Mrs. Jeffries

All words furnished are provided by The 1000 Most Common SAT Words

 

1. abhor (v.) to hate, detest (Because he always wound up kicking himself in the head

                 when he tried to play soccer, Oswald began to abhor the sport.)

 

2. abide 1.(v.) to put up with (Though he did not agree with the decision, Chuck agreed to abide by it.)

                2.(v.)to remain (Despite the beating they’ve taken from the weather

                                       throughout the millennia, the mountains abide.)

3. balk (v.) to stop, block abruptly (Edna’s boss balked at her request for another raise.)

 

4. ballad (n.) a love song (Greta’s boyfriend played her a ballad on the guitar during their

                walk through the dark woods.)

 

5. banal (adj.) dull, commonplace (The client rejected our proposal because they found

                our presentation banal and unimpressive.)

6. cacophony (n.) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound (The elementary school

                           orchestra created a cacophony at the recital.)

 

7. cadence (n.) a rhythm, progression of sound (The pianist used the foot pedal to

                      emphasize the cadence of the sonata.)

 

8. cajole (v.) to urge, coax (Fred’s buddies cajoled him into attending the bachelor party.)

9. daunting (adj.) intimidating, causing one to lose courage (He kept delaying the

                      daunting act of asking for a promotion.)

 

10. dearth (n.) a lack, scarcity (An eager reader, she was dismayed by the dearth of classic

                   books at the library.)

 

 

11. debacle (n.) a disastrous failure, disruption (The elaborately designed fireworks show

                       turned into a debacle when the fireworks started firing in random directions.)

12. ebullient (adj.) extremely lively, enthusiastic (She became ebullient upon receiving an acceptance letter from her first-choice college.)

13. eclectic (adj.) consisting of a diverse variety of elements (That bar attracts an eclectic

crowd: lawyers, artists, circus clowns, and investment bankers.)

 

14. ecstatic (adj.) intensely and overpoweringly happy (The couple was ecstatic when they

learned that they had won the lottery.)

15. fabricate (v.) to make up, invent (When I arrived an hour late to class, I fabricated some

excuse about my car breaking down on the way to school.)

 

16. façade 1. (n.) the wall of a building (Meet me in front of the museum’s main façade.) 2.

(n.) a deceptive appearance or attitude (Despite my smiling façade, I am feeling melancholy.)

 

17. facile 1. (adj.) easy, requiring little effort (This game is so facile that even a four-year old

can master it.) 2. (adj.) superficial, achieved with minimal thought or care,

insincere (The business was in such shambles that any solution seemed facile at best;

nothing could really help it in the long-run.)

18. garish (adj.) gaudy, in bad taste (Mrs. Watson has poor taste and covers every object in

her house with a garish gold lamé.)

 

19. garrulous (adj.) talkative, wordy (Some talk show hosts are so garrulous that their

guests can’t get a word in edgewise.)

 

20. genial (adj.) friendly, affable (Although he’s been known to behave like a real jerk, I

would say that my brother is an overall genial guy.)

 

 

21. hackneyed (adj.) unoriginal, trite (A girl can only hear “I love you” so many timesbefore it begins to sound hackneyed and meaning.

22. hallowed (adj.) revered, consecrated (In the hallowed corridors of the cathedral, the

disturbed professor felt himself to be at peace.)

 

23. hapless (adj.) unlucky (My poor, hapless family never seems to pick a sunny week to go

on vacation.)

24. iconoclast (n.) one who attacks common beliefs or institutions (Jane goes to one protest

after another, but she seems to be an iconoclast rather than an activist with a

progressive agenda.)

 

25. idiosyncratic (adj.) peculiar to one person; highly individualized (I know you had

trouble with the last test, but because your mistakes were highly idiosyncratic, I’m

going to deny your request that the class be given a new test.)

 

26. idolatrous (adj.) excessively worshipping one object or person (Xena’s idolatrous

fawning over the band—following them on tour, starting their fan club, filming

their documentary—is really beginning to get on my nerves.)

27. jubilant (adj.) extremely joyful, happy (The crowd was jubilant when the firefighter

carried the woman from the flaming building.)

