Below are the 327 best vocabulary words, in alphabetical order.

Word Definition Sample Sentence

Living close to a lake means we have

Abundant Present in large quantities.
an abundant supply of water.

Each fall, leaves accumulate in our

Accumulate To gradually collect.
driveway.

Make sure your address is accurate

Accurate Correct; free from errors.
before submitting your online order.

Having 8AM classes means I’m

Accustomed Used to something.
accustomed to getting up early.

When my grandmother died, I acquired

Acquire To come into possession of.
her cookbook collection.

The defendant was adamant that he

Adamant Refusing to change an opinion.
was innocent.

Our house isn’t big, but it’s adequate

Adequate Enough to suit your needs.
for the two of us.

Adjacent Close to or next to. The park is adjacent to the school.

To change something so it serves its The bike seat may be too high; you’ll
Adjust
purpose better. probably need to adjust it.

Something that makes it easier to His height gives him an advantage in

Advantage
achieve success. basketball.

My aunt is a major advocate for

Advocate To publicly support.
women’s’ rights.

I had an adverse reaction to my

Adverse Unfavorable; against one’s desires.
medication and had to stop taking it.

Aggregate To combine.
We should aggregate our resources to
 share them more easily.

The salesperson was very aggressive

Aggressive Assertive and pushy. when trying to get us to buy the
television.

The village needs to allocate funds for

Allocate To put aside for a specific purpose.
building the new school.

If the ATM is broken, an alternative

Alternative Another option or choice.
solution is to stop by the bank.

Someone who is inexperienced or not He’s an amateur soccer player and is

Amateur
highly skilled in a particular area. still learning the rules of the game.

When I asked the HR manager what

Having several potential meanings;
Ambiguous my chances were of getting the job,
unclear and difficult to understand.
she gave me a very ambiguous reply.

My son is very ambitious and hopes to

Ambitious Having large goals.
be a millionaire by the time he’s thirty.

I believe we should amend our

Amend To change for the better; to improve.
country’s tax laws.

Our new apartment has ample space

Ample Plentiful.
for the two of us.

The basketball player is the team’s

Anomaly Deviation from the norm. best free thrower, so his missing both
shots was an anomaly.

The annual company barbeque takes

Annual Occurring yearly.
place every August.

To tease or be hostile towards a The boy loves to antagonize his little

Antagonize
person or group. sister by pulling her hair.

After she got grounded, the teenager

Attitude Manner or feeling. had a bad attitude for the rest of the
day.
 Be sure to attribute credit to your
Attribute To give credit. sources when writing a research
paper.

Flipping a coin is an arbitrary way to

Arbitrary Based on a whim or random decision.
make a decision.

After you cross the bridge, there’s an

Arduous Requiring a lot of effort.
arduous walk up the hill.

The mother assuaged her child’s fear

Assuage To lessen a negative feeling.
of the dark.

I assumed he was rich because he

Assume To suppose without solid proof.
worked as a lawyer.

She augments her regular salary by

Augment To increase or make larger.
babysitting on the weekends.

A benefit of doing homework on Friday

Benefit Something positive or advantageous.
is that your weekend will be free.

Our neighbor berated us after we

Berate To scold.
broke his window playing baseball.

The medal was bestowed upon him by

Bestow To give as a gift.
the president.

He always boasts of his talents after he

Boast To brag or talk with excessive pride.
wins a game.

I gave him a pep talk to boost his self-

Boost To help raise or increase something.
esteem before his speech.

The brash man always asked

Brash Rude and tactless.
inappropriate questions.

It will only have a brief meeting, so

Brief Short (in terms of time).
you’ll still have plenty of time for lunch.
 After being away for so long, I
Brusque Abrupt to the point of rudeness. expected more than her brusque
greeting.

The cuckoo clock shop lets off a

Cacophony A harsh, unpleasant mixture of noise.
cacophony every hour.

Cease To stop. I wish they would cease arguing.

Every parent in our district censured

Censure To express strong disapproval.
the education cuts.

Put the historical events in

Chronological Arranged in order of time or date. chronological order to make them
easier to study.

I didn’t understand the instructions, so I

Clarify To make clear; to remove confusion.
asked the teacher to clarify them.

