AP Lang SAT Vocab 23

abstemious

def: sparing (usually in eating or drinking); temperate

syn: abstinent, restrained

deriv: abstemiously, abstemiousness, abstention, abstentious

people who can remain abstemious rarely suffer from obesity

admonish

def: to caution, to advise, or to counsel against something

syn: warn, rebuke, censure, notify, jog, apprise, reprove, scold

deriv: admonisher, admonishingly, admonishment, admonition, admonished

the teenage girl was admonished by her father for staying out late on a school night

antiquity

def: the quality of being ancient,; ancient times

syn: oldness

deriv: antiquities, antiquitarian

since antiquity, the tree has been a symbol of life in many cultures

censure

def: to blame or to condemn

syn: denounce, reprehend, reprobate (verb)

deriv: censured, censuring, censurer, censures

Brutus hoped the roman people would not censure him until they heard what he had to say

chasten

def: to discipline, to use punishment to correct behavior

syn: admonish, castigate, chastise, chide, rebuke, reproach

deriv: chastened, chastening, chastener

the unruly child needed to be chastened for his bad behavior

debunk

def: to expose the falseness or hypocrisy of something

syn: disprove, disparage, expose, uncloak

deriv: debunker, debunkers, debunked, debunking

rosie the riveter helped to debunk the myth that women were capable of working only in the home

defile

def: to make dirty, to desecrate, to pollute

syn: contaminate, taint

deriv: defilement, defiler, defilingly

the sludge and muck of manufacturing defile our pure air and pristine water

embroil

def: to entangle, to throw into confusion or strife

syn: convolute, derange, encumber, mire, muddle

deriv: embroiled, embroiling, embroiler, embroilment, embroils

instead of solving all their problems, winning the lottery embroiled them all in bitter conflict

exorcise

def: to expel an evil spirit, to get rid of something troublesome

syn: cast out, dismiss, expel, purge, purify

deriv: exorcisation, exorcise, exorcism, exorcismal, exorcisory, exorcist, exorcistate, exorcistical

once his stepmother had left for good, he tried to exorcise all memory of her

fortuitous

def: something that happens by accident or chance (usually good)

syn: arbitrary, haphazard, incidental, providential, serendipituous

deriv: fortuitously, fortuitousness, fortuity

how fortuitous it is for you to call now, just when I was thinking about calling someone else for the job

garner

def: to gather together, to store up

syn: accumulate, amass, harvest, reap, stockpile

deriv: garnering, garnered

through dogged campaigning, he was able to garner enough votes to win the election

humility

def: the quality or state of being humble in spirit

syn: demureness, diffidence, meekness, passiveness, submissiveness

deriv: humilities, humble, humbly

when the woman accepted the award, she did it with humility and grace

larceny

def: the act of stealing another’s property

syn: theft

deriv: larcener, larcenist, larcenous, larcenously, larcenies

the neighborhood has been plagued by a wave of larceny— lawn furniture, mailboxes, and a car have been stolen.

parch

def: to become dry from heat, to shrivel from heat

syn: blister, dehydrate, desiccate, evaporate, scorch, sear

deriv: parched, parchedly, parchedness, parches, parching

because he had been in the desert for so many days, he spoke through parched lips

parry

def: to deflect or to ward off a blow

syn: anticipate, dodge, elude, preclude, rebuff, repulse, shun

deriv: parried, parrying

he was quick to parry his parents’ accusations, laying out excuse after excuse for his behavior

porous

def: something that permits the passage of substances through pores

syn: absorbent, penetrable, permeable, pervious, soggy

deriv: porosity, porose, porosis, porotic

the manufacturer is trying to produce a material that is less porous and not so susceptible to moisture

precipitate

def: to cause to speedily occur, to throw headlong

syn: accelerate, advance, expedite, hasten, quicken, trigger

deriv: precipitation, precipitancy, precipitately, precipitator, precipitous

who knew that just calling him a “mama’s boy” would precipitate such a fight?

ratify

def: to give formal approval

syn: approve, certify, confirm, endorse, sanction, substantiate, validate

deriv: ratification, ratificationist, ratifier

the immigrant population hoped that congress would ratify a move favorable version of the bill

rupture

def: to break apart. to burst

syn: breach, cleavage, fissure, herniation, schism

deriv: ruptured, rupturing

the doctor feared the appendix would rupture before she could entirely remove it from the patient’s body

taper

def: to decrease in thickness or width

syn: diminish, fade, lessen, narrow, reduce, thin

deriv: tapered, tapering

one can’t help but notice that the woman’s fingernails taper to sharp points at the ends