PSAT/SAT Vocab Words

1) abandon – v. give up completely

2) abate – v. lessen

3) abject – adj. completely without pride or dignity

4) aberration – n. deviation from the norm

5) abjure – v. renounce a belief, cause, or claim

6) abnegation – n. renounce or reject something

7) abrogate – v. do away with (a law, right, or responsibility)

8) abscond – v. flee

9) abstruse – adj. dense or obscure

10) abysmal – adj. terrible

11) accede – v. agree to a demand

12) acumen – n. ability to make good judgments

13) adamant – adj. stubborn

14) adapt – v. modify

15) admonish – v. reprimand someone

16) advantageous — adj. beneficial circumstances

17) affluent – adj. wealthy

18) alacrity – n. brisk eagerness

19) ambivalence – n. state of uncertainty

20) anomaly — n. outside of what is normal or expected

21) antipathy – n. strong dislike

22) antiseptic – adj. clean or pure

23) apt — adj. accurate or appropriate

24) assertion – n. statement

25) assiduous – adj. showing great care

26) bane — n. source of distress or harm

27) beguile – v. charm or enchant

28) beneficial — adj. helpful

29) berate – v. scold or criticize

30) bereft – adj. deprived or lacking

31) blandishment – n. a flattering statement used to persuade someone

32) bias – n. prejudice

33) bolster — v. support

34) bombastic – adj. inflated

35) bovine – adj. cow-like

36) braggart – n. someone who boasts

37) brevity – n. concise

38) cacophony – n. a discordant mixture of sounds

39) cajole – v. persuade someone via flattery

40) callous – adj. cruel disregard for others

41) calumny – n. slander

42) camaraderie – n. friendship

43) candid – adj. truthful

44) candor – n. quality of being honest

45) carouse – v. drink and party in a lively way

46) carp – v. complain about trivial matters

47) catastrophic — adj. involving large-scale damage, usually sudden

48) cavort – v. dance around excitedly

49) censorious – adj. critical of others

50) circumlocution – n. using many words, particularly in an evasive way

51) circumscribe – v. restrict within limits

52) clamor – n. a loud and confused noise

53) clout – n. influence or power

54) cognizant – adj. having knowledge of

55) commensurate – adj. equal to

56) comparable – adj. similar to another thing

57) complement – v. add to or make complete

58) compunction – n. a feeling of guilt

59) concomitant – adj. naturally accompanying

60) conducive — adj. helps produce positive or desired results 

61) conduit – n. a vessel or channel for transporting something

62) conflagration – n. a large fire

63) connive – v. trick; conspire

64) consign – v. assign or deliver something into someone else’s custody

65) constituent – adj. being part of a whole

66) constructive — adj. helpful, useful

67) construe – v. interpret

68) contend – v. reckon with; struggle against

69) contusion – n. a bruise

70) contrite – adj. feeling of remorse or guilt

71) contentious – adj. likely to cause an argument

72) contravene– adj. violate the order of; conflict

73) convivial – adj. friendly and cheerful environment 

74) corpulence – n. obesity; fatness 

75) covet – v. want greatly

76) cupidity – n. greed for money

77) dearth – n. a lack of something

78) debacle – n. a fiasco or failure

79) debauch – v. ruin or debase, particularly in a moral sense

80) defunct – adj. no longer working

81) demagogue – n. a political leader who appeals to the prejudices of the common people

82) demur – v. show reluctance; raise objections

83) denigrate – v. disparage

84) despot – n. a tyrant

85) diaphanous – adj. light and translucent

86) dirge – n. song of lament for the dead

87) discomfit – v. make someone uncomfortable

88) disparate – adj. different from one another

89) disrepute – n. state of disgrace

90) duplicity – n. deceitfulness

91) duress – n. intimidation or coercion to force someone to perform an act

92) eclectic – adj. wide-ranging

93) edict – n. an official order

94) ebullient – adj. cheerful and lively

95) efficacious — adj. has the power to achieve a particular result

96) effluvia – n. unpleasant odor

97) egregious – adj. outstandingly bad

98) elegy – n. a poem of reflection, typically a lament for the dead

99) elicit – v. evoke or draw out

100) eloquent – adj. well-spoken

101) elude  – v. escape one’s grasp

1o2) emollient – adj. soothing  

1o3) empirical – adj. based on (as evidence)

