SHSAT Practice Test 1 – Key Vocabulary

Forty vocabulary flashcards summarizing important terms, literary devices, historical references, and math concepts appearing across the SHSAT Practice Test 1 passages and questions.

Punitive

Intended as punishment; inflicting or aiming to inflict a penalty.

Rehabilitative

Intended to restore health or normal life through training and therapy.

Circumnavigate

To travel completely around something—especially the earth—by water, land, or air.

Circumnavigator

A person who travels all the way around the world.

Impressionistic (writing)

A literary style that captures a feeling or experience rather than detailed realism; uses sensory impressions.

Lyricism

Expressive, musical, or poetic quality in speech or writing.

Altruism

Selfless concern for the well-being of others; acting generously without expecting a reward.

Anthropologist

A scientist who studies human societies, cultures, and their development.

Phantasmata

Plural of phantasm; ghostly figures or apparitions.

Manacles

Metal restraints for hands; handcuffs.

Gyves

Chains or shackles, especially for the legs.

Reverence

Deep respect tinged with awe.

Personification

A literary device giving human qualities to non-human things.

Maugre

Preposition meaning ‘in spite of’ (archaic).

Decorum

Behavior in keeping with good taste and propriety; dignified propriety.

Sanctity

The state of being sacred or holy.

Flammable

Easily set on fire; combustible.

Tenement

A multi-story building divided into crowded, often run-down apartments.

Vox populi

Latin for ‘voice of the people’; majority public opinion.

Progressive (reform)

Favoring or implementing social reform or new, liberal ideas.

Metaphor

An implied comparison between two unlike things without using “like” or “as.”

Simile

A comparison between two unlike things using “like” or “as.”

Tone

The author’s attitude toward the subject or audience, conveyed through word choice and style.

Mood

The emotional atmosphere or feeling a text creates for the reader.

Irony

A literary device where there is a contradiction between what is said and what is actually meant, or what is expected and what actually happens.

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Main Idea

The core message or central point the author is trying to convey in a passage.

Inference

To arrive at a conclusion or decision by reasoning from evidence; reading between the lines.

Denotation

The literal, dictionary definition of a word.

Connotation

The emotional or cultural associations and implications a word carries, beyond its literal meaning.

Bias

A prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.