201 Words You Absolutely, Positively

Have to Know for the SAT

THE GOLDEN DOZEN

1. AESTHETIC - appealing to the sense of beauty

  1. ECLECTIC - choosing from a variety of sources. A person with eclectic taste in music would like rap, soul, country, and hard rock.
  2. PARADOX - a seemingly contradictory statement that nonetheless expresses a truth. For example, "A place of innocence ruled by corruption.
  3. ANOMALOUS - deviating from a general rule, an irregularity, something that is incongruous
  4. ALLEVIATE, MITIGATE, MOLLIFY, ASSUAGE, ALLAY - all mean to relieve, to lessen as to alleviate congestion, mitigate a problem, mollify anger, assuage pain, and allay anxiety.
  5. INNOCUOUS - harmless, not damaging. The friends loved to meet and exchange innocuous gossip.
  6. VENERATE, REVERE - to hold in great esteem, to honor, admire. Mother Theresa was revered by millions of people around the world.
  7. TRITE, BANAL, CLICHE, HACKNEYED, PLATITUDE, VAPID, PROSAIC and MUNDANE - all mean commonplace, unimaginative, ordinary. "Once upon a time" is a very trite way to begin a story.
  8. ELUSIVE - hard to catch, evasive
  9. PROCRASTINATE, DILATORY, TEMPORIZE, DAWDLE - all mean to delay, to be tardy.
  10. CONVENTIONAL - a traditional, customary way of doing things. White is the conventional color of a wedding gown.
  11. OBSTINATE, OBDURATE, RECALCITRANT, INTRANSIGENT and INTRACTABLE - all mean stubborn. _

THE GREAT EIGHT

  1. CURTAIL - to cut short. The trip was curtailed because of bad weather.
  2. MEAGER - scanty, sparse, not abundant. The campers had a meager supply of food that would have to be rationed.
  3. SOMBER - gloomy, cheerless, grave. His somber voice told us that the news was bad.
  4. FLOURISH - to prosper, thrive. The rising profits showed that her new internet business was flourishing.
  5. REJUVENATE, REINVIGORATE - to make youthful again, revitalize, revive
  6. REBUKE, CENSURE, REPRIMAND, REPROVE, REMONSTRATE, REPROACH, and ADMONISH - all mean to scold. The principal admonished the students for their rude behavior during the assembly.
  7. LETHARGIC, SLOTHFUL, LANGUID, INDOLENT, TORPID, WAN, ANEMIC, PHLEGMATIC, and ENERVATED - all mean to lack energy, vigor and vitality, to be sluggish
  8. ACCLAIM, ADULATION, HAIL, EXTOL, LAUD, EULOGIZE and PLAUDIT - all mean praise. Critics acclaimed the movie for its imaginative plot and convincing acting.

YOU MEET THE MOST INTERESTING PEOPLE ON THE SAT

  1. CURATOR - a person who is in charge of a museum
  2. EGOIST - a person who is concerned with himself/herself
  3. ZEALOT - a person who is filled with zeal and enthusiasm for a cause
  4. MALEFACTOR - a person who does ill to others, an evil person
  5. PACIFIST - a person who promotes peace
  6. MENTOR - a person who provides guidance, a tutor
  7. REVELER - a person who engages in merrymaking, as a New Year's eve reveler
  8. PRODIGY - a person with great talent, a genius
  9. STALWART - a loyal supporter, an adherent, someone who stands by you
  10. SKINFLINT - a person who is overly thrifty with money, a miser
  11. SCOUNDREL - a disreputable person, a rascal, a scoundrel lacks virtue
  12. SAVANT - a person with detailed knowledge in a specific field, a sage
  13. JINGOIST - an extreme nationalist, a chauvinist
  14. BENEFACTOR - a person who helps others, often by giving generous gifts
  15. GLUTTON - a person given to greedy and voracious eating and drinking
  16. VIRTUOSO - a person with great artistic talent
  17. HYPOCRITE - a person who puts on a false appearance, someone who says one thing and then does another
  18. BOOR - a person who is rude and insensitive, a boor lacks refinement
  19. RECLUSE - a person who leads a secluded or solitary life, a hermit
  20. UPSTART - a person who has risen suddenly from a low position to great success. An upstart would thus lack modesty.
  21. SEER - a person who can predict future events
  22. PRAGMATIST - a person who is practical and thus not given to flights of fancy
  23. DEVOTEE - an ardent follower, supporter, or enthusiast. He was a devotee of the New York Yankees.
  24. NOMAD - a person who wanders and is thus itinerant
  25. DILETTANTE - a dabbler, a person having superficial interest in a variety of fields or endeavors
  26. DEMAGOGUE - a person who arouses popular passions and prejudices. Hitler and Mussolini are two of the most notorious demagogues of the 20th century.
  27. SUPPLICANT - a person who is overly humble, who pleads for a favor
  28. HEDONIST - a person who seeks pleasure, gratification