1o4) emulate – v. imitate

1o5) enervate – v. weaken; drain of energy

106) engender – v. bring about

107) ephemeral – adj. short-lived

108) equanimity – n. mental calmness

109) equivocal – adj. ambiguous

110) evanescent – adj. fading quickly from sight

111) evince – v. reveal the presence of

112) exacerbate – v. make worse

113) exhort –v. strongly encourage someone to do something

114) execrable – adj. extremely bad or unpleasant

115) exigent – adj. pressing, demanding

116) expedient – adj. (of an action) convenient though possibly improper   

117) expiate – v. atone for guilt or sin

118) expunge – v. get rid of

119) extraneous – adj. irrelevant

120) extol – v. praise

121) facilitate — v. make easier, guide forward

122) fallacious – adj. false; based on mistaken belief

123) fatuous – adj. silly and pointless

124) flagrant – adj. obviously offensive

125) forbearance – n. restraint; self-control 

126) fortuitous – adj. happening by chance

127) fractious – adj. irritable and difficult to control

128) garrulous – adj. talkative

129) grandiloquent – adj. pompous or extravagant in language, style, or manner

130) grapple — v. wrestle, physically or mentally

131) gratuitous – adj. uncalled for; unnecessary

132) hapless – adj. unfortunate

133) hegemony – n. leadership or dominance, particularly of one country over another

134) heterogenous – adj. not uniform; varied

135) iconoclast – n. a person who veers from the norm; a person who attacks cherished beliefs

136) impecunious – adj. having little money; penniless

137) impede — v. prevent or hold back

138) impetuous – adj. acting without care

139) impinge – v. encroach on

140) impute – v. attribute to

141) inane – adj. ridiculous

142) inchoate – adj. just beginning; not fully formed

143) incontrovertible – adj. unable to be denied

144) inexorable – adj. impossible to prevent

145) inimical – adj. tending to obstruct or harm; unfriendly

146) injunction – n. an authoritative order

147) innocuous — adj. benign, not harmful 

148) inoculate – v. immunize someone against

149) insidious – adj. harmful

150) instigate – v. bring about; incite

151) insurgent – n. rebel or revolutionary

152) interlocutor – n. someone engaged in conversation

153) inure – v. to be accustomed to something, particularly something unpleasant  

154) intransigent – adj. stubborn; unwilling to change one’s views

155) inveterate – adj. long-established and unlikely to change (of a habit)

