Princeton Review SAT Vocab List 1

amoral

lacking a sense of right and wrong; neither good nor bad, neither moral nor immoral; without moral feelings

• Very young children are amoral; when they cry, they aren’t being bad or good—they’re merely doing what they have to do.

amorphous

shapeless; without a regular or stable shape; blob-like

• The sleepy little town was engulfed by an amorphous blob of glowing protoplasm—a higher intelligence from outer space.

The word can also be used figuratively.

• Our plans for the trip are amorphous; we haven’t settled on the specifics yet.

Circumnavigate

to sail or travel all the way around

• Magellan’s crew was the first to circumnavigate the globe. • Circumnavigating their block took the children most of the morning because they stopped in nearly every yard to play with their new action figures.

The word can also be used figuratively.

• Jefferson skillfully circumnavigated the subject of his retirement; in his hour-long speech, he talked about everything but it.

circumscribe

to draw a line around; to set the limits; to define; to restrict

• The Constitution clearly circumscribes the restrictions that can be placed on our personal freedoms.

• A barbed-wire fence and armed guards circumscribed the movement of the prisoners.

circumspect

cautious

• As a public speaker, Nick was extremely circumspect; he always took great care not to say the wrong thing or give offense.

• The circumspect general did everything she could to keep her soldiers from unnecessary risk.

The word circumspect comes from Greek roots meaning “around” and “look” (as do the words circle and inspect). To be circumspect is to look around carefully before doing something.

circumvent

to get around something in a clever, occasionally dishonest way

• Our hopes for an early end of the meeting were circumvented by the chairperson’s refusal to deal with the items on the agenda.

• The angry school board circumvented the students’ effort to install televisions in every classroom.

distinguish

to tell apart; to cause to stand out

• The rodent expert’s eyesight was so acute that he was able to distinguish between a shrew and a vole from more than 500 feet away.

• I studied and studied, but I was never able to distinguish between discrete and discreet.

• His face had no distinguishing characteristics; there was nothing about his features that stuck in your memory.

• Lou’s uneventful career as a dogcatcher was not distinguished by adventure or excitement.

magnate

a rich, powerful, or very successful businessperson

• After graduating from an elite business school, she became a magnate in the music industry, owning several record labels and production companies.

METAMORPHOSIS

a magical change in form; a striking or sudden change

• Damon’s metamorphosis from college student to Hollywood superstar was so sudden that it seemed a bit unreal.

The verb is metamorphose. To undergo a metamorphosis is to metamorphose.

OMNISCIENT

all-knowing; having infinite wisdom Omni- is a prefix meaning “all.”

• To be omnipotent (ahm NIP uh tunt) is to be all-powerful. • An omnivorous (ahm NIV ur us) animal eats all kinds of food, including meat and plants.

• Something omnipresent (AHM ni prez unt) seems to be every where. In rainy seasons, mud is omnipresent.

• The novel’s narrator has an omniscient point of view, so his words often clue the reader in to things the characters in the story don’t know. (Note: sci- is a root meaning “knowledge” or “knowing.” Prescient (PRESH unt) means knowing before hand; nescient (NESH unt) means not knowing, or ignorant.)

PERIPHERY

the outside edge of something

• José never got involved in any of our activities; he was always at the periphery.

• The professional finger painter enjoyed his position at the periphery of the art world.

To be at the periphery is to be peripheral (puh RIF uh rul). A peripheral interest, for example, is a secondary or side interest.

RETAIN

to keep possession of something; remember; continue to use

• My last-minute cramming helped me pass the test, but I only retained the information a few hours.

• Keeping the cake in a sealed container allows it to retain its moisture and not dry out.

• Although most children don’t work on farms in the summer, their schools retain the custom of giving them three months off.

The noun form is retention (ree TEN shun)