SAT Vocabulary PDF

B B balk (v.) to stop, block abruptly (Edna’s boss balked at her request for another raise.) ballad (n.) a love song (Greta’s boyfriend played her a ballad on the guitar during their walk through the dark woods.) banal (adj.) dull, commonplace (The client rejected our proposal because they fou...

B B balk (v.) to stop, block abruptly (Edna’s boss balked at her request for another raise.) ballad (n.) a love song (Greta’s boyfriend played her a ballad on the guitar during their walk through the dark woods.) banal (adj.) dull, commonplace (The client rejected our proposal because they found our presentation banal and unimpressive.) bane (n.) a burden (Advanced physics is the bane of many students’ academic lives.) bard (n.) a poet, often a singer as well (Shakespeare is often considered the greatest bard in the history of the English language.) bashful (adj.) shy, excessively timid (Frankie’s mother told him not to be bashful when he refused to attend the birthday party.) battery 1.(n.) a device that supplies power (Most cars run on a combination of power from a battery and gasoline.) 2. (n.)assault, beating (Her husband was accused of assault and battery after he attacked a man on the sidewalk.) beguile (v.) to trick, deceive (The thief beguiled his partners into surrendering all of their money to him.) behemoth (n.) something of tremendous power or size (The new aircraft carrier is among several behemoths that the Air Force has added to its fleet.) benevolent (adj.) marked by goodness or doing good (Police officers should be commended for their benevolent service to the community.) benign (adj.) favorable, not threatening, mild (We were all relieved to hear that the medical tests determined her tumor to be benign.) SAT Vocabulary bequeath (v.) to pass on, give (Jon’s father bequeathed his entire estate to his mother.) berate (v.) to scold vehemently (The angry boss berated his employees for failing to meet their deadline.) bereft (adj.) devoid of, without (His family was bereft of food and shelter following the tornado.) beseech (v.) to beg, plead, implore (The servant beseeched the king for food to feed his starving family.) bias (n.) a tendency, inclination, prejudice (The judge’s hidden bias against smokers led him to make an unfair decision.) 11  C bilk (v.) cheat, defraud (The lawyer discovered that this firm had bilked several clients out of thousands of dollars.) blandish (v.) to coax by using flattery (Rachel’s assistant tried to blandish her into accepting the deal.) blemish (n.) an imperfection, flaw (The dealer agreed to lower the price because of the many blemishes on the surface of the wooden furniture.) blight 1. (n.) a plague, disease (The potato blight destroyed the harvest and bankrupted many families.) 2. (n.) something that destroys hope (His bad morale is a blight upon this entire operation.) boisterous (adj.) loud and full of energy (The candidate won the vote after giving several boisterous speeches on television.) bombastic (adj.) excessively confident, pompous (The singer’s bombastic performance disgusted the crowd.) boon (n.) a gift or blessing (The good weather has been a boon for many businesses located near the beach.) bourgeois (n.) a middle-class person, capitalist (Many businessmen receive criticism for their bourgeois approach to life.) brazen (adj.) excessively bold, brash (Critics condemned the novelist’s brazen attempt to plagiarize Hemingway’s story.) 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 ships, threatening to capsize them.) 2. (n.) an arrangement of food set out on a table (Rather than sitting SAT Vocabulary 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 silverware before setting the table.) buttress 1. (v.) to support, hold up (The column buttresses the roof above the statue.) 2. (n.) something that offers support (The buttress supports the roof above the statues.) C cacophony (n.) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound (The elementary school orchestra created a cacophony at the recital.) 12  C cadence (n.) a rhythm, progression of sound (The pianist used the foot pedal to emphasize the cadence of the sonata.) cajole (v.) to urge, coax (Fred’s buddies cajoled him into attending the bachelor party.) calamity (n.) an event with disastrous consequences (The earthquake in San Francisco was a calamity worse than any other natural disaster in history.) calibrate (v.) to set, standardize (The mechanic calibrated the car’s transmission to make the motor run most efficiently.) callous (adj.) harsh, cold, unfeeling (The murderer’s callous lack of remorse shocked the jury.) calumny (n.) an attempt to spoil someone else’s reputation by spreading lies (The local official’s calumny ended up ruining his opponent’s prospect of winning the election.) camaraderie (n.) brotherhood, jovial unity (Camaraderie among employees usually leads to success in business.) candor (n.) honesty, frankness (We were surprised by the candor of the mayor’s speech because he is usually rather evasive.) canny (adj.) shrewd, careful (The canny runner hung at the back of the pack through much of the race to watch the other runners, and then sprinted past them at the end.) canvas 1. (n.) a piece of cloth on which an artist paints (Picasso liked to work on canvas rather than on bare cement.) 