100 Sat Words (1-40)

Front 1

Abate

Back 1

Become less in amount or intensity. (v.)

Make less active or intense. (v.)

Hint 1

Something that abates becomes fewer or less intense. Your enthusiasm for skiing might abate after falling off a ski lift and getting a mouthful of snow

Front 2

Abdicate

Back 2

Give up such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations.

Hint 2

Sometimes someone in power might decide to give up that power and step down from his or her position. When they do that, they abdicate their authority, giving up all duties and perks of the job

Front 3

Aberration

Back 3

A state or condition marked differently from the norm. (n.)

Hint 3

An aberration is something strange that rarely occurs. An example of an aberration is when the temperature hits 90 degrees in January — it's nice and warm, but it's really strange

Front 4

Abstain

Back 4

Choose not to consume (v.)

Refrain from voting (v.)

Hint 4

If you abstain from something, you restrain yourself from consuming it. People usually abstain from things that are considered vices — like drinking alcohol or eating chocolate

Front 5

Adversity

Back 5

A state of misfortune or affliction. (n.)

Hint 5

When circumstances or situations work against you, you face adversity. Refugees from war-torn countries encounter terrible adversity

Front 6

Aesthetic

Back 6

Concerning or characterized by an appreciation of beauty or good taste (adj.)

Hint 6

The adjective aesthetic comes in handy when the subject at hand is beauty or the arts. A velvet painting of dogs playing poker might have minimal aesthetic appeal

Front 7

Amicable

Back 7

Characterized by friendship and goodwill (adj.)

Hint 7

The adjective amicable means "friendly" — but in particular, use it when describing relations one might otherwise expect to be unfriendly. The end of a romantic relationship that's less than amicable might involve broken dishes or broken bones

Front 8

Anachronistic

Back 8

Chronologically misplaced (adj.)

Hint 8

Something that's old-fashioned and maybe a little out of place is anachronistic, like a clunky black rotary-dial telephone sitting on a desk beside a sleek new smart-phone (or whatever the new technology when you read this).

Front 9

Arid

Back 9

Lacking sufficient water or rainfall (adj.)

Hint 9

Arid is so dry that nothing will grow. Death Valley in California features an arid climate, which is why it's called Death Valley and not Life Valley.

Front 10

Asylum

Back 10

A shelter from danger or hardship (n.)

Hint 10

Any mom taking care of the kids day in and day out is probably more than ready to seek asylum, or refuge, at a local spa.

Front 11

Benevolent

Back 11

Showing or motivated by sympathy and understanding and generosity (adj.)

Intending or showing kindness (adj.)

Hint 11

Choose the adjective benevolent for someone who does good deeds or shows goodwill. If your teacher collects homework with a benevolent smile, she's hoping that you've done a good job

Front 12

Bias

Back 12

a partiality that prevents objective consideration of an issue or situation (n.) (v.)

Hint 12

Use the noun bias to mean a preference for one thing over another, especially an unfair one

Front 13

Boisterous

Back 13

Noisy and lacking in restraint and discipline (adj.)

Hint 13

Boisterous is a word used to describe someone spirited, loud, and slightly out of control — like someone with a spring in their step and a song in their heart singing to strangers on the street

Front 14

Brazen

Back 14

unrestrained by convention or propriety (adj.) (v.)

Hint 14

With brazen disregard for the sign that said "no cellphones please" the woman took a long call in the doctor's office waiting room. Brazen refers to something shocking, done shamelessly

Front 15

Brusque

Back 15

marked by rude or peremptory shortness (adj.)

Hint 15

If you ask a salesperson with help finding something and all you get in response is a brusque "Everything's out on the shelves," you'll probably take your business elsewhere. A brusque manner of speaking is unfriendly, rude, and very brief

Front 16

Canny

Back 16

Showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others (adj.)

Hint 16

If you're a canny investor, you know how to spend money to make money — that is, you're prudent, farsighted, and capable of protecting your own interests, particularly in matters of finance or business.

Front 17

Capacious

Back 17

Large in capacity (adj.)

Hint 17

When something is really big and holds a lot it is capacious, like a woman's capacious purse that is so big, people mistake it for a piece of luggage

Front 18

Capitulate

Back 18

Surrender under agreed conditions (v.)

Hint 18

Capitulate means to give in to something. "The teachers didn't want to have class outside, but the students begged so hard, she capitulated

Front 19

Clairvoyant

Back 19

Someone who has the power of clairvoyance (n.)

Foreseeing the future (adj.)

Hint 19

If you can predict the future, you may want to keep your clairvoyant powers to yourself. Otherwise everyone will be knocking down your door asking for the next winning lotto numbers

Front 20

Collaborate

Back 20

Work together on a common enterprise of project (v.)

