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238 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
abase
lower; humiliate

"I will not abase myself by going to a base with you on the first date," she said to Paul.
abash
to embarrass

Arthur was abashed at a bash when he drank too much and fell in the trash.
abate
to lessen

Abigail's sister screamed, "Ab ate all the cookies!" Later, of course, her anger abated.
abominate
to loathe; hate

The terrorist abominated his enemy Nate so much that he put a bomb in Nate's boxer shorts.
abstruse
profound; difficult to understand

When Abraham Lincoln wrote a confusing peace agreement to end the Civil War, people commented that Abe's truce was abstruse.
accentuate
to stress; emphasize

An accent mark accentuates a syllable. While in New York, it was rude of you to accentuate the fact that Brooklyn people speak with an accent you hate.
acclivity
sharp incline of a hill

A cliff is an example of an acclivity.
accolade
award; honor

When Coolio received an accolade for his acting, he just smiled and asked for a Kool-Aid.
accost
to approach and speak to

"That snack cost you $3.95!" the salesman said, accosting the customer who was about to leave without paying.
adroit
skillful

C3PO is an adroit android.
adulate
to flatter and praise so much it's sickening

"Brad, dual eight hundreds on your math and critical reading SATs? You're a god!" she adulated.
adulterate
to make impure

Never trust an adult with your belly button lint collection. He will definitely adulterate it.
adumbrate
to foreshadow by disclosing only partially

The economic indicators adumbrated that the price of gas would rise to a dumb rate.
adverse
hostile; opposed; unfavorable

"It's tough writing a national anthem during a British attack," complained Francis Scott Key. "The only light you have is the rockets' red glare. You have to add verses under adverse conditions.
advocate
to urge; recommend

Advertisements advocate products.
aesthetic
artistic; pertaining to a sense of what is beautiful

As the tick was sucking blood from my arm I squashed it. The dead insect smeared on my arm was no aesthetically pleasing.
affected
fake (think: a-FAKE-ted)

His affected personality negatively affected our affection.
affinity
attraction

There was a natural affinity between him and his new Infiniti.
affluent
rich

A flu went around the affluent passengers of the yacht; their diamond tiaras and Rolexes sparkled when they sneezed.
affray
public brawl

The frog was afraid to enter the affray.
agape
open-mouthed

If you stand agape, there is a gap in your mouth.
aghast
horrified

We were aghast when he "passed gas."
agile
able to move in a quick and easy fashion

Age'll make you less agile.
alacrity
cheerful promptness

The empty auditorium was the result of a lack of alacrity among the sleep-deprived students.
alias
a false name

"Your real name was all I asked you for; why did you give me an alias?" the reporter said to Jennifer Garner.
alimentary
supplying nourishment

When Watson asked, "What's a ten-letter word meaning 'supplying-nourishment'?" Sherlock replied, "Alimentary, my dear Watson.
allay
to sooth; to make more bearable

He allayed his parents' fears by getting all As on his report card.
alleged
stated without proof

It was alleged that he died by falling off a ledge.
allude
to refer indirectly
allusion
a reference to something

A lewd person alludes to salacious sexual endeavors.
altercation
a violent dispute

An altercation broke out when, at the altar, Kate said to her groom, "I don't."
amass
to collect; to get a bunch of

By publishing this book, we hope to amass a mass of perfect scores for our readers.
ambulatory
able to walk

After he was run over by the ambulance, he was no longer ambulatory.
ameliorate
to improve a bad situation

Amelia rated her love life as having been ameliorated since last year.
amity
peaceful relations; friendship

There was amity between the students at M.I.T. and their math professors.
amnesia
loss of memory

We forgot our sentence for this word because we have amnesia.
amok
freaked out and violently pissed off

The shmuck in the much got stuck, ran amok, and guess what word he screamed? (Answer: Shucks)
amorphous
shapeless

If you take too much morphine you'll feel like an amorphous blob.
anthropoid
C3PO is an anthropoid droid. SAT proctors try to appear as anthropoid as possible, but we know better.
antipathy
hatred; aversion; dislike

By this time you should be developing a strong antipathy to studying these words and their ridiculous definitions.
apathetic
indifferent; showing lack of interest
apathy
indifference; lack of interest

It's a pathetic thing to be apathetic.
"They found the cure for apathy, but no one showed any interest in it." - George Carlin
apex
tip; peak; summit; way up there