2. (v.) to cover, inspect (We canvassed the neighborhood looking for clues.) capacious (adj.) very spacious (The workers delighted in their new capacious office space.) SAT Vocabulary capitulate (v.) to surrender (The army finally capitulated after fighting a long costly battle.) capricious (adj.) subject to whim, fickle (The young girl’s capricious tendencies made it difficult for her to focus on achieving her goals.) captivate (v.) to get the attention of, hold (The fireworks captivated the young boy, who had never seen such things before.) carouse (v.) to party, celebrate (We caroused all night after getting married.) carp (v.) to annoy, pester (The husband divorced his wife after listening to her carping voice for decades.) 13  C catalog 1. (v.) to list, enter into a list (The judge cataloged the victim’s injuries before calculating how much money he would award.) 2. (n.) a list or collection (We received a catalog from J. Crew that displayed all of their new items.) catalyze (v.) to charge, inspire (The president’s speech catalyzed the nation and resuscitated the economy.) caucus (n.) a meeting usually held by people working toward the same goal (The ironworkers held a caucus to determine how much of a pay increase they would request.) caustic (adj.) bitter, biting, acidic (The politicians exchanged caustic insults for over an hour during the debate.) cavort (v.) to leap about, behave boisterously (The adults ate their dinners on the patio, while the children cavorted around the pool.) censure 1. (n.) harsh criticism (The frustrated teenager could not put up with anymore of her critical mother’s censure.) 2. (v.) to rebuke formally (The principal censured the head of the English Department for forcing students to learn esoteric vocabulary.) cerebral (adj.) related to the intellect (The books we read in this class are too cerebral— they don’t engage my emotions at all.) chaos (n.) absolute disorder (Mr. Thornton’s sudden departure for the lavatory plunged his classroom into chaos.) chastise (v.) to criticize severely (After being chastised by her peers for mimicking Britney Spears, Miranda dyed her hair black and affected a Gothic style.) cherish (v.) to feel or show affection toward something (She continued to cherish her SAT Vocabulary red plaid trousers, even though they had gone out of style and no longer fit her.) chide (v.) to voice disapproval (Lucy chided Russell for his vulgar habits and sloppy appearance.) choreography (n.) the arrangement of dances (The plot of the musical was banal, but the choreography was stunning.) chronicle 1. (n.) a written history (The library featured the newly updated chronicle of World War II.) 2. (v.) to write a history (Albert’s diary chronicled the day-to-day growth of his obsession with Cynthia.) chronological (adj.) arranged in order of time (Lionel carefully arranged the snapshots of his former girlfriends in chronological order, and then set fire to them.) 14  C circuitous (adj.) roundabout (The bus’s circuitous route took us through numerous outlying suburbs.) circumlocution (n.) indirect and wordy language (The professor’s habit of speaking in circumlocutions made it difficult to follow his lectures.) circumscribed (adj.) marked off, bounded (The children were permitted to play tag only within a carefully circumscribed area of the lawn.) circumspect (adj.) cautious (Though I promised Rachel’s father I would bring her home promptly by midnight, it would have been more circumspect not to have specified a time.) circumvent (v.) to get around (The school’s dress code forbidding navel-baring jeans was circumvented by the determined students, who were careful to cover up with long coats when administrators were nearby.) clairvoyant (adj.) able to perceive things that normal people cannot (Zelda’s uncanny ability to detect my lies was nothing short of clairvoyant.) clamor 1. (n.) loud noise (Each morning the birds outside my window make such a clamor that they wake me up.) 2. (v.)to loudly insist (Neville’s fans clamored for him to appear on stage, but he had passed out on the floor of his dressing room.) clandestine (adj.) secret (Announcing to her boyfriend that she was going to the gym, Sophie actually went to meet Joseph for a clandestine liaison.) cleave 1. (v.) to divide into parts (Following the scandalous disgrace of their leader, the entire political party cleaved into warring factions.) 