Hot Sat Words: Lessons 1-5

Front 1

brevity

Back 1

n. briefness or conciseness in speech or writing. For the sake of_________, choose your words with care.

Front 2

concise

Back 2

adj. using few words in speaking or writing. A _________ explanation is preferable to a long-winded one.

Front 3

laconic

Back 3

adj. using few words in speech. Because Bush's _________ reply lacked specificity, it raised more questions than it answered.

Front 4

pithy

Back 4

adj. brief and full of meaning and substance. For the yearbook, Jenny searched through Bartlett's for a _________ quotation about courage.

Front 5

quiescent

Back 5

adj. quiet; still; inactive. Mount St. Helens has been _________ since its last eruption in 1986.

Front 6

reticent

Back 6

adj. not talking much; reserved. Usually _________ , Ms. Worthy surprised us all with a long story at lunch.

Front 7

succinct

Back 7

adj. clearly and briefly stated. Mr. Phillips asked us to write a _________ summary of our term papers.

Front 8

taciturn

Back 8

adj. silent; sparing of words; close-mouthed. Next to me on the bus sat a _________ girl who said nothing during the four-hour ride.

Front 9

terse

Back 9

adj. using only the words that are needed to make the point; very concise, sometimes to the point of rudeness. Mia wanted details about Joyce's new boyfriend, but got only a _________ description.

Front 10

bombastic

Back 10

adj. using language in a pompous, showy way; speaking to impress others. Luke's speech was so _________ ; was he speaking to communicate or simply to show off?

Front 11

circumlocution

Back 11

n. speaking in circles; roundabout speech. To avoid hurting anyone's feelings, Hank resorted to _________ .

Front 12

colloquial

Back 12

adj. pertaining to common everyday speech; conversational. The book is filled with _________ expressions that reflect the speech of people in the deep South.

Front 13

diffuse

Back 13

adj. spread out, not concise; wordy. The class discussion was so _________ that few solid points were made.

Front 14

digress

Back 14

vb. to wander off from the subject or topic spoken about. We don't have time to _________ from the main issue right now.

Front 15

eloquence

Back 15

n. artful ease with speaking; speech that can influence people's feelings. Even the most _________ graduation speeches are quickly forgotten.

Front 16

garrulous

Back 16

adj. talkative; loquacious. _________ gatherings of students are unwelcome in a library that values silence.

Front 17

grandiloquent

Back 17

adj. using big and fancy words when speaking for the purpose of impressing others. "Instead of _________ ," cautioned the teacher, "use plain language."

Front 18

loquacious

Back 18

adj. very talkative; liking to talk; garrulous. The _________ audience grew quiet when the movie started.

Front 19

prattle

Back 19

vb. to speak on and on in a senseless and silly manner; to talk foolishly. The _________ of freshmen resounded through the cafeteria.

Front 20

ramble

Back 20

vb. to talk on and on pointlessly, without clear direction. _________ on and on, Harold lost his audience's attention; his listeners had no idea what he was talking about.

Front 21

rant

Back 21

vb. to talk very loudly, even wildly; rave. Because the speaker _________ on and on, the audience stopped listening after a while.

Front 22

rhetorical

Back 22

adj. relating to speech that is used to persuade or have some effect; insincere in expression. The speech of politicians is often thick with _________ .

Front 23

verbose

Back 23

adj. using too many words; wordy; long-winded . The teacher asked Brenda to cut her _________ speech from 40 to 15 minutes.

Front 24

voluble

Back 24

adj. talking a great deal with ease; glib. Victor is such a _________ speaker that it takes him a half hour to answer a simple question.

Front 25

arrogant

Back 25

adj. overbearing; proud; haughty

Front 26

braggart

Back 26

n. one who boasts a great deal

Front 27

complacent

Back 27

adj. self-satisfied; smug

Front 28

contemptuous

Back 28

adj. lacking respect; scornful

Front 29

disdainful

Back 29

adj. full of bitter scorn and pride; aloof

Front 30

egotistical

Back 30

adj. excessively self-absorbed; very conceited

Front 31

haughty

Back 31

adj. having great pride in oneself and dislike for others

Front 32

insolent

Back 32

adj. boldly disrespectful in speech or behavior; rude

Front 33

narcissistic

Back 33

adj. having to do with extreme self-adoration and a feeling of superiority to everyone

Front 34

ostentatious

Back 34

adj. having to do with showing off; pretentious

Front 35

presumptuous

Back 35

adj. too forward or bold; overstepping proper bounds

Front 36

pretentious

Back 36

adj. claiming or pretending increased importance; ostentatious

Front 37

supercilious

Back 37

adj. looking down on others; proud and scornful

Front 38

swagger

Back 38

vb. to walk around in a proud, showy manner; to boast in a loud manner

Front 39

banal

Back 39

adj. dull or stale because of overuse; trite; hackneyed. To wake up and realize your adventure was all a dream is a ______ ending for a short story.

