台风是怎么形成的SAT最难单词

2021年1月11日发(作者：饶博生)

SAT最难单词



The Top 250 Most Difficult SAT Words


A
abjure
(v.) to reject, renounce (To prove his honesty, the president a
bjured the evil policies of his wicked predecessor.)
abrogate
(v.) to abolish, usually by authority (The Bill of Rights assure
s that the government cannot abrogate our right to a free pre
ss.)
acerbic
(adj.) biting, bitter in tone or taste (Jill became extremely acer
bic and began to cruelly make fun of all her friends.)
acrimony
(n.) bitterness, discord (Though they vowed that no girl would
ever come between them, Biff and Trevor could not keep acr
imony from overwhelming their friendship after they both fell i
n love with the lovely Teresa.)
acumen
(n.) keen insight (Because of his mathematical acumen, Larry
was able to figure out in minutes problems that took other st
udents hours.)
adumbrate
(v.) to sketch out in a vague way (The coach adumbrated a g
ame plan, but none of the players knew precisely what to d
o.)
alacrity


(n.) eagerness, speed (For some reason, Chuck loved to help
his mother whenever he could, so when his mother asked hi
m to set the table, he did so with alacrity.)
anathema
(n.) a cursed, detested person (I never want to see that murd
erer. He is an anathema to me.)
antipathy
(n.) a strong dislike, repugnance (I know you love me, but be
cause you are a liar and a thief, I feel nothing but antipathy f
or you.)
approbation
(n.) praise (The crowd welcomed the heroes with approbation.)
arrogate
(v.) to take without justification (The king arrogated the right t
o order executions to himself exclusively.)
ascetic
(adj.) practicing restraint as a means of self-discipline, usually
religious (The priest lives an ascetic life devoid of television,
savory foods, and other pleasures.)
aspersion
(n.) a curse, expression of ill-will (The rival politicians repeate
dly cast aspersions on each others’ integrity.)
assiduous
(adj.) hard- working, diligent (The construction workers erected
the skyscraper during two years of assiduous labor.)








B
blandish
(v.) to coax by using flattery (Rachel’s assistant tried to bland
ish her into accepting the deal.)
boon
(n.) a gift or blessing (The good weather has been a boon for
many businesses located near the beach.)
brusque
(adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (The captain’s brusque manner
offended the passengers.)
buffet
1. (v.) to strike with force (The strong winds buffeted the ship
s, threatening to capsize them.)
2. (n.) an arrangement of food set out on a table (Rather than
sitting around a table, the guests took food from our buffet
and ate standing up.)
burnish
(v.) to polish, shine (His mother asked him to burnish the silv
erware before setting the table.)
buttress
1. (v.) to support, hold up (The column buttresses the roof ab
ove the statue.)
2. (n.) something that offers support (The buttress supports th
e roof above the statues.)








C
cacophony
(n.) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound (The elementary
school orchestra created a cacophony at the recital.)
cajole
(v.) to urge, coax (Fred’s buddies cajoled him into attending t
he bachelor party.)
calumny
(n.) an attempt to spoil someone else’s reputation by spreadin
g lies (The local official’s calumny ended up ruining his oppo
nent’s prospect of winning the election.)
capricious
(adj.) subject to whim, fickle (The young girl’s capricious tend
encies made it difficult for her to focus on achieving her goal
s.)
clemency
(n.) mercy (After he forgot their anniversary, Martin could only
beg Maria for clemency.)
cogent
(adj.) intellectually convincing (Irene’s arguments in favor of a
bstinence were so cogent that I could not resist them.)
concomitant
(adj.) accompanying in a subordinate fashion (His dislike of h
ard work carried with it a concomitant lack of funds.)
conflagration
(n.) great fire (The conflagration consumed the entire buildin
g.)
contrite


(adj.) penitent, eager to be forgiven (Blake’s contrite behavior
made it impossible to stay angry at him.)
conundrum
(n.) puzzle, problem (Interpreting Jane’s behavior was a const
ant conundrum.)
credulity
(n.) readiness to believe (His credulity made him an easy targ
et for con men.)
cupidity
(n.) greed, strong desire (His cupidity made him enter the aba
ndoned gold mine despite the obvious dangers.)
cursory
(adj.) brief to the point of being superficial (Late for the meeti
ng, she cast a cursory glance at the agenda.)