The people on the street eventually

Coalesce To combine or grow together.
coalesced into a group.

To force someone to do something The young boy was coerced into

Coerce
against their will. stealing by his friends.

Being aware or having knowledge of Before mountain climbing, you need to

Cognizant
something. be cognizant of the risks.

Water molecules show strong cohesion

Cohesion Uniting; becoming one.
when they stick together.

This year Thanksgiving coincided with

Coincide To occur at the same time.
my birthday.

The old building finally collapsed,

Collapse To fall down or break down.
leaving nothing but a pile of rubble.

To hit one another with a forceful

Collide The two cars collided on the freeway.
impact.
 Joining a school play is a big
Commitment Dedication to a cause or activity. commitment. You’ll need to practice
every evening.

The Chinese community in my city is

A group of people who live or work
Community hosting a New Year celebration next
together.
week.

The mountains concealed the ocean

Conceal To hide.
from view.

He believes women should be paid as

Concur To agree.
much as men, and I concur.

The conflict between the two families

Conflict A disagreement or fight.
has been going on for generations.

You should move your plant to a bigger

Constrain To restrict or repress.
pot, otherwise you’ll constrain its roots.

I spend a lot of time contemplating

Contemplate To consider thoughtfully.
what career I want to have.

My neighbors have been continuously

Continuously To go on without stopping.
blasting their music since last night.

I told the employees that sales were

Contradict To give the opposite opinion. down, but my boss contradicted me
and said sales were actually up.

To give something (usually money or Every roommate contributes part of his

Contribute
time) to a common fund or cause. paycheck to the grocery bill.

I’ve conveyed my interest in working

Convey To make known.
for that company.

He always takes copious notes during

Copious Abundant.
class to study later on.

Core Central; of main importance. Although many employees left the

company, the core leadership
 remained.

Corrode To gradually wear away. The rust corroded the paint on my car.

Trying to carry four grocery bags at

Cumbersome Burdensome; clumsy
once was very cumbersome.

The courses given by a school or Our school needs to add more music
Curriculum
program. courses to its curriculum.

Facts, statistics, or pieces of The data from these graphs show that
Data
information. yearly temperatures are increasing.

After the tree died, its wood began to

Decay To decline in health or excellence.
decay.

He deceived me by pretending to be a
Deceive To trick or mislead.
millionaire.

Decipher To find the meaning of. The spy deciphered the secret code.

He made a declaration to the office

Declaration An announcement.
that he was quitting.

1. To politely refuse.

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2. To deteriorate (especially in terms

 of health.)

