SAT vocab A words

Abase

Humiliate, degrade — ab-base = away from base

Abate

Reduce, lessen — “the rain abated”

Aberration

Differs from norm — synonyms: deviation, anomaly

Abet

To aid, help, encourage — if you aid a bet, you help it

Abject

Adjective; wretched, pitiful — “she was abject after losing her money and breaking her ankle”

Abjure

To reject or renounce — “he abjured his old beliefs”

Abnegation

Denial of comfort to oneself — the holy man slept on the floor and took cold showers

Absolution

Freedom from blame, guilt, sin

Accede

To agree — remember bc similar to words like agree, assent

Accolade

Noun; high praise, special distinction — “they offered accolades to him”

Accost

To confront verbally

Accretion

Slow growth in size or amount — similar to accumulation — breakdown: crescere means to grow

Acerbic

Adjective; biting, bitter in tone or taste — “she was acerbic and made fun of people”

Acrimony

Bitterness, discord — “he couldn’t keep acrimony from overwhelming their friendship”

Acumen

Keen insight — Latin root acuere means to sharpen —> similar to words like acute, acuity, and accurate

Admonish

To caution, criticize, reprove — “she admonished him not to ruin his appetite by eating snacks before lunch”