Words from Official SAT Study Guide Test 1(88 words)

Accolade

praise

Allusion

indirect reference

Ambivalence

uncertainty; having 'mixed' feelings

Ambivalent

unable to decide

Analogy

comparison

Anecdote

short account of something interesting; story

Anomalous

odd; not fitting the pattern

Apparition

ghost; something that 'appears'

Aspersion

negative feeling; damaging remark

Belligerence

aggression

Bombastic

too elaborate; exaggerated

Candid

truthful

Capricious

changeable; fickle

Cherished

cared for; firmly-held

Clich

over-used expression

Conception

1. idea; view. 2. beginning of pregnancy

Convoluted

complicated or long-winded

Credence

belief

Cryptic

hidden

Currency

1. widespread acceptance, 2. money

Decorous

good and correct (used of behavior)

Denunciation

act of speaking out against

Derailed

thrown off course

Derivative

unoriginal

Despotic

acting like a tyrant

Detritus

rubbish

Diaphanous

very thin and transparent

Dictum

often-used saying

Dilettante

person who dabbles in the arts

Disdained

showed contempt for

Dispassionate

unbiased; fair

Dowager

an elderly woman of elevate social status

Dubious

doubtful

Egalitarian

equal; believer in equality

Elicit

draw out (used mainly for information or feelings)

Elliptical

1. shaped like an ellipse, 2. indirect

Epitomizes

acts as a typical example of

Equivocate

speak ambiguously/vaguely

Evasiveness

trying to avoid something

Explicitly

very clear; nothing hidden

Foraging

searching for food

Hypothetical

based on guesswork; not proven

Iconoclast

person who goes against accepted authority

Idiosyncratic

quirky; unique to an individual

Imponderable

cannot be understood

Indecorous

not well-behaved; lacking in dignity

Indigence

extreme poverty

Inept

clumsy

Inherent

inbuilt; genetic

Intricate

complicated

Irrefutable

cannot be proved wrong

Jingoism

using words to stir up exaggerated patriotism

Jubilant

joyful

Judicious

fair and equal

Lament

express regret over something

Loquacious

talkative; using too many words

Mendicancy

begging

Metaphorical

not literal; figurative

Milieu

environment; surroundings

Mitigated

made less severe

Nascent

just begun; in an early stage of development

Nostalgia

longing for the past

Obtrusive

easily seen

Orthographical

concerned with writing and spelling

Ossified

become fixed and rigid

Ostentatious

showy

Palpable

can be felt

Pastoral

1. concerned with the countryside, 2. concerned with

the care a pastor gives to someone

Pedestrian

1. boring (adj), 2. person who walks (n)

Perfidy

treachery; betrayal

Profligacy

wasteful and immoral behavior

Prohibitive

very expensive

Prudence

wisdom; caution

Pugnacious

aggressive

Purveyor

one who sells something or causes something to

spread

Resonance

echo

Respite

break (from work etc.)

Resurgence

revival

Sparse

thin; not thick

Stringent

strict

Succumbing

giving in to; falling under the influence of

Supercilious

arrogant

Tenacity

firmness of purpose

Transcend

go beyond a limit

Variegated

multicolored

Venerable

worthy of respect

Viable

workable; able to live or grow

Visceral

concerned with the 'guts'; physical rather than mental