Psat Vocab

Front 1

Abrogate

Back 1

repeal

So why is Washington seeking to abrogate the ABM Treaty, to push ahead with its anti-ballistic missile Star Wars programme?

Front 2

Acerbic

Back 2

bitter

At times, the playwright allows an acerbic tone to pierce through otherwise arid or flowery prose

Front 3

Acumen

Back 3

mental sharpness

Mysteries...which no political sagacity or critical acumen could have divined.

Front 4

Ameliorate

Back 4

to improve

Wine ameliorates by age

Front 5

ancillary

Back 5

subordinate, assistant

The Convocation of York seems to have been always considered as inferior, and even ancillary, to the greater province

Front 6

apostate

Back 6

one who deserts his principles/faith

So spake the apostate angel.

Front 7

apotheosis

Back 7

paragon

Their leader was the apotheosis of courage.

Front 8

ascetic

Back 8

practicing self-denial, especially for religion

Modern race drivers are, by comparison, an ascetic bunch, largely non-drinkers, definitely non-smokers, who trot off dutifully to bed when they are told.

Front 9

assiduous

Back 9

diligent

an assiduous worker who strove for perfection

Front 10

augury

Back 10

good omen


From their flight strange auguries she drew

Front 11

auspices

Back 11

protection

under the auspices of a king

Front 12

avarice

Back 12

greed

To desire money for its own sake, and in order to hoard it up, is avarice

Front 13

avuncular

Back 13

kind

Already, during the course of this brief exchange, I am aware of smiling wryly and generally sending out the kind of friendly, apparently avuncular social messages which I know are expected of me.

Front 14

behest

Back 14

command

Front 15

belie

Back 15

to contradict, give a false impression

Their laughter belied their outward grief.

Front 16

bequest

Back 16

something left in a will

Front 17

blithe

Back 17

carefree

Front 18

cabal

Back 18

a group of conspirators

If you constantly disagreed with Winters, he wrote you out of his cabal, his conspiracy against the poetry establishment.

Front 19

candor

Back 19

honesty

Front 20

capacitor

Back 20

device that stores energy

Front 21

captiulate

Back 21

to give in

"I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names." --Emerson

Front 22

captious

Back 22

quarrelsome

Front 23

carp

Back 23

to complain about someone

Carping and caviling at faults of manner.

Front 24

castigate

Back 24

to chastise

It was not good enough to castigate him for his sins.

Front 25

cavil

Back 25

to quibble

Carping and caviling at faults of manner.

Front 26

chicanery

Back 26

deceitfulness

Front 27

chimerical

Back 27

imaginary

Front 28

choleric

Back 28

Hot-tempered

But the records of his service show that Jacobsz was also choleric, quick-tempered, and sensitive to any slight; that he sometimes drank to excess.

Front 29

cogitate

Back 29

to ponder, to think carefully about

Still cogitating and looking for an explanation in the fire.

Front 30

craven

Back 30

cowardly

The poor craven bridegroom said never a word

Front 31

curmudgeon

Back 31

a greedy, irascible, crotchety old person

A gray-headed curmudgeon of a negro.

Front 32

dearth

Back 32

a shortage of something

the dearth of uncensored, firsthand information about the war

Front 33

debacle

Back 33

a big disaster

Front 34

deleterious

Back 34

harmful

the deleterious effects of smoking.

Front 35

demagogue

Back 35

a leader of the people, but more a rabble-rouser

Even when he showed his true colors as a demagogue and trickster, Stalin did so in such a crisp and weighty, confidence-inspiring manner that he bewitched not only his conversational partner but himself as well.

Front 36

discomfit

Back 36

to frustrate, to confuse

A few of Dr. Baden's anecdotes ramble pointlessly, and his gusto in describing the anatomical characteristics of exhumed bodies may discomfit the squeamish.

Front 37

diurnal

Back 37

occuring during the daytime

diurnal animals

Front 38

draconian

Back 38

severe, harsh, cruel

a draconian legal code; draconian budget cuts.

Front 39

ebullient

Back 39

bubbling with excitement, exuberant

The ebullient enthusiasm of the French.

Front 40

equine

Back 40

relating to horses

Front 41

equivocal

Back 41

ambiguous, intentionally confusing, capable of being interpreted many ways

an equivocal statement

Front 42

ersatz

Back 42

serving as a substitute; synthetic, artificial

ersatz coffee made mostly of chicory

Front 43

etymology

Back 43

the study of words

Front 44

ethereal

Back 44

heavenly, light, insubstantial

Front 45

euphonious

Back 45

pleasant-sounding, melodious

Front 46

evince

Back 46

to prove

evince distaste by grimacing

Front 47

execrate

Back 47

to curse, denounce

Front 48

expiate

Back 48

to make amends, to atone

expiate one's sins by acts of penance.

Front 49

facile

Back 49

fluent, skllful in a superficial way

Front 50

fecund

Back 50

fertile, productive

For 21 years after the birth of the Prince of Wales, the fecund royal couple produced children at the rate of two every three years -- eight boys and six girls in all.

Front 51

florid

Back 51

very fancy, usually refers to intangible objects

florid speech

Front 52

fracas

Back 52

a brawl

Front 53

gaffe

Back 53

a social blunder, a faux pas, an embarrassing mistake

Front 54

galvanzie

Back 54

to startle into sudden activity

Issues that once galvanized the electorate fade into irrelevance

Front 55

gastronomy

Back 55

the art of eating well

Front 56

germane

Back 56

relevant, applicable, pertinent

The phrase would be more germane to the matter

Front 57

goldbrick

Back 57

to swindle, to sell something worthless as if it were valuable

Front 58

hackneyed

Back 58

trite, overused

Front 59

halcyon

Back 59

peaceful, serene, carefree

It was a halcyon life, cocktails and bridge at sunset, white jackets and long gowns at dinner, good gin and Gershwin under the stars.

Front 60

Prescribe

Back 60

to lay down a rule

Front 61

proscribe

Back 61

to condemn or forbid as harmful or unlawful

Front 62

hermetic

Back 62

airtight, impervious to external influence

Front 63

homily

Back 63

a sermon

Front 64

importune

Back 64

to beg, urge, or insist persistently

Front 65

incensed

Back 65

very angry

Front 66

inchoate

Back 66

incomplete

Front 67

indolent

Back 67

habitually lazy

Front 68

ineffable

Back 68

incapable of being expressed or described

Front 69

inexorable

Back 69

relentless, inevitable, unavoidable