D
decry
(v.) to criticize openly (The kind video rental clerk decried the
policy of charging customers late fees.)
defile
(v.) to make unclean, impure (She defiled the calm of the reli
gious building by playing her banjo.)
deleterious


(adj.) harmful (She experienced the deleterious effects of runni
ng a marathon without stretching her muscles enough beforeh
and.)
demure
(adj.) quiet, modest, reserved (Though everyone else at the pa
rty was dancing and going crazy, she remained demure.)
deprecate
(v.) to belittle, depreciate (Always over- modest, he deprecated
his contribution to the local charity.)
deride
(v.) to laugh at mockingly, scorn (The bullies derided the forei
gn student’s accent.)
desecrate
(v.) to violate the sacredness of a thing or place (They feared
that the construction of a golf course would desecrate the pr
eserved wilderness.)
desiccated
(adj.) dried up, dehydrated (The skin of the desiccated mumm
y looked like old paper.)
diaphanous
(adj.) light, airy, transparent (Sunlight poured in through the d
iaphanous curtains, brightening the room.)
diffident
(adj.) shy, quiet, modest (While eating dinner with the adults,
the diffident youth did not speak for fear of seeming presump
tuous.)
discursive
(adj.) rambling, lacking order (The professor’s discursive lectu
res seemed to be about every subject except the one initially
described.)


dissemble
(v.) to conceal, fake (Not wanting to appear heartlessly greedy,
she dissembled and hid her intention to sell her ailing fathe
r’s stamp collection.)
dither
(v.) to be indecisive (Not wanting to offend either friend, he di
thered about which of the two birthday parties he should atte
nd.)






E
ebullient
(adj.) extremely lively, enthusiastic (She became ebullient upo
n receiving an acceptance letter from her first-choice college.)
effrontery
(n.) impudence, nerve, insolence (When I told my aunt that sh
e was boring, my mother scolded me for my effrontery.)
effulgent
(adj.) radiant, splendorous (The golden palace was effulgent.)
egregious
(adj.) extremely bad (The student who threw sloppy joes acro
ss the cafeteria was punished for his egregious behavior.)
enervate
(v.) to weaken, exhaust (Writing these sentences enervates me
so much that I will have to take a nap after I finish.)
ephemeral


(adj.) short-lived, fleeting (She promised she’d love me forever,
but her “forever” was only ephemeral: she left me after one
week.)
eschew
(v.) to shun, avoid (George hates the color green so much th
at he eschews all green food.)
evanescent
(adj.) fleeting, momentary (My joy at getting promoted was ev
anescent because I discovered that I would have to work muc
h longer hours in a less friendly office.)
evince
(v.) to show, reveal (Christopher’s hand-wringing and nail-bitin
g evince how nervous he is about the upcoming English tes
t.)
exculpate
(v.) to free from guilt or blame, exonerate (My discovery of th
e ring behind the dresser exculpated me from the charge of h
aving stolen it.)
execrable
(adj.) loathsome, detestable (Her pudding is so execrable that
it makes me sick.)
exigent
(adj.) urgent, critical (The patient has an exigent need for med
ication, or else he will lose his sight.)
expiate
(v.) to make amends for, atone (To expiate my selfishness, I
gave all my profits to charity.)
expunge


(v.) to obliterate, eradicate (Fearful of an IRS investigation, Pa
ul tried to expunge all incriminating evidence from his tax file
s.)
extant
(adj.) existing, not destroyed or lost (My mother’s extant love
letters to my father are in the attic trunk.)
extol
(v.) to praise, revere (Violet extolled the virtues of a vegetaria
n diet to her meat- loving brother.)






F
fallacious
(adj.) incorrect, misleading (Emily offered me cigarettes on the
fallacious assumption that I smoked.)
fastidious
(adj.) meticulous, demanding, having high and often unattaina
ble standards (Mark is so fastidious that he is never able to f
inish a project because it always seems imperfect to him.)
fatuous
(adj.) silly, foolish (He considers himself a serious poet, but i
n truth, he only writes fatuous limericks.)
fecund
(adj.) fruitful, fertile (The fecund tree bore enough apples to la
st us through the entire season.)
feral


(adj.) wild, savage (That beast looks so feral that I would fear
being alone with it.)
fetid
(adj.) having a foul odor (I can tell from the fetid smell in you
r refrigerator that your milk has spoiled.)
florid
(adj.) flowery, ornate (The writer’s florid prose belongs on a s
entimental Hallmark card.)
fractious
(adj.) troublesome or irritable (Although the child insisted he
wasn’t tired, his fractious behavior—especially his decision to
crush his cheese and crackers all over the floor—convinced
everyone present that it was time to put him to bed.)






