Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

ACT/SAT Vocab Words > ACT - SAT Vocab Words - B, E > Flashcards

ACT - SAT Vocab Words - B, E Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
SAT® Prep flashcards
1
Q

balk

A

(v.) to stop, block abruptly (Edna’s boss balkedat her request for another raise.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

ballad

A

(n.) a love song (Greta’s boyfriend played her a balladon the guitar during their walk through the dark woods.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

banal

A

(adj.) dull, commonplace (The client rejected our proposal because they found our presentation banaland unimpressive.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

bane

A

(n.) a burden (Advanced physics is the baneof many students’ academic lives.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

bard

A

(n.) a poet, often a singer as well (Shakespeare is often considered the greatest bard in the history of the English language.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

bashful

A

(adj.) shy, excessively timid (Frankie’s mother told him not to be bashfulwhen he refused to attend the birthday party.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

battery

A

(n.) a device that supplies power (Most cars run on a combination of power from a batteryand gasoline.) 2. (n.)assault, beating (Her husband was accused of assault and batteryafter he attacked a man on the sidewalk.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

beguile

A

(v.) to trick, deceive (The thief beguiledhis partners into surrendering all of their money to him.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

behemoth

A

(n.) something of tremendous power or size (The new aircraft carrier is among several behemothsthat the Air Force has added to its fleet.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

benevolent

A

(adj.) marked by goodness or doing good (Police officers should be commended for their benevolentservice to the community.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

benign

A

(adj.) favorable, not threatening, mild (We were all relieved to hear that the medical tests determined her tumor to be benign.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

bequeath

A

(v.) to pass on, give (Jon’s father bequeathedhis entire estate to his mother.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

berate

A

(v.) to scold vehemently (The angry boss beratedhis employees for failing to meet their deadline.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

bereft

A

(adj.) devoid of, without (His family was bereftof food and shelter following the tornado.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

beseech

A

(v.) to beg, plead, implore (The servant beseechedthe king for food to feed his starving family.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

bias

A

(n.) a tendency, inclination, prejudice (The judge’s hidden biasagainst smokers led him to make an unfair decision.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

bilk

A

(v.) cheat, defraud (The lawyer discovered that this firm had bilkedseveral clients out of thousands of dollars.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

blandish

A

(v.) to coax by using flattery (Rachel’s assistant tried to blandishher into accepting the deal.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

blemish

A

(n.) an imperfection, flaw (The dealer agreed to lower the price because of the many blemisheson the surface of the wooden furniture.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

blight

A

(n.) a plague, disease (The potato blightdestroyed the harvest and bankrupted many families.) 2. (n.) something that destroys hope (His bad morale is a blight upon this entire operation.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

boisterous

A

(adj.) loud and full of energy (The candidate won the vote after giving several boisterousspeeches on television.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

bombastic

A

(adj.) excessively confident, pompous (The singer’s bombasticperformance disgusted the crowd.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

boon

A

(n.) a gift or blessing (The good weather has been a boonfor many businesses located near the beach.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

bourgeois

A

(n.) a middle-class person, capitalist (Many businessmen receive criticism for their bourgeoisapproach to life.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

brazen

A

(adj.) excessively bold, brash (Critics condemned the novelist’s brazenattempt to plagiarize Hemingway’s story.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

brusque

A

(adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (The captain’s brusquemanner offended the passengers.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

buffet

A

(v.) to strike with force (The strong winds buffetedthe ships, 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 buffetand ate standing up.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

burnish

A

(v.) to polish, shine (His mother asked him to burnishthe silverware before setting the table.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

buttress

A

(v.) to support, hold up (The column buttressesthe roof above the statue.) 2. (n.) something that offers support (The buttresssupports the roof above the statues.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

ebullient

A

(adj.) extremely lively, enthusiastic (She became ebullientupon receiving an acceptance letter from her first-choice college.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

eclectic

A

(adj.) consisting of a diverse variety of elements (That bar attracts an eclectic crowd: lawyers, artists, circus clowns, and investment bankers.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

ecstatic

A

(adj.) intensely and overpoweringly happy (The couple was ecstaticwhen theylearned that they had won the lottery.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

edict

A

(n.) an order, decree (The ruler issued an edictrequiring all of his subjects to bow down before him.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