My attempt at cake degraded into a

Degrade To lower in quality.
crumbly mess.
Let me demonstrate the proper way of
Demonstrate To show.
throwing a football.
Deny To state that something isn’t true. He denied being the robber.
Your shopping sprees have depleted
Deplete To significantly decrease.
my savings.
Please deposit your books in the bin
Deposit To deliver and leave an item.
outside the library.
Bravery is a desirable trait for
Desirable Worth having or wanting.
firefighters to have.
Despise To hate. I despise early morning classes.
The police dog detected the missing
Detect To locate something.
child’s scent.
The warning signs on the house
Deter To discourage.
deterred trespassers.
I decided to deviate from my normal
Deviate To differ from the norm.
route home and took a shortcut.
The coach devised a plan for winning
Devise To plan or create.
the game.
The politician went into a diatribe
Diatribe A sharp criticism or attack.
against her opponent.
The teacher digressed from the lecture
Digress To wander from the main subject.
to discuss the weather.
The student faced the dilemma of
A situation where one must choose
Dilemma attending school sick or missing her
between two difficult choices.
exam.
Sprinkle baking soda on the carpet to
Diminish To shrink or reduce.
diminish the stain.
Dispose To get rid of. I need to dispose of this trash.
Too large or small when compared to The piece of pie I received was
Disproportionate
something else. disproportionately small.
The protesters disrupted the politician’s
Disrupt To interrupt by causing a disturbance.
speech.
Distort To misrepresent. The camera filter distorted the image.
Distribute the materials evenly among
Distribute To give portions of something.
the class.
Diverse Showing a lot of variety. This city has a very diverse population.
Because of the accident, the police
Divert To cause a change of course.
had to divert traffic down a side street.
The theater has dynamic shows, so
Dynamic Constantly changing.
you never know what you’ll see.
This prescription will ease your
Ease To reduce unpleasantness or difficulty.
allergies.
 Now that I’m following a schedule at
Efficient Maximizing productivity.
work, I’m much more efficient.
Our team lost the match and was
Eliminate To remove.
eliminated from the competition.
The elite detective team were also sent
Elite A select, above-average group.
for when there were big crimes.
Her eloquent writing has gained her
Eloquent Moving speech or writing.
many fans.
To give special importance to when The teacher emphasized the due date
Emphasize
speaking or writing. of the project.
To suffer through something difficult He has endured four knee operations
Endure
with patience. so far.
The falling snow enhanced the beauty
Enhance To intensify or magnify.
of the small village.
Epitome A perfect example of something. The duchess is the epitome of class.
Equivalent Equal. Twenty-four is equivalent to two dozen.
He apologized for his erroneous
Erroneous Incorrect.
statement.
Try to get an estimate of the number of
Estimate An approximate value.
people attending the concert.
By hiding in the bathroom, we were
Evade To avoid or escape.
able to evade the intruder.
At the end of the class, every student
Evaluate To assess. will evaluate how well the professor
taught.
Facts or information that help prove or These fossils are evidence of
Evidence
disprove something. evolution.
The small school evolved into a world-
Evolve To gradually change.
class institution.
She is an exemplary student, and you
Exemplary Worthy of imitation.
should copy her study habits.
The young boy was excluded from his
Exclude To leave out.
friends’ soccer game.
We may not be able to get in since that
Exclusive Not admitting the majority.
club is very exclusive.
Adding air to bike tires will cause them
Expand To increase in size.
to expand.
Expert knowledge or skill in a The surgeon’s expertise is knee
Expertise
particular field. surgeries.
The company exploited its workers by
Exploit To use selfishly.
making them work long hours.
The emails presented exposed the
Expose To reveal or unmask.
company’s corruption.
If you’re sick on the day the paper is
Extension An act of making something longer. due, the teacher may give you an
extension on the due date.
Extract To get or remove something. The dentist extracted one of my teeth.
A time when there is an extreme lack Millions of children in Ethiopia died
Famine
of food. due to the famine there.
This study plan you made for me
Feasible Possible to do. sounds feasible, even with my work
schedule.
Remember that life is finite; you’re not
Finite Having an end or limits.
immortal.