Hint 20

When you work together on shared goal, you collaborate. If you don't just split a project up evenly but work together on creating solutions, you collaborate

Front 21

Compassion

Back 21

A deep awareness of and sympathy for another's suffering (n.)

Hint 21

If someone shows kindness, caring, and a willingness to help others, they're showing compassion

Front 22

Compromise

Back 22

An accommodation in which both sides make concessions (n.) (v.)

Expose or make liable to danger, suspicion or disrepute (v.)

Hint 22

A compromise is a way of settling differences by everybody making concessions. If you want to stay out until 10 and your friend wants to stay out until midnight, 11 is a good compromise

Front 23

Conditional

Back 23

Imposing or depending on or containing a condition (adj.)

Hint 23

Something conditional is dependent on other factors. You might receive a conditional offer of acceptance from a college, depending on your high school graduation and your maintaining passing grades

Front 24

Condescending

Back 24

(used of behavior or attitude) characteristic of those who treat others with condescension (adj.)

Hint 24

If you are being condescending, you are looking down on someone. A 10-year-old who says to his sibling, "What do you know? You're only a 6-year-old!" is being condescending

Front 25

Conformist

Back 25

someone who conforms to established standards of conduct (especially in religious matters) (n.)

Hint 25

A conformist is a person who follows traditional standards of conduct. If you're a conformist, it's unlikely you'll join a revolution to overthrow your government; instead you'll argue that it's best to keep things the way they are

Front 26

Conundrum

Back 26

difficult problem (n.)

Hint 26

The tricky word conundrum is used to describe a riddle or puzzle, sometimes including a play on words or pun

Front 27

Convergence

Back 27

The act of converging (coming closer) (n.)

Hint 27

Convergence is when two or more things come together to form a new whole, like the convergence of plum and apricot genes in the plucot

Front 28

Deleterious

Back 28

Harmful to living things (adj.)

Hint 28

If something is deleterious, it does harm or makes things worse. Smoking has obvious deleterious effects on your health, not to mention your social life

Front 29

Demagogue

Back 29

a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular passions and prejudices (n.)

Hint 29

A demagogue is someone who becomes a leader largely because of skills as a speaker or who appeals to emotions and prejudices

Front 30

Digression

Back 30

A turning aside (of your course or attention or concern) (n.)

Hint 30

When your essay about French cooking starts describing a childhood trip to Disneyland, it's taken a digression — it's strayed from the main topic

Front 31

Diligent

Back 31

Quietly and steadily persevering especially in detail of exactness (adj.)

Hint 31

Someone who is diligent works hard and carefully. If you want to write the epic history of your family, you'll have to be very diligent in tracking down and interviewing all of your relatives

Front 32

Discredit

Back 32

The state of being held in low esteem (n.)

Damage the reputation of (v.)

Hint 32

Discredit means to cause mistrust or cast the accuracy of something into doubt. If you say that schooling is important to you, but you never study, your actions discredit you and your words

Front 33

Disdain

Back 33

Lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike

Hint 33

If you feel that something isn't worthy of your consideration, you may disdain it (or treat it with disdain)

Front 34

Divergent

Back 34

Tending to move apart in different directions (adj.)

Hint 34

Something divergent is moving away from what is expected. Two divergent paths are moving in opposite directions — away from each other

Front 35

Empathy

Back 35

Understanding and entering into another's feelings (n.)

Hint 35

Use empathy if you're looking for a noun meaning "the ability to identify with another's feelings."

Front 36

Emulate

Back 36

Strive to equal or match by imitating (v.)

Hint 36

When you emulate someone, you imitate them, especially with the idea of matching their success

Front 37

Enervating

Back 37

Causing weakness or debilitation (adj.)

Hint 37

What do standing out in the cold rain, a pile of homework, and an emotional breakdown all have in common? They're enervating: in other words, they completely drain you of physical and emotional energy

Front 38

Ephemeral

Back 38

anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form (n.)

Lasting a very short time (adj.)

Hint 38

Something that is fleeting or short-lived is ephemeral, like a fly that lives for one day or text messages flitting from cellphone to cellphone

Front 39

evanescent

Back 39

tending to vanish like vapor (adj.)

Hint 39

A beautiful sunset, a rainbow, a wonderful dream right before your alarm clock goes off — all of these could be described asevanescent, which means “fleeting” or “temporary.”

Front 40

exemplary

Back 40

worthy of imitation (adj.)

being or serving as an illustration of a type (adj.)

Hint 40

Exemplary people excel at what they do and are excellent examples to others. Somethingexemplary is so good that it is an example for others to follow.

Front 41

Camaraderie

Back 41

The quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability (n.)

Hint 41

Camaraderie is a spirit of good friendship and loyalty among members of a group. You might not like your job, but still enjoy the camaraderie of the people you work with