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

perennial

lasting for a long time; enduring

perpetual

not ending or changing for a long time; continuing forever

transient

impermanent; lasting only a short time

evanescent

quickly leaving sight or memory

unfounded

having no empirical support

permutation

variation

haphazard

random; disorganized

arbitrary

based on random choice or personal preference

irreconcilable

incapable of being solved

uncompromising

unwilling to concede or make compromises; stubborn

yield

to generate or produce

accrue

to grow by accumulation

impede

to stop, prevent, or delay progress

hinder

to create objects that result in poor performance

pernicious

creating enormous harm, especially when done gradually or gone unnoticed