SAT Words: 1st Semester

blithe (adj)

Happy, joyous

copious (adj)

Abundant, extensive

demean (v)

Debase, lower in dignity

excoriate (v)

To tear, to denounce scathingly

fecund (adj)

Fruitful, fertile

fortuitous (adj)

Accidental, happening by good luck

lascivious (adj)

Lustful, lewd

politic (adj)

Prudent, shrewd, careful about what one says

pragmatic (adj)

practical

promontory (n)

High point of land

Fractious (adj)

rebellious, irritable

Factitious (adj)

Artificial, not spontaneous

Inveterate (adj)

Habitual, deep-rooted, stubbornly inflexible

Peregrinate (V)

Travel from place to place

plaintive (adj)

Mournful, sad, melancholy

Prodigal (adj)

Lavish, extravagant, wasteful

Propinquity (n)

Nearness, similarity, kinship

Saturnine (adj)

Gloomy, heavy, dull

Skittish (adj)

Uncertain, shy, excitable

Travail (n)

Toil, anguish

Abate

To make or become less; to reduce

Culpable

Deserving blame

Desultory

Disconnected, random, marked by lack of definite plan or purpose

Divest

To strip (of clothing, ornament); to dispossess (property)

Dulcet

Melodious, soothing, sweet to the ear

Emollient

Soothing, softening; a substance that soothes

Erudite

Learned, scholarly

Eschew

To shun, avoid

Esurient

Hungry, greedy

Euphemistic

Referring in a mild way to something unpleasant

Apothegm

Proverb, terse and witty instructive saying

Callow

Immature, inexperienced

Chimerical

Imaginary, fanciful, unrealistic

Cogent

Forceful, compelling, convincing

Ephemeral

Fleeting, momentary, not permanent

Euphoria

Feeling of well-being or high spirits

Extant

In existence, not extinct

Flaccid

Limp, flabby

Inscrutable

Impenetrable, puzzling, enigmatic

Nadir

Lowest point or point of greatest depression

Obfuscate

To confuse or bewilder; to cloud over to make obscure

Occidental

Pertaining to Western cultures

Panegyric

Formal composition devoted to elaborate praise

Refractory

Obstinate; unmanageable

Renegade

Traitor, deserter, outlaw

Sequester

To remove or set apart; segregate

Surreptitious

Characterized by secrecy, stealth, or lack of openness

Tantamount

Equivalent in value, significance, or effect; amounting to

Turgid

Distended or swollen

Uxorious

Excessively submissive to or devoted to one's wife

Acerbic

(adj) acidic, tart

Acumen

(n) keenness of intellect

Ameliorate

(v) improve, make more tolerant

Cognate

(adj) of a similar nature

Confound

(v) bewilder, perplex

Consonant

(adj) harmonious, in agreement

Distension

(n) act of swelling/expanding

Enigmatic

(adj) puzzling, mysterious

Factious

(adj) quarrelsome

Furtive

(adj) hidden, secret

blithe (adj)

Happy, joyous

copious (adj)

Abundant, extensive

demean (v)

Debase, lower in dignity

excoriate (v)

To tear, to denounce scathingly

fecund (adj)

Fruitful, fertile

fortuitous (adj)

Accidental, happening by good luck

lascivious (adj)

Lustful, lewd

politic (adj)

Prudent, shrewd, careful about what one says

pragmatic (adj)

practical

promontory (n)

High point of land

pusillanimous (adj)

Cowardly, faint-hearted

rapprochement (n)

Harmonious relationship

salient (adj)

Conspicuous, striking, standing out

salubrious (adj)

Healthful, wholesome

strident (adj)

Grating, harsh-sounding

subliminal (adj)

Too small to be perceived

unimpeachable (adj)

Blameless, above suspicion

venial (adj)

Excusable, pardonable

verdant (adj)

Green with vegetation, lush

vilify (v)

To defame or slander