness
Young Napoleon defeated the enemy with all possible dispatch.
disputatious
ADJ. argumentative
Convinced he knew more than his lawyers, Tom was a disputatious client, ready to argue about the best way to conduct the case.
dissemble
V. disguise
Even though John tried to dissemble his motive for taking modern dance, we all knew he was there not to dance but to meet girls.
disseminate
V. distribute; scatter
By their use of the Internet, propagandists have been able to disseminate their pet doctrines to new audiences around the globe.
dissertation
N. formal essay
In order to earn a graduate degree from many of our universities, a candidate is frequently required to prepare a dissertation on some scholarly subject.
dissipate
V. squander; waste; scatter
He is a fine artist but we fear he may be dissipate his gifts if he keeps wasting his time doodling on napkins.
dissuade
V. persuade not to do; discourage
Since Tom could not dissade Huck from running away from home, he decided to run away with him.
divulge
V. reveal
No lover of gossip, Charlotte would never divulge anything that a friend told her in confidence.
docile
ADJ. obedient; easily managed
As docile as he seems today, that old lion was once a ferocious, snarling beast.
dogmatic
ADJ. opinionated; arbitrary
We tried to discourage Doug from being so dogmatic, but never could convince him that his opinions might be wrong.
downcast
ADJ. disheartened; sad
Cheerful and optimistic by nature, Beth was never downcast despite the difficulties she faced.
dregs
N. sediment; worthless residue
David poured the wine carefully to avoid stirring up the dregs.
dross
N. waste matter; worthless impurities
Many methods have been devised to separate the valuable metal from the dross.
duplicity
N. double-dealing; hypocrisy
When Tanya learned that Mark had been two-timing her, she was furious at his duplicity.

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