Mrs England Vocabulary (all quarters)

Taken from "500 Key Words for the SAT" by Charles Gluotta.

Affable

friendly; easygoing

Alienate

to push someone away, or cause him to separate from people

Amity

friendship

Antiquated

too old to be useful; outdated; obsolete

Arbitrary

selected by random choice and without solid reason

Arrogant

acting superior, obnoxious, smug, or rude

Assail

attack with words or force

Astute

wise; insightfully clever; shrewd

Averse

feeling repelled; wanting to avoid

Belie

to give an impression that is the opposite of the way things really are; to misrepresent

Benign

gentle; kind-hearted; mild

Bolster

to support; to reinforce

Candor

honesty; frankness

Censure

to criticize

Clemency

mercy

Complacent

self-satisfied; unconcerned

Composure

calmness; equanimity

Contingent

dependent upon other circumstances; conditional

Converge

move together to meet at a common point

Cordial

friendly; welcoming; gracious

Cupidity

greed, especially for money

Daunted

dismayed; disheartened; discouraged (made less courageous)

Deplore

to express regret or disapproval; complain; criticize

Desultory

lacking a plan; aimless

Digress

to move away from the main topic when writing or speaking; to go off on a tangent

Disdain

a feeling of scorn or contempt

Dissolution

separation into parts; the process of dissolving

Dogmatic

sticking to long-held beliefs, even when faced with contrary evidence; closed-minded

Elated

extremely happy; overjoyed

Emulate

imitate

Enigma

mystery; puzzle

Erratic

unpredictable; differing from what is normal or expected

Euphemism

a word or phrase that's used to make an unpleasant idea sound better

Expurgate

to remove offensive words, ideas, or symbols; censor

Extraneous

unnecessary; irrelevant

Fastidious

difficult to please

Fledgling

beginner

Fulminate

to explode, either with sound or anger

Garish

flashy; gaudy

Gravity

seriousness

Harbor

to provide shelter or refuge; hide

Heed

notice; pay attention to

Hyperbole

extreme exaggeration

Imminent

about to take place; happening soon

Impetuous

taking sudden action; hasty; impulsive

Inadvertent

unintentional

Incompatible

incapable of existing together in peace

Incredulous

unwilling or unable to believe

Infamy

a bad reputation; notoriety

Infer

to figure out, based on given information; conclude; deduce

Insolent

rude; haughty

Intractable

stubborn; immovable

Irascible

easily angered

Jeopardy

the threat or possibility of danger

Jubilant

filled with joy

Laconic

quiet; of few words; terse

Legacy

something inherited, either from an ancestor or from the past itself

Loath

reluctant; unwilling

Lucid

easy to understand; transparent; clear-thinking

Malefactor

person who tries to hurt others; criminal

Meager

small in size or amount; thin; weak

Mellifluous

smooth; sweetly flowing

Mitigate

make less severe; mollify

Mundane

ordinary; earthly (not spiritual); practical; temporary

Novelty

something new or unusual

Nurture

provide care and support; nourish; train or educate

Obscure

hazy; unfamiliar; difficult to understand

Obtuse

dull; blunt; unintelligent; lacking sharpness

Optimist

someone who always believes things will turn out okay

Paragon

model of excellence; the best

Penury

extreme poverty; destitution

Pervade

to spread to every part

Phlegmatic

calm; unemotional

Ponderous

slow; weighty; labored

Preclude

prevent; make impossible

Pretentious

showy; making ridiculous claims; excessively ambitious

Profound

filled with wisdom and insight; beyond the superficial; deep

Proximity

nearness; closeness

Quandary

a state of confusion or doubt; dilemma

Rampant

unrestrained; widespread

Recluse

person who prefers to be alone all the time; someone withdrawn from the rest of society

Reprove

scold; criticize; disapprove of

Reserve

the ability to control your emotions and actions; self-restraint

Revere

greatly respect

Sanction

approve; give consent

Scrutinize

examine closely; inspect carefully

Seditious

trying to stir up a revolt against an authority figure

Slander

negative oral remarks about another person that are untrue

Sporadic

occurring infrequently and without predictability; occasional

Stealth

secretive behavior

Subtle

hard to see or understand; elusive

Surreptitious

secretive; furtive; clandestine

Tangent

a line that touches a curve at just one point; or, a comment that is off the main topic

Tenacious

strong; persistent; determined to hold on

Tirade

a long and bitter speech; diatribe

Trite

overused; common; stale

Ubiquitous

existing everywhere at the same time

Unkempt

messy; sloppy

Vacillate

move back and forth between choices, unable to decide

Vapid

dull; boring; lacking flavor or spark