Words from Social and Natural Science Passages (SAT)

from New SAT Vocabulary Workbook by Katya Seberson

ascertain

to find out for certain

doctrine

a set of beliefs usually proclaimed by an institution like a church or political party

contention

a heated disagreement

impugn

to dispute validity

incongruous

out of harmony

irreproachable

perfect; blameless

pragmatic

dealing with things is a sensible and realistic way

viable

capable of working successfully; feasible

inconsequential

illogical; not yielding effective consequences

conspicuous

obvious

flagrant

clearly offensive

audacious

bold; openly showing a desire to take risks

clandestine

secretive and hidden; hard to see

empirical

based on experiment

contingent

dependent on something else