Sat Vocabulary 6

Front 1

As you go through this set of words, try to
A) identify the root of the word
B) define the word
C) give a sentence example using the word

Back 1

If you can achieve A, B, and C, you'll ace the SAT.

Front 2

punctilious

Back 2

(adj.) eager to follow rules or conventions (Punctilious Bobby, hall monitor extraordinaire, insisted that his peers follow the rules.)

Front 3

quagmire

Back 3

(n.) a difficult situation (We’d all like to avoid the kind of military quagmire characterized by the Vietnam War.)

Front 4

querulous

Back 4

(adj.) whiny, complaining (If deprived of his pacifier, young Brendan becomes querulous.)

Front 5

quixotic

Back 5

(adj.) idealistic, impractical (Edward entertained a quixotic desire to fall in love at first sight in a laundromat.)

Front 6

rancor

Back 6

(n.) deep, bitter resentment (When Eileen challenged me to a fight, I could see the rancor in her eyes.)

Front 7

rebuke

Back 7

(v.) to scold, criticize (When the cops showed up at Sarah’s party, they rebuked her for disturbing the peace.)

Front 8

recalcitrant

Back 8

(adj.) defiant, unapologetic (Even when scolded, the recalcitrant young girl simply stomped her foot and refused to finish her lima beans.)

Front 9

rectitude

Back 9

(n.) uprightness, extreme morality (The priest’s rectitude gave him the moral authority to counsel his parishioners.)

Front 10

replete

Back 10

(adj.) full, abundant (The unedited version was replete with naughty words.)

Front 11

reprobate

Back 11

(adj.) evil, unprincipled (The reprobate criminal sat sneering in the cell.)

Front 12

reprove(

Back 12

(v.) to scold, rebuke (Lara reproved her son for sticking each and every one of his fingers into the strawberry pie.)

Front 13

repudiate

Back 13

(v.) to reject, refuse to accept (Kwame made a strong case for an extension of his curfew, but his mother repudiated it with a few biting words.)

Front 14

rescind

Back 14

(v.) to take back, repeal (The company rescinded its offer of employment after discovering that Jane’s resume was full of lies.)

Front 15

restive

Back 15

9adj.) resistant, stubborn, impatient (The restive audience pelted the band with mud and yelled nasty comments.)

Front 16

ribald

Back 16

(adj.) coarsely, crudely humorous (While some giggled at the ribald joke involving a parson’s daughter, most sighed and rolled their eyes.)

Front 17

rife

Back 17

(adj.) abundant (Surprisingly, the famous novelist’s writing was rife with spelling errors.)

Front 18

ruse

Back 18

(n.) a trick (Oliver concocted an elaborate ruse for sneaking out of the house to meet his girlfriend while simultaneously giving his mother the impression that he was asleep in bed.)

Front 19

sacrosanct

Back 19

(adj.) holy, something that should not be criticized (In the United States, the Constitution is often thought of as a sacrosanct document.)

Front 20

sagacity

Back 20

(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 21

salient

Back 21

(adj.) significant, conspicuous (One of the salient differences between Alison and Nancy is that Alison is a foot taller.)

Front 22

sanctimonious

Back 22

(adj.) giving a hypocritical appearance of piety (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 23

sanguine

Back 23

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

Front 24

scurrilous

Back 24

(adj.) vulgar, coarse (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 25

serendipity

Back 25

(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 26

servile

Back 26

(adj.) subservient (The servile porter crept around the hotel lobby, bowing and quaking before the guests.)

Front 27

solicitous

Back 27

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

Front 28

solipsistic

Back 28

(adj.) believing that oneself is all that exists (Colette’s solipsistic attitude completely ignored the plight of the homeless people on the street.)

Front 29

somnolent

Back 29

(adj.) sleepy, drowsy (The somnolent student kept falling asleep and waking up with a jerk.)

Front 30

spurious

Back 30

(adj.) false but designed to seem plausible (Using a spurious argument, John convinced the others that he had won the board game on a technicality.)

Front 31

staid

Back 31

(adj.) sedate, serious, self-restrained (The staid butler never changed his expression no matter what happened.)

Front 32

stolid

Back 32

(adj.) expressing little sensibility, unemotional (Charles’s stolid reaction to his wife’s funeral differed from the passion he showed at the time of her death.)

Front 33

stupefy

Back 33

(v.) to astonish, make insensible (Veronica’s audacity and ungratefulness stupefied her best friend, Heather.)

Front 34

surfeit

Back 34

(n.) an overabundant supply or indulgence (After partaking of the surfeit of tacos and tamales at the All-You-Can-Eat Taco Tamale Lunch Special, Beth felt rather sick.)

Front 35

surmise

Back 35

(v.) to infer with little evidence (After speaking to only one of the students, the teacher was able to surmise what had caused the fight.)

Front 36

surreptitious

Back 36

(adj.) stealthy (The surreptitious CIA agents were able to get in and out of the house without anyone noticing.)