A feature that ruins the perfection of I got the diamond for a reduced price
Flaw
something. since the stone had a flaw.
I’m not sure what to wear since the
Fluctuate To change continually. temperature has been fluctuating so
much.
The program is going to focus on
Focus The central point or idea.
environmental issues.
The king decided to fortify the castle
Fortify To strengthen.
walls to protect them during attacks.
A skeletal structure designed to Skyscrapers must have a strong
Framework
support something. framework to support all the floors.
You must stop spending your money
Frivolous Unnecessary; of little importance
on frivolous purchases.
The function of petals is to attract
Function A purpose natural to a person or thing.
insects to the plant.
Learning scales is fundamental to
Fundamental Of primary importance.
being a good piano player.
Be careful to avoid the gap between
Gap A space in between to objects.
the two steps.
Communication that is distorted and Our answering machine is so bad that
Garbled
unclear. people’s voices are always garbled.
The fire generates heat, which keeps
Generate To produce.
the room warm.
The actress had only one small part
Grandiose Pompous; overly important. before she got grandiose ideas of her
fame.
HIs poems contain many hackneyed
Hackneyed Overused and unoriginal.
phrases.
There was no schedule, so the event
Haphazard Lacking planning.
was very haphazard.
Her comments on my performance
Harsh Not gentle; unpleasant.
were very harsh and not kind at all.
In order to avoid the police, the robbers
Hasty In a hurry.
made a hasty retreat.
The nuclear reactor has a lot of
Hazardous Full of risk.
hazardous waste.
She hesitated before entering the
Hesitate To pause, often due to reluctance.
abandoned building.
Hierarchy A ranking system. In the office hierarchy, the manager is
 higher than the associate.
Her hatred of public transportation is a
Something that causes delay or
Hindrance hindrance when trying to get around
resistance.
New York City.
Hollow Empty inside. The dead tree is hollow.
The haunted house filled me with
Horror An intense feeling of fear.
horror.
My ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend was
Hostile Extremely unfriendly.
very hostile towards me.
An unproven idea that attempts to You’ll need to conduct an experiment
Hypothesis
explain something. to test your hypothesis.
Identical Exactly the same. The twins were completely identical.
Because he’d never been able to
Illiterate Unable to read.
attend school, the man was illiterate.
The professor illustrated the lesson
Illustrate To explain by using an example.
with a personal story.
His moving words had a large impact
Impact Effect or influence.
on me.
Drinking alcohol will impair your driving
Impair To worsen.
abilities.
We will implement the new schedule
Implement To carry out.
starting next semester.
My mother implied that I was the one
Imply To strongly suggest.
who forgot to take out the trash.
After the riots, the mayor imposed a
Impose To force upon.
curfew on the town.
These medical bills are going to
Impoverish To reduce to poverty.
impoverish me.
I hate my job, but the big paychecks
Incentive A reason to do something.
are a good incentive to stick with it.
I can’t sleep because of the dog’s
Incessant Continuing without pause.
incessant barking.
Don’t worry about your grade on this
Incidental A minor part. quiz; it’s only an incidental part of your
grade.
The ringleader incited the soldiers to
Incite To urge on.
rebellion.
Inclination A preference. My inclination is to go to bed early.
The incompetent worker was fired from
Incompetent Incapable; lacking ability.
his job.
His pitching has been very inconsistent
Inconsistent Changing randomly.
all season.
She is an indefatigable hiker and can
Indefatigable Untiring.
walk all day.
She’s the indisputable star of the
Indisputable Not able to be challenged.
basketball team.
 The drug was shown to be ineffective
Ineffective Not producing any major impact.
at curing cancer.
Even if you’re healthy, death is
Inevitable Unable to be avoided.
inevitable in the end.
I inferred that she was annoyed based
Infer To guess based on evidence.
on her body language.
Getting a promotion has really inflated
Inflate To increase in size.
his ego.
The ability to have an impact of The older sister has been a positive
Influence
something. influence on her younger siblings.
This cleaning spray inhibits the growth
Inhibit To hinder or restrain.
of bacteria.
She was the initial president of the
Initial The first.
company.
Congress launched an inquiry after the
Inquiry An investigation to determine the truth.
senator was accused of taking bribes.
You can’t quit. You’re an integral part