The ape exercised by jumpong off the apex monkey house in the zoo.
appease
to soothe; placate

He appeased his parents by eating a piece of slimy okra.
arbitrary
chosen at random or without apparent reason

If a college rejects you, its admissions process must be arbitrary.
ardor
heat; passion; zeal

With ardor she moaned, "You don't have to be so gentle-ardor, ardor."
askew
crooked; off to one side

Don't tell us our type is a e
k w
Did we ask you?
assuage
to ease; pacify

Buying a suede fringed jacket might assuage Donna's compulsive desire to shop.
astute
shrewd; wise; observing

A student must be astute to outwit the Evil Testing Serpent.
attribute
(n.) a characteristic, usually a good one
(v.) to explain by indicating a cause

In her article on Pamela Anderson, the mean-spirited reporter attributed the actress's most prominent attribute to plastic surgery.
atypical
not typical

Michael Jackson's face, voice, clothing, and habits are atypical for an earthling.
audacity
boldness

Their audacity was evident when they published their odd SAT book.
august
majestic; awe-inspiring

When Cleopatra saw Augustus in all his finery, she said, "Aw Gus, you look august."
austerity
severity; strictness

His austerity is actually a rarity; severity is not his specialty.
averse
opposed; unwilling

Eggbert was averse to eating Frisbees.
avuncular
like an uncle

This word does not deserve a sentence because only your avuncular Uncle Herbert would ever use it.
awry
twisted; crooked; out of whack; askew; wrong

"Waiter, there is something awry in my bread," she complained.
"That thing?" he replied. "Why, that's just a rye seed.
bacchanalian
orgiastic; like wild drunken revelry

Bacchus was the Roman god of wine, and the Bacchanalia was the festival devoted to him.

He gave a bacchanalian party to welcome back an alien.
baleful
something that exerts an evil influence or foreshadows evil
baneful
something that really is poisonous or deadly
barrister
lawyer

What do barristers and sperm have in common?

Both have a one in a million chance of turning out human.
bawdy
obscene; coarse; humorous

Many bawdy jokes have to do with certain parts of the body.
beatific
displaying or imparting joy

"Be terrific," said the Hare Krishna with a beatific smile.
begrudge
to envy, to resent

To be holding a grudge for so long against me means that you must begrudge me my happy life.
beguile
trick

"The [Evil Testing] Serpent beguiled me and I did eat the apple." (Genesis 3:13)
belated
delate; late

We sent a belated birthday present and in return got a month old piece of ice-cream cake.
bellicose
violent; warlike

You'll know you're sitting next to a bellicose person if during the test his sharpened number 2 pencil into your belly goes.
benevolent
kind

Superman may be the benevolent protector of the world, but have you ever noticed that he wears his underpants outside his pants?
berate
to scold severely

If you don't get into college, your parents will berate you. If you don't do A work, your teachers will berate (B-rate) you.
betroth
to become engaged

She discovered that he wasn't wearing a tuxedo--she really was betrothed to a penguin.
biennial
every two years

My social life has been reduced to biennial parties.
bland
not stimulating; dull

I found the movie about the politics of cauliflower rather bland.
blandishment
flattery

The sycophants obsequiously lavished me with blandishments.
blighted
ruined; destroyed; withered

When much of California was blighted by fires, the former governor tried to drown his feelings of hopelessness in Bud Light.
bereft
lacking something needed

He felt sad and bereft just thinking about how she didn't love him; now he would be left without her.
boisterous
rowdy

We have male cheerleaders at our school. When they get in front of the crowd, those boys stir us up until we're boisterous.
bombastic
grandiloquent (wordy, pompous) in speech or writing

At the end of his long, boring, bombastic speech, the self-satisfied tyrant received a bomb basket as a farewell gift.
braggadocio
cockiness; a braggart

Braggadocios tend to do a lot of empty bragging.
brevity
briefness

When Janet had a 20-page paper due, but wanted to go out, her friend suggested, "You can write your paper with great brevity and brave a D.
brusque
brief; curt; gruff; discourteous

The people who take tickets at the movies are always brusque, as though they're not genuinely interested in every single person who walks by them.
bucolic
pastoral; typical of farms and rural life.