 

28. judicious (adj.) having or exercising sound judgment (When the judicious king decided

to compromise rather than send his army to its certain death, he was applauded.)

 

29. juxtaposition (n.) the act of placing two things next to each other for implicit

comparison (The interior designer admired my juxtaposition of the yellow couch

and green table.)

30. knell (n.) the solemn sound of a bell, often indicating a death (Echoing throughout our

village, the funeral knell made the stormy day even more grim.)

 

 

31. kudos (n.) praise for an achievement (After the performance, the reviewers gave the

opera singer kudos for a job well done.)

32. laceration (n.) a cut, tear (Because he fell off his bike into a rosebush, the paperboy’s skin

was covered with lacerations.)

 

33. laconic (adj.) terse in speech or writing (The author’s laconic style has won him many

followers who dislike wordiness.)

 

34. languid (adj.) sluggish from fatigue or weakness (In the summer months, the great heat

makes people languid and lazy.)

35. maelstrom (n.) a destructive whirlpool which rapidly sucks in objects (Little did the

explorers know that as they turned the next bend of the calm river a vicious

maelstrom would catch their boat.)

 

36. magnanimous (adj.) noble, generous (Although I had already broken most of her

dishes, Jacqueline was magnanimous enough to continue letting me use them.)

 

37. malediction (n.) a curse (When I was arrested for speeding, I screamed maledictions

against the policeman and the entire police department.)

38. nadir (n.) the lowest point of something (My day was boring, but the nadir came when

I accidentally spilled a bowl of spaghetti on my head.)

 

39. nascent (adj.) in the process of being born or coming into existence (Unfortunately,

my brilliant paper was only in its nascent form on the morning that it was due.)

 

40. nebulous (adj.) vaguely defined, cloudy (The transition between governments meant

that who was actually in charge was a nebulous matter.)

 

41. obdurate (adj.) unyielding to persuasion or moral influences (The obdurate old man

refused to take pity on the kittens.)

 

42. obfuscate (v.) to render incomprehensible (The detective did want to answer the

newspaperman’s questions, so he obfuscated the truth.)SAT Vocabulary

 

43. oblique (adj.) diverging from a straight line or course, not straightforward (Martin’s

oblique language confused those who listened to him.)

44. pacific (adj.) soothing (The chemistry professor’s pacific demeanor helped the class

remain calm after the experiment exploded.)

 

45. palatable (adj.) agreeable to the taste or sensibilities (Despite the unpleasant smell, the

exotic cheese was quite palatable.)

 

46. palette (adj.) a range of colors or qualities (The palette of colors utilized in the painting

was equaled only by the range of intense emotions the piece evoked.)

47. quagmire (n.) a difficult situation (We’d all like to avoid the kind of military quagmire

characterized by the Vietnam War.)

 

48. quaint (adj.) charmingly old-fashioned (Hilda was delighted by the quaint bonnets she

saw in Amish country.)

 

49. quandary (n.) a perplexed, unresolvable state (Carlos found himself in a quandary:

should he choose mint chocolate chip or cookie dough?)

50. rail (v.) to scold, protest (The professor railed against the injustice of the college’s tenure

policy.)

 

 

51. rancid (adj.) having a terrible taste or smell (Rob was double-dog-dared to eat the

rancid egg salad sandwich.)

 

52. rancor (n.) deep, bitter resentment (When Eileen challenged me to a fight, I could see

the rancor in her eyes.)

53. saccharine (adj.) sickeningly sweet (Tom’s saccharine manner, although intended to

make him popular, actually repelled his classmates.)

 

54. sacrosanct (adj.) holy, something that should not be criticized (In the United States,

the Constitution is often thought of as a sacrosanct document.)

 

55. sagacity (n.) shrewdness, soundness of perspective (With remarkable sagacity, the wise

old man predicted and thwarted his children’s plan to ship him off to a nursing

home.)

56. tacit (adj.) expressed without words (I interpreted my parents’ refusal to talk as a tacit

acceptance of my request.)

 

57. taciturn (adj.) not inclined to talk (Though Jane never seems to stop talking, her brother

is quite taciturn.)

 

58. tangential (adj.) incidental, peripheral, divergent (I tried to discuss my salary, but the

boss kept veering off into tangential topics.)