Integral Necessary to complete the whole.
of this team.
When making a cake, you need to fully
Integrate To combine.
integrate the wet and dry ingredients.
I need you to interpret this German
Interpret To explain the meaning of something.
speech for me.
To come between people, objects, or
When the toddlers couldn’t share their
Intervene an event and change what is
toys, their mothers had to intervene.
happening.
The intrepid mountain climber reached
Intrepid Fearless.
the top of Mt. Everest.
The pattern on this blanket is so
Intricate Highly detailed.
intricate.
We found the stranger’s questions too
Invasive Intrusive.
personal and very invasive.
The police are going to investigate the
Investigate To examine or study.
crime scene.
Even though my grandfather seems
Irascible Easy to anger.
irascible, he’s actually very loving.
The use of words to give a meaning “I love spending my Friday nights doing
Irony
opposite to their literal meaning. homework,” she said with irony.
Not sure which direction to go in, he
Irresolute Uncertain.
stood irresolute.
Words specific to a certain job or To be a successful doctor, you’ll need
Jargon
group. to learn a lot of medical jargon.
The newlyweds jointly opened up a
Jointly Together.
bank account.
My brother has a real knack for solving
Knack A special talent or skill.
tricky math problems.
Labor Work or effort. Building a house requires a lot of labor.
 I stayed with the front group of runners
Lag To fall behind. for the first few miles, but after that I
began to lag.
The cartoonist lampooned the
Lampoon To mock or ridicule.
president’s speech.
During winter break, my plants
Languish To become weak; to be neglected. languished since I was visiting my
parents and couldn’t water them.
The professor will give a 30 minute
Lecture A talk given to an audience.
lecture before the quiz.
I’m leery of taking the dark-looking
Leery Wary.
shortcut.
The way he became mayor is
Legitimate Lawful.
completely legitimate.
The judge gave the criminal a lenient
Lenient Merciful; less harsh.
sentence due to his bad childhood.
I don’t have much homework, so it’s
Likely Probable.
likely I’ll be able to go out tonight.
His claims about me are absolutely
Ludicrous Ridiculous.
ludicrous.
She has maintained the same weight
Maintain To continue at the same level.
since high school.
This test is a major part of your final
Major Very important.
grade.
To influence, especially in an unfair He tried to manipulate the results of
Manipulate
way. the election.
To increase to the greatest possible The store’s goal this year is to
Maximize
size. maximize its profit.
To find the size and dimensions of By measuring the tree, I found it was
Measure
something. seven feet tall.
The meal the chef made was only
Mediocre Ordinary, average.
mediocre.
My mother will mend the hole in my
Mend To fix.
shirt.
Her method for making bread takes
Method A way of doing something.
three days.
Migrate To move from one place to another. Every fall, the geese migrate to Florida.
The smallest or lowest amount You need to get a minimum of 70% on
Minimum
possible. the test to pass the class.
The advertisement for the weight loss
Misleading Giving the wrong idea. pills is very misleading since studies
have shown they’re ineffective.
I need to modify my style so it looks
Modify To change.
more professional.
The boy was morose after hearing he
Morose Gloomy, depressed.
didn’t make the football team.
Negligent Lazy, neglectful. The negligent babysitter invited her
 friends over while the children were
upstairs.
I was hurt when my friend greeted me
Nonchalant Indifferent, unexcited.
so nonchalantly.
My dog always obeys me when I ask
Obey To follow orders or instructions.
her to sit.
The spy obtained the secret codes we
Obtain To get.
need.
The large poster of Michael Jackson
Obvious Easily understood. over her bed made it obvious who her
favorite singer was.
Someone on the opposite side for a The soccer player blocked her
Opponent
game or contest. opponent’s shot at the goal.
For the past ten generations the royal
Oppress To unfairly burden. family has oppressed the peasants by
keeping them in poverty.
The explorers are trying to find the
Origin The source; where something began.
origin of the Nile.
This work of art is a paradigm of the
Paradigm A typical example of something. period; you’ll see many examples of it
in the museum.
The parsimonious woman only
Parsimonious Frugal, stingy.
donated a dollar to charity.
My leg was feeling much better, so I
Partake To join in. decided to partake in the soccer
match.
We can get strawberry ice cream, but
Partial Preferring one option over others.
I’m actually more partial to chocolate.
