10th Grade SAT Vocabulary List 1-10
1. aberration; noun – deviating from the right path or usual course of action; a mental disorder, especially of a minor or temporary nature. We were convinced that Ed’s poor test marks were an aberration, and that he would do better the next time.
2. belittle; verb – to make something seem less important. The purpose of much campaign oratory is to belittle your opponent’s record.
3. cache; noun – a hiding place; something hidden in a hiding place. Police searched in vain for the cache of jewels which the thieves had skillfully concealed.
4. dearth; noun – shortage. The dearth of citrus fruits led to a host of illnesses.
5. ebb; verb – to decline. Investors watched their fortunes ebb as the stock market plunged to a new low.
6. facilitate; verb – to make easy; to bring about. To facilitate our move, the company sent a crew to crate all of the furniture.
7. galvanize; verb – to arouse suddenly; to startle. It took a mishap at Chernobyl to galvanize the peace movement into protesting vigorously.
8. hackneyed; adjective – used too often; trite; commonplace. Creative writers cringe when they hear egregiously hackneyed expressions.
9. iconoclast; noun – a person who attacks cherished beliefs or established institutions. When she shook up the conservative firm, Gloria earned the reputation of being an iconoclast.
10. jargon; noun – the specialized vocabulary of members of a group. The club members adopted a jargon that made them feel exclusive.
11. kindle; verb – to ignite; to arouse or inspire; to catch fire; to become aroused. With the wind blowing furiously, Ted found it difficult to kindle a fire.
12. labyrinth; noun- a maze; a complicated, perplexing arrangement or course of affairs. Once inside the cave, the searchers were confronted with a labyrinth that defied them to find the route to the wounded explorer.
13. malicious; adjective- spiteful; intentionally mischievous or harmful. The malicious man led the widow through a labyrinth of schemes to deprive her of her fortune.
14. nomenclature; noun – a systematic naming in an art or science. The nomenclature can be quickly mastered by using memory devices.
15. obliterate; verb – to blot out leaving no traces; to destroy. The authorities feared that the heavy rain would obliterate all signs of the escaped prisoner.
SAT vocabulary List 2-10
1. abstinence; noun – the giving up of certain pleasures such as food or drink. Myra’s abstinence from cake, candy, and ice cream led to a dramatic weight loss.
2. bequeath; verb – to leave money or property by a will; to pass along. The austere, old tightwad would not bequeath even one penny to charity.
3. cacophony; noun- discord; harsh sound. While we sought harmony, our enemies were pleased with cacophony.
4. debilitate; verb – to weaken. The cruel jailer starved his prisoners in order to debilitate them.
5. eclectic; adjective – consisting of selections from various sources. With an eclectic interest in books, Sheila collected everything from Shakespeare to Superman.
6. fallacy; noun – false idea; mistaken belief. The economist revealed the fallacy in the government’s proposal.
7. garbled; adjective – confused; mixed up. The garbled message failed to facilitate the ambulance’s arrival.
8. haphazard; adjective – not planned; random. Taking haphazard aim, the hunter committed a fatal error.
9. immaterial; adjective – insignificant; unimportant. The prosecutor objected to the attorney’s exhibit, disparaging it as amateurish and immaterial.
10. judicious; adjective – wise; careful; showing sound judgment; prudent. Gary thought it more judicious to speak to his mother rather than his father about extending his curfew.
11. lackluster; adjective – lacking brightness; dull; lacking liveliness, vitality, or enthusiasm. His lackluster response to our suggestions made us lose our initial enthusiasm.
12. marred; verb – injured; spoiled; damaged; disfigured. The fight in the corridor marred Lorna’s otherwise perfect record as a model student.
13. nonchalance; noun – carelessness; lack of interest or concern. Edward’s nonchalance about his studies made it difficult to lampoon him about his poor showing in the midterm exams.
14. obscure; adjective – not clear or distinct; hidden; remote; not well known. Far from the well-traveled highway was an obscure village that seemed to belong to another age.
15. painstaking; adjective – very careful, diligent. Researchers are engaged in a painstaking effort to find a vaccine against the AIDS virus.
SAT Vocabulary List 3-10
1. abstract; adjective – theoretical, not applied or practical; not concrete; hard to understand. I prefer realistic art to abstract paintings, which are totally confusing to me.
