SAT/ACT/AP Vocabulary Study Guide - Second Quarter

A comprehensive vocabulary review set covering all 105 academic terms and definitions from the SAT/ACT/AP Vocabulary Study Guide.

Acquiescent

Ready to accept something transformatively or acquiesce; agreeable without protest.

Acrimony

Bitterness, ill feeling, or animosity in feeling, speech, or disposition.

Ambidextrous

Able to use the right and left hands equally well; unusually skillful or deceitful.

Amorphous

Lacking a definite clear shape, form, or structure; vague or unorganized.

Analogous

Comparable in certain respects, typically in a way that makes clearer the nature of the things compared.

Antithesis

A person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else; a rhetorical contrast of ideas.

Archaic

Very old or old-fashioned; belonging to an ancient or earlier period.

Assiduous

Showing great care, attention, and persistent effort in completing tasks.

Atrophy

To waste away or decline progressively from disuse, disease, or neglect.

Avarice

Extreme greed for wealth or material gain.

Banal

So lacking in originality as to be obvious, boring, or predictable.

Blight

Something that spoils, damages, or destroys; a disease that causes plants to wither and die.

Bumptious

Self-assertive or proud to an irritating degree.

Capacious

Having a lot of space inside; roomy and capable of holding much.

Caustic

Sarcastic in a scathing and bitter way; able to burn or corrode organic tissue.

Circumspect

Wary and unwilling to take risks; careful to consider all possibilities before acting.

Cloister

A quiet, secluded place devoted to religious retirement or isolation from the world.

Concise

Giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words; brief and comprehensive.

Consonance

Agreement or compatibility between opinions or actions; recurrence of similar sounds in proximity.

Conviction

A firmly held belief or opinion; a formal declaration that someone is guilty of a criminal offense.

Copious

Abundant in supply or quantity; yielding something in great quantities.

Criteria

Principles or standards by which something may be judged or decided (plural of criterion).

Decadence

Moral or cultural decline as characterized by excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury.

Deride

Express contempt for; ridicule or mock aggressively.

Despondent

In low spirits from loss of hope or courage.

Dilatory

Slow to act; intended to cause delay or procrastinate.

Discord

Disagreement between people; lack of harmony among notes sounding together.

Divergence

The process or state of dividing, drawing apart, or developing different traits.

Doleful

Expressing sorrow; mournful or melancholy.

Efficacy

The ability to produce a desired or intended result; effectiveness.

Endemic

Regularly found among particular people or in a certain area; native or restricted to a region.

Ephemeral

Lasting for a very short time; fleeting or transitory.

Erudition

The quality of having or showing great knowledge or learning; scholarship.

Eulogize

Praise highly in speech or writing, especially in a tribute to someone deceased.

Exalt

Hold someone or something in very high regard; elevate in rank, power, or character.

Extol

Praise enthusiastically and lavishly.

Flaccid

Lacking firmness, stiffness, vigor, or force; soft and limp.

Foresight

The ability to predict or plan for what will happen or be needed in the future.

Frugal

Sparing or economical with regard to money or food; simple and plain.

Garner

Gather or collect something, especially information, approval, or resources.

Glutton

An excessively greedy eater; a person with a remarkably great capacity for accepting or enduring something.

Hamper

Hinder or impede the movement or progress of; obstruct.

Hedge

Avoid making a definite statement, decision, or commitment; limit or qualify something.

Homogeneous

Of the same kind; alike in nature, structure, or composition throughout.

Immutable

Unchanging over time or unable to be changed.

Impede

Delay or prevent someone or something by obstructing them; interfere with.

Impudence

Behavior that is disrespectful, insolent, or impertinent.

Incongruous

Not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something.

Incorrigible

Not able to be corrected, improved, or reformed.

Inert

Lacking the ability or strength to move; inactive or chemically unreactive.

Ingenuous

Innocent, unsuspecting, childlike, and lacking sophistication.

Insipid

Lacking flavor, vigor, interest, or distinctiveness.

Insolvent

Unable to pay debts owed; bankrupt.

Irreverent

Showing a lack of respect for people or things that are generally taken seriously.

Jaunty

Having or expressing a lively, cheerful, and self-confident manner.

Jocular

Fond of or characterized by joking; humorous or playful.

Kindle

Light or set on fire; arouse, inspire, or excite (an emotion or feeling).

Latent

Existing but not yet developed, manifest, or active; hidden or concealed.

Loathe

Feel intense dislike or disgust for.

Loquacious

Tending to talk a great deal; talkative.

Magnate

A wealthy and influential person, especially in business or industry.

Malleable

Able to be hammered or pressed permanently out of shape without breaking; easily influenced or pliable.

Meticulous

Showing great attention to detail; very careful and precise.

Minute

Extremely small, tiny, or minor; paying attention to small details.

Myriad

Countless or extremely great in number.

Nuance

A subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, sound, or color.

Objurgate

Rebuke or reprimand severely; berate.

Obsolete

No longer produced or used; out of date.

Ominous

Giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen; threatening.

Opulence

Great wealth, affluence, or luxuriousness.

Paltry

Small or meager in amount; petty or trivial.

Paucity

The presence of something only in small or insufficient quantities or amounts; scarcity.

Pernicious

Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.

Pithy

Concise and forcefully expressive in language.

Platitude

A remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful.

Potent

Having great power, influence, or effect; chemically or medically effective.

Predilection

A preference or special liking for something; a bias in favor of something.

Prodigious

Remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree.

Prudent

Acting with or showing care and thought for the future; wise in practical affairs.

Qualify

Make a statement less absolute or add reservations to; make legally or practically competent.

Ratify

Sign or give formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement, making it officially valid.

Redolent

Strongly reminiscent or suggestive of something; fragrant or sweet-smelling.

Relevancy

The quality or state of being closely connected or appropriate to the matter at hand.

Repudiate

Refuse to accept or be associated with; deny the truth or validity of.

Rotund

Round or plump in shape; full-toned or sonorous in voice or speech.

Sardonic

Grimly mocking, cynical, or sarcastic.

Scrupulous

Diligent, thorough, and extremely attentive to details; strictly adhering to moral standards.

Sententious

Given to moralizing in a pompous or affected manner; concise and full of meaning.

Solemn

Formal and dignified; serious, somber, or deeply sincere.

Specious

Superficially plausible, but actually wrong or misleading.

Stymie

Prevent or hinder the progress of; frustrate an attempt.

Succinct

Briefly and clearly expressed, especially without unnecessary words.

Superfluous

Unnecessary, especially through being more than enough.

Tantamount

Equivalent in seriousness, value, or effect to; virtually the same as.

Terse

Sparing in the use of words; abrupt or concise to the point of rudeness.

Torpid

Mentally or physically inactive; lethargic and lacking energy.

Trepidation

A feeling of fear, alarm, or anxiety about something that may happen.

Undermine

Subvert or weaken the foundation, confidence, or effectiveness of secretly or gradually.

Unerring

Always right or accurate; making no mistakes.

Vagrant

A person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place.