Sat Spark Notes F

Front 1

fabricate

Back 1

(v.) to make up, invent

Hint 1

(When I arrived an hour late to class, I fabricated some
excuse about my car breaking down on the way to school.)

Front 2

façade

Back 2

1. (n.) the wall of a building
2.
(n.) a deceptive appearance or attitude

Hint 2

(Meet me in front of the museum’s main façade.)
(Despite my smiling façade, I am feeling
melancholy.)

Front 3

facile

Back 3

1. (adj.) easy, requiring little effort
2. (adj.) superficial, achieved with minimal thought or care,
insincere

Hint 3

(This game is so facile that even a four-yearold
c(The business was in such shambles that any solution seemed facile at best;
nothing could really helpit in the long-run.)an master it.)

Front 4

fallacious

Back 4

(adj.) incorrect, misleading

Hint 4

(Emily offered me cigarettes on the fallacious
assumption that I smoked.)

Front 5

fastidious

Back 5

(adj.) meticulous, demanding, having high and often unattainable standards

Hint 5

(Mark is so fastidious that he is never able to finish a project because it always seems
imperfect to him.)

Front 6

fathom

Back 6

(v.) to understand, comprehend

Hint 6

(I cannot fathom why you like that crabby and
mean-spirited neighbor of ours.)

Front 7

fatuous

Back 7

(adj.) silly, foolish

Hint 7

(He considers himself a serious poet, but in truth, he only
writes fatuous limericks.)

Front 8

fecund

Back 8

(adj.) fruitful, fertile

Hint 8

(The fecund tree bore enough apples to last us through the
entire season.)

Front 9

felicitous

Back 9

1. (adj.) well suited, apt
2. (adj.) delightful, pleasing

Hint 9

(While his comments were idiotic and rambling, mine
were felicitous and helpful.)
(I spent a felicitous
afternoon visiting old friends.)

Front 10

feral

Back 10

(adj.) wild, savage

Hint 10

(That beast looks so feral that I would fear being alone with it.)

Front 11

fervent

Back 11

(adj.) ardent, passionate

Hint 11

(The fervent protestors chained themselves to the
building and shouted all night long.)

Front 12

fetid

Back 12

(adj.) having a foul odor

Hint 12

(I can tell from the fetid smell in your refrigerator that
your milk has spoiled.)

Front 13

fetter

Back 13

(v.) to chain, restrain

Hint 13

(The dog was fettered to the parking meter.)

Front 14

fickle

Back 14

(adj.) shifting in character, inconstant

Hint 14

(In Greek dramas, the fickle gods help
Achilles one day, and then harm him the next.)

Front 15

fidelity

Back 15

(n.) loyalty, devotion

Hint 15

(Guard dogs are known for the great fidelity they show
toward their masters.)

Front 16

figurative

Back 16

(adj.) symbolic

Hint 16

(Using figurative language, Jane likened the storm to an
angry bull.)

Front 17

flabbergasted

Back 17

(adj.) astounded

Hint 17

(Whenever I read an Agatha Christie mystery novel, I
am always flabbergasted when I learn the identity of the murderer.)

Front 18

flaccid

Back 18

(adj.) limp, not firm or strong

Hint 18

(If a plant is not watered enough, its leaves
become droopy and flaccid.)

Front 19

flagrant

Back 19

(adj.) offensive, egregious

Hint 19

(The judge’s decision to set the man free simply
because that man was his brother was a flagrant abuse of power.)

Front 20

florid

Back 20

(adj.) flowery, ornate

Hint 20

(The writer’s florid prose belongs on a sentimental
Hallmark card.)

Front 21

flout

Back 21

(v.) to disregard or disobey openly

Hint 21

(I flouted the school’s dress code by wearing a
tie-dyed tank top and a pair of cut-off jeans.)

Front 22

foil

Back 22

(v.) to thwart, frustrate, defeat

Hint 22

(Inspector Wilkens foiled the thieves by locking them
in the bank along with their stolen money.)

Front 23

forage

Back 23

(v.) to graze, rummage for food

Hint 23

(When we got lost on our hiking trip, we foraged
for berries and nuts in order to survive.)

Front 24

forbearance

Back 24

(n.) patience, restraint, toleration

Hint 24

(The doctor showed great forbearance in
calming down the angry patient who shouted insults at him.)

Front 25

forestall

Back 25

(v.) to prevent, thwart, delay

Hint 25

(I forestalled the cold I was getting by taking
plenty of vitamin C pills and wearing a scarf.)

Front 26

forlorn

Back 26

(adj.) lonely, abandoned, hopeless

Hint 26

(Even though I had the flu, my family
decided to go skiing for the weekend and leave me home alone, feeling feverish and
forlorn.)

Front 27

forsake

Back 27

(v.) to give up, renounce

Hint 27

(My New Year’s resolution is to forsake smoking and
drinking.)

Front 28

fortitude

Back 28

(n.) strength, guts

Hint 28

(Achilles’ fortitude in battle is legendary.)

Front 29

fortuitous

Back 29

(adj.) happening by chance, often lucky or fortunate

Hint 29

(After looking for
Manuel and not finding him at home, Harriet had a fortuitous encounter with him
at the post office.)

Front 30

forum

Back 30

(n.) a medium for lecture or discussion

Hint 30

(Some radio talk-shows provide a good
forum for political debate.)

Front 31

foster

Back 31

(v.) to stimulate, promote, encourage

Hint 31

(To foster good health in the city, the mayor
started a “Get out and exercise!” campaign.)

Front 32

fractious

Back 32

(adj.) troublesome or irritable

Hint 32

(Although the child insisted he wasn’t tired, his
fractious behavior—especially his decision to crush his cheese and crackers all over
the floor—convinced everyone present that it was time to put him to bed.)

Front 33

fraught

Back 33

(adj.) (usually used with “with”)

Hint 33

filled or accompanied with (Her glances in his
direction were fraught with meaning, though precisely what meaning remained
unclear.)

Front 34

frenetic

Back 34

(adj.) frenzied, hectic, frantic

Hint 34

(In the hours between night and morning, the
frenetic pace of city life slows to a lull.)

Front 35

frivolous

Back 35

(adj.) of little importance

Hint 35

(Someday, all that anxiety about whether
your zit will disappear before the prom will seem totally frivolous.)

Front 36

frugal

Back 36

(adj.) thrifty, economical

Front 37

furtive

Back 37

(adj.) secretive, sly

Hint 37

(Jane’s placement of her drugs in her sock drawer was not as
furtive as she thought, as the sock drawer is the first place most parents look.)