SAT Vocabulary

Vocabulary Terms: Abase to Abridge

  • abase (v.): to humiliate, degrade

    • Application: After being overthrown and abased, the deposed leader offered to bow down to his conqueror.

  • abate (v.): to reduce, lessen

    • Application: The rain poured down for a while, then abated.

  • abdicate (v.): to give up a position, usually one of leadership

    • Application: When he realized that the revolutionaries would surely win, the king abdicated his throne.

  • abduct (v.): to kidnap, take by force

    • Application: The evildoers abducted the fairy princess from her happy home.

  • aberration (n.): something that differs from the norm

    • Application: In 1918, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series, but the success turned out to be an aberration, and the Red Sox have not won a World Series since.

  • abet (v.): to aid, help, encourage

    • Application: The spy succeeded only because he had a friend on the inside to abet him.

  • abhor (v.): to hate, detest

    • Application: Because he always wound up kicking himself in the head when he tried to play soccer, Oswald began to abhor the sport.

  • abide

    • Definition 1 (v.): to put up with — Application: Though he did not agree with the decision, Chuck decided to abide by it.

    • Definition 2 (v.): to remain — Application: Despite the beating they’ve taken from the weather throughout the millennia, the mountains abide.

  • abject (adj.): wretched, pitiful

    • Application: After losing all her money, falling into a puddle, and breaking her ankle, Eloise was abject.

  • abjure (v.): to reject, renounce

    • Application: To prove his honesty, the President abjured the evil policies of his wicked predecessor.

  • abnegation (n.): denial of comfort to oneself

    • Application: The holy man slept on the floor, took only cold showers, and generally followed other practices of abnegation.

  • abort (v.): to give up on a half-finished project or effort

    • Application: After they ran out of food, the men, attempting to jump rope around the world, had to abort and go home.

  • abridge

    • Definition 1 (v.): to cut down, shorten — Application: The publisher thought the dictionary was too long and abridged it.

    • Definition 2 (adj.): shortened — Application: Moby-Dick is such a long book that even the abridged version is longer than most normal books.

Vocabulary Terms: Abrogate to Acute

  • abrogate (v.): to abolish, usually by authority

    • Application: The Bill of Rights assures that the government cannot abrogate our right to a free press.

  • abscond (v.): to sneak away and hide

    • Application: In the confusion, the super-spy absconded into the night with the secret plans.

  • absolution (n.): freedom from blame, guilt, sin

    • Application: Once all the facts were known, the jury gave Angela absolution by giving a verdict of not guilty.

  • abstain (v.): to freely choose not to commit an action

    • Application: Everyone demanded that Angus put on the kilt, but he did not want to do it and abstained.

  • abstruse (adj.): hard to comprehend

    • Application: Everyone else in the class understood geometry easily, but John found the subject abstruse.

  • accede (v.): to agree

    • Application: When the class asked the teacher whether they could play baseball instead of learn grammar they expected him to refuse, but instead he acceded to their request.

  • accentuate (v.): to stress, highlight

    • Application: Psychologists agree that those people who are happiest accentuate the positive in life.

  • accessible (adj.): obtainable, reachable

    • Application: After studying with SparkNotes and getting a great score on the SAT, Marlena happily realized that her goal of getting into an Ivy-League college was accessible.

  • acclaim (n.): high praise

    • Application: Greg’s excellent poem won the acclaim of his friends.

  • accolade (n.): high praise, special distinction

    • Application: Everyone offered accolades to Sam after he won the Noble Prize.

  • accommodating (adj.): helpful, obliging, polite

    • Application: Though the apartment was not big enough for three people, Arnold, Mark, and Zebulon were all friends and were accommodating to each other.

  • accord (n.): an agreement

    • Application: After much negotiating, England and Iceland finally came to a mutually beneficial accord about fishing rights off the cost of Greenland.

  • accost (v.): to confront verbally

    • Application: 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.

  • accretion (n.): slow growth in size or amount

    • Application: Stalactites are formed by the accretion of minerals from the roofs of caves.

  • acerbic (adj.): biting, bitter in tone or taste

    • Application: Jill became extremely acerbic and began to cruelly make fun of all her friends.

  • acquiesce (v.): to agree without protesting

    • Application: Though Mr. Correlli wanted to stay outside and work in his garage, when his wife told him that he had better come in to dinner, he acquiesced to her demands.

  • acrimony (n.): bitterness, discord

    • Application: Though they vowed that no girl would ever come between them, Biff and Trevor could not keep acrimony from overwhelming their friendship after they both fell in love with the lovely Teresa.

  • acumen (n.): keen insight

    • Application: Because of his mathematical acumen, Larry was able to figure out in minutes problems that took other students hours.

  • acute

    • Definition 1 (adj.): sharp, severe — Application: Arnold could not walk because the pain in his foot was so acute.

    • Definition 2 (adj.): having keen insight — Application: Because she was so acute, Libby instantly figured out how the magician pulled off his "magic."

Vocabulary Terms: Adamant to Aggrandize

  • adamant (adj.): impervious, immovable, unyielding

    • Application: Though public pressure was intense, the President remained adamant about his proposal.

  • adept (adj.): extremely skilled

    • Application: Tarzan was adept at jumping from tree to tree like a monkey.

  • adhere

    • Definition 1 (n.): to stick to something — Application: We adhered the poster to the wall with tape.

    • Definition 2 (n.): to follow devoutly — Application: He adhered to the dictates of his religion without question.

  • admonish (v.): to caution, criticize, reprove

    • Application: Joe’s mother admonished him not to ruin his appetite by eating cookies before dinner.

  • adorn (v.): to decorate

    • Application: We adorned the tree with ornaments.