59. ubiquitous (adj.) existing everywhere, widespread (It seems that everyone in the United

States has a television. The technology is ubiquitous here.)

 

60. umbrage (n.) resentment, offense (He called me a lily-livered coward, and I took umbrage at the insult.)S

 

 

 

61. uncanny (adj.) of supernatural character or origin (Luka had an uncanny ability to

know exactly what other people were thinking. She also had an uncanny ability to

shoot fireballs from her hands.)

62. vacillate (v.) to fluctuate, hesitate (I prefer a definite answer, but my boss kept

vacillating between the distinct options available to us.)

 

63. vacuous (adj.) lack of content or ideas, stupid (Beyonce realized that the lyrics she had

just penned were completely vacuous and tried to add more substance.)

 

64. validate (v.) to confirm, support, corroborate (Yoko’s chemistry lab partner was asleep

during the experiment and could not validate the accuracy of her methods.)

65. wallow (v.) to roll oneself indolently; to become or remain helpless (My roommate

can’t get over her breakup with her boyfriend and now just wallows in self-pity.)

 

66. wane (v.) to decrease in size, dwindle (Don’t be so afraid of his wrath because his

influence with the president is already beginning to wane.)

 

67. wanton (adj.) undisciplined, lewd, lustful (Vicky’s wanton demeanor often made the

frat guys next door very excited.)

68. yoke (v.) to join, link (We yoked together the logs by tying a string around them.)

 

69.zealous (adj.) fervent, filled with eagerness in pursuit of something (If he were any

more zealous about getting his promotion, he’d practically live at the office.)

 

70. zenith (n.) the highest point, culminating point (I was too nice to tell Nelly that she had

reached the absolute zenith of her career with that one hit of hers.)

 

 

 

71. zephyr (n.) a gentle breeze (If not for the zephyrs that were blowing and cooling us, our

room would’ve been unbearably hot.)

72. abject (adj.)wretched, pitiful (After losing all her money, falling into a puddle, and

breaking her ankle, Eloise was abject.)

 

73. abjure (v.) to reject, renounce (To prove his honesty, the President abjured the evil

policies of his wicked predecessor.)

 

74. abnegation (n.)denial of comfort to oneself (The holy man slept on the floor, took only

cold showers, and generally followed other practices of abnegation.)

75. bane (n.) a burden (Advanced physics is the bane of many students’ academic lives.)

 

76.bard (n.) a poet, often a singer as well (Shakespeare is often considered the greatest bard

in the history of the English language.)

77. beguile (v.) to trick, deceive (The thief beguiled his partners into surrendering all of

their money to him.)

 

78. behemoth (n.) something of tremendous power or size (The new aircraft carrier is

among several behemoths that the Air Force has added to its fleet.)

 

79. benevolent (adj.) marked by goodness or doing good (Police officers should be

commended for their benevolent service to the community.)

80. calamity (n.) an event with disastrous consequences (The earthquake in San Francisco

was a calamity worse than any other natural disaster in history.)

 

 

 

81. calibrate (v.) to set, standardize (The mechanic calibrated the car’s transmission to

make the motor run most efficiently.)

 

82.callous (adj.) harsh, cold, unfeeling (The murderer’s callous lack of remorse shocked the

jury.)

83. debase (v.) to lower the quality or esteem of something (The large raise that he gave

himself debased his motives for running the charity.)

 

84. debauch (v.) to corrupt by means of sensual pleasures (An endless amount of good wine

and cheese debauched the traveler.)

 

85. debunk (v.) to expose the falseness of something (He debunked her claim to be the

world’s greatest chess player by defeating her in 18 consecutive matches.)

 

86. decorous (adj.) socially proper, appropriate (The appreciative guest displayed decorous

behavior toward his host.)

87. edict (n.) an order, decree (The ruler issued an edict requiring all of his subjects to bow

down before him.)

 

88. fallacious (adj.) incorrect, misleading (Emily offered me cigarettes on the fallacious

assumption that I smoked.)

 

89. fastidious (adj.) meticulous, demanding, having high and often unattainable standards

(Mark is so fastidious that he is never able to finish a project because it always seems

imperfect to him.)