G
garrulous
(adj.) talkative, wordy (Some talk-show hosts are so garrulous
that their guests can’t get a word in edgewise.)
grandiloquence
(n.) lofty, pompous language (The student thought her grandil
oquence would make her sound smart, but neither the class
nor the teacher bought it.)
gregarious


(adj.) drawn to the company of others, sociable (Well, if you’r
e not gregarious, I don’t know why you would want to go to
a singles party!)






H
hackneyed
(adj.) unoriginal, trite (A girl can only hear “I love you” so ma
ny times before it begins to sound hackneyed and meaningles
s.)
hapless
(adj.) unlucky (My poor, hapless family never seems to pick a
sunny week to go on vacation.)
harangue
1. (n.) a ranting speech (Everyone had heard the teacher’s har
angue about gum chewing in class before.)
2. (v.) to give such a speech (But this time the teacher haran
gued the class about the importance of brushing your teeth a
fter chewing gum.)
hegemony
(n.) domination over others (Britain’s hegemony over its colon
ies was threatened once nationalist sentiment began to sprea
d around the world.)








I
iconoclast
(n.) one who attacks common beliefs or institutions (Jane goe
s to one protest after another, but she seems to be an icono
clast rather than an activist with a progressive agenda.)
ignominious
(adj.) humiliating, disgracing (It was really ignominious to be
kicked out of the dorm for having an illegal gas stove in my
room.)
impassive
(adj.) stoic, not susceptible to suffering (Stop being so impas
sive; it’s healthy to cry every now and then.)
imperious
(adj.) commanding, domineering (The imperious nature of your
manner led me to dislike you at once.)
impertinent
(adj.) rude, insolent (Most of your comments are so impertine
nt that I don’t wish to dignify them with an answer.)
impervious
(adj.) impenetrable, incapable of being affected (Because of th
eir thick layer of fur, many seals are almost impervious to the
cold.)
impetuous
(adj.) rash; hastily done (Hilda’s hasty slaying of the king was
an impetuous, thoughtless action.)
impinge


1. (v.) to impact, affect, make an impression (The hail impinge
d the roof, leaving large dents.)
2. (v.) to encroach, infringe (I apologize for impinging upon y
ou like this, but I really need to use your bathroom. Now.)
implacable
(adj.) incapable of being appeased or mitigated (Watch out: O
nce you shun Grandma’s cooking, she is totally implacable.)
impudent
(adj.) casually rude, insolent, impertinent (The impudent young
man looked the princess up and down and told her she was
hot even though she hadn’t asked him.)
inchoate
(adj.) unformed or formless, in a beginning stage (The countr
y’s government is still inchoate and, because it has no great
tradition, quite unstable.)
incontrovertible
(adj.) indisputable (Only stubborn Tina would attempt to dispr
ove the incontrovertible laws of physics.)
indefatigable
(adj.) incapable of defeat, failure, decay (Even after traveling 6
2 miles, the indefatigable runner kept on moving.)
ineffable
(adj.) unspeakable, incapable of being expressed through word
s (It is said that the experience of playing with a dolphin is i
neffable and can only be understood through direct encounte
r.)
inexorable
(adj.) incapable of being persuaded or placated (Although I be
gged for hours, Mom was inexorable and refused to let me st
ay out all night after the prom.)


ingenuous
(adj.) not devious; innocent and candid (He must have writers,
but his speeches seem so ingenuous it’s hard to believe he’
s not speaking from his own heart.)
inimical
(adj.) hostile (I don’t see how I could ever work for a compan
y that was so cold and inimical to me during my interviews.)
iniquity
(n.) wickedness or sin (“Your iniquity,” said the priest to the
practical jokester, “will be forgiven.”)
insidious
(adj.) appealing but imperceptibly harmful, seductive (Lisa’s in
sidious chocolate cake tastes so good but makes you feel so
sick later on!)
intransigent
(adj.) refusing to compromise, often on an extreme opinion (T
he intransigent child said he would have 12 scoops of ice cre
am or he would bang his head against the wall until his moth
er fainted from fear.)
inure
(v.) to cause someone or something to become accustomed t
o a situation (Twenty years in the salt mines inured the man
to the discomforts of dirt and grime.)
invective
(n.) an angry verbal attack (My mother’s irrational invective ag
ainst the way I dress only made me decide to dye my hair gr
een.)
inveterate
(adj.) stubbornly established by habit (I’m the first to admit th
at I’m an inveterate coffee drinker—I drink four cups a day.)








