Weeks 4 & 5 SAT Vocab

Appeasement

(n) the policy of granting concessions to maintain peace

Nullify

(v) to make null; to declare invalid

Triumvirate

(n) a group or association of three leaders

Pretext

(n) an excuse; an alleged cause

Watershed

(n) critical point that marks a change of course; a turning point

Consensus

(n) a general agreement

Autocrat/Despot

(n) a ruler or other person with unlimited power or authority

Manifesto

(n) a public declaration of beliefs, policies, or intentions

Enfranchise

(v) to endow with the rights of citizenship, especially the right to vote

Coerce

(v) to force to act or think in a certain way by use of threats, or torture

Egalitarian

(adj) favoring social equality; believing in a society in which all people have equal political, economic, and civil rights

Demarcation

(n) the settling of boundaries or limits

Inquisition

(n) a severe interrogation; a systematic questioning

Ameliorate

(v) to make a situation better

Exacerbate

(v) to make a situation worse

Desiccated

(adj) thoroughly dried out; lifeless, totally arid

Contiguous

(adj) sharing an edge or boundary; touching

Pertinent

(adj) relevant; to the point; clearly illustrative of a major point

Complicity

(n) association or participation in a wrongful act

Exonerate/Exculpate

(v) to free from guilt or blame

Indisputable

(adj) not open to question; undeniable; irrefutable

Precedent

(n) an act or instance that is used as an example of dealing with subsequent similar instances

Unprecedented

(adj) without previous example, never known before

Malfeasance

(n) misconduct or wrongdoing, especially by a public official; intentionally performing an act that is illegal

Probity

(n) integrity and uprightness; honesty; high moral standards

Arrest

(v) to bring to a stop; to halt

Gravity

(n) seriousness; dignity; solemnity; weight

Precipitate

(v) to cause, to bring about prematurely, hastily, or suddenly; impulsive

Relief

(n) elevation of a land surface

(n) a feeling of reassurance or relaxation

Check

(v) to restrain; halt; hold back; contain

Flag

(v) to become weak, feeble, or spiritless; to lose interest

Discriminating

(adj) characterized by the ability to make fine distinctions; having refined taste

Eclipse

(v) to overshadow; to outshine; to surpass