Vocabulary Power Plus for the New SAT Book III — Unit #5
About this set
Created by:
EdwardsBFHS on September 16, 2011
Subjects:
battlefield high school ap language & composition 11
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75 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
pedestrian | ordinary or dull |
bona fide | in good faith |
adventitious | accidential; nonessential |
fecund | fertile; productive |
deviate | to turn aside from a course; to stray |
obfuscate | to confuse; to bewilder |
impale | to pierce with a sharp stake through the body |
extenuate | to lessen seriousness by providing partial excuses |
parochial | local; narrow; limited |
glower | to stare angrily |
edify | improve someone morally |
ambiguous | open to more than one interpretation |
cataclysm | a violent change |
optimum | best; most favorable; ideal |
importune | to ask persistently; to beg |
Impotent | powerless; lacking strength |
Antithesis | an exact opposite |
Maelstrom | whirlpool; turbulence |
Emendation | a correction |
Chagrin | embarrassment; a complete loss of courage |
Bauble | a showy but useless thing |
Diaphanous | very sheer and light |
Labyrinth | a complicated network of winding passages |
Gloat | to look or think with great satisfaction |
Impediment | a barrier; obstruction |
Bestial | savage; brutal |
Effete | worn out; barren |
Shard | a fragment |
Bland | mild; tasteless; dull |
Nihilism | a total rejection of establsihed laws |
factious | causing disagreement |
ignoble | dishonorable; shameful |
boor | a rude or impolite person |
aegis | a shield; protection |
perspicacity | keenness of judgment |
fervent | eager; earnest |
rectify | to correct; make right |
enervate | to weaken |
besiege | to overwhelm; to surround and atack |
ephemeral | lasting only a brief time; short-lived |
altruism | a concern for others; generosity |
carrion | decaying flesh |
erotic | pertaining to sexual love |
amorphous | shapeless, formless, vague |
opulent | rich, luxurious; wealthy |
celibate | abstaining from sex |
fortuitous | happening by chance/accident |
recapitulate | to summarize/to repeat briefly |
perfunctory | done without care; in a routine fashion |
baroque | overly decorated |
hedonism | pursuit of pleasure, especially of the senses |
obloquy | strong disapproval; a bad reputation resulting from public criticism |
debacle | a complete failure; a total collapse |
quasi- | resembling; seeming; half |
besmirch | to make dirty; to stain |
imperative | extremely necessary; vitally important |
sacrosanct | exteremely holy |
sadistic | derving pleasure from inflicting pain on others |
facetious | comical; jocular; flippant |
demeanor | behavior; manor of conducting oneself |
Fop | n. an excessively fashion-conscious man (syn: dandy) |
Imprecation | n. a curse (syn: condemnation; anathema; ant: blessing) |
Non Sequitur | n. something that does not logically follow (syn: fallacy, misconception) |
Sanguine | adj. cheerful, optimistic |
Bowdlerize | v. to remove offensive passages of a play, novel, etc. (syn: censor) |
Impair | v. to weaken; to cause to become worse (syn: damage, deteriorate; ant: enhance) |
Panegyric | n. an expression of praise (syn: tribute, extolment; ant: denunciation) |
Quandary | n. a puzzling situation; a dilemma (syn: predicament) |
Ebullient | adj. enthusiastic (syn: exuberant, lively; ant: dejected, dispirited) |
Deference | n. respect, consideration |
Carnal | adj. relating to physical appetite, especially sexual (syn: erotic; ant: chaste, modest) |
Nebulous | adj. hazy; vague; uncertain (syn: cloudy, indistinct, obscure; ant: precise) |
Rakish | adj. dashingly stylish and confident (syn: dapper, jaunty; ant: slovenly, disheveled) |
Elegy | n. a sad or mournful poem (syn: dirge, lament) |
Pedantic | adj. tending to show off one's learning (syn: bookish) |
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