J
jubilant
(adj.) extremely joyful, happy (The crowd was jubilant when th
e firefighter carried the woman from the flaming building.)
juxtaposition
(n.) the act of placing two things next to each other for impli
cit comparison (The interior designer admired my juxtapositio
n of the yellow couch and green table.)






L
laconic
(adj.) terse in speech or writing (The author’s laconic style ha
s won him many followers who dislike wordiness.)
languid
(adj.) sluggish from fatigue or weakness (In the summer mont
hs, the great heat makes people languid and lazy.)
largess
(n.) the generous giving of lavish gifts (My boss demonstrated
great largess by giving me a new car.)


latent
(adj.) hidden, but capable of being exposed (Sigmund’s dream
represented his latent paranoid obsession with other people’s
shoes.)
legerdemain
(n.) deception, slight-of-hand (Smuggling the French plants thr
ough customs by claiming that they were fake was a remarka
ble bit of legerdemain.)
licentious
(adj.) displaying a lack of moral or legal restraints (Marilee ha
s always been fascinated by the licentious private lives of pol
iticians.)
limpid
(adj.) clear, transparent (Mr. Johnson’s limpid writing style gre
atly pleased readers who disliked complicated novels.)






M
maelstrom
(n.) a destructive whirlpool which rapidly sucks in objects (Lit
tle did the explorers know that as they turned the next bend
of the calm river a vicious maelstrom would catch their boat.)
magnanimous
(adj.) noble, generous (Although I had already broken most of
her dishes, Jacqueline was magnanimous enough to continue
letting me use them.)


malediction
(n.) a curse (When I was arrested for speeding, I screamed m
aledictions against the policeman and the entire police depart
ment.)
malevolent
(adj.) wanting harm to befall others (The malevolent old man
sat in the park all day, tripping unsuspecting passersby with
his cane.)
manifold
(adj.) diverse, varied (The popularity of Dante’s Inferno is partl
y due to the fact that the work allows for manifold interpretati
ons.)
maudlin
(adj.) weakly sentimental (Although many people enjoy romanti
c comedies, I usually find them maudlin and shallow.)
mawkish
(adj.) characterized by sick sentimentality (Although some nine
teenth- century critics viewed Dickens’s writing as mawkish, c
ontemporary readers have found great emotional depth in his
works.)
Mendacio..us
(adj.) having a lying, false character (The mendacious content
of the tabloid magazines is at least entertaining.)
mercurial
(adj.) characterized by rapid change or temperamentality (Thou
gh he was widely respected for his mathematical proofs, the
mercurial genius was impossible to live with.)
modicum


(n.) a small amount of something (Refusing to display even a
modicum of sensitivity, Henrietta announced her boss’s affair
in front of the entire office.)
morass
(n.) a wet swampy bog; figuratively, something that traps and
confuses (When Theresa lost her job, she could not get out
of her financial morass.)
multifarious
(adj.) having great diversity or variety (This Swiss Army knife
has multifarious functions and capabilities. Among other thing
s, it can act as a knife, a saw, a toothpick, and a slingshot.)
munificence
(n.) generosity in giving (The royal family’s munificence made
everyone else in their country rich.)
myriad
(adj.) consisting of a very great number (It was difficult to de
cide what to do Friday night because the city presented us w
ith myriad possibilities for fun.)






N
nadir
(n.) the lowest point of something (My day was boring, but th
e nadir came when I accidentally spilled a bowl of spaghetti
on my head.)
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.)
nefarious
(adj.) heinously villainous (Although Dr. Meanman’s nefarious
plot to melt the polar icecaps was terrifying, it was so imprac
tical that nobody really worried about it.)
neophyte
(n.) someone who is young or inexperienced (As a neophyte i
n the literary world, Malik had trouble finding a publisher for
his first novel.)






