ISEE Vocab Prep (A,B)

abate (v.) to reduce, lessen (The rain poured down for a while, then abated.)

abrogate (v.) to abolish, usually by authority (The Bill of Rights assures that the government cannot abrogate our right to a free press.)

abstruse (adj.) hard to comprehend (Everyone else in the class understood geometry easily, but John found the subject abstruse.)

accost (v.) to confront verbally (Though Antoinette was normally quite calm, when the waiter spilled soup on her for the fourth time in 15 minutes she stood up and accosted the man.)

acerbic (adj.) biting, bitter in tone or taste (Jill became extremely acerbic and began to cruelly make fun of all her friends.)

acumen (n.) keen insight (Because of his mathematical acumen, Larry was able to figure out in minutes problems that took other students hours.)

adumbrate (v.) to sketch out in a vague way (The coach adumbrated a game plan, but none of the players knew precisely what to do.)

affinity (n.)a spontaneous feeling of closeness (Jerry didn’t know why, but he felt an incredible affinity for Kramer the first time they met.)

aggrieved (adj.) distressed, wronged, injured (The foreman mercilessly overworked his aggrieved employees.)

alacrity (n.) eagerness, speed (For some reason, Chuck loved to help his mother whenever he could, so when his mother asked him to set the table he did so with alacrity.)

allay (v.) to soothe, ease (The chairman of the Federal Reserve gave a speech to try to allay investors’ fears about an economic downturn.) 

allege (v.) to assert, usually without proof (The policeman had alleged that Marshall committed the crime, but after the investigation turned up no evidence, Marshall was set free.)

aloof (adj.) reserved, distant (The scientist could sometimes seem aloof, as if he didn’t care about his friends or family, but really he was just thinking about quantum mechanics.) 

amalgamate (v.) to bring together, unite (Because of his great charisma, the presidential candidate was able to amalgamate all democrats and republicans under his banner.)

analgesic (n.) something that reduces pain (Put this analgesic on the wound so that the poor man at least feels a little better.)

anathema (n.) a cursed, detested person (I never want to see that murderer. He is an anathema to me.)

antediluvian (adj.) ancient (The antediluvian man still believed that Eisenhower was president of the United States and that hot dogs cost a nickel.)

apocryphal (adj.) fictitious, false, wrong (Because I am standing before you, it seems obvious that the stories circulating about my demise were apocryphal.) 

approbation (n.) praise (The crowd welcomed the heroes with approbation.)

ardor (n.) extreme vigor, energy, enthusiasm (The soldiers conveyed their ardor with impassioned battle cries.)

arrogate (v.) to take without justification (The king arrogated the right to order executions to himself exclusively.)

ascertain (v.) to perceive, learn (With a bit of research, the student ascertained that some plants can live for weeks without water.) 

ascetic (adj.) practicing restraint as a means of self-discipline, usually religious (The priest lives an ascetic life devoid of television, savory foods, and other pleasures.) 

ascribe (v.) to assign, credit, attribute to (Some ascribe the invention of fireworks and dynamite to the Chinese.) 

aspersion (n.) a curse, expression of ill-will (The rival politicians repeatedly cast aspersions on each others’ integrity.)

assiduous (adj.) hard-working, diligent (The construction workers erected the skyscraper during two years of assiduous labor.) 

assuage (v.) to ease, pacify (The mother held the baby to assuage its fears.)

astute (adj.) very clever, crafty (Much of Roger’s success in politics results from his ability to provide astute answers to reporters’ questions.)

atone (v.) to repent, make amends (The man atoned for forgetting his wife’s birthday by buying her five dozen roses.) 

atrophy (v.) to wither away, decay (If muscles do not receive enough blood, they will soon atrophy and die.)

austere (adj.) very bare, bleak (The austere furniture inside the abandoned house made the place feel haunted.) 

avarice (n.) excessive greed (The banker’s avarice led him to amass a tremendous personal fortune.) 

banal (adj.) dull, commonplace (The client rejected our proposal because they found our presentation banal and unimpressive.) 

bane (n.) a burden (Advanced physics is the bane of many students’ academic lives.) 

bard (n.) a poet, often a singer as well (Shakespeare is often considered the greatest bard in the history of the English language.) 

bashful (adj.) shy, excessively timid (Frankie’s mother told him not to be bashful when he refused to attend the birthday party.)

beguile (v.) to trick, deceive (The thief beguiled his partners into surrendering all of their money to him.)

berate (v.) to scold vehemently (The angry boss berated his employees for failing to meet their deadline.) 

bereft (adj.) devoid of, without (His family was bereft of food and shelter following the tornado.) 

beseech (v.) to beg, plead, implore (The servant beseeched the king for food to feed his starving family.)

bilk (v.) cheat, defraud (The lawyer discovered that this firm had bilked several clients out of thousands of dollars.)

blight 1. (n.) a plague, disease (The potato blight destroyed the harvest and bankrupted many families.) 2. (n.) something that destroys hope (His bad morale is a blight upon this entire operation.)

brusque (adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (The captain’s brusque manner offended the passengers.) 

buffet 1. (v.) to strike with force (The strong winds buffeted the ships, threatening to capsize them.)

burnish (v.) to polish, shine (His mother asked him to burnish the silverware before setting the table.)