 

90. fathom (v.) to understand, comprehend (I cannot fathom why you like that crabby and

mean-spirited neighbor of ours.)

 

 

 

91. edict (n.) an order, decree (The ruler issued an edict requiring all of his subjects to bow

down before him.)

 

92. efface (v.) to wipe out, obliterate, rub away (The husband was so angry at his wife for

leaving him that he effaced all evidence of her presence; he threw out pictures of her

and gave away all her belongings.)

 

93. effervescent (adj.) bubbly, lively (My friend is so effervescent that she makes everyone

smile.)

94. fallacious (adj.) incorrect, misleading (Emily offered me cigarettes on the fallacious

assumption that I smoked.)

 

95. fastidious (adj.) meticulous, demanding, having high and often unattainable standards

(Mark is so fastidious that he is never able to finish a project because it always seems

imperfect to him.)

 

96. fathom (v.) to understand, comprehend (I cannot fathom why you like that crabby and

mean-spirited neighbor of ours.)

97. gluttony (n.) overindulgence in food or drink (Ada’s fried chicken tastes so divine, I

don’t know how anyone can call gluttony a sin.)

98. goad (v.) to urge, spur, incite to action (Jim may think he’s not going to fight Billy, but

Billy will goad Jim on with insults until he throws a punch.)

 

99. gourmand (n.) someone fond of eating and drinking (My parents, who used to eat little

more than crackers and salad, have become real gourmands in their old age.)

100. harangue 1. (n.) a ranting speech (Everyone had heard the teacher’s harangue about

gum chewing in class before.) 2. (v.) to give such a speech (But this time the teacher

harangued the class about the importance of brushing your teeth after chewing

gum.)

 

 

101. hardy (adj.) robust, capable of surviving through adverse conditions (I too would have

expected the plants to be dead by mid-November, but apparently they’re very

hardy.)

 

102.harrowing (adj.) greatly distressing, vexing (The car crash was a harrowing experience,

but I have a feeling that the increase in my insurance premiums will be even more

upsetting.)

103. ignominious (adj.) humiliating, disgracing (It was really ignominious to be kicked out of

the dorm for having an illegal gas stove in my room.)

 

104.illicit (adj.) forbidden, not permitted (The fourth-grader learned many illicit words

from a pamphlet that was being passed around school.)

 

105. immerse (v.) to absorb, deeply involve, engross (After breaking up with her boyfriend,

Nancy decided to immerse herself in her work in order to avoid crying.)

106. larceny (n.) obtaining another’s property by theft or trickery (When my car was not

where I had left it, I realized that I was a victim of larceny.)

 

107. largess (n.) the generous giving of lavish gifts (My boss demonstrated great largess by

giving me a new car.

 

108. latent (adj.) hidden, but capable of being exposed (Sigmund’s dream represented his

latent paranoid obsession with other people’s shoes.)

109. malevolent (adj.) wanting harm to befall others (The malevolent old man sat in the park

all day, tripping unsuspecting passersby with his cane.)

 

110. malleable (adj.) capable of being shaped or transformed (Maximillian’s political

opinions were so malleable that anyone he talked to was able to change his mind

instantly.)

 

 

 

111. mandate (n.) an authoritative command (In the Old Testament, God mandates that no

one should steal.)

112. nefarious (adj.) heinously villainous (Although Dr. Meanman’s nefarious plot to melt

the polar icecaps was terrifying, it was so impractical that nobody really worried

about it.)

 

113. negligent (adj.) habitually careless, neglectful (Jessie’s grandfather called me a

negligent fool after I left the door to his apartment unlocked even though there had

been a recent string of robberies.

 

114. neophyte (n.) someone who is young or inexperienced (As a neophyte in the literary

world, Malik had trouble finding a publisher for his first novel.)

115. pallid (adj.) lacking color (Dr. Van Helsing feared that Lucy’s pallid complexion was

due to an unexplained loss of blood.)

 

116. panacea (n.) a remedy for all ills or difficulties (Doctors wish there was a single panacea

for every disease, but sadly there is not.)

 

117. paradigm (n.) an example that is a perfect pattern or model (Because the new SUV was

so popular, it became the paradigm upon which all others were modeled.)

