100 SAT Words to Know

Abate

to lessen in intensity or degree

Aberration

a deviation from what is normal or expected

Abstain

to choose not to do something

Adversity

hardship; misfortune

Aesthetic

pertaining to beauty

Amicable

friendly, agreeable

Anachronistic

out of date

Arid

extremely dry or deathly boring

Asylum

sanctuary, shelter, place of refuge

Benevolent

friendly, helpful

Bias

a particular preference or point of view that is personal, rather scientific

Boisterous

enthusiastic, loud

Brazen

bold and without shame

Brusque

short, abrupt, dismissive

Camaraderie

trust among friends

Canny

shrewd, careful

Capacious

spacious

Capitulate

to surrender

Clairvoyant

able to see the future

Collaborate

to work together

Compassion

sympathy, mercy

Compromise

to settle differences

Condescending

patronizing

Conditional

depending on condition

Conformist

follower of customs

Congregation

crowd of people

Convergence

joining of parts

Deleterious

harmful

Demagogue

rabble-rousing leader

Digression

straying from main point

Diligent

hard-working

Discredit

dishonor, disgrace

Disdain

to regard with scorn

Divergent

variant, moving apart

Empathy

sharing of feelings

Emulate

follow an example

Enervating

tiring, weakening

Ephemeral

momentary, fleeting

Evanescent

short-lived, as an image

Exasperation

irritation, frustration

Exemplary

outstanding

Extenuating

guilt diminishing

Florid

flushed, ornate

Fortuitous

lucky

Frugal

thrifty

Hackneyed

overused, cliched

Haughty

arrogant, condescending

Hedonist

pleasure seeker

Hypothesis

theory requiring proof

Impetuous

rash, impulsive

Impute

to attribute to someone

Inconsequential

trivial

Inevitable

unavoidable, certain

Intrepid

fearless, adventurous

Intuitive

instinctive, untaught

Jubilation

joy, exultation

Lobbyist

persuader of legislators

Longevity

long life

Mundane

ordinary, common

Nonchalant

calm, casual

Novice

beginner

Opulent

wealthy

Orator

speaker

Ostentatious

displaying wealthy

Parched

dried up

Perfidious

disloyal

Pragmatic

practical

Precocious

talented beyond one’s age

Pretentious

pompous, self-important

Procrastinate

to delay unnecessarily

Prosaic

run-of-the-mill

Prosperity

wealth, success

Provocative

inflammatory

Prudent

wise, careful, cautious

Querulous

irritable

Rancorous

hateful

Reclusive

withdrawn, hermit-like

Reconciliation

agreement after a quarrel

Renovation

state of being renewed

Resilient

quick to recover

Restrained

controlled, restricted

Reverence

profound respect

Sagacity

wisdom

Scrutinize

to observe carefully

Spontaneity

impulsive action

Spurious

phony, false

Submissive

meek

Substantiate

to verify, confirm

Subtle

elusive, sly, ambiguous

Superficial

lacking in depth

Superfluous

more than enough

Surreptitious

secret, stealthy

Tactful

diplomatic, polite

Tenacious

persistent, resolute

Transient

temporary, fleeting

Venerable

respectable due to age

Vindicate

to clear from blame

Wary

watchful, alert

Sagacity

wisdom

Superfluous

unnecessary, especially through being more than enough