O
obdurate
(adj.) unyielding to persuasion or moral influences (The obdur
ate old man refused to take pity on the kittens.)
obfuscate
(v.) to render incomprehensible (The detective did not want to
answer the newspaperman’s questions, so he obfuscated the
truth.)
oblique
(adj.) diverging from a straight line or course, not straightforw
ard (Martin’s oblique language confused those who listened to
him.)
obsequious


(adj.) excessively compliant or submissive (Mark acted like Ja
net’s servant, obeying her every request in an obsequious ma
nner.)
obstreperous
(adj.) noisy, unruly (Billy’s obstreperous behavior prompted th
e librarian to ask him to leave the reading room.)
obtuse
(adj.) lacking quickness of sensibility or intellect (Political opp
onents warned that the prime minister’s obtuse approach to f
oreign policy would embroil the nation in mindless war.)
odious
(adj.) instilling hatred or intense displeasure (Mark was assign
ed the odious task of cleaning the cat’s litter box.)
officious
(adj.) offering one’s services when they are neither wanted no
r needed (Brenda resented Allan’s officious behavior when he
selected colors that might best improve her artwork.)
opulent
(adj.) characterized by rich abundance verging on ostentation
(The opulent furnishings of the dictator’s private compound c
ontrasted harshly with the meager accommodations of her su
bjects.)
ostensible
(adj.) appearing as such, seemingly (Jack’s ostensible reason
for driving was that airfare was too expensive, but in reality,
he was afraid of flying.)








P
palliate
(v.) to reduce the severity of (The doctor trusted that the new
medication would palliate her patient’s discomfort.)
pallid
(adj.) lacking color (Dr. Van Helsing feared that Lucy’s pallid
complexion was due to an unexplained loss of blood.)
panacea
(n.) a remedy for all ills or difficulties (Doctors wish there wa
s a single panacea for every disease, but sadly there is not.)
paragon
(n.) a model of excellence or perfection (The mythical Helen o
f Troy was considered a paragon of female beauty.)
pariah
(n.) an outcast (Following the discovery of his plagiarism, Pro
fessor Hurley was made a pariah in all academic circles.)
parsimony
(n.) frugality, stinginess (Many relatives believed that my aunt’
s wealth resulted from her parsimony.)
pathos
(n.) an emotion of sympathy (Martha filled with pathos upon d
iscovering the scrawny, shivering kitten at her door.)
paucity
(adj.) small in quantity (Gilbert lamented the paucity of twentie
th-century literature courses available at the college.)
pejorative
(adj.) derogatory, uncomplimentary (The evening’s headline ne
ws covered an international scandal caused by a pejorative st


atement the famous senator had made in reference to a foreig
n leader.)
pellucid
(adj.) easily intelligible, clear (Wishing his book to be pellucid
to the common man, Albert Camus avoided using complicate
d grammar when composing The Stranger.)
penurious
(adj.) miserly, stingy (Stella complained that her husband’s pe
nurious ways made it impossible to live the lifestyle she felt
she deserved.)
perfidious
(adj.) disloyal, unfaithful (After the official was caught selling
government secrets to enemy agents, he was executed for his
perfidious ways.)
perfunctory
(adj.) showing little interest or enthusiasm (The radio broadca
ster announced the news of the massacre in a surprisingly pe
rfunctory manner.)
pernicious
(adj.) extremely destructive or harmful (The new government f
eared that the Communist sympathizers would have a pernicio
us influence on the nation’s stability.)
perspicacity
(adj.) shrewdness, perceptiveness (The detective was too hum
ble to acknowledge that his perspicacity was the reason for h
is professional success.)
pertinacious
(adj.) stubbornly persistent (Harry’s parents were frustrated wit
h his pertinacious insistence that a monster lived in his close
t. Then they opened the closet door and were eaten.)


