SAT Vocab 2

Abrasive

Showing little concern for the feelings of others; harsh or rough.

Abridge

Shorten a piece of writing without losing the sense or essence.

ex.) The book was ____ed into a musical.

Amalgamate

Combine or unite to form one organization or structure.

ex.) This album is an ____ion of folk and rock music.

Analogous

Comparable in certain respects, helps make clearer the comparison.

ex.) Learning a new language is ____ to a full-body workout for our brain.

Antithetical

Directly opposed or contrasted; mutually incompatible.

Apartheid

A policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race.

ex.) South Africa faces repercussions of ____.

Appease

Pacify or placate someone by acceding to their demands.

Boon

A thing that is helpful or beneficial; a timely blessing.

Cajole

Persuade someone to do something by sustained coaxing or flattery.

Chasten

Have a restraining or humbling effect on; subdue or discipline.

Circumvent

Find a way around an obstacle; overcome a problem cleverly.
ex.) The pilot had to ____ around the storm.

Contentious

Controversial

ex.) Abortion is a highly ____ subject.

Contrivance

A device, scheme, or tool created with ingenuity or skill, sometimes to deceive.

Converted

Having been adapted to be suitable for a new purpose or of a changed belief.

ex.) The old barn was ____ into a modern mansion.

Dearth

A scarcity or lack of something; an inadequate supply.

Deference

Humble submission and respect.

Deterrent

A thing that discourages or is intended to discourage someone from doing something.

ex.) Negativity is the greatest ____ to success.

Disingenuous

Hiding the truth; innocence by pretending they knows less about something than they really do.

ex.) The politician’s ____ concern was obvious to the public.

Disposition

1. A person's natural mood, temperament, or usual way of behaving

2. Placement or arrangement of items

3. A tendency toward something

ex.) Unfortunately, Mary has a genetic ____ to lung cancer.

Efface

To erase or make something disappear completely (physical, mental, social)
ex.) The prints on my crocs soles were _____ed by wear.

Ephemeral

Lasting for a very short time; transient or fleeting.

ex.) Feelings are ____; this too shall pass.

Eschew

Deliberately avoid using; abstain from.

ex.) Larry plans to ____ fast food for his health.

Evasion

The act of avoiding something that you do not want to deal with or face.

Exclusion

The process or state of excluding or being excluded.

Exonerate

Absolve someone from blame for a fault or wrongdoing; release from a duty.

ex.) After 10 years of imprisonment, Mr. Ramsey was finally ____ed.

Facile

Ignoring the true complexities of an issue; superficial or overly simplistic.

Foment

Instigate or stir up an undesirable or violent course of action.

ex.) The anonymous poster tried to ____ a fandom war.

Granted

Transition to concede a point or acknowledge a valid counterargument before introducing a contrasting point.

ex.) ____, the weather was bad, but that didn’t stop our picnic.

ex.) A Tesla is expensive to buy; ____, it saves a lot of money on fuel over time.

Idiosyncratic

Pertaining to a behavior or feature peculiar to an individual or specific group.

Impartial

Treating all rivals or disputants equally; fair and just.

ex.) My mom was always ____ to my siblings: we all got the same of everything.

Indeed

Transition to emphasize, introduce, or further elaborate upon a point that has just been made.
ex.) She is a talented musician; ____, she plays four instruments.

Indelible

Making marks that cannot be removed; not able to be forgotten or erased.
ex.) Lee Kuan Yew left a/an ____ mark on Singapore.

Inducement

A thing that persuades or influences someone to do something; an incentive.

Inertia

A lack of energy or movement; resistance to change.

ex.) She overcame her ____ and started to catch up on her work.

Inextricable

Impossible to disentangle or separate.
ex.) Physicality is ____ from musicality.

Ingenuous

Innocent and unsuspecting; naive or sincere.

ex.) The ____ suspect was in fact only a passerby.

Invulnerable

Impossible to harm or damage.

ex.) Mark is ____ to public shame.

Leverage

Use something to maximum advantage.

Oblique

Slanted, sloping, or not done in a direct way

ex.) Her ____ approach to the problem confused the whole team.

Ostensibly

Apparently or purportedly, but perhaps not actually.

ex.) She smiled, ____ happy to see him, but her eyes were cold.

Paradox

A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement that may prove true.

Placate

Make someone less angry or hostile.

ex.) Chocolate almost always ____ my temper.

Presage

Be a sign or warning that something, typically bad, will happen.

Propensity

An inclination or natural tendency to behave in a particular way.

ex.) Will has a/an ____ of talking too much.

Proxy

An agent or substitute.
ex.) Kayla will be serving as my ____ for the meeting.

Prudent

Acting with care, good judgment, and common sense to avoid risk. Plans into future.

ex.) She made a ____ choice by bringing a jacket to school.

Pulverize

Reduce to fine particles; utterly defeat or smash.
ex.) Whales ____ fish before consuming it.

Retain

Continue to have something; keep possession of.

Reticent

Staying quiet or keeping your thoughts and feelings to yourself.
ex.) I like to remain ____ when in a large group; only to my close friends, I open up about myself.

Retrospective

Looking back on or dealing with past events or situations.

ex.) When seniors looked at the ____ slideshows, they laughed at their freshman-year photos.

