100 common SAT words

Aberration

deviation from the norm

Abstain

to refrain from doing something

Adulation

excessive praise or admiration

Aesthetic

concerned with beauty

Amicable

friendly, agreeable

Anachronistic

out of place in time

Anecdote

short, amusing story

Apprehensive

fearful, anxious

Arid

extremely dry

Assiduous

hardworking, diligent

Asylum

sanctuary, safe place

Benevolent

kind, generous

Bias

prejudice in favor of or against something

Boisterous

noisy, energetic, and cheerful

Brazen

bold, without shame

Camaraderie

trust among friends

Capacious

spacious, roomy

Capitulate

to surrender

Clairvoyant

able to see the future

Cognizant

aware, knowledgeable

Collaborate

work together

Compassion

sympathy for another's suffering

Compromise

agreement by mutual concession

Condescending

having a superior attitude

Conditional

dependent on certain factors

Conformist

one who follows accepted behaviors

Congregation

a gathering of people

Convergence

coming together

Deleterious

harmful

Demagogue

leader who gains power by appealing to emotions

Digression

straying from the main point

Diligent

hardworking

Disdain

contempt, scorn

Divergent

moving in different directions

Empathy

ability to understand another’s feelings

Emulate

to imitate with effort

Enervating

tiring, weakening

Ephemeral

short-lived

Evanescent

quickly fading, temporary

Exemplary

outstanding, ideal

Extenuating

making an offense less serious

Florid

excessively decorated

Fortuitous

lucky, happening by chance

Frugal

careful with money

Hackneyed

overused, clichéd

Haughty

arrogant, superior

Hedonist

pleasure-seeker

Hypothesis

educated guess

Impetuous

acting quickly without thought

Impute

attribute to someone

Inconsequential

unimportant

Inevitable

certain to happen

Intrepid

fearless

Intuitive

instinctive, untaught

Jubilation

joy, celebration

Lobbyist

person who seeks to influence lawmakers

Longevity

long life

Mundane

ordinary, boring

Nonchalant

calm, unconcerned

Novice

beginner

Opulent

wealthy, luxurious

Orator

skilled public speaker

Ostentatious

flashy, showy

Parched

extremely dry

Perfidious

disloyal

Precocious

talented beyond one’s age

Pretentious

pretending to be more important than one is

Procrastinate

delay unnecessarily

Prosaic

dull, lacking imagination

Prosperity

wealth, success

Provocative

causing a reaction

Prudent

careful, wise

Querulous

complaining, irritable

Rancorous

bitter, hateful

Reclusive

avoiding others, withdrawn

Reconciliation

agreement after a dispute

Resilient

able to recover quickly

Restrained

controlled, restricted

Reverence

deep respect

Sagacity

wisdom

Scrutinize

examine carefully

Spontaneity

impulsive action

Spurious

false, fake

Submissive

obedient, yielding

Substantiate

provide evidence

Subtle

delicate, not obvious

Superficial

on the surface, shallow

Superfluous

unnecessary

Surreptitious

secret, sneaky

Tactful

considerate, avoiding offense

Tenacious

persistent, stubborn

Transient

temporary

Venerable

respected, honored

Vindicate

clear of blame

Wary

cautious, watchful

Zeal

enthusiasm

Adversity

hardship

Ameliorate

to improve

Candor

honesty

Conundrum

a difficult problem