petulance
(n.) rudeness, irritability (The nanny resigned after she could
no longer tolerate the child’s petulance.)
pithy
(adj.) concisely meaningful (My father’s long-winded explanatio
n was a stark contrast to his usually pithy statements.)
platitude
(n.) an uninspired remark, cliché (After reading over her paper,
Helene concluded that what she thought were profound insig
hts were actually just platitudes.)
plethora
(n.) an abundance, excess (The wedding banquet included a p
lethora of oysters piled almost three feet high.)
polemic
(n.) an aggressive argument against a specific opinion (My br
other launched into a polemic against my arguments that capi
talism was an unjust economic system.)
portent
(n.) an omen (When a black cat crossed my sister’s path whil
e she was walking to school, she took it as a portent that sh
e would do badly on her spelling test.)
precocious
(adj.) advanced, developing ahead of time (Derek was so acad
emically precocious that by the time he was 10 years old, he
was already in the ninth grade.)
prescient
(adj.) to have foreknowledge of events (Questioning the fortun
e cookie’s prediction, Ray went in search of the old hermit w
ho was rumored to be prescient.)
primeval


(adj.) original, ancient (The first primates to walk on two legs,
called Australopithecus, were the primeval descendants of m
odern man.)
probity
(n.) virtue, integrity (Because he was never viewed as a man
of great probity, no one was surprised by Mr. Samson’s immo
ral behavior.)
proclivity
(n.) a strong inclination toward something (In a sick twist of f
ate, Harold’s childhood proclivity for torturing small animals g
rew into a desire to become a surgeon.)
promulgate
(v.) to proclaim, make known (The film professor promulgated
that both in terms of sex appeal and political intrigue, Sean
Connery’s James Bond was superior to Roger Moore’s.)
propensity
(n.) an inclination, preference (Dermit has a propensity for da
ngerous activities such as bungee jumping.)
propitious
(adj.) favorable (The dark storm clouds visible on the horizon
suggested that the weather would not be propitious for sailin
g.)
prosaic
(adj.) plain, lacking liveliness (Heather’s prosaic recital of the
poem bored the audience.)
proscribe
(v.) to condemn, outlaw (The town council voted to proscribe
the sale of alcohol on weekends.)
protean


(adj.) able to change shape; displaying great variety (Among
Nigel’s protean talents was his ability to touch the tip of his
nose with his tongue.)
prurient
(adj.) eliciting or possessing an extraordinary interest in sex
(David’s mother was shocked by the discovery of prurient rea
ding material hidden beneath her son’s mattress.)
puerile
(adj.) juvenile, immature (The judge demanded order after the
lawyer’s puerile attempt to object by stomping his feet on the
courtroom floor.)
pugnacious
(adj.) quarrelsome, combative (Aaron’s pugnacious nature led
him to start several barroom brawls each month.)
pulchritude
(n.) physical beauty (Several of Shakespeare’s sonnets explore
the pulchritude of a lovely young man.)
punctilious
(adj.) eager to follow rules or conventions (Punctilious Bobby,
hall monitor extraordinaire, insisted that his peers follow the
rules.)






Q
quagmire


(n.) a difficult situation (We’d all like to avoid the kind of milit
ary quagmire characterized by the Vietnam War.)
querulous
(adj.) whiny, complaining (If deprived of his pacifier, young Br
endan becomes querulous.)
quixotic
(adj.) idealistic, impractical (Edward entertained a quixotic desi
re to fall in love at first sight in a laundromat.)






R
rancor
(n.) deep, bitter resentment (When Eileen challenged me to a f
ight, I could see the rancor in her eyes.)
rebuke
(v.) to scold, criticize (When the cops showed up at Sarah’s p
arty, they rebuked her for disturbing the peace.)
recalcitrant
(adj.) defiant, unapologetic (Even when scolded, the recalcitran
t young girl simply stomped her foot and refused to finish he
r lima beans.)
rectitude
(n.) uprightness, extreme morality (The priest’s rectitude gave
him the moral authority to counsel his parishioners.)
replete


(adj.) full, abundant (The unedited version was replete with na
ughty words.)
reprobate
(adj.) evil, unprincipled (The reprobate criminal sat sneering in
the cell.)
reprove
(v.) to scold, rebuke (Lara reproved her son for sticking each
and every one of his fingers into the strawberry pie.)
repudiate
(v.) to reject, refuse to accept (Kwame made a strong case fo
r an extension of his curfew, but his mother repudiated it wit
h a few biting words.)
rescind
(v.) to take back, repeal (The company rescinded its offer of e
mployment after discovering that Jane’s resume was full of lie
s.)
restive
(adj.) resistant, stubborn, impatient (The restive audience pelte
d the band with mud and yelled nasty comments.)
ribald
(adj.) coarsely, crudely humorous (While some giggled at the
ribald joke involving a parson’s daughter, most sighed and rol
led their eyes.)
rife
(adj.) abundant (Surprisingly, the famous novelist’s writing wa
s rife with spelling errors.)
ruse
(n.) a trick (Oliver concocted an elaborate ruse for sneaking o
ut of the house to meet his girlfriend while simultaneously gi
ving his mother the impression that he was asleep in bed.)








