SAT Vocab Lessons 9-13

ephemeral

short-lived; fleeting; transitory

relegate

to dismiss; to an inferior person

futile

hopeless, worthless, useless

condone

to forgive, to overlook

tranquility

calmness

dissent

disagreement

concilate

to soothe; to end a dispute; to reconcile

incessant

uneasing; never-ending

disparity

inequality; difference

disparage

to speak badly of; to belittle

conventional

ordinary, customary, normal, traditional

rigor

harshness or severity

auspicious

favorable; positive

universal

existing or present everywhere

fickle

unpredictable, capricious, whimsical

furtive

secretive

remorse

sadness, regret

repress

to hold down

gullible

overly trusting; willing to believe anything

respite

a rest, a pause, a break

scrutinize

to examine closely

coalesce

to come together; to merge; to join

orthodox

standard, commonly accepted, conventional

innate

inborn, inherited

preclude

to prevent, to make impossible

efface

to erase; to wipe out

marred

damaged, bruised

ameliorate

to make better; to improve

prodigious

of enormous quantity or size

concise

briefly and clearly stated

immutable

unchanging, permanent

stoic

indifferent to pleasure and pain, brave

innocuous

harmless

indolence

laziness

benign

harmless

tedious

boring, painstaking

amiable

friendly

laud

to praise

caustic

burning, uncomplimentary

atrophy

to waste away from lack of use

meander

to wander randomly

instigate

to start trouble

heed

to obey

viruoso

an accomplished musician

predecessor

the person who came before another

deplete

to use up, to reduce

compliant

submissive, obedient

inadvertent

accidental, unintentional

acquiesce

to agree finally, to go along with something

levity

humor

belittle

to put down; to disparage

extraneous

irrelevant, extra, unnecessary

digress

to stray away from the subject

emulate

to copy something admired; to imitate

appease

to make peace with; to satisfy

sage (sagacious)

a wise person

nostalgic

yearning for the good old days

assuage

to soothe

saccharine

overly sweet

stanza

a section of a poem

jeopardy

danger

supercilious

haughty; arrogant

avarice

greed

pivotal

important, critical, crucial

blithe

free-spirited, carefree

scrupulous

careful, diligent, moral

volatile

changeable

voluminous

very large/spacious

peripheral

on the edge, surrounding, unimportant

hedonistic

pleasure-seeking, indulgent

amity

friendship

benefactor

a generous donor; someone who helps

apocryphal

a doubtful origin; mythical

slander

to defame; to speak maliciously of someone

animosity

hatred

stringent

strict, harsh, severe

hackneyed

banal; over-used

amass

to accumulate, to pile up

verbose

wordily; overly talkative

trepidation

fear

desecrate

to profane a holy place

fortuitious

accidental; happening by chance or by luck

vehement

urgent, passionate, forceful

credulous

gullible; overly trusting

blasphemy

heretical departure from accepted practice

lax

carless, not diligent, relaxed

cryptic

mysterious, puzzling, enigmatic

hinder

to obstruct

esoteric

understood only by a select few

pretentious

pompous; self-important

incongruous

not fitting in; out of place

unprecedented

occurring for the first time; novel; never seen before

merger

a joining, a uniting

pedestrian

common; ordinary, banal

prudent

careful, cautious

exemplary

outstanding, setting a great example

sycophant

a book-licker, a brown-noser

neutral

unbiased; not taking sides; objective

rescind

to repeal; to take back; formally

retract

to take back