Sparknotes Sat Vocab Iii

Front 1

cadence

Back 1

a rhythm, progression of sound

Hint 1

The pianist used the foot pedal to
emphasize the cadence of the sonata.

Front 2

camaraderie

Back 2

brotherhood, jovial unity

Hint 2

Camaraderie among employees usually
leads to success in business.

Front 3

canny

Back 3

shrewd, careful

Hint 3

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 4

canvas

Back 4

to cover, inspect

Hint 4

We canvassed the
neighborhood looking for clues.

Front 5

capitulate

Back 5

to surrender

Hint 5

The army finally capitulated after fighting a long costly
battle.

Front 6

capricious

Back 6

subject to whim, fickle

Hint 6

The young girl’s capricious tendencies made it
difficult for her to focus on achieving her goals.

Front 7

carp

Back 7

to annoy, pester

Hint 7

The husband divorced his wife after listening to her carping
voice for decades.

Front 8

catalyze

Back 8

to charge, inspire

Hint 8

The president's speech catalyzed the nation and resuscitated the economy.

Front 9

cavort

Back 9

to leap about, behave boisteriously

Hint 9

The adults ate their dinners on the patio,
while the children cavorted around the pool.

Front 10

circumvent

Back 10

to get around

Hint 10

The school’s dress code forbidding navel-baring jeans
was circumvented by the determined students, who were careful to cover up with
long coats when administrators were nearby.

Front 11

clamor

Back 11

loud noise; to loudly insist

Hint 11

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

Front 12

cleave

Back 12

to divide into parts; to stick together firmly

Hint 12

After resolving their marital problems, Junior and Rosa cleaved to one another all
the more tightly.

Front 13

clemency

Back 13

mercy

Hint 13

After he forgot their anniversary, Martin could only beg Maria
for clemency.

Front 14

convoluted

Back 14

complicated; intricately involved

Hint 14

The instructions in this manual are so convoluted that I don't even know where to begin.

Front 15

conciliate

Back 15

to win over

Hint 15

After coming home past her curfew, Lisa attempted to conciliate her parents by waking up early the next morning and preparing a nice home-cooked pancake breakfast.

Front 16

congenial

Back 16

agreeable; pleasant in nature

Hint 16

After years of picturing her in-laws as vicious monsters, Julia was surprised at how congenial they actually were.

Front 17

consecrate

Back 17

to make sacred

Hint 17

The church was consecrated in 1912 and, once holy held its first mass later that year.

Front 18

consummate

Back 18

supremely skilled

Hint 18

Bo is the consummate gentleman; he holds doors, pulls out chairs, and politely listens to all conversation, interesting or not.

Front 19

contentious

Back 19

quarrelsome

Hint 19

Julia sighed as her excessively contentious husband another unnecessary argument with the waiter.

Front 20

contrite

Back 20

showing sincere remorse

Hint 20

The contrite eight-year-old scored points with his mother who appreciated his remorseful attitude as he apologized profusely for pouring raw egg whites all over her new dress.

Front 21

copious

Back 21

lavish; plenitful

Hint 21

The copious mistakes in Robert's final paper showed his lack of effort.

Front 22

crass

Back 22

without refinement; gross

Hint 22

Luke's crass behavior at the dinner table horrified the princess, who had never seen such poor manners.

Front 23

curmudgeon

Back 23

a bad-tempered, cranky person

Hint 23

The eighty-four-year-old curmudgeon was such a grump that he was even cranky on Christmas.

Front 24

cloying

Back 24

excessively sweet or rich

Hint 24

The office manager was turned off by the cloying way in which her employee approached her for a raise.

Front 25

clandestine

Back 25

done in secret

Hint 25

The senator took part in a clandestine gambling operation that went undiscovered for twenty-five years.

Front 26

circumspect

Back 26

cautious; watchful

Hint 26

After learning that the medicine sometimes causes a patient's hearing to deteriorate, the doctor became more circumspect about prescribing it to his patients.

Front 27

circumscribed

Back 27

restricted

Hint 27

The kids in the tiny rural town led circumscribed lives and were shocked by the diversity of the outside world once they went off to college.

Front 28

choleric

Back 28

extremely irritable or easily angered

Hint 28

Most of my friends are pretty even-tempered, but Olga s as choleric as they come - she gets mad about the smallest things!

Front 29

chide

Back 29

to scold

Front 30

censure

Back 30

(an) to express(ion of) strong disapproval

Hint 30

both a noun and a verb

Front 31

candor

Back 31

honesty

Front 32

cajole

Back 32

to persuade by flattery

Hint 32

The clever 8 year old successfully cajoled her parents into taking her to Disney World by telling them how lucky she was to have the most loving parents on the planet.

Front 33

calumny

Back 33

a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something

Hint 33

I will not stand for this calumny! I did not do the things they said I did.

Front 34

cathartic

Back 34

purgative

Hint 34

That movie had a wonderfully cathartic effect for me that cleansed my emotions and left me feeling content.

Front 35

capacious

Back 35

spacious

Front 36

cantankerous

Back 36

disagreeable to deal with

Hint 36

The cantankerous librarian would hiss and snarl at any student who dared entered his library and speak in the "room of silence".

Front 37

castigate

Back 37

to reprimand severely

Front 38

caustic

Back 38

severely critical or sarcastic