118. quell (v.) to control or diffuse a potentially explosive situation (The skilled leader

deftly quelled the rebellion.)

 

119. querulous (adj.) whiny, complaining (If deprived of his pacifier, young Brendan

becomes querulous.)

 

120. quixotic (adj.) idealistic, impractical (Edward entertained a quixotic desire to fall in

love at first sight in a laundromat.)

 

 

121.quotidian (adj.) daily (Ambika’s quotidian routines include drinking two cups of coffee

in the morning.)

122.rapport (n.) mutual understanding and harmony (When Margaret met her paramour,

they felt an instant rapport.)

 

123. rash (adj.) hasty, incautious (It’s best to think things over calmly and thoroughly, rather

than make rash decisions.)

 

124. raucous (adj.) loud, boisterous (Sarah’s neighbors called the cops when her house party

got too raucous.)

125. salient (adj.) significant, conspicuous (One of the salient differences between Alison

and Nancy is that Alison is a foot taller.)

 

126. salutation (n.) a greeting (Andrew regularly began letters with the bizarre salutation

“Ahoy ahoy.”)

 

127. salve (n.) a soothing balm (After Tony applied a salve to his brilliant red sunburn, he

soon felt a little better.)

128. tantamount (adj.) equivalent in value or significance (When it comes to sports, fearing

your opponent is tantamount to losing.)

129. tedious (adj.) dull, boring (As time passed and the history professor continued to drone

on and on, the lecture became increasingly tedious.)

 

130. temerity (n.) audacity, recklessness (Tom and Huck entered the scary cave armed with

nothing but their own temerity.)

 

 

 

131. temperance (n.) moderation in action or thought (Maintaining temperance will ensure

that you are able to think rationally and objectively.)

132. unctuous (adj.) smooth or greasy in texture, appearance, manner (The unctuous

receptionist seemed untrustworthy, as if she was only being helpful because she

thought we might give her a big tip.)

 

133. undulate (v.) to move in waves (As the storm began to brew, the placid ocean began to

undulate to an increasing degree.)

 

134. upbraid (v.) to criticize or scold severely (The last thing Lindsay wanted was for Lisa to

upbraid her again about missing the rent payment.)

135. vapid (adj.) lacking liveliness, dull (The professor’s comments about the poem were

surprisingly vapid and dull.)

 

136. variegated (adj.) diversified, distinctly marked (Each wire in the engineering exam was

variegated by color so that the students could figure out which one was which.)

 

137. vehemently (adv.) marked by intense force or emotion (The candidate vehemently

opposed cutting back on Social Security funding.)

138. whimsical (adj.) fanciful, full of whims (The whimsical little girl liked to pretend that

she was an elvin princess.)

 

139. wily (adj.) crafty, sly (Though they were not the strongest of the Thundercats, wily Kit

and Kat were definitely the most clever and full of tricks.)

 

140. winsome (adj.) charming, pleasing (After such a long, frustrating day, I was grateful for

Chris’s winsome attitude and childish naivete.)

 

141. abridge 1.(v.) to cut down, shorten (The publisher thought the dictionary was too long and abridged it.)

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

 

142. abrogate (v.) to abolish, usually by authority(The Bill of Rights assures that the government cannot abrogate our right to a free press.)

 

143. abscond (v.) to sneak away and hide (In the confusion, the super-spy absconded into the

night with the secret plans.)

 

144. absolution (n.)freedom from blame, guilt, sin (Once all the facts were known, the jury

gave Angela absolution by giving a verdict of not guilty.)

145. benign (adj.) favorable, not threatening, mild (We were all relieved to hear that the

medical tests determined her tumor to be benign.)

 

146. bequeath (v.) to pass on, give (Jon’s father bequeathed his entire estate to his mother.)

 

147. berate (v.) to scold vehemently (The angry boss berated his employees for failing to

meet their deadline.)

 

148. bereft (adj.) devoid of, without (His family was bereft of food and shelter following the

tornado.)

 

149. beseech (v.) to beg, plead, implore (The servant beseeched the king for food to feed his

starving family.)