  • adroit (adj.): skillful, dexterous

    • Application: The adroit thief could pick someone’s pocket without attracting notice.

  • adulation (n.): extreme praise

    • Application: Though the book was pretty good, Marcy did not believe it deserved the adulation it received.

  • adumbrate (v.): to sketch out in a vague way

    • Application: The coach adumbrated a game plan, but none of the players knew precisely what to do.

  • adverse (adj.): antagonistic, unfavorable, dangerous

    • Application: Because of adverse conditions, the hikers decided to give up trying to climb the mountain.

  • advocate

    • Definition 1 (v.): to argue in favor of something — Application: Arnold advocated turning left at the stop sign, even though everyone else thought we should turn right.

    • Definition 2 (n.): a person who argues in favor of something — Application: In addition to wanting to turn left at every stop sign, Arnold was also a great advocate of increasing national defense spending.

  • aerial (adj.): somehow related to the air

    • Application: We watched as the fighter planes conducted aerial maneuvers.

  • aesthetic (adj.): artistic, related to the appreciation of beauty

    • Application: We hired Susan as our interior decorator because she has such a fine aesthetic sense.

  • affable (adj.): friendly, amiable

    • Application: People like to be around George because he is so affable and good-natured.

  • affinity (n.): a spontaneous feeling of closeness

    • Application: Jerry didn’t know why, but he felt an incredible affinity for Kramer the first time they met.

  • affluent (adj.): rich, wealthy

    • Application: Mrs. Grebelski was affluent, owning a huge house, three cars, and an island near Maine.

  • affront (n.): an insult

    • Application: Bernardo was very touchy, and took any slight as an affront to his honor.

  • aggrandize (v.): to increase or make greater

    • Application: Joseph always dropped the names of the famous people his father knew as a way to aggrandize his personal stature.

Vocabulary Terms: Aggregate to Altercation

  • aggregate

    • Definition 1 (n.): a whole or total — Application: The three branches of the U.S. Government form an aggregate much more powerful than its individual parts.

    • Definition 2 (v.): to gather into a mass — Application: The dictator tried to aggregate as many people into his army as he possibly could.

  • aggrieved (adj.): distressed, wronged, injured

    • Application: The foreman mercilessly overworked his aggrieved employees.

  • agile (adj.): quick, nimble

    • Application: The dogs were too slow to catch the agile rabbit.

  • agnostic (adj.): believing that the existence of God cannot be proven or disproven

    • Application: Joey’s parents are very religious, but he is agnostic.

  • agriculture (n.): farming

    • Application: It was a huge step in the progress of civilization when tribes left hunting and gathering and began to develop more sustainable methods of obtaining food, such as agriculture.

  • aisle (n.): a passageway between rows of seats

    • Application: Once we got inside the stadium we walked down the aisle to our seats.

  • alacrity (n.): eagerness, speed

    • Application: 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.

  • alias (n.): a false name or identity

    • Application: He snuck past the guards by using an alias and fake ID.

  • allay (v.): to soothe, ease

    • Application: 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

    • Application: The policeman had alleged that Marshall committed the crime, but after the investigation turned up no evidence, Marshall was set free.

  • alleviate (v.): to relieve, make more bearable

    • Application: This drug will alleviate the symptoms of the terrible disease, but only for a while.

  • allocate (v.): to distribute, set aside

    • Application: The Mayor allocated 30 percent of the funds for improving the town’s schools.

  • aloof (adj.): reserved, distant

    • Application: 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.

  • altercation (n.): a dispute, fight

    • Application: Jason and Lionel blamed one another for the car accident, leading to an altercation.

Vocabulary Terms: Amalgamate to Anathema

  • amalgamate (v.): to bring together, unite

    • Application: Because of his great charisma, the presidential candidate was able to amalgamate all democrats and republicans under his banner.

  • ambiguous (adj.): uncertain, variably interpretable

    • Application: Some people think Caesar married Cleopatra for her power, others believe he was charmed by her beauty. His actual reasons are ambiguous.

  • ambivalent (adj.): having opposing feelings

    • Application: My feelings about Calvin are ambivalent because on one hand he is a loyal friend, but on the other, he is a cruel and vicious thief.

  • ameliorate (v.): to improve

    • Application: The tense situation was ameliorated when Sam proposed a solution everyone could agree upon.

  • amenable (adj.): willing, compliant

    • Application: Our father was amenable when we asked him to drive us to the farm so we could go apple picking.

  • amenity (n.): an item that increases comfort

    • Application: Bill Gates’s house is stocked with so many amenities, he never has to do anything for himself.

  • amiable (adj.): friendly

    • Application: An amiable fellow, Harry got along with just about everyone.

  • amicable (adj.): friendly

    • Application: Claudia and Jimmy got divorced, but amicably and without hard feelings.

  • amorous (adj.): showing love, particularly sexual

    • Application: Whenever Albert saw Mariah wear her slinky red dress, he began to feel quite amorous.

  • amorphous (adj.): without definite shape or type

    • Application: The effort was doomed from the start, because the reasons behind it were so amorphous and hard to pin down.

  • anachronistic (adj.): being out of correct chronological order

    • Application: In this book you’re writing, you say that the Pyramids were built after the Titanic sank, which is anachronistic.

  • analgesic (n.): something that reduces pain

    • Application: Put this analgesic on the wound so that the poor man at least feels a little better.

  • analogous (adj.): similar to, so that an analogy can be drawn

    • Application: Though they are unrelated genetically, the bone structure of whales and fish is quite analogous.

  • anarchist (n.): one who wants to eliminate all government

    • Application: An anarchist, Carmine wanted to dissolve every government everywhere.

  • anathema (n.): a cursed, detested person

    • Application: I never want to see that murderer. He is an anathema to me.