SAT Vocabulary Part 1

A collection of vocabulary flashcards to assist with SAT preparation.

Innocuous

Harmless, not offensive.

Repudiate

Reject, renounce; deny the truth of.

Engender

Cause or give rise to a feeling or situation.

Complacent

Dangerously self-satisfied; unaware of need to improve.

Intrepid

Fearless, bold, undaunted.

Exacerbate

Make a problem or bad situation worse.

Tenuous

Very weak or slight; barely holding on.

Desultory

Aimless, disconnected; lacking plan or purpose.

Recalcitrant

Stubbornly defiant; refusing to obey.

Egregious

Outstandingly bad; shockingly terrible.

Obviate

Prevent a problem by acting in advance; make unnecessary.

Stymie

Block or hinder progress; create an obstacle.

Disparage

Speak about someone in a disrespectful, belittling way.

Untenable

Cannot be maintained, defended, or justified.

Propriety

Conformity to accepted standards of behavior.

Contiguous

Sharing a border; adjacent and touching without a gap.

Ameliorate

Make something bad better; to improve or relieve.

Ephemeral

Lasting only a very short time; fleeting.

Detractor

A person who criticises or belittles someone or something.

Intractable

Hard to control or solve; stubbornly resistant to change.

Assuage

Soothe or relieve an unpleasant feeling; ease, appease.

Preclude

Prevent something from happening; close off a possibility in advance.

Placate

Make someone less angry; soothe or appease a hostile person.

Incongruous

Not in harmony with surroundings; strikingly out of place.

Anachronistic

Belonging to a different time; outdated or out of its proper era.

Doleful

Expressing sorrow or grief; mournful and sad.

Dolorous

Causing or expressing great suffering and sorrow; deeply painful.

Indolent

Habitually lazy; avoiding effort.

Epitomize

Be a perfect example of; to embody or represent something completely.

Dichotomy

A division or contrast between two entirely opposite things.

Anatomy

The structure of the body; a detailed analysis.

Tome

A large, heavy, scholarly book; originally one volume of a larger work.

Infraction

A violation of a law or rule; a breach (usually minor).

Putative

Generally supposed to be the case, though not proven; reputed.

Discern

Perceive or detect something not obvious; distinguish between things.

Deprecate

Express disapproval of; to belittle or disparage.

Copious

Abundant in supply or quantity; more than enough.

Seclusion

The state of being private and away from others; isolation.

Sanguine

Optimistic, especially in a difficult situation; positive and confident.

Indefatigable

Persisting tirelessly; incapable of being tired out.

Scrupulous

Careful and meticulous; diligent in following ethical principles.

Facetious

Treating serious issues with inappropriate humour; flippant.

Attrition

Gradual wearing down through sustained pressure; reduction over time.

Punctilious

Showing great attention to correct behaviour and fine points of conduct.

Buttress

To support or strengthen; a structure that supports a wall.

Ambidextrous

Able to use both hands equally well; unusually skillful.

Evanescent

Soon passing out of sight or memory; quickly fading.

Defunct

No longer existing or functioning; dead or obsolete.

Palpable

So obvious it can almost be felt; tangible and plain to see.

Acumen

The ability to make good judgements quickly; keenness of mind.

Inhibit

Hinder, restrain, or prevent an action or process.

Venerate

Regard with great respect and reverence; to revere.

Attenuate

Reduce the force, effect, or value of something; to weaken or thin out.

Accost

Approach and address someone boldly or aggressively; to confront.

Prescient

Having knowledge of events before they occur; having foresight.

Petulant

Childishly sulky or bad-tempered; irritable and impatient.

Iconoclast

A person who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions; a radical critic.

Biblioclast

A person who destroys or mutilates books.

Amalgamate

Combine or unite to form one organization or whole; to merge.

Admonish

Warn or reprimand firmly but kindly; to urge or advise earnestly.

Archaic

Very old or old-fashioned; belonging to an earlier period; antiquated.

Arcane

Understood by few; mysterious and secret; requiring specialist knowledge.

Ubiquitous

Present, appearing, or found everywhere at the same time.

Vacillating

Wavering between different opinions or actions; indecisive.

Ambivalence

The state of having mixed or contradictory feelings about something.

Nebulous

Not clear or defined; hazy, vague, or indistinct.

Alleviate

Make suffering, deficiency, or a problem less severe; to ease or relieve.

Veritable

Used for emphasis; real and genuine — the true version of something.

Plausible

Seeming reasonable or probable; having an appearance of truth.

Reductive

Tending to oversimplify; presenting something as less complex than it is.

Obsolete

No longer produced or used; out of date and replaced by something newer.

Conspicuous

Clearly visible; attracting notice or attention; standing out.

Deleterious

Causing harm or damage; injurious to health or wellbeing.

Spurious

Not genuine; false or counterfeit — having a deceptive appearance of truth.

Banal

So lacking in originality as to be obvious and boring; trite.

Vindicate

Clear someone of blame or suspicion; to justify or prove correct.

Derivative

Imitative of the work of another; not original or inventive.

Contempt

The feeling that something is worthless and beneath consideration.

Mercurial

Subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood; volatile.

Sardonic

Grimly mocking or cynical; scornfully humorous.

Qualify

Make a statement less absolute; to limit or modify a claim.

Temporal

Relating to time; secular rather than spiritual; worldly.

Emulate

Match or surpass by imitation; to strive to equal or excel.

Precursor

A person or thing that comes before another; a forerunner or predecessor.

Dogmatic

Inclined to lay down principles as undeniably true; asserting opinions as facts.

Refute

Prove a statement or person to be wrong; to disprove decisively.

Underscore

Emphasise or draw attention to; to underline the importance of something.