2. bizarre; adjective – strikingly odd in appearance or style; grotesque. The beggar’s bizarre street behavior alerted the police to question her.
3. cajole; verb – to persuade by pleasant words or false promises. First he tried to cajole the witness into testifying; then he used threats.
4. decadence; noun – decay; decline. Many sermons tend to focus on the moral decadence in our time.
5. efface; verb – to wipe out; to erase. A devious attempt to efface the signature didn’t fool the bank teller.
6. fastidious; adjective – hard to please; dainty in taste. Everett was so fastidious that his messy fraternity brothers refused to room with him.
7. garner; verb – to gather and store away; to collect. By paying close attention, you may be able to garner some information will elucidate the situation.
8. hedonist; noun – one who lives solely for pleasure. Abandoning her lifestyle as a hedonist, Maria entered a convent.
9. imminent; adjective – about to occur. The ominous clouds told us that a storm was imminent.
10.laconic; adjective – brief or terse in speech; using few words. The tense situation called for a laconic reply, not a lengthy exposition.
11. meager; adjective – thin; lean; of poor quality or small amount. The visiting team lampooned the meager dinner served by their hosts.
12. obsolete; adjective – out-of-date. Propeller planes have become obsolete.
13. pariah; noun – an outcast. The Western mind finds it difficult to accept the idea of a pariah class.
14. quandary; noun – condition of being doubtful or confused. The benefits and dangers of a nuclear plant leave us in a quandary.
15. raconteur; noun – a person skilled at telling stories or anecdotes. Comedians and masters of ceremonies must be consummate raconteurs.
SAT Vocabulary List 4-10
1. acclaim; noun – loud applause; approval. Jonas Salk won great acclaim for his medical discoveries.
2. blithe; adjective – happy and cheerful; gay. Lori’s blithe attitude toward her terrible predicament was bizarre indeed.
3. callous; adjective – unfeeling; insensitive. It was a surprise to see the tears flowing from someone we had considered to be callous.
4. deference; noun – great respect. Out of deference to my father, we never smoked in the house.
5. effervescent; adjective – lively; giving off bubbles. Because I do not enjoy carbonated drinks, I do not like the effervescent quality of ginger ale.
6. fervor; noun – intense emotion; great warmth of feeling. Alicia does her volunteer work with tremendous fervor.
7. garrulous; adjective – talkative. Nothing galvanizes me into leaving a beauty parlor as much as a garrulous hairdresser.
8. heretic; noun – a person who upholds religious doctrines contrary to the established beliefs of his church. Severely chastised for being a heretic, brother Vincent was asked to leave the monastery.
9. immutable; adjective – never changing. My father’s immutable optimism can be traced back to the pleasant atmosphere in my grandmother’s home.
10. lampoon; noun – strong, satirical writing, usually attacking or ridiculing someone. The college quarterly featured a lampoon of fraternity hazing.
11. meandering; verb – winding back and forth; rambling. Meandering through the crowded streets of a foreign city is my idea of a tourist’s delight.
12. officious; adjective – meddling; giving unnecessary or unwanted advice or services. Mr. Klar’s officious manner helped him gain friends easily but lose them in short order.
13. parsimonious; adjective – too thrifty; stingy. Dickens’ Scrooge, before his metamorphosis, is regarded as the prototype of the parsimonious man.
14. querulous; adjective – peevish; faultfinding; expressing or suggestive of complaint. We tend to turn a deaf ear to querulous demands for attention.
15. rancor; noun – deep spite or malice; strong hate or bitter feeling. A forgiving heart will save you from the corrosive effects of rancor.
SAT Vocabulary 5-10
1. acquiesce; verb – to accept the conclusions or arrangements of others; to accede; to give consent by keeping silent. The president said that we will never acquiesce to the demands of the terrorists.
2. bombastic; adjective – high-sounding; marked by use of language without much real meaning. The citizens failed to be aroused by their mayor’s bombastic speech.
3. capitulate; verb – to surrender; to cease resisting. Colonel Leeds was adamant in his decision not to capitulate under any terms.
4. deflate; verb – to let air out of; to reduce in size or importance. The boss’s criticism deflated John’s ego.
5. egregious; adjective – extraordinarily bad. An egregious bookkeeping error cost our company $1,000,000.
6. fitful; adjective – spasmodic; intermittent. Monte’s fitful sleep tended to exacerbate his normal irritability.