The scene was bucolic
So we started to frolic
In our feet so bare,
Whoops! The cow chips were there!
bumptious
self-assertive

The bumptious people bumped us out of line, so we gave them all fierce head-butts.
burgeon
to grow; sprout; flourish

Madonna's career burgeoned as soon as she changed the title her unsuccessful song "Like a Burgeon."
burnish
to polish

One of the housekeeper's jobs was burnishing the furnishings.
cache
hiding place (pronounced "cash)

The thieves stashed the cash in the cache.
cacophonous
sounding discordant; terrible and generally unpleasant to listen to; the opposite of euphonious

As Dracula arose from his coffin, the werewolves let out a cacophonous wail.
cadaver
corpse

The medical students named their cadaver Ernie so that they could be "working in dead Ernest."
cajole
to coax

"Yes you can, Joel," they cajoled him. "You can become a professional thumb whistler if you set your mind to it."
callous
unfeeling; unsympathetic

Brian complained of the callus on his big toe, but Meg remained callous.
If you don't like that sentence, don't call us, we're callous.
calumniate
to slander
calumny
slander; defamation

It was calumny when I wrote in a column in The New York Times that you enjoy poisoning Arctic wombats. I hated you, so I calumniated you.
candor
frankness; candidness

"Speaking with complete candor, Hansel," said the wicked witch, "I have chopped Gretel up and canned her."
cantankerous
ill-natured; quarrelsome

"Bloody screaming sea dogs, I can't anchor us!" the cantankerous captain cried.
capitulate
to surrender
Jackie Chan never capitulates.
capricious
unpredictable; following whim

The album charts were capricious; one week 50 Cent was on top--but as soon as we had catalogued all the swear words, Alicia Keys took over.
captious
fault-finding

"What?! You're only in Cs? And your room's still messy, and you haven't cooked us dinner," said the captious review book authors.
carrion
rotting flesh

The lion tore a hefty chunk of flesh out of the zebra's neck. Later the jackals came by and pulled more entrails out of the carrion. After the jackals left, the vultures remained to carry on with devouring it.
castigate
to punish

Castration is a severe form of castigation.
cathartic
cleansing; allowing a release of tension or emotion

Manek's method of preparing for the SAT is cathartic.
caustic
burning; characterized by a bitter wit

When she saw the ugly necklace that her boyfriend had bought her, she said to him caustically, "How much did that cost?Ick!"
cauterize
to burn tissue (usually because a wound isn't clotting)

When bleeding caught her eyes, the doctor knew that she would have to cauterize the patient's skin.
cavil
to raise unnecessary or trivial objections

When I told the vet that I fed my cow Diet Coke, he caviled about how it would make my calf ill.
celerity
swiftness, speed

When the light turned green the chauffeur floored the gas pedal with celerity and we suddenly accelerated. I nearly spilled my celery tea.
celibacy
conditions of being celibate
celibate
without sex; unmarried

If the prostitute does not sell a bit, she will have to be celibate tonight.
censor
(v.) to remove inappropriate stuff
(n.) someone who censors things

Fabio sensed her longing with his rough hands caressed her voluptuous heaving CENSORED
censure
to criticize; blame

When someone starts to criticize you, you can sense you're being censured.
cerebration
thought

The guests at Einstein's birthday celebration were all deep in cerebration.
chagrin
embarrassment

She grinned and blushed with chagrin.
chaos
state of utter confusion

"We don't want to cause chaos," we told the customs official.
"So just okay us for passage."
charlatan
quack; someone who pretends he's someone he's not

Charlotte in Charlotte's Web was not a charlatan; she really could spell.
chaste
pure; unspoiled; virginal

The virgin chased away the men so that she could remain chaste.
chicanery
trickery

When I found the sneezing powder in my Chicken McNuggets I knew you were up to some chicanery.
choleric
hot-tempered; easily made "hot under the collar"

The choleric pit bull did not enjoy it when his owner made him wear the electrified collar.
churlish
boorish; rude

Someone who is girlish is probably not churlish.
ciliated
having tiny hairs

"Oh Juliet, I love your deed blue eyes."
"Oh Romeo, I love the ciliated lining of your nostrils."
circumspect
prudent; cautious

"Search;em, inspector," ordered the circumspect detective.
clemency
mildness of temper--especially leniency toward an enemy or in sentencing a criminal
cogent
clear; logical; well-thought-out