150. calumny (n.) an attempt to spoil someone else’s reputation by spreading lies (The local

official’s calumny ended up ruining his opponent’s prospect of winning the election.)

 

 

 

151. camaraderie (n.) brotherhood, jovial unity (Camaraderie among employees usually

leads to success in business.)

 

152. candor (n.) honesty, frankness (We were surprised by the candor of the mayor’s speech

because he is usually rather evasive.)

 

153. canny (adj.) shrewd, careful (The canny runner hung at the back of the pack through

much of the race to watch the other runners, and then sprinted past them at the end.)

 

154. canvas 1. (n.) a piece of cloth on which an artist paints (Picasso liked to work on canvas

rather than on bare cement.) 2. (v.) to cover, inspect (We canvassed the

neighborhood looking for clues.)

155. decry (v.) to criticize openly (The kind video rental clerk decried the policy of charging

customers late fees.)

 

156. deface (v.) to ruin or injure something’s appearance (The brothers used eggs and

shaving cream to deface their neighbor’s mailbox.)

 

157. defamatory (adj.) harmful toward another’s reputation (The defamatory gossip

spreading about the actor made the public less willing to see the actor’s new movie.)

 

158. defer (v.) to postpone something; to yield to another’s wisdom (Ron deferred to Diane,

the expert on musical instruments, when he was asked about buying a piano.)

 

159. deferential (adj.) showing respect for another’s authority (His deferential attitude

toward her made her more confident in her ability to run the company.)

 

160. defile (v.) to make unclean, impure (She defiled the calm of the religious building.)

 

161.elegy (n.) a speech given in honor of a dead person (At the funeral, the widow gave a

moving elegy describing her love for her husband.)

 

162. elicit (v.) to bring forth, draw out, evoke (Although I asked several times where the exit

was, I elicited no response from the stone-faced policeman.)

 

163. eloquent (adj.) expressive, articulate, moving (The priest gave such an eloquent sermon

that most churchgoers were crying.)

 

164. elucidate (v.) to clarify, explain (I didn’t understand why my friend was so angry with

me, so I asked Janine to elucidate her feelings.)

 

165. elude (v.) to evade, escape (Despite an intense

166. feral (adj.) wild, savage (That beast looks so feral that I would fear being alone with it.)

 

167.fervent (adj.) ardent, passionate (The fervent protestors chained themselves to the

building and shouted all night long.)

 

168. fetid (adj.) having a foul odor (I can tell from the fetid smell in your refrigerator that

your milk has spoiled.)

 

169.fetter (v.) to chain, restrain (The dog was fettered to the parking meter.)

 

170. fickle (adj.) shifting in character, inconstant (In Greek dramas, the fickle gods help

Achilles one day, and then harm him the next.)

 

171. gregarious (adj.) drawn to the company of others, sociable (Well, if you’re not

gregarious, I don’t know why you would want to go to a singles party!)

 

172. grievous (adj.) injurious, hurtful; serious or grave in nature (Electrocuting the inmate

without being sure of his guilt would be a truly grievous mistake.)

 

173. guile (n.) deceitful, cunning, sly behavior (Because of his great guile, the politician was

able to survive scandal after scandal.)

174. impecunious (adj.) poor (“I fear he’s too impecunious to take me out tonight,” the

bratty girl whined.)

 

175. imperative 1. (adj.) necessary, pressing (It is imperative that you have these folders

organized by midday.) 2. (n.) a rule, command, or order (Her imperative to have

the folders organized by midday was perceived as ridiculous by the others.)

 

176. imperious (adj.) commanding, domineering (The imperious nature of your manner led

me to dislike you at once.)

177. lucid (adj.) clear, easily understandable (Because Guenevere’s essay was so lucid, I only

had to read it once to understand her reasoning.)

 

178. luminous (adj.) brightly shining (The light of the luminous moon graced the shoulders

of the beautiful maiden.)

 

179. lurid (adj.) ghastly, sensational (Gideon’s story, in which he described a character

torturing his sister’s dolls, was judged too lurid to be printed in the school’s literary

magazine.)

180. mollify (v.) to soften in temper (The police officer mollified the angry woman by giving

her a warning instead of a ticket.)

 

All words furnished are provided by The 1000 Most Common SAT Words