The SAT Hot Prospects Word List (Barron's)

abate

subside; decrease; lessen

accolade

award or merit

acquiesce

assent; agree without protesting

acrid

sharp; bitterly pungent

acrimonious

bitter in words or manner

aggregate

gather; accumulate

amorphous

formless; lacking shape or definition

anachronistic

having an error involving time in a story

anomaly

irregularity

antediluvian

antiquated; extremely ancient

antipathy

aversion; dislike

apocryphal

untrue; made up

arable

fit for growing crops

ardent

intense; passionate; zealous

assiduous

diligent

assuage

ease or lessen (pain); satisfy (hunger); soothe (anger)

atrophy

waste away

audacious

daring; bold

avarice

greediness for wealth

avert

prevent; turn away

beguile

mislead or delude; pass time

bequeath

leave to someone by a will; hand down

bleak

cold or cheerless; unlikely to be favorable

blighted

suffering from a disease; destroyed

bombastic

pompous; using inflated language

buttress

support; prop up

cacophonous

discordant; inharmonious

carping

finding fault

certitude

certainty

charlatan

quack; pretender of knowledge

circumlocution

indirect or roundabout expression

cliché

phrase dulled in meaning by repetition

coalesce

combine; fuse

colloquial

pertaining to conversational or common speech

combustible

easily burned

complementary

serving to complete something

confluence

flowing together; crowd

conjecture

surmise; guess

converge

approach; tend to meet; come together

corrode

destroy by chemical action

corrugated

wrinkled; ridged

culpable

deserving blame

debilitate

weaken; enfeeble

debunk

expose as false, exaggerated, worthless, etc.; ridicule

dehydrate

remove water from; dry out

deleterious

harmful

depose

dethrone; remove from office

desiccate

dry up

diffidence

shyness

dilatory

delaying

discourse

formal discussion; conversation

discrepancy

lack of consistency; difference

disquiet

separate; unconnected

distend

expand; swell out

dupe

someone easily fooled

ebullient

showing excitement; overflowing with enthusiasm

edify

instruct; connect morally

efface

rub out

effervesce

inner excitement or exuberance; bubbling from fermentation or carbonation

elegy

poem or song expressing lamentation

elicit

draw out by discussion

elucidate

explain; enlighten

emaciated

thin and wasted

emend

correct; correct by a critic

equanimity

calmness of temperament; composure

equitable

fair; impartial

evanescent

fleeting; vanishing

excerpt

selected passage (written or musical)

fallow

plowed but not sowed; uncultivated

falter

hesitate

fathom

comprehend; investigate

fell

cut or knock down; bring down (with a missile).

fitful

spasmodic; intermittent

florid

ruddy; reddish; flowery

foolhardy

rash

glacial

like a glacier; extremely cold

hackneyed

commonplace; trite

hyperbole

exaggeration; overstatement

iconoclastic

attacking cherished traditions

ignominy

deep disgrace; shame or dishonor

illicit

illegal

impecunious

without money

impregnable

invulnerable

incidental

not essential; minor

incontrovertible

indisputable; not open to question

indefatigable

tireless

indolent

lazy

ineffable

unutterable; cannot be expressed in speech

inexorable

relentless; unyielding; implacable

insolvent

bankrupt; unable to repay one's debts

insuperable

insurmountable; unbeatable

intractable

unruly; stubborn; unyielding

irreproachable

blameless; impeccable

jocular

said or done in jest

labyrinth

maze

laconic

brief and to the point

laggard

slow; sluggish

lampoon

ridicule

lassitude

languor; weariness

lithe

flexible; supple