Art & Culture Vocabulary, 1. Reading: Craft and Structure, SAT Reading and Writing

abstruse

(adj.) difficult to understand; complex or obscure.

accommodating

(adj.) willing to help others; obliging and polite.

acerbic

(adj.) harsh or sharply critical in tone, or bitter in taste.

acrid

(adj.) having a strong, bitter, or unpleasant taste or smell

acrimonious

(adj.) harsh or bitter in tone, words, or manner.

aggregate

1. (n.) a total amount formed by combining several elements. 2. (v.) to collect or gather into a whole.

airtight

Completely sealed so that no air can enter or escape.

amorphous

(adj.) lacking a clear or definite shape or form; not organized or easily classified.

antecedent

(n.) a thing or event that existed before or logically comes before another.

antiquity

the ancient past, especially the period before the Middle Ages

apparent (adj.)

easy to see, clear, or obvious to the mind or senses.

appreciative

(adj) showing gratitude or understanding of the value and quality of something.

arcane

(adj.) mysterious or secret, understood by only a few people.

artifact

(n.) an object from the past, especially from a lost culture or civilization.

assiduous

(adj.) showing great care, attention, and effort; hard-working.

attain

(v.) to achieve, reach, or accomplish a goal. (The athletes strived to attain their best times in competition.)

attest

verb. To give evidence or proof of; to confirm or verify. ("The ancient ruins attest to the civilization's advanced architectural skills.")

bane

(n.) something that causes misery or distress; a curse or burden. (Advanced physics is the bane of many students' lives.)

basaltic

adj. Relating to volcanic rock formed from cooled lava. ("The island was covered in basaltic formations created by ancient lava flows.")

bias

(n.) a preference or prejudice that affects judgment. Example: The judge's bias against smokers led to an unfair ruling.

brazen

(adj.) shamelessly bold or brash. Example: Critics condemned the novelist's brazen attempt to plagiarize Hemingway.

brute

(n) a rough or violent man; a large animal; (a) brute force refers to great physical strength.

caustic

(adj.) severely critical or sarcastic; capable of burning or corroding by chemical action.

circuit (n.)

1. a circular route or journey 2. the complete path for an electric current 3. an established series of events or venues for an activity.

colossus

(n.) something or someone of enormous size, importance, or power; a giant statue.

comprehend

To fully understand something.

conformist

(n.) a person who adopts the behaviors, views, or practices of a group rather than acting independently.

connoisseur

An expert with specialized knowledge, especially in art, food, or taste.

Constitute

(v.) to form or make up a part of something.

deceive

to make someone believe something untrue; to mislead or hide the truth for personal gain. Deceive yourself: to refuse to accept reality.

decorum

(n.) proper behavior; good taste in manners and conduct.

despot

(n.) a ruler with total power who often rules in a harsh, cruel way.

didactic

1. (adj.) intended to teach or instruct. 2. (adj.) excessively moralizing or instructional.

diffuse

1. (v.) to spread or scatter widely. 2. (adj.) spread out or not concentrated.

disdainful

Showing strong dislike or lack of respect, often combined with a sense of superiority; aloof.

dynamic

(adj.) actively changing or energetic (The parents struggled to keep up with the dynamic music scene.)

elicit

(v.) to draw out or evoke a response or reaction. (I elicited no response from the policeman when I asked him where the exit was.)

elusive

(adj.) difficult to find, catch, or understand.

enamor

(v.) to fill with love or fascination; usually used as 'enamored of' or 'enamored with.' (I grew enamored of that boy when he quoted my favorite poem.)

enigmatic

(adj.) mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand. (That man is so enigmatic that no one even knows his name.)

enthrall

(v.) to captivate or hold the complete attention of. (The sailor’s stories enthralled his young son.)

erudite

(adj.) highly educated or knowledgeable, displaying deep learning.

esoteric

(adj.) intended for or understood by only a small, specialized group.

fathom

(v.) to understand or grasp fully. (I cannot fathom why you like that unpleasant neighbor.)

fetid

(adj.) having a strong, unpleasant smell. (I can tell from the fetid smell in your refrigerator that your milk has spoiled.)

foolproof

So simple or reliable that it cannot easily fail or be used incorrectly.

garish

(adj.) overly bright, showy, or tastelessly flashy. (Mrs. Watson covers everything in her house with a garish gold lamé.)

guise

an outward appearance or disguise concealing the true nature of something.

hidebound

Narrow-minded and stubborn; extremely conservative.

histrionic

Overly dramatic or theatrical in behavior or style.

immutable

(adj.) not able to be changed; unchanging over time. (The laws of physics are immutable and constant.)

impenetrable

adj. Impossible to pass through or understand. ("The dense forest was nearly impenetrable.")