7. gratuitous; adjective – freely given; unnecessary; uncalled-for. Hillary’s gratuitous suggestion was rejected by the other guests who blithely ignored it.
8. hierarchy; noun – organization by rank, class, or grade. In the company’s hierarchy, I’m the low man on the totem pole.
9. impartial; adjective – fair; just; showing no favoritism. An impartial attorney was asked to serve as a judge in the dispute.
10. lassitude; noun – state or feeling of being tired and listless; weariness. Lassitude comes from a feeling of hopelessness.
11. meticulous; adjective – very careful about details; fussy. Sidney was meticulous about his clothing but quite sloppy about his room.
12. opportunist; noun – one who takes advantage of any opportunity without regard for moral principles. The opportunist is so anxious to get ahead that he is ready to ignore the needs, feelings, and welfare of his fellow man.
13. partisan; noun – on who strongly supports a party or cause; characteristic of a guerilla fighter. A partisan of the animal rights cause, John believes all use of animals for testing should be banned.
14. quixotic; adjective – idealistic and utterly impractical. It is quixotic to think that we can ignore the environmental consequences of pollution.
15. raze; verb – to tear down completely; to destroy. The corporation voted to raze the decaying structure and replace it with a modern skyscraper.
SAT Vocabulary List 6-10
1. admonish; verb – to advise against something; to warn; to scold gently; to urge strongly. This is the last time I plan to admonish you about coming late to work.
2. buffoon; noun – a clown; someone who amuses with tricks and jokes. After Bert had a few drinks, he became a willing buffoon at the party.
3. capricious; adjective – changeable, fickle. Our weather is so capricious that it’s difficult to make weekend plans.
4. delineate; verb – to describe in words; to sketch. When challenged to delineate Sam’s crass behavior, we were speechless.
5. elucidate; verb – to make clear. Public relations experts were hired to elucidate the chairman’s position.
6. flagrant; adjective – outrageous; glaringly offensive. After having been accused of a flagrant misuse of company funds, the treasurer resigned.
7. guile; noun – crafty deceit; cunning.Many clever figures from Greek mythology relied upon guile as an expedient.
8. homogeneous; adjective – similar; uniform in nature.The Shore Road finds that homogeneous grouping of pupils facilitates learning.
9. impassive; adjective – without feelings or emotion; insensible. Good poker players are supposed to maintain impassive appearances.
10. latent; adjective – present but invisible or inactive; lying hidden and undeveloped.Marilyn’s latent charm came to the fore after she got a few tactful pointers from her sister.
11. mitigate; verb – to make or to become milder or less severe; to moderate. The doctor assured Mrs. Shiller that the medicine would mitigate her pain in a short time.
12. opulent; adjective – wealthy; abundant. The opulent family chose to spend money for the public benefit rather than for private indulgences.
13. paucity; noun – scarcity; smallness in number or amount. The paucity of rain in the Midwest will cause a serious food shortage in the months to come.
14. rebuff; verb – to refuse in a sharp or due way; to snub; to drive or beat back. It was sheer luck that the outnumbered patrol was able to rebuff the enemy attack.
15.sagacious; adjective – very wise or shrewd. Glen turned to his father for advice, for he knew him to be sagacious and understanding.
SAT Vocabulary List 7-10
1. advocate; verb – to support; to be in favor of. Because the candidate may advocate many new social programs, he is being called a big spender.
2. carping; adjective – complaining. His carping criticism of the book was upsetting to the author.
3. demeanor; noun – behavior. When the twins adopted a conciliatory tone, Sal’s demeanor changed abruptly.
4. elusive; adjective – hard to grasp; baffling. The philosopher’s main point was so elusive that we never did fully comprehend it.
5. fledgling; adjective – newly developed; little known. Luckily, the fledgling pilot’s egregious blunder was discovered before the plane departed.
6. gullible; adjective – easily deceived. The con man told a flagrant lie but the gullible investors swallowed it.
7. hyperbole; noun – an exaggerated statement used as a figure of speech for rhetorical effect. Ione uses hyperbole when galvanizing her sales force into a frenzy of selling.
8. imperturbable; adjective – not easily excited or disturbed. We couldn’t believe that Rafael would be that imperturbable in the midst of a riot.
9. laudable; adjective – worthy of praise. The board rewarded Ellen’s laudable achievements by promoting her to chief executive officer.
