Sat Vocab Set 3

Front 1

accolade

Back 1

(n.) high praise, special distinction

Everyone offered accolades to Sam after he won the Noble Prize.

Front 2

demagogue

Back 2

(n.) a leader who appeals to a people’s prejudices

The demagogue strengthened his hold over his people by blaming immigrants for the lack of jobs.

Front 3

iniquity

Back 3

(n.) wickedness or sin

“Your iniquity,” said the priest to the practical jokester, “will be forgiven.”

Front 4

extol

Back 4

(v.) to praise, revere

Violet extolled the virtues of a vegetarian diet to her meat- loving brother.

Front 5

fallacious

Back 5

(adj.) incorrect, misleading

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

Front 6

immutable

Back 6

(adj.) not changeable

The laws of physics are immutable and constant.

Front 7

ascetic

Back 7

(adj.) practicing restraint as a means of self-discipline, usually religious

The priest lives an ascetic life devoid of television, savory foods, and other pleasures.

Front 8

irreverence

Back 8

(n.) disrespect

The irreverence displayed by the band that marched through the chapel disturbed many churchgoers.

Front 9

obsequious

Back 9

(adj.) excessively compliant or submissive

Mark acted like Janet’s servant, obeying her every request in an obsequious manner.

Front 10

abstruse

Back 10

(adj.) hard to comprehend

Everyone else in the class understood geometry easily, but John found the subject abstruse.

Front 11

cajole

Back 11

(v.) to urge, coax

Fred’s buddies cajoled him into attending the bachelor party.

Front 12

liability

Back 12

(n.) something for which one is legally responsible, usually involving a disadvantage or risk

The bungee-jumping tower was a great liability for the owners of the carnival.

(n.) a handicap, burden

Because she often lost her concentration and didn’t play defense, Marcy was a liability to the team.

Front 13

nocturnal

Back 13

(adj.) relating to or occurring during the night

Jackie was a nocturnal person; she would study until dawn and sleep until the evening.

Front 14

patent

Back 14

(adj.) readily seen or understood, clear

The reason for Jim’s abdominal pain was made patent after the doctor performed a sonogram.

Front 15

canny

Back 15

(adj.) shrewd, careful

The canny runner hung at the back of the pack through much of the race to watch the other runners, and then sprinted past them at the end.

Front 16

edict

Back 16

(n.) an order, decree

The ruler issued an edict requiring all of his subjects to bow down before him.

Front 17

acute

Back 17

(adj.) sharp, severe

Arnold could not walk because the pain in his foot was so acute.

(adj.) having keen insight

Because she was so acute, Libby instantly figured out how the magician pulled off his “magic.”

Front 18

hapless

Back 18

(adj.) unlucky

My poor, hapless family never seems to pick a sunny week to go on vacation.

Front 19

serene

Back 19

(adj.) calm, untroubled

Louise stood in front of the Mona Lisa, puzzling over the famous woman’s serene smile.

Front 20

dispatch

Back 20

(v.) to send off to accomplish a duty

The carpenter dispatched his assistant to fetch wood.

Front 21

revoke

Back 21

(v.) to take back

After missing the curfew set by the court for eight nights in a row, Marcel’s freedom of movement was revoked.

Front 22

cogent

Back 22

(adj.) intellectually convincing

Irene’s arguments in favor of abstinence were so cogent that I could not resist them.

Front 23

preclude

Back 23

(v.) to prevent

My grandfather’s large and vicious guard dog precluded anyone from entering the yard.

Front 24

sobriety

Back 24

(n.) sedate, calm

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

Front 25

vigilant

Back 25

(adj.) watchful, alert

The guards remained vigilant throughout the night, but the enemy never launched the expected attack.

Front 26

adorn

Back 26

(v.) to decorate

We adorned the tree with ornaments.

Front 27

congeal

Back 27

(v.) to thicken into a solid

The sauce had congealed into a thick paste.

Front 28

complement

Back 28

(v.) to complete, make perfect

Ann’s scarf complements her blouse beautifully, making her seem fully dressed even though she isn’t wearing a coat.

Front 29

reciprocate

Back 29

(v.) to give in return

When Steve gave Samantha a sweater for Christmas, she reciprocated by giving him a kiss.

Front 30

efface

Back 30

(v.) to wipe out, obliterate, rub away

The husband was so angry at his wife for leaving him that he effaced all evidence of her presence; he threw out pictures of her and gave away all her belongings.

Front 31

privation

Back 31

(n.) lacking basic necessities

After decades of rule by an oppressive government that saw nothing wrong with stealing from its citizens, the recent drought only increased the people’s privation.

Front 32

apathetic

Back 32

(adj.) lacking concern, emotion

Uninterested in politics, Bruno was apathetic about whether he lived under a capitalist or communist regime.

Front 33

disheartened

Back 33

(adj.) feeling a loss of spirit or morale

The team was disheartened after losing in the finals of the tournament.

