Vocabulary Power Plus for the New SAT Book III — Unit #9
About this set
Created by:
EdwardsBFHS on September 16, 2011
Subjects:
battlefield high school ap language & composition 11
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135 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 |
| Adroit | adj. skillful; clever; dexterous; apt (ant: clumsy; awkward) |
| Macroscopic | adj. visible to the naked eye (ant: microscopic) |
| Fatuous | adj. foolish; inane; silly (ant: sensible, wise) |
| Bovine | adj. pertaining to cows or cattle |
| Ferret | v. to search or drive out |
| Affectation | n. a phony attitude; pose (syn: insincerity, sham; ant: sincerity; genuiness) |
| Knell | n. a sound made by a bell, often rung slowly for a death or funeral |
| Dichotomy | n. a division into two parts |
| Callow | adj. young and inexperienced (syn: immature; ant: mature, sophisticated) |
| Laconic | adj. using few words; short; concise (syn: pithy, taciturn; ant: verbose, loquacious) |
| Quiddity | n. an essential quality; essence |
| Patent | adj. evident or obvious (syn: indisputable, apparent) |
| Peccadillo | n. a minor offense; a misdeed |
| Sagacious | adj. wise; having keen perception and sound judgement (syn: shrewd, intelligent; ant: obtuse, fatuous) |
| Rationalize | v. to make an excuse for; to justify |
| 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) |
| Antipathy | n. an intense dislike (syn: aversion; ant: affinity) |
| Elucidate | v. to make clear (syn: explain, clarify; ant: obscure) |
| Imminent | adj. likely to happen (syn: impending, approaching; ant: distant, delayed) |
| Banal | adj. common, ordinary (syn: trivial, inspired; ant: original, fresh) |
| Obdurate | adj. stubborn, hardhearted (syn: inflexible, obstinate; ant: compliant, amenable) |
| Peruse | v. to read carefully, scrutinize |
| Bedlam | n. a noisy uproar; a scene of wild confusion (syn: mayhem, chaos) |
| Affluence | n. wealth, richness, fortune |
| Scurrilous | coarsely abusive; vulgar, indecent (ant: respectable) |
| Parody | n. a word which imitates another in a ridiculous manner (syn: caricature, burlesque, lampoon) |
| Sedulous | adj. hard working, diligent (syn: studious, assiduous; ant: lazy, lax) |
| Onerous | adj. burdensome; heavy; hard to endure (syn: crushing, distressing) |
| Amoral | adj. lacking a sense of right and wrong (syn: corrupt, evil; ant: innocent, virtuous) |
| Eschew | v. to keep away from; to avoid; to shun (ant: embrace, welcome) |
| Denouement | n. an outcome; result; conclusion |
| deride | to ridicule; to mock |
| censure | to criticize sharply |
| gambol | to frolic; to romp about playfully |
| immolate | to kill someone as a sacrificial victim, usually by fire |
| recondite | difficult to understand; profound |
| martinet | a strict disciplinarian; taskmaster |
| quagmire | a swamp; a difficult or inextricable situation |
| gibe | to scoff, to ridicule |
| agape | open-mouthed, surprised, agog |
| carcinogen | causing cancer |
| olfactory | pertaining to smell |
| imperious | domineering; haughty |
| grotesque | absurd; distorted |
| neologism | a new word or expression |
| hackneyed | commonplace; overused |
| machination | an evil design or plan |
| pejorative | having a negative effect; insulting |
| harbinger | an omen or sign |
| nubile | suitable for marriage in age and physical development, referring to a female |
| sapient | wise; full of knowledge |
| chimerical | imaginary; fantastic |
| masochist | one who enjoys his or her own pain and suffering |
| finesse | diplomacy; tact; artful management |
| heterogeneous | different; dissimilar |
| eclectic | choosing from various sources |
| grandiose | impressive; showy; magnificent |
| raiment | clothing; garments |
| blanch | to whiten; to make pale |
| hybrid | anything of mixed origin |
| idiosyncrasy | a peculiar personality trait |
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