High Frequency SAT Words

Approbation - praise

Hackneyed - cliche

Unctuous - sleazy

To assuage - to calm

Decadence - period of downturn

Expostulate - to attempt to dissuade

Lurid - causing horror

Aplomb - confidence

Bombastic - dramatic

Exhort - to strongly urge

Ingratiate - to make one agreeable to gain favor

Inveigh - to attack violently w words

Stringent - strict

Callow - immature

Commiserate - to sympathize

Enjoin - to direct

Expiate - to make up for

To peculate- steal

To aggrandize - to increase in greatness

Inscrutable - incapable of being understood

Querulous - complaining

Sedulous - determined

Reverberate - to reflect

Advantageous - providing an advantage

Charge - in electricity, positive or negative

Control group - in an experiment, the group in which the variable being tested is not changed

Empirical - relying on hard data

Hierarchy (adj., hierarchical) - system of rank; opposite of egalitarian

Isotope - alternate form of an element

Indigenous - native

Inhibit - prevent, impede (e.g., a response)

Innovative - new and revolutionary

Metabolism - the process of converting food to energy

Microbial - relating to microscopic organisms

Pigment - color

Predisposed - having a tendency toward

Regenerate - regrow

Replicate - repeat (an experiment) and obtain the same results

Saturate - to become completely soaked with

Stimulus - something that provokes a specific response

Symbiosis (adj. Symbiotic) interaction between two organisms living close together.

Taxonomy - classification system

Trait - characteristic

Velocity - speed

Adept - skilled

Adversary - opponent

Align (oneself with) - support or adopt the position of

Authentic - genuine

Benevolent - kind

Buttress - provide support

Centrality - state of being central or essential

Complement - to complete or perfect

Comprehensive - thorough, complete (NOT to be confused with comprehensible, which means

"understandable)

Conspicuous - clearly visible

Contingent - dependent upon

Confer - give, grant

Corollary - a statement or condition that logically results from a proven argument

Contemporary - current

Cultivate - grow, raise, e.g., crops

Displace - to force someone or something from its home or habitat

Disposition - personality

Engendering - to cause to exist; produce

Ideology - belief system

Impede, Inhibit- prevent; get in the way of

Indigenous - native

Ineluctable - unable to be avoided; inescapable

Insuperable - impossible to overcome

Irreproachable - blameless

Judicial - related to the law

Marginal - unimportant

Mitigate - make less severe

Preliminary - occurring before the main event

Prevail - win; adj.

Prevalent, Prevailing - widespread; generally accepted, e.g.. the prevailing theory

Reciprocate - respond to an action or behavior with the same action/ behavior

Repudiate - to refuse to accept

Rudimentary - very basic

Shrewd - smart

Successor - person who inherits another's position

Unequivocal - leaving no doubt; unambiguous

Vindicate - to free from blame

Afford - Grant (e.g., an opportunity)

Appreciate - To take into account, recognize the merits of. OR to increase in value

Arrest - To stop (not just put handcuffs on a criminal)

Assume - To take on responsibility for, acquire (e.g. to assume a new position)

Austerity - Financial policy to reduce excess spending on luxury or non-essential items

Badger - To pester or annoy (e.g., reporters repeatedly badgered the candidate after the

scandal broke

Bent - Liking for. Synonym for penchant, predilection, proclivity

Capacity - Ability

Chance - To attempt

Channel - To direct something (e.g., energy, money) toward a specific purpose

Check - To restrain, control, or reduce (e.g.. the vaccine checked the spread of the disease)

Coin- To invent (e.g., coin a phrase)

Compromise - To endanger or make vulnerable (e.., to compromise one's beliefs)

Constitution - Build (e.g. a football player has a solid constitution)

Conviction - Certainty, determination. Noun form of convinced.

Couch - To hide

Discriminating - Able to make fine distinctions (e.g., a discriminating palate)

Doctor - To tamper with (e.g. she doctored the documents)

Economy - Thrift (e.g., a writer who has an economical style is one who uses few words)

Embroider - To falsify, make up stories about Execute - To carry out

Exploit - Make use of (does not carry a negative connotation)

Facility - Ability to do something easily (e.g., a facility for learning languages)

Foil - to put a stop to (e.g. to foil a Robbery)

Grave/ Gravity - Serious(ness)

Grill - To question intensely and repeatedly (e.g., the police officers grilled the suspect thoroughly) Hamper - To get in the way or hinder

Harbor - To possess, hold (e.g. to harbor a belief)

Hobble - Prevent impede

Plastic - Able to be changed, malleable (e.g., brain plasticity)

Provoke - Elicit (e.g., a reaction)

Realize - To achieve (a goal)

Reconcile - To bring together opposing or contradictory ideas

Relay - To pass on to someone else (e.g. to relay information)

Relate - To tell, give an account of (a story)

Reservations - Misgivings

Reserve - To hold off on (e.g., to reserve judgment)

Ruffled - Flustered, nonplussed

Sap - To drain (e.g., of energy)

Scrap - To eliminate

Shelve/Table - To reject or discard (e.g.. an idea or proposal)

Solvent - Able to pay all debts (usually used in a business context)

Sound - Firm, stable, reliable, valid (e.g., a sound argument)

Spare, Severe - Unadorned, very plain

Static - Unchanging (i.e., in a state of stasis)

Sustain - To withstand

Uniform - Constant, unvarying

Unqualified - Absolute

Upset - To interfere with an expected outcome

Critic/Criticism - A critic is a person who writes commentary-either positive or negative- about

a subject, e.g. art, music, or sports.

Discern/ discerning - To recognize or distinguish; perceptive

Ineffable - Indescribable, sublime, beyond words

Infallible - Unable to be wrong

Ingenious - Clever, brilliant

Ingenuous - Native

Inimitable - Unique, one-of-a-kind

Innate - Inborn, natural

Innocuous - Harmless

Intrinsic/ Innate - Inborn, a natural part

Invaluable - Having immense value, priceless

Unassuming - Modest

Unqualified - Absolute

Capricious - unstable, changing

Ostentatious - showy, pretentious

Indolent - lazy, sloth

Tenuous - vulnerable, weak, insubstantial