201 Words You Absolutely, Positively

Have to Know for the SAT

THE GOLDEN DOZEN

1. AESTHETIC - appealing to the sense of beauty

2. ECLECTIC - choosing from a variety of sources. A person with eclectic taste in music would
like rap, soul, country, and hard rock.
3. PARADOX - a seemingly contradictory statement that nonetheless expresses a truth. For
example, "A place of innocence ruled by corruption.
4. ANOMALOUS - deviating from a general rule, an irregularity, something that is incongruous
5. 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.
6. INNOCUOUS - harmless, not damaging. The friends loved to meet and exchange innocuous
gossip.
7. VENERATE, REVERE - to hold in great esteem, to honor, admire. Mother Theresa was
revered by millions of people around the world.
8. 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.
9. ELUSIVE - hard to catch, evasive
10. PROCRASTINATE, DILATORY, TEMPORIZE, DAWDLE - all mean to delay, to be tardy.
11. CONVENTIONAL - a traditional, customary way of doing things. White is the conventional
color of a wedding gown.
12. 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.")