156) irreverence – n. lack of respect for

157) largesse – n. generosity in bestowing money or gifts

158) licentious – adj. promiscuous

159) litigant – n. a person involved in a lawsuit

160) maelstrom – n. a powerful storm; turmoil

161) maudlin – adj. overly sentimental; self-pitying

162) maverick – n. independent-minded person; a nonconformist

163) mawkish – adj. sentimental in a sweet or sickly way

164) maxim – n. a short, pithy statement of truth

165) mendacious – adj. lying

166) meretricious – adj. appearing attractive but having little value

167) modicum – n. a small quantity of something

168) momentous — adj. important or significant, typically in a positive way

169) morass – n. a mess; a complicated situation

170) munificent – adj. generous

171) nadir – n. lowest point

172) negligent – adj. failing to do something; neglectful

173) neophyte – n. a person who is new to a subject, skill, or belief

174) noisome – adj. disagreeable; having an offensive smell

175) noxious – adj. poisonous; harmful

176) obdurate – adj. stubborn

177) obfuscate – v. render unclear; bewilder someone

178) obstreperous – adj. noisy and difficult to control; disorderly

179) officious – adj. self-assertive, overbearing

180) onerous – adj. involving many obligations or effort

181) ostensible – adj. seemingly so

182) ostracism –  n. exclusion from a group

183) palliate – v. make less severe

184) panacea –  n. a remedy for all diseases 

185) paradigm –  n. typical example or pattern of something; a model

186) pariah – n. an outcast

187) paucity – n. a lack of; scarcity

188) pejorative – adj. expressing contempt or disapproval

189) penchant – n. habitual liking for something; a tendency toward

190) penurious – adj. poverty-stricken

191) pert – adj. attractive; impudent or saucy

192) pernicious – adj. having a harmful effect on

193) pertinacious – adj. holding firmly to a course; determined

194) phlegmatic – adj. self-controlled; calm and stoic  

195) philanthropic – adj. generous, particularly in a monetary sense

196) pithy – adj. concise and expressive

197) plaudit – n. expression of praise

198) plenitude – n. an abundance; full or complete

199) plethora – n. an abundance of

200) polar — adj. directly opposite

201) postulate — v. to assume as true

202) potentate – n. monarch or ruler

203) pragmatic — adj. realistic, sensible

204) preclude – v. prevent from taking place

205) predilection – n. preference or liking for something

206) probity – n. honesty; integrity 

207) proclivity – n. the tendency toward

208) profligate – adj. recklessly extravagant

209) profound — adj. showing deep knowledge or insight

210) promulgate – v. promote widely

211) proscribe – v. forbid by law

212) protean – adj. able to change easily

213) prurient – adj. overly sexual

214) puerile – adj. childishly silly

215) pugnacious – adj. quick to fight

216) punctilious – adj. paying attention to detail

217) quaint –adj. old-fashioned

218) quixotic – adj. idealistic

219) quandary – n. state of perplexity; a dilemma

220) recalcitrant – adj. uncooperative attitude

221) relegate – v. cast to a lower rank or role

222) remiss – adj. negligent

223) reprieve – n. a cancellation or postponement of a punishment

224) reprobate – n. unprincipled person

225) rescind – v. take back

226) ribald – adj. improper; lewd

227) rife – adj. filled with; widespread

228) sanctimonious – adj. being morally superior to others

229) sanguine – adj. optimistic

230) scurrilous – adj. spreading disparaging claims about someone; slanderous

231) serendipity – n. chance or good luck

232) solicitous – adj. attentive to

233) spurious – adj. statement that appears truthful but is false  

234) staid – adj. sedate, respectable

235) stolid – adj. calm and dependable

236) substantial — adj. large in size, amount, or importance

237) supercilious – adj. behaving in a haughty manner

238) supposition — n. assumption without proof

239) surfeit – n. excessive amount

240) surmise — v. guess without proof

241) surreptitious – adj. keep secret

242) tangential – adj. peripheral to the central matter

243) tenable — adj. reasonable, maintanable

Digital SAT Vocabulary Words (Continued)

244) terse – adj. brief

245) torpid – adj. lethargic; inactive

246) travesty – n. a false representation of something

247) trenchant – adj. vigorous in expression; sharp

248) trounce – v. defeat heavily

249) truculent – adj. eager to argue or fight

250) turpitude – n. depravity, wickedness

251) ubiquitous – adj. present everywhere

252) umbrage – n. offense (i.e., to take umbrage at)

253) unconventional — adj. to act outside of the norm

254) undulate – v. move in a wave-like pattern 

255) unmitigated – adj. not lessened; absolute

256) unveil – v. reveal

257) upbraid – v. scold or find fault with someone

258) upshot – n. the outcome or result of an action 

259) usury – n. unethical money lending

260) validate — v. support the truth or value of

261) veracity – n. truth or accuracy

262) vestige – n. trace or remnant of something gone

263) viability – n. ability to work successfully

264) vicissitude – n. a change of circumstances

Digital SAT Vocab Words (Continued)

265) vilify – v. speak about in a disparaging manner

266) virtuoso – n. highly skilled person, particularly in the arts

267) vital – adj. necessary

268) vitriolic – adj. filled with hatred

269) vituperate – v. blame or insult someone strongly

270) vociferous – adj. outspoken

271) wanton – adj. deliberate and unprovoked; sexually unrestrained

272) winsome – adj. attractive or charming

273) yield – v. surrender, give way to pressure

274) yoke – v. tie two things together

275) zenith – n. the peak