10. morose; adjective – gloomy; bad-tempered. Joan’s morose nature makes her always expect the worst.
11. overt; adjective – not hidden; open. Most observers took the senator’s speech as an overt bid for his re-nomination.
12. peerless; adjective – having no equal; better than the rest. Theresa’s peerless beauty was admired by all who saw her.
13. recalcitrant; adjective – refusing to obey or follow orders; unmanageably resistant. The mule is probably the most recalcitrant domesticated animal.
14. salutary; adjective – healthful; useful or helpful; remedial. Upon sagacious reflection, Simon realized that his parents’ rebuke though painful, was salutary.
15. taciturn; adjective – habitually untalkative; laconic; uncommunicative. Silas’s long years of solitude had made him a taciturn, brooding man unused even to the sound of his own voice.
SAT Vocabulary List 8-10
1. aesthetic; adjective – showing an appreciation of beauty in nature or art; artistic. Kyra’s aesthetic qualities were apparent in her early art work.
2. catalyst; noun – someone or something that brings about a change. Our articulate new principal was the catalyst for school reform.
3. denunciation; noun – expression of strong disapproval made openly or publicly. We were astonished by the tobacco heir’s denunciation of smoking.
4. embellish; verb – to decorate; to elaborate upon. For $5,000, the decorator promised to embellish our living room with continental touches.
5. forlorn; adjective – deserted; left alone and neglected; unhappy. Feeling forlorn and full of self-pity, Eddie was a danger to himself.
6. hypocritical; adjective – insincere; pretending to be what one is not. I found it hypocritical of the judge to be involved in an illegal activity.
7. implausible; adjective – not having the appearance of truth or reason. Only the most gullible member of our club would accept the implausible alibi.
8. lethargic; adjective – drowsy; dull; sluggish; indifferent. Eating a heavy meal tends to make me lethargic, which may explain why I become a couch potato after a big dinner.
9. perceptive; adjective – discerning; observant; sensitive. Having a perceptive nature, Jason was able to sense the child’s embarrassment even before she uttered a sound.
10. recluse; noun- a person who lives alone, away from others. Every neighborhood has its recluse about whom mysterious secrets are whispered.
11. sanction; noun – authorized approval or permission; support or encouragement; something that gives binding force to a law. There is no sanction for murder in human society.
12. tactless; adjective – not having or showing a sense of the right thing to do or say without causing anger or hurt feelings; without skill in dealing with people. Bringing up the matter of Grace’s losing her job was just about the most tactless way to start the conversation.
13. unassailable; adjective – undeniable; unquestionable; not able to attack. Brenda’s claim that she was exempt from taxation because she had earned no money was unassailable.
14. vacillate; verb – to say unsteadily; to totter; to waver; to fluctuate. Brian’s tendency to vacillate makes him a poor choice for president.
15. waive; verb – to dispense with; to relinquish; to postpone. The coach’s decision to waive the penalty may have cost us the game.
SAT Vocabulary List 9-10
1. affinity; noun – natural attraction to a person or liking for a thing; relation; connection. Harvey’s affinity for math led him to excel in our computer course.
2. catharsis; noun – an emotional purification or relief. The tragedy on stage brought about a catharsis among the spectators.
3. deprecate; verb – to express strong disapproval of. If you continually deprecate Jeremy’s efforts, thereby deflating his self-confidence, he may stop trying.
4. embroil; verb – to involve in a quarrel. The rival party sought a way to embroil the government in a dispute over the economy.
5. formidable; adjective – hard to overcome; to be dreaded. Seemingly a mild-mannered reporter, Clark Kent was actually the formidable Superman.
6. hypothetical; adjective – supposed; assumed. Saying that he has an aversion to hypothetical questions, the governor refused to reply.
7. inadvertent; adjective – not done on purpose; careless. I regarded the inadvertent comment as immaterial, but it proved to be significant.
8. levity; noun – lightness; lack of seriousness; fickleness. Brad’s levity contrasted sharply with his roommate’s solemnity.
9. perfidy; noun- treachery; betrayal of trust. The double agent was obviously a man capable of acts of perfidy.
10. redundant; adjective – wordy; exceeding what is necessary or normal; lavish; overflowing. I wonder if authors who are called prolific are really merely redundant.
11. saturate; verb – to soak through and through; to fill completely. What we need now, said the farmer, is a heavy rain that will saturate the soil for a good six inches.