The two men (co-gents) on the debate team gave a cogent argument.
cogitate
to think about deeply and carefully

A good time to cogitate about dairy products is while eating cottage cheese.
cognizant
fully informed and aware; conscious

When the factory repairman becomes cognizant that the cog isn't working, he will fix the gear.
comely
attractive; agreeable

The more frequently you comb your hair, the more comely you become. Or maybe not...
comestible
food

Banana flambe is a combustible comestible.
commensurate
equal; proportionate

You don't think that this pile of gold is commensurate with that one? Well, come measure it.
commiserate
to sympathize; be miserable together

He commiserated with his friend at Yukon University, who also got 200s.
comport
to behave in a particular way

Comport yourself in a comfortable way.
compunction
strong uneasiness caused by guilt

I felt compunction about puncturing your tires with Japanese throwing stars, but I went ahead and did it anyway.
concupiscence
sexual desire; lust sensuality

This word probably won't be on the test, but we like it.
concurrent
at the same time

John Adam's and Thomas Jefferson's deaths were almost concurrent; they both died on Independence Day, 1826.
congenital
existing at birth

Unless you've had a sex change, your genitals are congenital.
conjecture
statement made without adequate evidence

"Can Jack surely reach that conclusion?" I asked. "Or is it only a conjecture?"
conjugal
pertaining to marriage

Unless you can juggle both your careers, you will not have conjugal happiness.
contort
twist; bend

We recommend that you contact your local contortionist in order to learn the skills necessary for sitting in an SAT chair.
contrition
remorse; repentance; bitter regret felt owing to wrongdoing

When Trish borke the priceless gorilla sculpture, she was overcome with contrition.
controversial
of, relating to, or causing dispute

Distributing contraceptives in high school is a controversial issue.
convoke
to call together; to cause to assume

They mayor convokes a town meeting so that the citizens can vocalize their grievances.
corp-
a root meaning "body"

Example: corpse = dead body
corporal
of the body; bodily

Corporal Thomas gave me corporal punishment because I saluted him with my foot instead of my hand.
corpulent
obese; having a fat body

The corpulent corporal gave up eating for Lent.
corroborate
to testify in agreement

Do you have any witnesses who can corroborate that this is the restaurant where Bonnie and Clyde (co-robbers) ate?
countermand
to cancel a command

"Work in the stockroom today," the shopkeeper ordered. "No wait!" he countermanded, "Keep the front counter manned."
covert
concealed; secret

When the press finds out about the CIA's covert operations the CIA tries to cover it up.
cower
to quiver; shrink from fear

The coward cowered.
crass
uncultured

It is crass to scratch your ass.
credulity
gullibility

His credulity led him to think that the preposterous alibi was credible. I found it too incredible to believe.
crestfallen
dejected

"I'm sorry I dropped the toothpaste," he said, crestfallen.
crux
main point; central issue; heart of the matter

"The crux of our work is to crucify crooks," explained the Roman policeman.
cull
to select; weed out

College admissions officers cull the best applications from the pile
cupidity
greed; avarice

Note: Although Cupid is usually associated with love, he's actually the god of desire, including desire for money.

Dan is possessed with stupidity as well as cupidity; he stole a lot of money, but then he burned it to get rid of the evidence.
dais
raised platform

The nervous speaker whispered, "Da is no way I am going up on the dais!"
daunt
to intimidate; frighten
dauntless
bold, unable to be daunted
dearth
scarcity

When there is nothing but d'earth there is dearth.

Because of Darth Vader, there was a dearth of laughter on the Death Star.
debase
to lower in quality or value; adulterate

The birds at de base of the statue debased it with excrement.
decoy
a lure or bait

The coy duck disguised himself as a wooden decoy, but the hunters shot at him anyway.
defenestration
the act of throwing something out the winder
delude
to deceive

De lewd due deluded himself into thinking he was attractive.
demivierge
a person whose sexual activities stop short of intercourse

This word won't be on the test, but think how it will enrich the rest of your life.
demur
to object mildly
demure
reserved; modest

The demure poodle demurred at the Saint Bernard's drooling in public.
deplete
to lessen the supply or content of

She de-pleated the skirt by ironing it, thus depleting her stock of skirts.
depraved
morally corrupt; debased; perverted

As a prank, the depraved criminal de-paved the highway.
deranged
having a severe mental disorder; being insane

