Erica Meltzer SAT Vocabulary

didactic

educational

equivocal

questionable; allowing the possibility of several different meanings

ineffable

too great for words

magnanimous

kind

obsequious

submissive, obedient

pedantic

precise in teaching

quixotic

idealistic

sycophant

someone who flatters

aloof

remote

ingenuous

honest, trustful

duplicitous

deceptive

eschew

avoid, shun

heterogeneous

different in kind

iconoclast

person who attacks cherished beliefs

laconic

concise; using few words

substantiate

to establish by competent evidence

unsubstantiated

unproved

alleviate

mitigate, to make easier to endure

bellicose

inclined or eager to fight

cosmopolitan

worldly-wise

deleterious

harmful

obstinate

stubborn

paradigm

an example serving as a model

transitory

ephemeral, short-lived

wary

watchful

bombastic

high-sounding, pretentious, exaggerated

contemptuous

condescending, arrogant

derivative

not original, from another source

motley

great diversity

penchant

strong liking for something

provincial

local, limited

supercilious

arrogant, stuck-up

tout

to show off, brag

vitriolic

bitter

whimsical

playful

acumen

ability to understand and reason

acquiesce

to give in, agree with some reluctance

benign

not cancerous, mild

bucolic

rural, relating to shepards

caustic

capable of burning, corrosive

eclectic

broad, general

flippant

lacking seriousness

tractable

easy to control

intractable

stubborn

laud

extol, praise

trite

silly

vernacular

indigenous, native

acriminious

nasty in behavior or speech

anomaly

abnormal, odd situation

capitulate

give in, surrender

charlatan

a person who pretends or claims to have more knowledge or skill than he or she possesses

heretic

anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle

immutable

unchangeable

insipid

dull, uninteresting

intrepid

brave

lucid

easily understood,clear

obdurate

stubborn

penury

extreme poverty

tenacious

persistent, stubborn

vindicate

prove one's innocence, exonerate

alacrity

liveliness

diffident

hesitant, unconfident

loquacious

talkative, garrulous

mirthful

joyous, jolly

prosaic

commonplace, dull

sedulous

diligent, assiduous

soporific

causing or tending to cause sleep, drowsy

tangential

slightly connected, extraneous

vapid

flat, full

zealot

enthusiast

abate

diminish, reduce in amount

belligerent

warlike

cacophonoy

dissonance, harsh discordance of sound

circumscribe

mark off

dilettante

lover of art or science

euphemism

nice way of saying something

jovial

happy, cheery

parochial

narrow-minded

perfidy

faithlessness, betrayal

pugnacious

inclined to fight, belligerent

vacuous

empty, lacking in ideas or intelligence

byzantine

complex

chary

cautious, careful

exculpate

to clear from a charge or guilt, vindicate

expedient

appropriate, worthwhile

fervid

passionate

fervent

burning with passion, enthusiastic

forestall

prevent, keep from happening

harbinger

anything that foreshadows a future event

interminable

unending, infinite

obtuse

slow to understand

paragon

outstanding example

prolific

producing offspring, fruitful, productive

serendipity

accidental discovery

cloying

sickly sweet, sappy

condone

to overlook, forgive, excuse

contentious

quarrelsome

digression

straying, deviating

idiosyncratic

peculiar, distinctive

inchoate

undeveloped, beginning