Salient

Most noticeable or important; prominent.

Scrupulous

Being very careful and honest in order to not make a mistake.

ex.) K-pop idols have to be very ____ with their words: one misspoken phrase may garner controversy and compromise their careers.

Spurious

False or fake; may look real but come from a bad source.

ex.) Trump made ____ claims of aliens taking over the world.

Subservience

Obeying others without question; putting yourself below.

ex.) The general acted in ____ under the King.

Subvert

Undermine the power and authority of an established system.
ex.) Levi found a way to ____ the school’s dress code without getting suspended.

Supersede

Pushed aside by a newer or better version.
ex.) Martha was ____ed by the 10-year-old prodigy.

Surreptitious

Doing something secretly or quietly because you do not want others to see or know.

ex.) Jason ____ly played games on his phone during the lecture.

Tantamount

Equivalent in seriousness to; virtually the same as.

ex.) Sleeping over at another girls’ house is ____ to cheating.

Tenet

A basic principle, belief, or doctrine that is held as true, typically by a group, organization, philosophy, or religion
ex.) Evolution is a core ____ of modern biology.

That said

Transition that limits or contrasts with what was just said.

• “even though that is true,”

• “however,”

ex.) Google has terrible reviews for that restaurant; ____, I still want to go try it.

Treason

The crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to overthrow the government.

Truncate

Shorten something by cutting off the top or the end.

Untenable

Not able to be maintained or defended against attack or objection.

Vanquish

Defeat thoroughly.

ex.) She worked hard to ____ her anxiety.

Empirical

Based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic.
ex.) I’m more convinced by ____ evidence.

Evince

Show, display, or demonstrate something clearly—usually an emotion, a trait, or an idea.

ex.) It is important to not fall under peer pressure and ____ your opinions.

Exorbitant

Unreasonably high or excessive, especially of a price or amount.

ex.) Sushi Samba’s prices are ____.

Heterodox

Not conforming with accepted or orthodox standards or beliefs.

Idealize

Regard or represent something as perfect or better than it reality.

ex.) I have a bad habit of ____ing my crushes and getting disappointed afterwards.

Imposing

Grand and impressive in appearance or manner.

ex.) Yao Ming had a/an ____ prescene to his surroundings.

Incongruous

Out of place, not matching its surroundings.

ex.) The neon lights felt ____ to its ancient surroundings.

Inconsequential

Not important or significant; trivial.

ex.) A single bad grade is ____ to your life.

Indistinct

Not clear or sharply defined; blurred or faint.

Individualistic

Characterized by individualism; independent and self-reliant.

Indulgently

In a way that allows someone to have or do what they want, often to an excessive degree.

Ineffable

Too great, intense, or beautiful to be expressed or described in words.

ex.) The views of Rainier Park was ____.

Ineffectual

Not producing any or the desired effect; lacking the ability to cope with a role or situation.

Ineluctable

Unable to be resisted or avoided; inescapable.

Inept

Having or showing no skill; clumsy.

ex.) Lily was ____ at making crafts – she could never get it right.

Inestimable

Too great to be calculated or appreciated.

Infinitesimal

Extremely small; indefinitely or immeasurably small.

ex.) In calculus, we try to make the ranges ____ small in order to approximate things.

Ingenious

Clever, original, and inventive, especially of a person, machine, or idea.

Innocuous

Not harmful or offensive.

Insuperable

Impossible to overcome, of a difficulty or obstacle.

Lethargic

Apathetic, sluggish, and lacking energy.

Lobbying

The act of attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of officials in their daily life.

ex.) The activists were ____ for better prices.

Manifestations

An event, action, or object that clearly shows or embodies something, especially a theory or an abstract idea.

ex.) The butterfly felt like a _____ of my late grandma.

Misconstrued

Interpreted wrongly, especially of a person's words or actions.

Momentous

Of great importance or significance, especially in having a bearing on the future.

Monetizing

Convert into or express in the form of currency; utilize something as a source of profit.

Municipal

Relating to a city or town or its governing body.

ex.) The ____ building is where you’d go to cast your vote.

Myriad

A countless or extremely great number.

ex.) Our school offers a/an ____ of clubs and organizations to join.

Nebulous

Vague, unclear, lacking a definite form, or resembling a cloud.

ex.) Most seniors are still feeling ____ about their future plans.

Obfuscate

Render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible.

ex.) Her explanation only further ____ed the question.

Obscure

Not discovered or known about; uncertain or difficult to understand.

ex.) The field of neurotherapeutics is still ____; more research needs to be done.

Opaque

Not able to be seen through; not transparent; hard or impossible to understand.

Orthodox

Following accepted, traditional, or mainstream rules, beliefs, and standards.

ex.) He solved that question using the ____ method: by basic Algebra.

Ostentatious

Showing off wealth, possessions, or power in a way that is very flashy and designed to get attention.

ex.) Their aunt wears a/an ____ necklace made of giant diamonds.

Outsized

Exceptionally large.

In fact

Transition for reinforcement and emphasis.

ex.) Carlos is an avid movie enthusiast; ____, he has logged over 1000 movies on Letterboxd.