The deranged cowboy roamed the streets singing wildly, "rome, Rome on de range."
derogate
to detract; to take away

The effect of the spear protruding from Bob's forehead was to derogate from his usually good-looking face.
descry
to discern; to catch sight of something that is difficult to catch sight of

Through the mist they could descry the form of the hungry, one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater munching on a bag of purple Skittles.
desultory
aimless; disconnected; rambling; haphazard

"That's why I love pepper," said Uri, finishing his speech extolling the merits of salt. "De salut, Uri!" yelled his debate teacher.
deter
to prevent or discourage from happening

Nothing can deter Derek Jeter from hitting a home run for the Yankees.
devastate
to ruin by violent action

The Blob devastated de vast stat of Nevada.
devoid
completely lacking; void; empty; without

Avoid diving into swimming pools that are devoid of water; you could hurt yourself and that would suck.
dexterous
adroit or skillful in the use of hands or body

Houdini was dexterous; he could escape from a straitjacket.
diabolical
fiendish; devilish; nastily scheming

The diabolical demon devised a deadly dungeon.
diaphanous
translucent; gossamer

His diaphanous dinner dress caused much discussion.
discern
to detect by the use of the senses

The watchman dis-earned his pay by not discerning the thieves.
discord
lack of harmony

"I won't use dis cord 'cause it would create discord," said Mozart.
disparage
to belittle; to reduce in esteem

"Dis porridge is too hot," Goldilocks disparaged.
disseminate
to dispense objects, such as seeds, newspapers; to distribute

While making his stock boy walk the plank, the captain explained, "Dis seaman ate all of the supplies that he was supposed to disseminate.
distraught
anxious; worried; distressed

Snow White became distraught when the dwarfs drank booze and fought.
divers
several
diverse
distinct; varied; differing

William Shakespeare's divers verses about diverse subjects.
doleful
sad; mournful

You will be Dole-full and sick if you eat 98 cans of pineapple chunks.
drastic
severe

If your swimsuit strap breaks, you are in drastic need of elastic.
dynamic
energetic; vigorous; forceful

The dynamic duo fell into the Joker's dynamite trap.
ebullient
bubbly; overflowing with excitement

The chef took a hefty swig of cooking sherry and then ebulliently tossed the bouillon cubes into the soup.
edify
to enlighten, educate

Ed defied the edict against education by trying to edify his pupils.
educe
to elicit

He tried to educe as much information as possible from the suspects before he deduced who the murder was.
efface
to erase; rub out

Be sure to completely efface any answer circle you wish to change.
effete
tired; barren; decadent

By the time the authors had finished writing the E word list they were effete.
effigy
dummy (mannequin), usually for symbolic torturing

The E words got together to burn F and G in effigy.
elation
exhilaration; joy

The jolly mountaineers found elation on high elevations.
emaciated
excessively thin; weak

In May she ate it, but now it's June and she's still emaciated.
emulate
to imitate closely

When the tornado began, Dorothy called our, "Aunty Em you late. Emulate Toto and hurry up."
epitaph
memorial text carved on a tombstone

I read the epitaph, "Here lies a politician ad an honest man," and wondered how they could fit two people in one grave."
epitome
something that perfectly represents an entire class of things' embodiment

"You're the epitome of stupidity." she screeched after I spilled baloney dip all over her dress.
equestrian
pertaining to horsemanship; on horseback

The equestrian knights went on a quest to Rion, but they were turned away because of a no-horses policy.
equipoise
equality; balance; equilibrium

An equipoise of speed and comprehension must be acquired in order to succeed on the critical reading section.
equivocal
capable of two interpretations; ambiguous

"A good meal from this cook is a rare treat," is an equivocal statement.
erode
to diminish or destroy by small amounts

When a road erodes, there are potholes all over the place.
erudite
scholarly

Erudite people say things like, "Ere you diet, would you partake of the torte?" instead of "Want some cake?"
eschew
avoid; shun

"Eschew!" he sneezed loudly.
"Gesundheit," she replied, while eschewing the globules of sneeze juice.
esoteric
known only by a few people

Now you are one of the few people who knows this esoteric word.
ethereal
not of the material world

The lisping child saw the ethereal ghost and asked, "It he real?"
eulogy
praiseful speech at a funeral