inarticulate

(adj.) unable to express oneself clearly in speech. (Though he spoke for over an hour, the lecturer was completely inarticulate and the students had no idea what he was talking about.)

incarnate

1. (adj.) embodied in physical form. (In the church pageant, I play the role of greed incarnate.) 2. (v.) to give bodily form to. (The alien evaded detection by incarnating himself in a human form.)

incontrovertible

(adj.) impossible to dispute; unquestionable (Only the most stubborn person would try to challenge incontrovertible facts.)

indecipherable

adj. Impossible to read or understand. ("The ancient script was indecipherable without the help of linguists.")

insipid

Lacking flavor or excitement; dull and uninteresting.

intractable

Difficult to manage or stubborn.

labyrinth

A complex maze or network of passages that is hard to navigate or escape from.

lucid

(adj.) clear and easy to understand. Example: Her lucid essay made the reasoning simple to follow.

mellifluous

smooth and sweet-sounding; pleasant to hear.

metamorphosis

(n.) a significant change in form, shape, or nature.

nascent

(adj.) just coming into existence or beginning to develop.

oblique

Not straightforward; indirect or slanting from a straight course.

obliterate

(v.) to completely destroy or wipe out.

obscure

Unclear, hard to see, or partially hidden from sight or understanding.

obstinate

Stubborn and unwilling to change one's opinion or action.

palatable

Pleasant or acceptable to the taste; tasty.

palimpsest

noun. An object or document that has been reused or changed, but shows traces of its earlier form. ("The ancient manuscript was a palimpsest, with faint traces of earlier writings.")

permeate

(v.) to spread throughout or saturate. Example: The smell of the wet dog permeated the furniture.

perplex

(v.) to confuse or puzzle. Example: He was perplexed by her sudden distant behavior.

pervasive

(adj.) spreading widely throughout an area or group. Example: There was a pervasive odor when stepping off the plane.

primeval

(adj.) very ancient or relating to the earliest ages in history.

pungent

(adj.) having a strong, sharp quality, often describing a powerful smell.

queue

to line up or wait in a line.

rancid

(adj.) having a stale, unpleasant, or rotten taste or smell.

rancor

(n.) deep, long-lasting bitterness or resentment.

recalcitrant

Disobedient, defiant, and stubbornly uncooperative.

restive

(adj.) restless, stubborn, or difficult to control due to impatience. Example: The restive crowd showed their displeasure by throwing mud and making noise.

revel

(v.) to enjoy or take intense pleasure in something. Example: He reveled in his new popularity at college.

rudimentary

adj. Basic or simple; at an early stage of development. ("He had only a rudimentary understanding of physics.")

saccharine

(adj.) overly or unpleasantly sweet in manner or tone. Example: His saccharine attitude actually annoyed his peers.

sacrosanct

(adj.) regarded as extremely important, sacred, or untouchable. Example: The Constitution is often seen as a sacrosanct document.

sanctimonious

(adj.) pretending to be morally superior to others; hypocritically pious. Example: He gave sanctimonious lectures but broke the rules himself.

scathing

(adj.) extremely critical or harsh. Example: Suzanne thought of the perfect scathing retort to Russell's accusations two hours after their breakup.

sequential

adj. Arranged in a specific or logical order. ("The instructions must be followed in a sequential manner.")

serendipitous

adj. Happening by chance in a happy or beneficial way. ("Their meeting at the café was completely serendipitous.")

slavish

like a slave; showing excessive obedience or doing hard, menial work.

sobriety

(n.) a state of being sober, calm, or serious. Example: Jason believed maintaining sobriety in crisis was key to success.

straightforward

(a) simple and easy to understand; direct and honest, not hiding opinions.

swagger (vb.)

To walk or act in a proud, showy way; to boast loudly or display confidence.

transmute

(v.) to change or transform in form (Ancient alchemists believed that it was possible to transmute lead into gold.)

unctuous

(adj.) excessively smooth, flattering, or oily in manner or appearance (The unctuous receptionist seemed untrustworthy, as if she was only being helpful because she thought we might give her a big tip.)

unfounded

adj. Lacking a factual basis; not supported by evidence. ("The rumor was completely unfounded.")

unyielding

not willing to give in; firm and inflexible.

vacuous

(adj.) lacking ideas, content, or intelligence; empty. Example: The lyrics felt completely vacuous, so she added more substance.

vestige

(n.) a trace or remain of something that once existed. Example: The tortilla may be a vestige of ancient Aztec bread.

willful

deliberately stubborn or determined to have one's own way.

apprehend

1. (v.) to seize, arrest (The criminal was apprehended at the scene.) 2. (v.) to perceive, understand, grasp (The student has trouble apprehending concepts in math and science.)

cryptic

hidden; hard to understand; mysterious; obscure