Hard SAT Vocab

Abstruse

difficult to understand; obscure

Acumen

keen insight; shrewdness

Aesthetic

relating to beauty or artistic taste

Anachronism

something out of its proper time period

Antipathy

strong dislike or aversion

Archaic

extremely old or outdated

Austere

severe; without luxury or ease

Banal

lacking originality; commonplace

Cacophony

harsh, jarring sound

Capricious

unpredictable; changing suddenly

Chicanery

trickery; deception

Cogent

logical and convincing

Connoisseur

expert judge in matters of taste

Dearth

scarcity; lack

Didactic

intended to teach or preach

Disparate

fundamentally different

Dogmatic

stubbornly asserting opinions

Ecclesiastical

relating to the church

Eclectic

selecting from various sources

Ephemeral

lasting for a very short time

Erudite

showing great learning

Esoteric

understood by few; specialized

Fastidious

very attentive to detail; hard to please

Fortuitous

happening by chance; lucky

Hackneyed

overused; lacking originality

Hegemony

dominance of one group over others

Idiosyncratic

peculiar to an individual

Immutable

unchanging over time

Insipid

lacking flavor; dull

Intractable

hard to control or deal with

Laconic

using few words; concise

Lethargic

sluggish; lacking energy

Magnanimous

generous in forgiving

Meticulous

showing great attention to detail

Misanthrope

one who dislikes humankind

Mordant

sharply critical

Nascent

just beginning to develop

Nefarious

extremely wicked

Obsequious

excessively eager to please

Onerous

burdensome; oppressive

Ostentatious

showy; pretentious

Parsimonious

extremely frugal; stingy

Pedantic

overly concerned with academic details

Pernicious

having a harmful effect

Pervasive

spreading throughout

Philanthropic

charitable; benevolent

Platitude

overused saying; cliché

Ponderous

slow and clumsy; dull

Pragmatic

practical rather than idealistic

Proclivity

natural tendency toward something

Prodigious

remarkably large; impressive

Prolific

producing abundantly

Provocative

causing anger or interest

Quixotic

unrealistic; impractical

Rancorous

bitter; spiteful

Recalcitrant

stubbornly resistant

Reticent

reluctant to speak

Sagacious

wise; showing good judgment

Sanguine

optimistic; cheerful

Scrupulous

careful about moral standards

Spurious

false; fake

Stoic

enduring hardship without complaint

Sycophant

person who flatters for gain

Taciturn

reserved; saying little

Tangential

diverging from the main point

Terse

brief and to the point

Ubiquitous

existing everywhere

Venerable

respected due to age or character

Vexation

annoyance; frustration

Vociferous

loud and forceful

Whimsical

playful; unpredictable

Allegory

symbolic narrative with hidden meaning

Allusion

indirect reference to another work

Ambiguous

having multiple possible meanings

Antithesis

direct opposite; contrast

Apathy

lack of interest or emotion

Archetype

original model; universal pattern

Candor

honesty; frankness

Catharsis

emotional release or purification

Censure

strong criticism or disapproval

Circuitous

roundabout; indirect

Colloquial

informal; conversational

Dichotomy

division into two opposing parts

Elegy

mournful poem or song

Eloquent

fluent and persuasive speech

Euphemism

mild term for something harsh

Hyperbole

deliberate exaggeration

Innuendo

indirect hint; subtle suggestion

Ironic

opposite of what's expected

Juxtaposition

placing side by side for contrast

Metaphorical

symbolic; not literal

Nuance

subtle difference in meaning

Oxymoron

contradictory terms combined

Paradox

seemingly contradictory statement

Parody

humorous imitation

Pathos

appeal to emotion

Rhetoric

art of persuasive speaking

Satire

use of humor to criticize

Subjective

based on personal opinion

Symbolism

use of symbols to represent ideas