2. (v.) to stick together firmly (After resolving their marital problems, Junior and Rosa cleaved to one another all the more tightly.) SAT Vocabulary clemency (n.) mercy (After he forgot their anniversary, Martin could only beg Maria for clemency.) clergy (n.) members of Christian holy orders (Though the villagers viewed the church rectory as quaint and charming, the clergy who lived there regarded it as a mildewy and dusty place that aggravated their allergies.) cloying (adj.) sickeningly sweet (Though Ronald was physically attractive, Maud found his constant compliments and solicitous remarks cloying.) coagulate (v.) to thicken, clot (The top layer of the pudding had coagulated into a thick skin.) 15  C coalesce (v.) to fuse into a whole (Gordon’s ensemble of thrift-shop garments coalesced into a surprisingly handsome outfit.) cobbler (n.) a person who makes or repairs shoes (I had my neighborhood cobbler replace my worn-out leather soles with new ones.) coerce (v.) to make somebody do something by force or threat (The court decided that Vanilla Ice did not have to honor the contract because he had been coerced into signing it.) cogent (adj.) intellectually convincing (Irene’s arguments in favor of abstinence were so cogent that I could not resist them.) cognizant (adj.) aware, mindful (Jake avoided speaking to women in bars because he was cognizant of the fact that drinking impairs his judgment.) coherent (adj.) logically consistent, intelligible (Renee could not figure out what Monroe had seen because he was too distraught to deliver a coherent statement.) collateral 1. (adj.) secondary (Divorcing my wife had the collateral effect of making me poor, as she was the only one of us with a job or money.) 2. (n.) security for a debt (Jacob left his watch as collateral for the $500 loan.) colloquial (adj.) characteristic of informal conversation (Adam’s essay on sexual response in primates was marked down because it contained too many colloquial expressions.) collusion (n.) secret agreement, conspiracy (The three law students worked in collusion to steal the final exam.) colossus (n.) a gigantic statue or thing (For 56 years, the ancient city of Rhodes featured a colossus standing astride its harbor.) SAT Vocabulary combustion (n.) the act or process of burning (The unexpected combustion of the prosecution’s evidence forced the judge to dismiss the case against Ramirez.) commendation (n.) a notice of approval or recognition (Jared received a commendation from Linda, his supervisor, for his stellar performance.) commensurate (adj.) corresponding in size or amount (Ahab selected a very long roll and proceeded to prepare a tuna salad sandwich commensurate with his enormous appetite.) commodious (adj.) roomy (Holden invited the three women to join him in the back seat of the taxicab, assuring them that the car was quite commodious.) 16  C compelling (adj.) forceful, demanding attention (Eliot’s speech was so compelling that Lenore accepted his proposal on the spot.) compensate (v.) to make an appropriate payment for something (Reginald bought Sharona a new dress to compensate her for the one he’d spilled his ice cream on.) complacency (n.) self-satisfied ignorance of danger (Colin tried to shock his friends out of their complacency by painting a frightening picture of what might happen to them.) complement (v.) to complete, make perfect (Ann’s scarf complements her blouse beautifully, making her seem fully dressed even though she isn’t wearing a coat.) compliant (adj.) ready to adapt oneself to another’s wishes (Sue had very strong opinions about what to do on a first date, and Ted was absolutely compliant.) complicit (adj.) being an accomplice in a wrongful act (By keeping her daughter’s affair a secret, Maddie became complicit in it.) compliment (n.) an expression of esteem or approval (I blushed crimson when Emma gave me a compliment on my new haircut.) compound 1. (v.) to combine parts (The difficulty of finding a fire escape amid the smoke was compounded with the dangers posed by the panicking crowds.) 2. (n.) a combination of different parts (My attraction to Donna was a compound of curiosity about the unknown, physical desire, and intellectual admiration.) 3. (n.) a walled area containing a group of buildings (When the fighting started, Joseph rushed into the family compound because it was safe and well defended.) comprehensive (adj.) including everything (She sent me a comprehensive list of the ingredients needed to cook rabbit soufflé.) SAT Vocabulary compress (v.) to apply pressure, squeeze together (Lynn compressed her lips into a frown.) compunction (n.) distress caused by feeling guilty (He felt compunction for the shabby way he’d treated her.) concede (v.) to accept as valid (Andrew had to concede that what his mother said about Diana made sense.) conciliatory (adj.) friendly, agreeable (I took Amanda’s invitation to dinner as a very conciliatory gesture.) 