sat vocab

Abase

to humiliate, degrade

Aberration

deviation from the norm

Bereft

deprived or lacking

Blandishment

a flattering statement used to persuade someone

Braggart

a person who boasts about achievements

Cantankerous

hard to get along with; bad-tempered

Cavort

dance around excitedly

Censorious

severely critical of others

Clout

influence or power

Debacle

a complete failure or breakdown; a nonsensical collapse

Demur

show reluctance; raise objections

Denigrate

to criticize someone or something unfairly

Despot

a tyrant or dictator

Diaphanous

light, delicate, and translucent

Diatribe

an abusive verbal attack or rant

Dirge

song of lament for the dead

Discomfit

to make someone feel uneasy or embarrassed

Eclectic

deriving ideas or style from a broad, diverse range of sources

Ebullient

cheerful and full of energy

Encumber

to weigh down or burden

Epicureanism

philosophy stating pleasure is the most important aspect of life

Effluvia

an unpleasant odor or discharge

Garrulous

excessively talkative

Grandiloquent

pompous or extravagant in language, style, or manner

Hapless

unfortunate or unlucky

Haughty

arrogantly superior and disdainful

Indolent

wanting to avoid activity or exertion; lazy

Innocuous

harmless, unlikely to cause injury or ill effects

Inoculate

to vaccinate against a disease

Insidious

proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects

Interlocutor

a person who takes part in a dialogue or conversation

Litigant

a person involved in a lawsuit

Maelstrom

a powerful whirlpool; a state of chaotic, violent turmoil

Maudlin

self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental

Mawkish

sentimental in a feeble or sickly way

Maxim

a short statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct

Mendacious

not telling the truth; lying

Meretricious

apparently attractive but having no real value or integrity

Misanthrope

someone who dislikes all people and avoids society

Pariah

an outcast

Paucity

scarcity; the presence of something only in insufficient quantities

Pert

playfully forward, cheeky, or impudent

Quandary

a dilemma; a state of perplexity or uncertainty

Prestidigitation

magic tricks performed as entertainment

Recalcitrant

having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority

Remiss

lacking care or attention to duty; negligent

Ribald

coarsely, crudely humorous

Rife

of common occurrence; widespread

Toady

one who flatters in the hope of gaining favors

Travesty

a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something; a mockery

Trenchant

sharp, vigorous, and forceful in expression or style

Trounce

to defeat heavily in a contest

Truculent

eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant

Turpitude

moral wickedness or depravity

Usury

the illegal practice of lending money at unreasonably high interest rates

Vituperate

strongly blame or insult someone in violent language

Verisimilitude

the appearance of being true or real

Vociferous

outspoken and vehement in speech

Wanton

deliberate and unprovoked; reckless

Yoke

to tie two things together; a wooden crosspiece fastened over the necks of animals

abet

to aid, help, encourage

abject

wretched, pitiful

abjure

to reject, renounce

abnegation

denial of comfort to oneself

abrogate

to abolish, usually by authority

abscond

to sneak away and hide

abstruse

hard to comprehend

accede

to agree

accretion

slow growth in size or amount

acerbic

biting, bitter in tone or taste

acquiesce

to agree without protesting

acumen

keen insight

adroit

skillful, dexterous

adumbrate

to sketch out in a vague way

agnostic

believing that the existence of God cannot be proven or disproven

alacrity

eagerness, speed

allay

to soothe, ease

aloof

reserved, distant

amalgamate

to bring together, unite

amenable

willing, compliant

anachronistic

being out of correct chronological order

anarchist

one who wants to eliminate all government

antediluvian

ancient

antipathy

a strong dislike, repugnance

antithesis

the absolute opposite

apocryphal

fictitious, false, wrong

arbiter

one who can resolve a dispute, make a decision

arbitrary

based on factors that appear random

arcane

obscure, secret, known only by a few

ardor

extreme vigor, energy, enthusiasm

arid

excessively dry

arrogate

to take without justification

assiduous

hard-working, diligent

atrophy

to wither away, decay

auspicious

favorable, indicative of good things

balk

to stop, block abruptly

banal

dull, commonplace

bard

a poet, often a singer as well

behemoth

something of tremendous power or size

bilk

cheat, defraud