THE MIGHTY PREFIX DE - DE IS GOING DOWN

  1. DEPRECIATE - to go down in value. In a bear market, stocks depreciate in value
  2. DEMOLISH - to tear down, destroy, raze
  3. DECRY - to criticize, denounce, condemn, in short to put someone or something down
  4. DEPLORABLE - wretched, awful, miserable. The destitute family lived in a deplorable slum.
  5. DEPLETE - to exhaust, when the supply of something is depleted it goes down
  6. DESPONDENT - feeling very down, discouraged
  7. DEBACLE - a big disaster, a fiasco
  8. DEROGATORY - belittling, unfavorable things said about someone
  9. DEVOID - being empty, lacking content, as the play was utterly devoid of value and meaning _

LACK OF WORDS

  1. AMBIVALENT - lacks conviction
  2. AMBIGUOUS - lacks clarity
  3. TRIVIAL and TRIFLING - lacking importance, lacking significance
  4. SHIFTLESS - lazy, lackadaisical and therefore lacking ambition
  5. RASH and IMPULSIVE - impetuous and therefore lacking in restraint, lacking forethought
  6. VAPID - dull, bland, and thus lacking in taste, insipid
  7. TRANSIENT, EPHEMERAL, and EVANESCENT - brief and therefore lacking in permanence
  8. NONDESCRIPT - ordinary, and therefore lacking in distinction
  9. MERCILESS and RUTHLESS - cruel and therefore lacking in compassion
  10. DESOLATE - lacks inhabitants
  11. CALLOUS - lacks sensitivity
  12. DERIVATIVE - derived from another source and therefore lacking originality
  13. BOORISH - acting like a boor and lacking refinement
  14. INTREPID and DAUNTLESS - brave and therefore lacking fear
  15. VISCOUS - thick and syrupy and therefore lacking movement, viscous substances won't flow
  16. INEPT - lacking skill
  17. FLIPPANT - lacks proper respect or seriousness
  18. PRECARIOUS - lacks stability
  19. DIFFIDENT - lacks self-confidence
  20. CALLOW, SOPHOMORIC - immature and therefore lacking maturity
  21. ERRATIC - unpredictable, changeable and therefore lacking consistency
  22. BANAL and TRITE - commonplace and therefore lacking originality
  23. AMORPHOUS - lacks shape or form

DEGREE WORDS

  1. ELATED, ECSTATIC, EXUBERANT, JUBILANT, EXHILARATED, EXULTANT, EBULLIENT, EFFERVESCENT - all are very happy, filled with joy and enthusiasm
  2. MERCURIAL - very changeable, as a mercurial personality
  3. ADEPT - very skillful
  4. EXASPERATING - very annoying, very irksome
  5. OMINOUS - very threatening
  6. VENAL - very corrupt, dishonest
  7. EXACTITUDE - precision
  8. TERRIFIED - very apprehensive
  9. EXCRUCIATING - very painful
  10. FASTIDIOUS - very neat
  11. FRENZIED - very excited, very animated, very active
  12. METICULOUS - very precise
  13. ASSIDUOUS - very hard working, diligent
  14. PAINSTAKING - very careful
  15. PERPLEXING - very puzzling
  16. GARISH - very loud, very bright colors
  17. AUSPICIOUS - very favorable
  18. FRACTIOUS - very divisive
  19. PERILOUS - very dangerous
  20. ARDUOUS - very demanding, very difficult
  21. PUGNACIOUS - very quarrelsome, combative
  22. CONSPICUOUS - very noticeable
  23. DESTITUTE - very poor, indigent, a person who is destitute lacks financial resources
  24. DISCERNING - very insightful
  25. DESPICABLE – vile, contemptible
  26. VIGILANT - very alert
  27. EGREGIOUS - a very bad error
  28. IMMACULATE - very clean

LAW AND ORDER

  1. INJUNCTION - a court order requiring someone to do something
  2. CENSURE - an official reprimand
  3. GERMANE - relevant, pertinent. The new evidence was admitted because it was germane to the case.
  4. SUBSTANTIATE - to prove, verify, as to substantiate an argument
  5. RANSACK - to completely overturn, as to ransack a house during a search
  6. EMBEZZLEMENT - the unlawful taking of money entrusted to one's care
  7. STIPULATE - to specify, set forth. The contract stipulated that the builder had to complete the project within two months.
  8. PLAUSIBLE - believable, credible
  9. LARCENY - the unlawful taking of personal property
  10. COLLUSION- secret agreement, usually for illegal or deceitful purposes
  11. OBSTRUCT - to get in the way, block
  12. INCORRIGIBLE - can't be reformed
  13. DEFAMATION - libel or slander. She sued the magazine for defamation of character.
  14. EDICT - an official proclamation, a decree. The dictator's edict forbids speaking against the regime.
  15. ALLEGATION - an assertion unsupported by facts
  16. REPRIEVE - a delay in a punishment
  17. ACCOMPLICE - a partner in crime
  18. ADJUDICATE - to settle a dispute in court
  19. PARDON - to excuse from a penalty
  20. SPURIOUS - false, as a spurious claim that can't be proven
  21. EXPURGATE - to delete or remove from the record.
  22. DISCREPANCY - an inconsistency
  23. CORROBORATE - to support with evidence
  24. FABRICATE – to make up or invent story, a falsehood

HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY

  1. REPUDIATE - to take back or disavow as when Martin Luther refused to repudiate his writings at the Diet of Worms
  2. DISSOLUTION - dissolving, breaking apart, as the dissolution of the Soviet Union
  3. ANARCHIST - one who opposes government and laws
  4. ARID - very dry. The Atacamba Desert in Chile is one of the most arid places on earth.
  5. ANACHRONISM - a chronological misplacing of events, persons, or objects. The movie Back to the Future contained many amusing anachronisms.
  6. DUTY - a tax on imports
  7. ENUMERATE - to ascertain the number of, to count. The chief engineer enumerated several reasons why the Titanic would sink.
  8. BUTTRESS - to support, prop up; a support or prop. Flying buttresses were used to support the walls of Gothic cathedrals.
  9. DESICCATED - very dry, arid, parched.
  10. SOVEREIGN - the supreme ruler of a kingdom. Sovereigns like Louis XIV were surrounded by servile followers called courtiers.
  11. NULLIFY - to make void. South Carolina threatened to nullify what they called the Tariff of Abominations.
  12. ENLIGHTEN - to inform, instruct, edify
  13. APPEASEMENT - to give in to someone's demands. Great Britain and France appeased Hitler at the Munich Conference
  14. ELITE - a select group
  15. ETHICS - a code of conduct
  16. BIAS - a prejudice, leaning, predisposition to do something
  17. EPISTOLARY - an epistle is a letter and an epistolary is a series of letters
  18. MATRIARCHAL - rule by women
  19. PROLIFERATION - to multiply, increase, spread rapidly as the proliferation of nuclear weapons
  20. DOGMA - doctrine, set of beliefs. Martin Luther challenged many of the established dogmas of the Catholic Church.
  21. BELLIGERENT – warlike, eager to fight
  22. IMPASSE - deadlock, stalemate. The large and small states appeared to be at an impasse at the Constitutional Convention.
  23. ABDICATE - to renounce, resign, vacate a throne. Edward VIII of England abdicated his throne to marry a commoner.
  24. WATERSHED, LANDMARK, and MILESTONE - all refer to important turning point events. Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb was a milestone event in 20th century history.
  25. AUTONOMY - self-rule, self-government
  26. AUTOCRAT - an absolute ruler. Nicholas II was the last autocrat to rule czarist Russia.

SCIENCE

  1. ASTRAL - pertaining to the stars
  2. MARINE - pertaining to the sea
  3. CELESTIAL - pertaining to the skies
  4. ARBOREAL - pertaining to trees
  5. HYBRID - an offspring of two plants or animals of different species
  6. TRANSLUCENT - allowing light to pass through
  7. POROUS - allowing liquids to pass through
  8. ALLOY - a mix of two or more metals
  9. PREDATOR - an animal that acquires food by hunting other animals
  10. HERMETIC - airtight
  11. AMALGAM - a combination, mixture, blend
  12. IMPERMEABLE - fluid can't pass through
  13. CAUSTIC - capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action, hence a caustic remark hurts
  14. OSMOSIS - the process of absorption
  15. OSSIFY - to harden into bone and thus become rigid
  16. OCCLUDE - to close shut or block

THE TOUGHEST WORDS ON THE SAT

  1. QUANDARY - a state of perplexity or doubt, a dilemma
  2. AMELIORATE - to make better
  3. EXACERBATE - to make worse
  4. QUERULOUS - complaining, a querulous person complains a lot
  5. ELUCIDATE - to make clear
  6. INCIPIENT - in the early stages, embryonic
  7. ASTUTE - shrewd, smart, keen-minded. Bryan is an astute judge of character.
  8. VICARIOUSLY - to live through another's experience
  9. RECTITUDE - high standards of personal conduct
  10. DECORUM - proper behavior, good public manners
  11. INEXORABLE - relentless, unstoppable
  12. DISSEMINATE - to spread, distribute, as to disseminate information
  13. UBIQUITOUS - something that is everywhere, omnipresent
  14. EXHORT - to urge someone to do something
  15. DRUDGERY and TRAVAIL - hard distasteful work. The pioneer's life was full of hardship and travail.
  16. INEFFABLE - a feeling that cannot be expressed or put into words.
  17. QUELL - to put down, squelch. The dictator quelled the uprising.
  18. TENUOUS - weak, flimsy, shaky, as a tenuous argument
  19. AMENABLE - agreeable, willing to do something
  20. ATROPHY - to waste away, wither
  21. DEMYSTIFY - to make less baffling
  22. IMPLACABLE - cannot be appeased, as an implacable enemy
  23. LEXICON - a wordlist, vocabulary
  24. LABYRINTH- a maze
  25. DISINGENUOUS - not sincere, not straightforward, a disingenuous person is thus very crafty.
  26. SUCCINCT - brief, concise
  27. SERVILE, FAWNING, OBSEQUIOUS, SUBSERVIENT - all mean to act in an overly submissive manner, to be a toady. (Smithers is a subservient toady on "The Simpsons.")