In Santa's eulogy, the priest explained that Santa had died of cholesterol because of all those Yule logs he ate."
euphemism
nice way of saying something unpleasant

"Moved on to the next wold" is a euphemism for "keeled over and bought it," which is a euphemism for "died."
exact
On the SAT, the Serpent will use the secondary definition of this word, which is: to demand

The Stamp Act exacted from colonists taxes they could not afford to pay. So they "X'd" the act.
exhume
to remove from a grave; disinter

They exhumed the coffin, but there was no cadaver in it.
exigent
urgent; requiring immediate attention

It is exigent that I find a sexy gent to escort me to the prom.

excessively demanding; excessively exacting

I made exigent demands on my fairy godmother to find me a debonair prom date and a diaphanous dress.
fabricate
to invent or make up something (often in order to deceive)

When Michael couldn't remove the stain from the fabric, he ate it and fabricated a story that aliens stole it.
facet
side or aspect; face or something (e.g. gemstones)

"Face it! One of the facets of being a jeweler is sometimes selling flawed facets!"
facetious
joking or jesting

She's so facetious that you should not take what she says at face value.
fallacious
false; wrong; incorrect

They used to castigate people who made fallacious statements.
(Well, that was a long time ago.)
fastidious
careful about details; impossible to satisfy

The fastidious Enron accountant admonished his employees, "Be careful! Don't shred too fast, idiots."
fatuous
inane; foolish; fatheaded

Eating 30 pounds of chocolate a day is a fatuous idea.
fawning
groveling; overly admiring

The hunter who killed Bambi's mother should have come back and make a fawning plea for forgiveness.
feasible
workable; plausible; possible

Homer's idea of opening a hair salon for bald people was not feasible--who would pay the $30 fee? D'oh!
fecund
fertile

"Feh! Couldn't you do without all the smelly manure?" Slick asked Farmer Brown. "No, we need it to make the soil fecund."
fervor
passion

I will fight a ferocious ferret and get its fur for you if it will prove the fervor of my love for you.
fetid
smelly

I am proud to have fetid feet that smell of feta cheese.
fictitious
false; not genuine

Books of fiction have fictitious plots.
filch
to steal

Since they had zilch, they decided to filch.
flagrant
deliberately conspicuous; glaring

After the protesters flagrantly burned the Stars and Stripes, the mayor began a flag rant, condemning the rebels.
flaunt
to show off something

I flagrantly flaunted my physical flawlessness to my fawning followers.
fluctuation
irregular variation

At the terrifying sight of the nasty sentence completion question, his heartbeat fluctuated wildly.
foible
weakness, flaw

Britney Spear's foible is her penchant for attention.
foment
to stir up; agitate; incite(think: when you stir something up it foams)

When your foe warned you not to foment the army against him, your foe meant he was afraid of getting his ass kicked.
forbearance
patience

He played dead with forbearance until the four bears got antsy and went away.
formication
spontaneous abnormal sensation of ants or other insects running over the skin

Some people experience this while taking the SAT.
forte
strong point (think:forts are strong. Pronounced "fort or "for-tay")

His forte was sneaking into the for \t that was just before Fort B.
frenetic
frenzied; frantic; freaked out

When the pilot and the flight attendants became frenzied, the passengers became frenetic.
froward
stubborn

The froward guardsmen refused to retreat, so the protesters could not move forward.
frugal
sparing in expense; stingy; miserly

They told me that I was frugal
Because I bout a plastic bugle.
fulminate
to explode; roar; denounce loudly

After he bombed the SAT, he fulminated for a full minute against the ETS.
futile
completely ineffective

The one-armed floor layer felt his work was futile because he could lay only a few tiles a day.
forte
strong point (think:forts are strong. Pronounced "fort or "for-tay")

His forte was sneaking into the for \t that was just before Fort B.
frenetic
frenzied; frantic; freaked out

When the pilot and the flight attendants became frenzied, the passengers became frenetic.
froward
stubborn

The froward guardsmen refused to retreat, so the protesters could not move forward.
frugal
sparing in expense; stingy; miserly

They told me that I was frugal
Because I bout a plastic bugle.
fulminate
to explode; roar; denounce loudly

After he bombed the SAT, he fulminated for a full minute against the ETS.
futile
completely ineffective

The one-armed floor layer felt his work was futile because he could lay only a few tiles a day.