Front 34

presumptuous

Back 34

(adj.) disrespectfully bold

The princess grew angry after the presumptuous noble tried to kiss her, even though he was far below her in social status.

Front 35

affinity

Back 35

(n.)a spontaneous feeling of closeness

Jerry didn’t know why, but he felt an incredible affinity for Kramer the first time they met.

Front 36

aisle

Back 36

(n.) a passageway between rows of seats

Once we got inside the stadium we walked down the aisle to our seats.

Front 37

enfranchise

Back 37

(v.) to grant the vote to

The Nineteenth Amendment enfranchised women.

Front 38

resilient

Back 38

(adj.) able to recover from misfortune; able to withstand adversity

The resilient ballplayer quickly recovered from his wrist injury.

Front 39

affront

Back 39

(n.) an insult

Bernardo was very touchy, and took any slight as an affront to his honor.

Front 40

pugnacious

Back 40

(adj.) quarrelsome, combative

Aaron’s pugnacious nature led him to start several barroom brawls each month.

Front 41

sagacity

Back 41

(n.) shrewdness, soundness of perspective

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

Front 42

morass

Back 42

(n.) a wet swampy bog; figuratively, something that traps and confuses

When Theresa lost her job, she could not get out of her financial morass.

Front 43

precocious

Back 43

(adj.) advanced, developing ahead of time

Derek was so academically precocious that by the time he was 10 years old, he was already in the ninth grade.

Front 44

quaint

Back 44

(adj.) charmingly old-fashioned

Hilda was delighted by the quaint bonnets she saw in Amish country.

Front 45

tome

Back 45

(n.) a large book

In college, I used to carry around an anatomy book that was the heaviest tome in my bag.

Front 46

effulgent

Back 46

(adj.) radiant, splendorous

The golden palace was effulgent.

Front 47

abate

Back 47

(v.) to reduce, lessen

The rain poured down for a while, then abated.

Front 48

exigent

Back 48

(adj.) urgent, critical

The patient has an exigent need for medication, or else he will lose his sight.

Front 49

precipice

Back 49

(n.) the face of a cliff, a steep or overhanging place

The mountain climber hung from a precipice before finding a handhold and pulling himself up.

Front 50

solipsistic

Back 50

(adj.) believing that oneself is all that exists

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

Front 51

emend

Back 51

(v.) to correct or revise a written text

If my sentence is incorrect, the editor will emend what I have written.

Front 52

impertinent

Back 52

(adj.) rude, insolent

Most of your comments are so impertinent that I don’t wish to dignify them with an answer.

Front 53

jubilant

Back 53

(adj.) extremely joyful, happy

The crowd was jubilant when the firefighter carried the woman from the flaming building.

Front 54

amalgamate

Back 54

(v.) to bring together, unite

Because of his great charisma, the presidential candidate was able to amalgamate all democrats and republicans under his banner.

Front 55

dither

Back 55

(v.) to be indecisive

Not wanting to offend either friend, he dithered about which of the two birthday parties he should attend.

Front 56

calamity

Back 56

(n.) an event with disastrous consequences

The earthquake in San Francisco was a calamity worse than any other natural disaster in history.

Front 57

delegate

Back 57

(v.) to hand over responsibility for something

The dean delegated the task of finding a new professor to a special hiring committee.

Front 58

propitious

Back 58

(adj.) favorable

The dark storm clouds visible on the horizon suggested that the weather would not be propitious for sailing.

Front 59

interminable

Back 59

(adj.) without possibility of end

The fact that biology lectures came just before lunch made them seem interminable.

Front 60

vituperate

Back 60

(v.) to berate

Jack ran away as soon as his father found out, knowing he would be vituperated for his unseemly behavior.

Front 61

abrogate

Back 61

(v.) to abolish, usually by authority

The Bill of Rights assures that the government cannot abrogate our right to a free press.

Front 62

pathos

Back 62

(n.) an emotion of sympathy

Martha filled with pathos upon discovering the scrawny, shivering kitten at her door.

Front 63

construe

Back 63

(v.) to interpret

He construed her throwing his clothes out the window as a signal that she wanted him to leave.

Front 64

epitome

Back 64

(n.) a perfect example, embodiment

My mother, the epitome of good taste, always dresses more elegantly than I do.

Front 65

frenetic

Back 65

(adj.) frenzied, hectic, frantic

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

Front 66

ennui

Back 66

(n.) boredom, weariness

I feel such ennui that I don’t look forward to anything, not even my birthday party.

Front 67

laudatory

Back 67

(adj.) expressing admiration or praise

Such laudatory comments are unusual from someone who is usually so reserved in his opinions.

Front 68

rail

Back 68

(v.) to scold, protest

The professor railed against the injustice of the college’s tenure policy.

Front 69

affable

Back 69

(adj.) friendly, amiable

People like to be around George because he is so affable and good-natured.

Front 70

petulance

Back 70

(n.) rudeness, irritability

The Nanny resigned after she could no longer tolerate the child’s petulance.

