DSAT Core Vocabulary Lecture

A set of 250 English vocabulary flashcards derived from the lecture, each listing a term and its concise definition.

Advance

to put forward an argument or claim

Assert

to state or declare forcefully as true

Conjecture

an opinion formed on incomplete information; to guess

Presupposition

an assumption accepted in advance

Surmise

to infer or guess without solid proof

Bolster

to support or strengthen an argument

Buttress

to reinforce or prop up with additional support

Substantiate

to provide evidence to prove or validate

Corroborate

to confirm or back up with further evidence

Validate

to prove the accuracy or truth of something

Concede

to admit that an opposing claim is valid

Acknowledge

to accept or recognize as true or important

Rebut

to offer counter-arguments against a claim

Refute

to prove a statement or theory false

Grapple

to struggle with or try to understand a hard problem

Ruminate

to think deeply or ponder at length

Infer

to deduce a conclusion from evidence

Proponent

a person who supports a cause or claim

Detractor

a person who criticizes or belittles a claim or course of action

Skeptic

one who doubts or questions accepted ideas

Abrupt

sudden and unexpected

Adamant

unyieldingly stubborn; fixed in opinion

Abundant

plentiful; existing in large quantities

Accentuate

to make more noticeable; emphasize

Acclaim

enthusiastic and public praise

Adaptation

a change made to suit new circumstances

Advantageous

creating favorable conditions; beneficial

Aesthetic

concerned with beauty or artistic appreciation

Affinity

a strong liking or attraction

Affecting

touching the emotions; moving

Ambiguous

unclear; open to multiple interpretations

Ambivalence

mixed or contradictory feelings

Ameliorate

to make better; improve

Amorphous

shapeless; lacking clear form

Analogy

a comparison used for clarification

Animosity

strong hostility or hatred

Annotate

to add explanatory notes

Anomaly

something atypical; deviation from the norm

Antithetical

directly opposed or contrasting

Appease

to pacify by yielding to demands

Appraise

to assess the value or quality of

Approximate

close to the actual but not exact

Augment

to increase or enlarge

Austere

plain and without decoration; severe

Catalyze

to cause or speed up a reaction

Catastrophic

utterly disastrous

Cease

to stop; halt

Circumvent

to avoid by cleverness or maneuvering

Cite

to quote as evidence

Coalesce

to come together into one whole

Coarseness

roughness; lack of refinement

Collaboration

the act of working together

Commonplace

ordinary; unremarkable

Comprise

to include or contain

Confine

to restrict within limits

Confound

to bewilder or utterly confuse

Consensus

general agreement

Conspicuous

easily seen; noticeable

Consumption

the act of using up or eating

Contingent

dependent on certain conditions

Contrive

to plan or devise cleverly

Copious

abundant; plentiful

Credible

believable; trustworthy

Credulous

too ready to believe; easily fooled

Debacle

a complete failure; fiasco

Deplete

to use up; diminish

Despondent

feeling depressed or hopeless

Deviation

departure from what is normal

Dexterous

skillful with the hands

Discernible

able to be seen or recognized

Discord

lack of agreement; conflict

Disparate

fundamentally different; unrelated

Disperse

to scatter in different directions

Disposition

a person’s inherent temperament

Diverge

to move apart; go in different directions

Domestication

taming plants or animals for use

Draconian

excessively harsh or severe

Eccentric

highly unconventional; odd

Eclipse

to overshadow or block the light of

Elicit

to draw out a response

Elusive

hard to catch, find, or achieve

Engender

to cause or give rise to

Engulf

to completely surround or overwhelm

Enhance

to improve or intensify

Ephemeral

very short-lived; fleeting

Equitable

fair; just

Erratic

unpredictable; irregular

Evade

to avoid or escape

Evince

to show or reveal clearly

Exacerbate

to make worse; intensify

Excavation

the act of digging up, often at a historic site

Explicit

stated clearly and in detail

Exorbitant

unreasonably high or excessive

Exploit

to take unfair advantage of

Exposure

contact with something revealing it to view or risk

Fabricate

to invent or manufacture, often with intent to deceive

Façade

a deceptive outward appearance

Foster

to encourage or promote

Fruitful

productive; yielding good results

Galvanize

to energize or spur into action