SAT Vocab

Maxim

a concise statement of truth or principle

Mendacious

inclined to lie

Meretricious

attractive but lacking value

Pandemic

disease prevalent over an entire country

Paradigm

a typical example or model

Pariah

an outcast

Paucity

scarcity; a lack of

Pejorative

expressing strong disapproval

Penchant

a strong liking or tendency

Penurious

extremely poor

Pert

attractive and confident

Pernicious

harmful or destructive

Precision

attention to detail

Prestidigitation

Magic tricks performed for entertainment

Recalcitrant

stubbornly uncooperative

Relegate

demote to a lower position

Remiss

negligent or careless

Reprieve

cancellation of punishment

Reprobate

morally unprincipled person

Rescind

revoke or cancel

Ribald

improper or lewd

Rife

widespread or prevalent

Sedition

conduct or speech inciting people to rebel

Sinecure

position requiring little or no work

Toady

a sycophant or flatterer

Torpid

lethargic; sluggish

Travesty

a mockery or parody

Trenchant

sharp and forceful in expression

Trounce

defeat decisively

Truculent

aggressively argumentative

Turpitude

moral wickedness or depravity

Ubiquitous

found everywhere

Umbrage

offense or annoyance

Usury

lending money at unlawful rates

Vituperate

strongly blame or insult someone

Vociferous

outspoken and vehement in speech

Wanton

deliberate and unprovoked; sexually unrestrained

Winsome

attractive or charming

Yield

surrender or give way to pressure

Yoke

tie two things together

Anagolous

comparable

scrutiny

close examination

innocuous

harmless

inadvertently

accidentally

obviate

to prevent; to avoid

approbation

approval or praise

discourse

conversation

divulge

to reveal

dirge

a funeral song

conflate

to combine into one

versimilitude

the appearance of truth

paucity

scarcity; lack

abate

to lessen

abject

Lowly, miserable and wretched

beguile

to deceive

bereft

deprived

blandishment

flattery

bovine

cowlike

braggart

someone who boasts

cavort

to leap about in a sprightly manner; romp

censorious

disapproving; critical

circomlocution

sneaky, evasive speech; not getting to the point

circumscribe

to limit; to restrict

clamor

loud noise

demur

to question or oppose

denigrate

to attack the character of; to mock

despot

tyrant

diaphanous

lightweight and transparent

discomfit

to embarrass and confuse

disrepute

a state of being held in low regard

edict

an official order

ebullient

cheerful and full of energy

epicureanism

pleasure is the most important aspect of life

effluvia

outpouring of gases or vapors

fortuitous

lucky; accidental

fractious

Tending to argue or cause discord

garrulous

talkative

grandiloquent

using big and fancy words when speaking for the purpose of impressing others

pompous

arrogant

gratuitous

unnecessary or uncalled for

grotto

a small cave

hapless

unlucky

injunction

an authoritative command or order

inoculate

to vaccinate

insidious

intended to deceive or entrap; sly, treacherous

insurgent

rebel

interlocutor

someone who participates in a conversation

litigant

someone involved in a lawsuit

maelstrom

whirlpool; turbulence; agitated state of mind

maudlin

overly sentimental

sentimental

of or prompted by feelings of tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia.

maverick

rebel; nonconformist

mawkish

excessively sentimental

dissent

to disagree

laudable

worthy of praise

butress

to support

subsume

contain or include

disconcerting

causing one to feel unsettled

imperceptible

barely noticeable

pragmatic

practical