Something existing in very small During the drought, the town had a
Paucity
amounts; scarcity. paucity of fresh water.
Winning the championship was the
Peak The highest or most important point.
peak of his career.
There are some peripheral fights going
Peripheral Located on the side or edge.
on at the outdoor concert.
Let the maple syrup permeate your
Permeate To penetrate or pass through.
waffles before eating them.
To continue, especially when facing I may have lost my last six games, but
Persist
opposition. I will continue to persist trying to win.
How does your question pertain to the
Pertain Relate.
lecture?
In high school, I went through a phase
Phase A period or stage in a process.
where I only wore black clothes.
The polls show that my candidate is
Poll A record of opinions or votes.
going to win the election.
Only take one sleeping pill since
Potent Powerful.
they’re very potent.
Pragmatic Practical, sensible. Your boyfriend is too dramatic. I think
 you need a more pragmatic man.
The book is the best I’ve ever read; I
Praise To give approval or admiration.
can’t praise it enough.
The flower girls preceded the bride
Precede To come before.
when they walked down the aisle.
When collecting data, it’s important
Precise Exact. that your measurements are very
precise.
Harvard is one of the most prestigious
Prestigious Having a high reputation.
colleges in the United States.
If more people don’t start washing their
Prevalent Widespread. hands, disease will become more
prevalent.
Maeve’s primary goal in life is to
Primary First; most important.
become a doctor.
Prior to becoming a teacher, Elena
Prior Previous or earlier.
worked as a book editor.
I’m sorry for interrupting; please
Proceed To continue doing something.
proceed with your speech.
Progeny Offspring. The dog’s progeny all have yellow fur.
I’m promoting this new indie movie so
Promote To further to progress of something.
that more people will buy tickets to it.
Dave hopes his new business will
Prosper To do well.
prosper and make him a millionaire.
The twins hated to be apart, so they
Proximity Nearness in time or space. bought houses in close proximity to
each other.
Disagreement or fight; to have an Nina and her boyfriend always quarrel
Quarrel
argument. over money.
The distance between two things, The range of ages at the concert
Range
often the maximum and the minimum. spanned from 12 to 65.
Archibald was promoted to the rank of
Rank An official position or station.
first captain.
After staying out too late, Grace
Rebuke To sternly disapprove or reprimand.
received a rebuke from her parents.
At the end of his speech, the politician
Recapitulate To give a brief summary. made sure to recapitulate his main
points.
Two days after the flood, the seawater
Recede To retreat.
finally began to recede from our house.
I need to ask Mr. Smith if he’ll
To present someone with confidence
Recommend recommend me for this leadership
and approval.
position.
To make changes that improve Melanie’s father is in charge of
Reform
something. reforming to school system.
To supervise or control a process so Ben needs to regulate how much he
Regulate
that it functions correctly. eats in order to stay at a healthy
 weight.
The builders reinforced the house’s
Reinforce To strengthen with added support.
wooden frame with steel beams.
Lydia rejected my invitation to the
Reject To say no to something that is offered.
homecoming dance.
The CEO decided to release the
Release To free; to allow to be known.
company’s profits from last year.
I rely on coffee to get my through my
Rely To depend on.
mornings.
To express disapproval or The coach reproached the players for
Reproach
disappointment. failing to play their best.
The camping trip requires that every
Require To need for a specific purpose. participant bring their own food and
sleeping bag.
To feel bitterness or anger towards I’ve always resented my sister because
Resent
someone or something. she is my mother’s favorite child.
Due to his declining health, the mayor
Resign To give up an office or position.
decided to resign from office.
Resist the impulse to have ice cream
Resist To withstand the effect of.
for breakfast.
Matt resolved to get better grades next
Resolve To come to a firm decision.
semester by studying every night.
My doctor told me to restrict myself to
Restrict To confine or keep within limits.
one glass of wine a day.
To continue to do something or keep I’ve decided to retain my normal
Retain
something. hairstyle.
1. I felt calmer after the lion retracted
1. To draw back in.
its claws.
2. To withdraw something after it’s
Retract 2. After numerous errors were found,
found to be untrue.
the newspaper retracted the story.