Front 71

pellucid

Back 71

(adj.) easily intelligible, clear

Wishing his book to be pellucid to the common man, Albert Camus avoided using complicated grammar when composing The Stranger.

Front 72

venerable

Back 72

(adj.) deserving of respect because of age or achievement

The venerable Supreme Court justice had made several key rulings in landmark cases throughout the years.

Front 73

aggrieved

Back 73

(adj.) distressed, wronged, injured

The foreman mercilessly overworked his aggrieved employees.

Front 74

convivial

Back 74

(adj.) characterized by feasting, drinking, merriment

The restaurant’s convivial atmosphere put me immediately at ease.

Front 75

fortuitous

Back 75

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

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

Front 76

punitive

Back 76

(adj.) involving punishment

If caught smoking in the boys’ room, the punitive result is immediate expulsion from school.

Front 77

derivative

Back 77

(adj.) taken directly from a source, unoriginal

She was bored by his music because she felt that it was derivative and that she had heard it before.

Front 78

dispel

Back 78

(v.) to drive away, scatter

She entered the office as usual on Monday, dispelling the rumor that she had been fired.

Front 79

stoic

Back 79

(adj.) unaffected by passion or feeling

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

Front 80

etymology

Back 80

(n.) the history of words, their origin and development

From the study of etymology, I know that the word “quixotic” derives from Don Quixote and the word “gaudy” refers to the Spanish architect Gaudí.

Front 81

congregation

Back 81

(n.) a gathering of people, especially for religious services

The priest told the congregation that he would be retiring.

Front 82

defer

Back 82

(v.) to postpone something; to yield to another’s wisdom

Ron deferred to Diane, the expert on musical instruments, when he was asked about buying a piano.

Front 83

relegate

Back 83

(v.) to assign to the proper place

At the astrology conference, Simon was relegated to the Scorpio room.

(v.) to assign to an inferior place

After spilling a drink on a customer’s shirt, the waiter found himself relegated to the least lucrative shift.

Front 84

anonymous

Back 84

(adj.) being unknown, unrecognized

Mary received a love poem from an anonymous admirer.

Front 85

largess

Back 85

(n.) the generous giving of lavish gifts

My boss demonstrated great largess by giving me a new car.

Front 86

catalog

Back 86

(v.) to list, enter into a list

The judge cataloged the victim’s injuries before calculating how much money he would award.

(n.) a list or collection

We received a catalog from J. Crew that displayed all of their new items.

Front 87

crescendo

Back 87

(n.) a steady increase in intensity or volume

The crescendo of the brass instruments gave the piece a patriotic feel.

Front 88

vindictive

Back 88

(adj.) vengeful

The vindictive madman seeks to exact vengeance for any insult that he perceives is directed at him, no matter how small.

Front 89

emote

Back 89

(v.) to express emotion

The director told the actor he had to emote, or else the audience would have no idea what his character was going through.

Front 90

anguish

Back 90

(n.) extreme sadness, torment

Angelos suffered terrible anguish when he learned that Buffy had died while combating a strange mystical force of evil.

Front 91

clamor

Back 91

(n.) loud noise

Each morning the birds outside my window make such a clamor that they wake me up.

(v.)to loudly insist

Neville’s fans clamored for him to appear on stage, but he had passed out on the floor of his dressing room.

Front 92

coagulate

Back 92

(v.) to thicken, clot

The top layer of the pudding had coagulated into a thick skin.

Front 93

affluent

Back 93

(adj.) rich, wealthy

Mrs. Grebelski was affluent, owning a huge house, three cars, and an island near Maine.

Front 94

ineffable

Back 94

(adj.) unspeakable, incapable of being expressed through words

It is said that the experience of playing with a dolphin is ineffable and can only be understood through direct encounter.

Front 95

serendipity

Back 95

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

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

Front 96

attribute

Back 96

(v.) to credit, assign

He attributes all of his success to his mother’s undying encouragement.

(n.) a facet or trait

Among the beetle’s most peculiar attributes is its thorny protruding eyes.

Front 97

adumbrate

Back 97

(v.) to sketch out in a vague way

The coach adumbrated a game plan, but none of the players knew precisely what to do.

Front 98

conciliatory

Back 98

(adj.) friendly, agreeable

I took Amanda’s invitation to dinner as a very conciliatory gesture.

Front 99

arcane

Back 99

(adj.) obscure, secret, known only by a few

The professor is an expert in arcane Lithuanian literature.

Front 100

expurgate

Back 100

(v.) to remove offensive or incorrect parts, usually of a book

The history editors expurgated from the text all disparaging and inflammatory comments about the Republican Party.

Front 101

frivolous

Back 101

(adj.) of little importance, trifling

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

Front 102

admonish

Back 102

(v.) to caution, criticize, reprove

Joe’s mother admonished him not to ruin his appetite by eating cookies before dinner.

Front 103

invective

Back 103

(n.) an angry verbal attack

My mother’s irrational invective against the way I dress only made me decide to dye my hair green.