SAT English Vocab Compilation 1

Aberration

Anomaly or deviation from the norm.

Adept

Highly skilled or proficient.

Adroit

Skillful and clever.

Alacrity

Brisk and cheerful readiness.

Ambivalent

Having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas.

Anachronistic

Belonging to a different time period.

Aplomb

Self-confidence or assurance, especially in a demanding situation.

Auspicious

Conducive to success; favorable.

Benevolent

Showing kindness or goodwill.

Blatant

Done openly and unashamedly.

Brevity

Concise and exact use of words in writing or speech.

Cacophony

A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.

Candor

The quality of being open and honest.

Chicanery

The use of trickery to achieve a political, financial, or legal purpose.

Circumspect

Wary and unwilling to take risks.

Clemency

Mercy or leniency.

Coerce

To persuade an unwilling person to do something by using force or threats.

Cogent

Clear, logical, and convincing.

Complacent

Showing smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's achievements.

Concise

Giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words.

Concur

To agree or have the same opinion.

Convoluted

Extremely complex and difficult to follow.

Debilitate

To make someone very weak and infirm.

Deft

Neatly skillful and quick in one's movements.

Disparate

Essentially different in kind; not allowing comparison.

Dissonance

Lack of harmony among musical notes or discord.

Ebullient

Overflowing with enthusiasm or excitement.

Eclectic

Deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

Eloquent

Fluent or persuasive in speaking or writing.

Ephemeral

Lasting for a very short time.

Erratic

Unpredictable or inconsistent.

Exacerbate

To make a problem, situation, or feeling worse.

Exemplary

Serving as a desirable model; representing the best of its kind.

Flamboyant

Attracting attention because of exuberance, confidence, and stylishness.

Fortuitous

Happening by accident or chance rather than design.

Frivolous

Not having any serious purpose or value.

Garrulous

Excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters.

Gregarious

Fond of company; sociable.

Hapless

Unfortunate; having bad luck.

Harangue

A lengthy and aggressive speech.

Hesitant

Tentative, unsure, or slow in acting or speaking.

Iconoclast

A person who attacks or criticizes cherished beliefs or institutions.

Ineffable

Too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words.

Jubilant

Feeling or expressing great happiness and triumph.

Lament

To mourn a person's loss or death.

Lethargic

Affected by lethargy; sluggish and apathetic.

Magnanimous

Generous or forgiving, especially toward a rival or less powerful person.

Mellifluous

Sweet or musical; pleasant to hear.

Meticulous

Showing great attention to detail; very careful and precise.

Nefarious

Wicked or criminal.

Nonchalant

Feeling or appearing casually calm and relaxed.

Ostentatious

Characterized by vulgar or pretentious display; designed to impress.

Paragon

A model of excellence or perfection.

Perplexed

Completely baffled; very puzzled.

Philanthropic

Seeking to promote the welfare of others; generous and benevolent.

Plausible

Seeming reasonable or probable.

Pragmatic

Dealing with things sensibly and realistically.

Proficient

Competent or skilled in doing or using something.

Quintessential

Representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class.

Recalcitrant

Having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline.

Resilient

Able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.

Sanguine

Optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation.

Sardonic

Grimly mocking or cynical.

Skeptical

Not easily convinced; having doubts or reservations.

Spurious

Not being what it purports to be; false or fake.

Substantiate

To provide evidence to support or prove the truth of something.

Succinct

Briefly and clearly expressed.

Tangible

Perceptible by touch; clear and definite.

Tentative

Not certain or fixed; provisional.

Ubiquitous

Present, appearing, or found everywhere.

Unequivocal

Leaving no doubt; unambiguous.

Venerable

Accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character.

Verbose

Using more words than needed.

Vindicate

To clear someone of blame or suspicion.

Wary

Feeling or showing caution about possible dangers or problems.

Whimsical

Playfully quaint or fanciful, especially in an appealing and amusing way.

Zealous

Having or showing great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective.