SAT Vocab 6

Quiescence

the state of being temporarily quiet and not active

Diffidence

the quality of being shy and not confident of your abilities

Tempestuous

(of a relationship or time) full of strong emotions/violently emotional

Impassioned

(of a speech or writing) full of strongly felt or strongly expressed emotions

Vehement

expressing strong feelings/ shown by strong feelings or great energy or force

Impasse

a situation in which progress is impossible, esp. because people involved cannot agree

Predicament

an unpleasant situation that is difficult to get out of

Quandary

a state of not being able to decide what to do about a situation in which you are involved

Haphazard

not having an obvious order or plan

Decadence

low moral standards and behaviour, social decay

Debasement

the action of reducing the quality or value of something

Conundrum

a difficult problem to deal with/ a trick question

Relegate

to put someone/something into a lower/less important rank or position

Placate

to stop someone from feeling angry

Munificent

very generous with money

Unstinting

very generous with time, money, praise, etc

Guileful

using cleverness in order to deceive someone or get what you want

Undulate

to have a continuous up and down shape or movement

Nimble

quick and exact either in movement or thoughts

Compendious

short but complete, including everything that is important

Improvident

not planning carefully for the future, esp by spending money in a way that is unwise

Prodigal

very great in amount or degree

Harrowing

extremely upsetting because connected with suffering

Contrite

feeling very sorry and guilty for something bad that you have done

Amenable

willing to accept or be influenced by a suggestion

Avaricious

showing an extremely strong wish to get or keep money or possessions

Mordant

(esp of humour) cruel and criticizing in a humorous way

Flagrant

(of a bad action, situation, person, etc) shocking because of being so obvious

Poignant

causing or having very sharp feeling of sadness

Egregious

extremely bad in a way that is very noticeable

Deplorable

very bad

Lamentable

deserving criticism/ very bad, regrettable

Reprehensible

(of behaviour) extremely bad or unacceptable

Culpable

deserving to be blamed or considered responsible for something bad

Pious

pretending to have sincere feelings

Cordial

friendly, but formal and polite

Haughty

unfriendly and seeming to consider yourself better than others

Emancipation

the process of giving people social or political freedom and rights

Abdicate

to fail to take responsibility of something

Concession

something that is given up to end an argument/ the act of admitting defeat

Contingent on

depending on something else in the future in order to happen

Expropriate

to take property or money for public use, without payment to the owner

Mutiny

refusal to obey orders, or a violent attempt to take control from people in authority

Reparation

payment for harm or damage caused by a person or an organisation

Imminent

coming or likely to happen very soon

Provenance

the place of origin of something

Volition

the power to make your own decisions

Disenfranchised

not having the right to vote/

having no power to make people listen to your opinion to affect the society you live in

Referendum

a vote in which all the people in a country or an area decide on an important decision

Abnegate

to not allow yourself to have something/

to not accept something or to say that you do not have something

Indemnity

a protection against possible damage or loss

Atonement

something you do to show that you are sorry for something bad that you did

Tumultuous

very loud or full of confusion, change, or uncertainty

Expediency

the situation in which something is useful or helpful, but sometimes not morally acceptable