Unit 2 -- Tier 1

Basic vocab for SAT and everyday life.

Absurd

Unreasonable or foolish

Acclaim

Enthusiastic praise or applause

Aloof

Not interested or friendly to other people

Cynic

someone who believes all people are motivated through selfishness

Disdain

A feeling of contempt/disrepect

Anecdote

a brief story, especially based on a person’s personal experiences not research

Arid

(1) Having little to no rain; very dry

(2) With nothing new or interesting in it

Commend

To praise someone for something, especially publicly

Esteem

respect

Hinder

to make it difficult for someone to do something or for something to happen

Hypothesis

an idea or suggestion based on known facts, and used as the basis for further investigation

Inherent

naturally present as a feature or quality of something or someone

Invoke

(1) To call on

(2) to mention someone/something as a reason for doing something

Nostalgia

a feeling of sadness mixed with a feeling of pleasure about a past, happier period

Persist

to continue despite difficulty

radiate

(1) to spread out in all directions of a central point

(2) to show a particular quality or emotion clearly

reticent

unwilling to tell people things

subjective

based on a person’s personal experiences of feelings, and not based on evidence

Tentative

not confident 

transmit

(1) to send something from one person or place to another

(2) to allow heat, light, sound, etc. to pass through