S
sacrosanct
(adj.) holy, something that should not be criticized (In the Uni
ted States, the Constitution is often thought of as a sacrosan
ct document.)
sagacity
(n.) shrewdness, soundness of perspective (With remarkable s
agacity, the wise old man predicted and thwarted his children’
s plan to ship him off to a nursing home.)
salient
(adj.) significant, conspicuous (One of the salient differences
between Alison and Nancy is that Alison is a foot taller.)
sanctimonious
(adj.) giving a hypocritical appearance of piety (The sanctimon
ious Bertrand delivered stern lectures on the Ten Commandm
ents to anyone who would listen, but thought nothing of steal
ing cars to make some cash on the side.)
sanguine
(adj.) optimistic, cheery (Polly reacted to any bad news with a
sanguine smile and the chirpy cry, “When life hands you le
mons, make lemonade!”)
scurrilous


(adj.) vulgar, coarse (When Bruno heard the scurrilous accusa
tion being made about him, he could not believe it because h
e always tried to be nice to everyone.)
serendipity
(n.) luck, finding good things without looking for them (In an
amazing bit of serendipity, penniless Paula found a $$20 bill in
the subway station.)
servile
(adj.) subservient (The servile porter crept around the hotel lo
bby, bowing and quaking before the guests.)
solicitous
(adj.) concerned, attentive (Jim, laid up in bed with a nasty vi
rus, enjoyed the solicitous attentions of his mother, who brou
ght him soup and extra blankets.)
solipsistic
(adj.) believing that oneself is all that exists (Colette’s solipsis
tic attitude completely ignored the plight of the homeless peo
ple on the street.)
somnolent
(adj.) sleepy, drowsy (The somnolent student kept falling aslee
p and waking up with a jerk.)
spurious
(adj.) false but designed to seem plausible (Using a spurious
argument, John convinced the others that he had won the bo
ard game on a technicality.)
staid
(adj.) sedate, serious, self-restrained (The staid butler never c
hanged his expression no matter what happened.)
stolid


(adj.) expressing little sensibility, unemotional (Charles’s stolid
reaction to his wife’s funeral differed from the passion he sh
owed at the time of her death.)
stupefy
(v.) to astonish, make insensible (Veronica’s audacity and ung
ratefulness stupefied her best friend, Heather.)
surfeit
(n.) an overabundant supply or indulgence (After partaking of
the surfeit of tacos and tamales at the All-You-Can-Eat Taco T
amale Lunch Special, Beth felt rather sick.)
surmise
(v.) to infer with little evidence (After speaking to only one of
the students, the teacher was able to surmise what had caus
ed the fight.)
surreptitious
(adj.) stealthy (The surreptitious CIA agents were able to get i
n and out of the house without anyone noticing.)
sycophant
(n.) one who flatters for self- gain (Some see the people in the
cabinet as the president’s closest advisors, but others see th
em as sycophants.)






T
tacit


(adj.) expressed without words (I interpreted my parents’ refus
al to talk as a tacit acceptance of my request.)
taciturn
(adj.) not inclined to talk (Though Jane never seems to stop t
alking, her brother is quite taciturn.)
tantamount
(adj.) equivalent in value or significance (When it comes to sp
orts, fearing your opponent is tantamount to losing.)
temerity
(n.) audacity, recklessness (Tom and Huck entered the scary
cave armed with nothing but their own temerity.)
tenuous
(adj.) having little substance or strength (Your argument is ve
ry tenuous, since it relies so much on speculation and hearsa
y.)
timorous
(adj.) timid, fearful (When dealing with the unknown, timorous
Tallulah almost always broke into tears.)
torpid
(adj.) lethargic, dormant, lacking motion (The torpid whale floa
ted, wallowing in the water for hours.)
tractable
(adj.) easily controlled (The horse was so tractable, Myra didn’
t even need a bridle.)
transient
(adj.) passing through briefly; passing into and out of existen
ce (Because virtually everyone in Palm Beach is a tourist, the
population of the town is quite transient.)
transmute


