SAT Vocab Words

Adhere

To believe in and follow the practices of

Advocate

To publicly recommend or support

Affront

An insult; a deliberate act of disrespect

Alleviate

To relieve; lessen; make bearable

Allocate

To distribute; assign; allot

Allude

To hint at indirectly

Ambiguous

Unclear; open to multiple interpretations

Ambivalence

Mixed feelings about something

Analogous

Comparable in certain respects

Anecdote

A short interesting story about a real event/person

Anomaly

An unusual occurrence; deviation

Apathetic

Showing little or no interest

Apprehensive

Anxious or fearful

Arbitrary

Based on random choice rather than reason

Assert

To state confidently

Astute

Shrewd and perceptive

Attribute

To ascribe to a cause

Beneficial

Producing positive effects

Benevolent

Kind and generous

Bias

Unfair preference or prejudice

Bolster

To support or strengthen

Brevity

Concise use of words

Burgeon

To grow and flourish

Buttress

To reinforce or support

Candor

Honesty and sincerity

Capitalize

To gain advantage from

Circumvent

To find a way around

Cohesion

Unity; forming a whole

Compelling

Capturing interest or attention

Compensation

Payment or something given for loss

Complementary

Completing or enhancing another thing

Concede

To admit something is true

Conform

To match expectations or norms

Congenial

Pleasant and friendly

Consensus

General agreement

Conspicuous

Easily noticed

Converge

To come together

Corroborate

To confirm with evidence

Culpable

Deserving blame

Curtail

To reduce or limit

Debunk

To expose as false

Decisive

Producing a definite result

Deduce

To reach a conclusion through reasoning

Deference

Respectful submission

Degrade

To treat with disrespect

Delegate

To assign a task

Denounce

To publicly condemn

Derive

To obtain from a source

Despondent

Hopeless and depressed

Deviate

To depart from the norm

Disconcerting

Unsettling or worrying

Disparate

Fundamentally different

Dispute

To argue against

Divergent

Developing in different directions

Dormant

Inactive; asleep

Dubious

Doubtful or uncertain

Earnest

Serious and sincere

Elicit

To draw out a response

Eloquent

Fluent and persuasive

Elusive

Difficult to find or catch

Ephemeral

Lasting a short time

Epitome

A perfect example

Equity

Fairness and impartiality

Erratic

Irregular and unpredictable

Evince

To reveal a quality

Evoke

To bring to mind

Exert

To apply effort

Exonerate

To clear from blame

Explicit

Clearly stated

Fallacy

A false belief or idea

Foster

To encourage development

Gregarious

Social and outgoing

Haphazard

Lacking planning

Hinder

To obstruct or prevent

Imminent

About to happen

Impartial

Unbiased and fair

Impede

To hinder or delay

Impenetrable

Impossible to understand or enter

Implicit

Implied but not stated

Impose

To force acceptance of

Indecipherable

Impossible to understand

Indifference

Lack of concern or interest

Induce

To persuade or influence

Inevitable

Certain to happen

Inexplicable

Impossible to explain

Innocuous

Harmless

Intrinsic

Belonging naturally

Invoke

To cite as authority

Ironic

Opposite of what is expected

Jarring

Shocking or inconsistent

Juxtapose

To place side by side for contrast

Latent

Existing but undeveloped

Laud

To praise

Lucrative

Profitable

Malicious

Intended to harm

Mandate

An official order

Meticulous

Extremely careful and precise

Mitigate

To lessen severity

Novel

New and unusual

Nuanced

Having subtle distinctions