Front 40

cliché

Back 40

n. an idea or expression that has become stale due to overuse. "I'm so hungry I could eat a rhinoceros," gives an original twist to an old _____.

Front 41

derivative

Back 41

adj. unoriginal; taken from something already existing. "Write an original sci-fi story," instructed Mr. Schirmer, "not ________fiction drawn from 2001: A Space Odyssey or The Time Machine."

Front 42

hackneyed

Back 42

adj. made commonplace by overuse; trite (n. hack, one who copies or imitates the work of others). Miss Cole, our poetry teacher, said, "Because poets aim to create new insights, they shun ___________ language."

Front 43

insipid

Back 43

adj. lacking flavor or taste; unexciting. The conversation at dinner was so ______ that Monica fell asleep at the table.

Front 44

lackluster

Back 44

adj. lacking vitality, energy, or brightness; boring . Laura's _______ grades may prevent her from going to a top college.

Front 45

mundane

Back 45

adj. commonplace; ordinary. In contrast to the new and unusual, the _______ happenings of everyday existence are pretty dull.

Front 46

platitude

Back 46

n. quality of being dull; an obvious remark uttered as if it were original. How Rick's poem won an award for originality boggles my mind, since it consists of nothing but ___________.

Front 47

prosaic

Back 47

adj. dull; commonplace. The novel Mr. and Mrs. Bridge is an indictment of an ordinary American couple who lead the dullest, most __________ life imaginable.

Front 48

trite

Back 48

adj. unoriginal and stale due to overuse. Because my essay was filled with clichés, Mr. Gill red-penciled "_________" all over it.

Front 49

vapid

Back 49

adj. lacking freshness and zest; flat; stale. Behind every uninspiring, _________TV sitcom, you'll find an empty-headed producer, director, and screenwriter.

Front 50

allay

Back 50

vb. to lessen fear; to calm; to relieve pain. An SAT prep course can _____the anxiety of some students, but can heighten tension for others.

Front 51

alleviate

Back 51

vb. to lessen pain or discomfort. Grandma takes pills to _____her arthritic pain.

Front 52

ameliorate

Back 52

vb. to make better; to lessen pain, difficulty, or tension. Marv takes time every day to _______the stress of school and work; he takes walks, jogs, gets a massage, or listens to the Grateful Dead.

Front 53

appease

Back 53

vb. to make tranquil or quiet, especially by giving into another's demands. Albert comes to French class late most days. Yesterday he he tried to _____ his teacher by bringing her a burrito and a soda.

Front 54

assuage

Back 54

vb. to alleviate; to lessen pain or conflict; pacify. If you bake yourself in the sun, try aloe vera gel to ________the pain of sunburn.

Front 55

conciliate (conciliatory)

Back 55

vb. to win a person over through special considerations or persuasive methods; reconcile. Hoping to end the argument, Judd offered a _________handshake to his adversary.

Front 56

mediate

Back 56

vb. to act as a go-between in settling conflicts or disputes between people or opposing sides. Hal is impartial. That is why he's a good man to ______between the two gangs.

Front 57

mitigate

Back 57

vb. to make or become less severe; to lessen pain or damage. To _____the pain in her sore throat, Ellie drank a cup of mint tea with honey.

Front 58

mollify

Back 58

vb. to pacify, soothe, or appease; to make less severe or violent. Not even the offer of a free ticket could _______Greg's anger after the airline lost his suitcase.

Front 59

pacify

Back 59

vb. to calm; to make peaceful; to restore to a tranquil state. After wrecking the family car, Maura tried to _________her parents with a bouquet of daisies.

Front 60

placate

Back 60

vb. to make calm; to soothe. What can be done to ______impatient drivers caught in a traffic jam?

Front 61

quell

Back 61

vb. to subdue; to quiet down. Having been tipped off, the police managed to ___the disturbance.