Sat Spark Notes S

Front 1

saccharine

Back 1

(adj.) sickeningly sweet

Hint 1

Tom’s saccharine manner, although intended to
make him popular, actually repelled his classmates.

Front 2

sacrosanct

Back 2

(adj.) holy, something that should not be criticized

Hint 2

In the United States,
the Constitution is often thought of as a sacrosanct document.

Front 3

sagacity

Back 3

(n.) shrewdness, soundness of perspective

Hint 3

With remarkable sagacity, the wise old man predicted and thwarted his children’s plan to ship him off to a nursing
home.

Front 4

salient

Back 4

(adj.) significant, conspicuous

Hint 4

One of the salient differences between Alison
and Nancy is that Alison is a foot taller

Front 5

salutation

Back 5

(n.) a greeting

Hint 5

Andrew regularly began letters with the bizarre salutation “Ahoy ahoy.”

Front 6

salve

Back 6

(n.) a soothing balm

Hint 6

After Tony applied a salve to his brilliant red sunburn, he
soon felt a little better

Front 7

sanctimonious

Back 7

(adj.) giving a hypocritical appearance of piety

Hint 7

The sanctimonious
Bertrand delivered stern lectures on the Ten Commandments to anyone who would listen, but thought nothing of stealing cars to make some cash on the side.

Front 8

sanguine

Back 8

(adj.) optimistic, cheery

Hint 8

Polly reacted to any bad news with a sanguine smile
and the chirpy cry, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!”

Front 9

satiate

Back 9

(v.) to satisfy excessively

Hint 9

(Satiated after eating far too much turkey and stuffing,
Liza lay on the couch watching football and suffering from stomach pains.

Front 10

scathing

Back 10

(adj.) sharp, critical, hurtful

Hint 10

Two hours after breaking up with Russell, Suzanne thought of the perfect scathing retort to his accusations.

Front 11

scintillating

Back 11

(adj.) sparkling

Hint 11

The ice skater’s scintillating rhinestone costume nearly
blinded the judges.

Front 12

scrupulous

Back 12

(adj.) painstaking, careful

Hint 12

With scrupulous care, Sam cut a snowflake out of
white paper.

Front 13

scurrilous

Back 13

(adj.) vulgar, coarse

Hint 13

When Bruno heard the scurrilous accusation being
made about him, he could not believe it because he always tried to be nice to
everyone.

Front 14

sedentary

Back 14

(adj.) sitting, settled

Hint 14

The sedentary cat did little but loll in the sun.

Front 15

semaphore

Back 15

(n.) a visual signal

Hint 15

Anne and Diana communicated with a semaphore involving candles and window shades.

Front 16

seminal

Back 16

(adj.) original, important, creating a field

Hint 16

Stephen Greenblatt’s essays on
Shakespeare proved to be seminal, because they initiated the critical school of New Historicism.

Front 17

sensual

Back 17

(adj.) involving sensory gratification, usually related to sex

Hint 17

With a coy smile,
the guest on the blind-date show announced that he considered himself a very
sensual person.

Front 18

sensuous

Back 18

(adj.) involving sensory gratification

Hint 18

Paul found drinking Coke, with all the
little bubbles bursting on his tongue, a very sensuous experience.

Front 19

serendipity

Back 19

(n.) luck, finding good things without looking for them

Hint 19

In an amazing bit
of serendipity, penniless Paula found a $20 bill in the subway station.

Front 20

servile

Back 20

(adj.) subservient

Hint 20

The servile porter crept around the hotel lobby, bowing and quaking before the guests.

Front 21

sinuous

Back 21

(adj.) lithe, serpentine

Hint 21

With the sinuous movements of her arms, the dancer
mimicked the motion of a snake.

Front 22

sobriety

Back 22

(n.) sedate, calm

Hint 22

Jason believed that maintaining his sobriety in times of crisis was the key to success in life.

Front 23

solicitous

Back 23

(adj.) concerned, attentive

Hint 23

Jim, laid up in bed with a nasty virus,
enjoyed the solicitous attentions of his mother, who brought him soup and extra
blankets.

Front 24

solipsistic

Back 24

(adj.) believing that oneself is all that exists

Hint 24

Colette’s solipsistic attitude
completely ignored the plight of the homeless people on the street.

Front 25

somnolent

Back 25

(adj.) sleepy, drowsy

Hint 25

The somnolent student kept falling asleep and waking
up with a jerk.

Front 26

sophomoric

Back 26

(adj.) immature, uninformed

Hint 26

The mature senior rolled her eyes at the
sophomoric gross-out humor of the underclassman.

Front 27

sovereign

Back 27

(adj.) having absolute authority in a certain realm

Hint 27

The sovereign queen,
with steely resolve, ordered that the traitorous nobleman be killed.

Front 28

speculative

Back 28

(adj.) not based in fact

Hint 28

Sadly, Tessa was convicted on merely speculative
evidence.

Front 29

spurious

Back 29

(adj.) false but designed to seem plausible

Hint 29

Using a spurious argument, John convinced the others that he had won the board game on a technicality.

Front 30

stagnate

Back 30

(v.) to become or remain inactive, not develop, not flow

Hint 30

With no room for
advancement, the waiter’s career stagnated.

Front 31

staid

Back 31

(adj.) sedate, serious, self-restrained

Hint 31

The staid butler never changed his expression no matter what happened.

Front 32

stingy

Back 32

(adj.) not generous, not inclined to spend or give

Hint 32

Scrooge’s stingy habits did not
fit with the generous, giving spirit of Christmas.

Front 33

stoic

Back 33

(adj.) unaffected by passion or feeling

Hint 33

Penelope’s faithfulness to Odysseus required that she be stoic and put off her many suitors.

Front 34

stolid

Back 34

(adj.) expressing little sensibility, unemotional

Hint 34

Charles’s stolid reaction to his wife’s funeral differed from the passion he showed at the time of her death.

Front 35

strenuous

Back 35

(adj.) requiring tremendous energy or stamina

Hint 35

Running a marathon is quite
a strenuous task. So is watching an entire Star Trek marathon.

Front 36

strident

Back 36

(adj.) harsh, loud

Hint 36

A strident man, Captain Von Trapp yelled at his daughter
and made her cry

Front 37

stupefy

Back 37

(v.) to astonish, make insensible

Hint 37

Veronica’s audacity and ungratefulness stupefied her best friend, Heather.