17  C concise (adj.) brief and direct in expression (Gordon did not like to waste time, and his instructions to Brenda were nothing if not concise.) concoct (v.) to fabricate, make up (She concocted the most ridiculous story to explain her absence.) concomitant (adj.) accompanying in a subordinate fashion (His dislike of hard work carried with it a concomitant lack of funds.) concord (n.) harmonious agreement (Julie and Harold began the evening with a disagreement, but ended it in a state of perfect concord.) condolence (n.) an expression of sympathy in sorrow (Brian lamely offered his condolences on the loss of his sister’s roommate’s cat.) condone (v.) to pardon, deliberately overlook (He refused to condone his brother’s crime.) conduit (n.) a pipe or channel through which something passes (The water flowed through the conduit into the container.) confection (n.) a sweet, fancy food (We went to the mall food court and purchased a delicious confection.) confidant (n.) a person entrusted with secrets (Shortly after we met, she became my chief confidant.) conflagration (n.) great fire (The conflagration consumed the entire building.) confluence (n.) a gathering together (A confluence of different factors made tonight the perfect night.) conformist (n.) one who behaves the same as others (Julian was such a conformist that SAT Vocabulary he had to wait and see if his friends would do something before he would commit.) confound (v.) to frustrate, confuse (MacGuyver confounded the policemen pursuing him by covering his tracks.) congeal (v.) to thicken into a solid (The sauce had congealed into a thick paste.) congenial (adj.) pleasantly agreeable (His congenial manner made him popular wherever he went.) congregation (n.) a gathering of people, especially for religious services (The priest told the congregation that he would be retiring.) congruity (n.) the quality of being in agreement (Bill and Veronica achieved a perfect congruity of opinion.) 18  C connive (v.) to plot, scheme (She connived to get me to give up my vacation plans.) consecrate (v.) to dedicate something to a holy purpose (Arvin consecrated his spare bedroom as a shrine to Christina.) consensus (n.) an agreement of opinion (The jury was able to reach a consensus only after days of deliberation.) consign (v.) to give something over to another’s care (Unwillingly, he consigned his mother to a nursing home.) consolation (n.) an act of comforting (Darren found Alexandra’s presence to be a consolation for his suffering.) consonant (adj.) in harmony (The singers’ consonant voices were beautiful.) constituent (n.) an essential part (The most important constituent of her perfume is something called ambergris.) constrain (v.)to forcibly restrict (His belief in nonviolence constrained him from taking revenge on his attackers.) construe (v.) to interpret (He construed her throwing his clothes out the window as a signal that she wanted him to leave.) consummate (v.) to complete a deal; to complete a marriage ceremony through sexual intercourse (Erica and Donald consummated their agreement in the executive boardroom.) consumption (n.) the act of consuming (Consumption of intoxicating beverages is not permitted on these premises.) contemporaneous (adj.) existing during the same time (Though her novels do not SAT Vocabulary feature the themes of Romanticism, Jane Austen’s work was contemporaneous with that of Wordsworth and Byron.) contentious (adj.) having a tendency to quarrel or dispute (George’s contentious personality made him unpopular with his classmates.) contravene (v.) to contradict, oppose, violate (Edwidge contravened his landlady’s rule against overnight guests.) contrite (adj.) penitent, eager to be forgiven (Blake’s contrite behavior made it impossible to stay angry at him.) contusion (n.) bruise, injury (The contusions on his face suggested he’d been in a fight.) 19  C conundrum (n.) puzzle, problem (Interpreting Jane’s behavior was a constant conundrum.) convene (v.) to call together (Jason convened his entire extended family for a discussion.) convention 1. (n.) an assembly of people (The hotel was full because of the cattle- ranchers’ convention.) 2. (n.) a rule, custom (The cattle-ranchers have a convention that you take off your boots before entering their houses.) convivial (adj.) characterized by feasting, drinking, merriment (The restaurant’s convivial atmosphere put me immediately at ease.) convoluted (adj.) intricate, complicated (Grace’s story was so convoluted that I couldn’t follow it.) copious (adj.) profuse, abundant (Copious amounts of Snapple were imbibed in the cafeteria.) cordial (adj.) warm, affectionate (His cordial greeting melted my anger at once.) coronation (n.) the act of crowning (The new king’s coronation occurred the day after his father’s death.) corpulence (adj.)extreme fatness (Henry’s corpulence did not make him any less attractive to his charming, svelte wife.) corroborate (v.) to support with evidence (Luke’s seemingly outrageous claim was corroborated by witnesses.) corrosive (adj.) having the tendency to erode or eat away (The effect of the chemical was highly corrosive.) SAT Vocabulary cosmopolitan (adj.) sophisticated, worldly (Lloyd’s education and upbringing were cosmopolitan, so he felt right at home among the powerful and learned.) counteract (v.) to neutralize, make ineffective (The antidote counteracted the effect of the poison.) coup 1. (n.) a brilliant, unexpected act (Alexander pulled off an amazing coup when he got a date with Cynthia by purposely getting hit by her car.) 2. (n.) the overthrow of a government and assumption of authority (In their coup attempt, the army officers stormed the Parliament and took all the legislators hostage.) covet (v.) to desire enviously (I coveted Moses’s house, wife, and car.) 20