(v.) to change or alter in form (Ancient alchemists believed th
at it was possible to transmute lead into gold.)
trenchant
(adj.) effective, articulate, clear-cut (The directions that accom
panied my new cell phone were trenchant and easy to follow.)
truculent
(adj.) ready to fight, cruel (This club doesn’t really attract the
dangerous types, so why was that bouncer being so truculen
t?)
turgid
(adj.) swollen, excessively embellished in style or language (T
he haughty writer did not realize how we all really felt about
his turgid prose.)
turpitude
(n.) depravity, moral corruption (Sir Marcus’s chivalry often co
ntrasted with the turpitude he exhibited with the ladies at the
tavern.)






U
ubiquitous
(adj.) existing everywhere, widespread (It seems that everyone
in the United States has a television. The technology is ubiq
uitous here.)
umbrage


(n.) resentment, offense (He called me a lily-livered coward, a
nd I took umbrage at the insult.)
unctuous
(adj.) smooth or greasy in texture, appearance, manner (The u
nctuous receptionist seemed untrustworthy, as if she was onl
y being helpful because she thought we might give her a big
tip.)
undulate
(v.) to move in waves (As the storm began to brew, the placi
d ocean began to undulate to an increasing degree.)
upbraid
(v.) to criticize or scold severely (The last thing Lindsay want
ed was for Lisa to upbraid her again about missing the rent
payment.)
usurp
(v.) to seize by force, take possession of without right (The r
ogue army general tried to usurp control of the government,
but he failed because most of the army backed the legally ele
cted president.)






V
vacillate
(v.) to fluctuate, hesitate (I prefer a definite answer, but my b
oss kept vacillating between the distinct options available to
us.)


vacuous
(adj.) lack of content or ideas, stupid (Beyoncé realized that t
he lyrics she had just penned were completely vacuous and t
ried to add more substance.)
vapid
(adj.) lacking liveliness, dull (The professor’s comments about
the poem were surprisingly vapid and dull.)
variegated
(adj.) diversified, distinctly marked (Each wire in the engineeri
ng exam was variegated by color so that the students could f
igure out which one was which.)
venerate
(v.) to regard with respect or to honor (The tribute to John L
ennon sought to venerate his music, his words, and his legen
d.)
veracity
(n.) truthfulness, accuracy (With several agencies regulating th
e reports, it was difficult for Latifah to argue against its verac
ity.)
verdant
(adj.) green in tint or color (The verdant leaves on the trees
made the world look emerald.)
vex
(v.) to confuse or annoy (My little brother vexes me by pokin
g me in the ribs for hours on end.)
vicarious
(adj.) experiencing through another (All of my lame friends lea
rned to be social through vicarious involvement in my amazin
g experiences.)
vicissitude


(n.) event that occurs by chance (The vicissitudes of daily life
prevent me from predicting what might happen from one day
to the next.)
vilify
(v.) to lower in importance, defame (After the Watergate scand
al, almost any story written about President Nixon sought to
vilify him and criticize his behavior.)
viscous
(adj.) not free flowing, syrupy (The viscous syrup took three
minutes to pour out of the bottle.)
vitriolic
(adj.) having a caustic quality (When angry, the woman would
spew vitriolic insults.)
vituperate
(v.) to berate (Jack ran away as soon as his father found out,
knowing he would be vituperated for his unseemly behavior.)






W
wanton
(adj.) undisciplined, lewd, lustful (Vicky’s wanton demeanor oft
en made the frat guys next door very excited.)
winsome
(adj.) charming, pleasing (After such a long, frustrating day, I
was grateful for Chris’s winsome attitude and childish naivet
e.)


wistful
(adj.) full of yearning; musingly sad (Since her pet rabbit died,
Edda missed it terribly and was wistful all day long.)
wizened
(adj.) dry, shrunken, wrinkled (Agatha’s grandmother, Stephani
e, had the most wizened countenance, full of leathery wrinkle
s.)






Z
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.)
zephyr
(n.) a gentle breeze (If not for the zephyrs that were blowing
and cooling us, our room would’ve been unbearably hot.)