Alexis got out of the car to retrieve the

Retrieve To bring back.
ball her little brother had thrown.
You aren’t expected to actually answer
Rhetorical Used just for style or impact.
rhetorical questions.
The boys’ father was happy to see the
Rigid Stiff; unyielding. base of the treehouse was rigid and
sturdy.
Rotate the sculpture so I can see the
Rotate To turn.
other side.
Something that serves as protection or A retirement fund is one way to
Safeguard
ensures safety. safeguard your finances for the future.
The judges were looking for perfection,
Scrutinize To very carefully examine.
so they scrutinized every entry.
This section of the stadium dressed
Section A part of the whole.
completely in red.
Select To choose. Jane selected a blue dress to wear to
 the wedding.
Things that follow each other in a Librarians need to know how order
Sequence
certain order. books in the correct sequence.
1. The robbers suffered severe
1. Harsh or strict. consequences for stealing.
Severe 2. Grave, critical. 2. My uncle is currently battling a
severe illness in the hospital.

You don’t need to worry about getting

Shallow Not deep. your dress wet. The water is very
shallow here.
The empty barn gave the men shelter
Shelter To protect from something harmful.
during the storm.
Hopefully this cream will cause my
Shrink To become smaller.
scar to shrink.
The Gettysburg Address was a
Significant Important, noteworthy.
significant event during the Civil War.
A person, place, or thing where You shouldn’t use Wikipedia as a
Source
something was obtained. source when writing school papers.
The farm was almost empty; there
Sparse Thinly scattered. were just a few sparse trees here and
there.
You need to specify which size shirt
Specify To clearly indicate which one.
you want before I can order it.
To form a theory without strong My sister loves to speculate on the
Speculate
evidence. private lives of celebrities.
The hermit lives a solitary existence
Solitary Alone; without others.
deep in the mountains.
After losing the competition, the chess
Somber Gloomy; depressing.
players were very somber.
The mother sang a lullaby to soothe
Soothe To calm or comfort.
her crying baby.
The shelter was squalid and
Squalid Filthy and unpleasant.
overcrowded.
We’re lucky to live in a country with
Stable Unlikely to change or fail.
such a stable government.
With few new jobs created, the
Stagnant Sluggish, showing little movement. economy has remained stagnant for
the past five years.
The football team will need a good
Strategy A plan to reach a desired outcome.
strategy to win the game tomorrow.
The first king was a good ruler, but
Subsequent Coming after something in time. subsequent kings have all been
corrupt.
A person or thing acting in place of If you don’t have sugar, honey makes
Substitute
another. a good substitute for this recipe.
Subtle Difficult to notice right away. Maya’s perfume was very subtle; you
 had to get close to her to smell it.
Make sure you have sufficient food for
Sufficient Enough to serve a particular purpose.
the camping trip.
The class didn’t have time to read the
Summarize To briefly give the main points. book, so the professor summarized it
for them.
My dad didn’t think we were old
Supervise To oversee work or a process. enough to build the fort on our own, so
he supervised us.
The king was supplanted by his
Supplant To take the place of something else. treacherous younger brother who
locked him in the dungeon.
1. The power outage suspended the
1. To temporarily stop.
school concert.
2. To hang something from
Suspend 2. The lamp is suspended from the
somewhere.
high ceiling.

The couple became suspicious when

Having the belief that someone is they saw strange men removing their
Suspicious
doing something dishonest or illegal. neighbor’s expensive electronics
during the night.
I stopped trying to sustain the
Sustain To keep going. friendship after he made fun of how I
looked.
Symbolic Serving as a symbol. A cross is symbolic of Christianity.
The laptop manual is full of technical
Technical Relating to a specific subject or craft. terms only a computer expert can
understand.
Everyone on the train must get off at
Terminal Situated at the end.
the terminal stop.
I tolerate the rude man since he is my
Tolerate To put up with.
husband’s best friend.
Ben’s work is going to transfer him
Transfer To move from one place to another.
from Chicago to Detroit.
The transition from student to
Changing from one state or condition
Transition employee can often take awhile to get
to another.
used to.
1. The glass vase is completely
1. See-through material. transparent.
Transparent 2. Easy to detect. 2. Her attempt to flatter the movie star
was very transparent.

College tuition prices have gone up in

Tuition The fee for instruction at a school.
recent decades.
The prince’s bodyguards had mastered
Unobtrusive Not attracting attention.
the art of being unobtrusive.
Ian was lucky to walk away from the
Unscathed Unharmed.
car crash unscathed.
 Even when she’s having a bad day, my
Upbeat Happy; optimistic.
mom always has an upbeat attitude.
Since I tried my hardest on the exam, I
Unjust Unfair. felt my teacher’s criticism of me was
unjust.
She vacillated between the two
Vacillate To waver or be indecisive. dresses before finally deciding to wear
a skirt.
The soldiers had valid concerns about
Valid Just; well-founded.
the battles they’d be facing.
Vanish To disappear quickly. The plane vanished behind the clouds.
To be different from something else in
Vary
a group.
Verdict A judgement or decision. The jury delivered a guilty verdict.
A small trace of something that is
The empty castle still had a few
Vestige disappearing or has already
vestiges of its former wealth.
disappeared.
The chemist carefully filled the vial with
Vial A small container used to hold liquids.
the bubbling solution.
Mark was vilified by his angry ex-
Vilify To speak poorly of; to slander.
girlfriend.
The puffy wedding dress had
Voluminous Taking up a lot of space.
voluminous sleeves.
I always save my money whereas my
Whereas On the contrary.
brother is constantly in debt.
The monk is wholly devoted to his
Wholly Completely.
faith.
There is widespread poverty across
Widespread Occurring over a large region.
that country.
Plants will wilt if you don’t water them
Wilt To droop and become limp.
regularly.