efface

A

(v.) to wipe out, obliterate, rub away (The husband was so angry at his wife for leaving him that he effacedall evidence of her presence; he threw out pictures of her and gave away all her belongings.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

effervescent

A

(adj.) bubbly, lively (My friend is so effervescentthat she makes everyone smile.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

efficacious

A

(adj.) effective (My doctor promised me that the cold medicine was efficacious, but I’m still sniffling.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

effrontery

A

(n.) impudence, nerve, insolence (When I told my aunt that she was boring, my mother scolded me for my effrontery.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

effulgent

A

(adj.) radiant, splendorous (The golden palace was effulgent.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

egregious

A

(adj.) extremely bad (The student who threw sloppy joes across the cafeteria was punished for his egregiousbehavior.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

elaborate

A

(adj.) complex, detailed, intricate (Dan always beats me at chess because he develops such an elaborategame plan that I can never predict his next move.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

elated

A

(adj.) overjoyed, thrilled (When she found out she had won the lottery, the writer was elated.)

42
Q

elegy

A

(n.) a speech given in honor of a dead person (At the funeral, the widow gave a moving elegydescribing her love for her husband.)

43
Q

elicit

A

(v.) to bring forth, draw out, evoke (Although I asked several times where the exit was, I elicitedno response from the stone-faced policeman.)

44
Q

eloquent

A

(adj.) expressive, articulate, moving (The priest gave such an eloquentsermon that most churchgoers were crying.)

45
Q

elucidate

A

(v.) to clarify, explain (I didn’t understand why my friend was so angry with me, so I asked Janine to elucidateher feelings.)

46
Q

elude

A

(v.) to evade, escape (Despite an intense search, the robber continues to eludethe police.)

47
Q

emaciated

A

(adj.) very thin, enfeebled looking (My sister eats a lot of pastries and chocolate but still looks emaciated.)

48
Q

embellish

A

(v.) to decorate, adorn (My mom embellishedthe living room by adding lace curtains.) 2. (v.)to add details to, enhance (When Harry told me that he had “done stuff” on his vacation, I asked him to embellishupon his account.)

49
Q

embezzle

A

(v.) to steal money by falsifying records (The accountant was fired for embezzling$10,000 of the company’s funds.)

50
Q

emend

A

(v.) to correct or revise a written text (If my sentence is incorrect, the editor will emendwhat I have written.)

51
Q

eminent

A

(adj.) distinguished, prominent, famous (Mr. Phillips is such an eminent scholar that every professor on campus has come to hear him lecture.) 2. (adj. conspicuous (There is an eminentstain on that shirt.)

52
Q

emollient

A

(adj.) soothing (This emollientcream makes my skin very smooth.)

53
Q

emote

A

(v.) to express emotion (The director told the actor he had to emote, or else the audience would have no idea what his character was going through.)

54
Q

empathy

A

(n.) sensitivity to another’s feelings as if they were one’s own (I feel such empathyfor my sister when she’s in pain that I cry too.)

55
Q

empirical

A

(adj.) based on observation or experience (The scientist gathered empirical data on the growth rate of dandelions by studying the dandelions behind his house.) 2. (adj. capable of being proved or disproved by experiment (That all cats hate getting wet is an empiricalstatement: I can test it by bathing my cat, Trinket.)

56
Q

emulate

A

(v.) to imitate (I idolize Britney Spears so much that I emulateeverything she does: I wear her outfits, sing along to her songs, and date a boy named Justin.)

57
Q

enamor

A

(v.) to fill with love, fascinate, usually used in passive form followed by “of” or “with” (I grew enamoredof that boy when he quoted my favorite love poem.)

58
Q

encore

A

(n.) the audience’s demand for a repeat performance; also the artist’s performance in response to that demand (At the end of the concert, all the fans yelled, “Encore! Encore!” but the band did not come out to play again.)

59
Q

encumber

A

(v.) to weigh down, burden (At the airport, my friend was encumberedby her luggage, so I offered to carry two of her bags.)

60
Q

enervate

A

(v.) to weaken, exhaust (Writing these sentences enervatesme so much that I will have to take a nap after I finish.)

61
Q

enfranchise

A

(v.) to grant the vote to (The Nineteenth Amendment enfranchised women.)

62
Q

engender

A

(v.) to bring about, create, generate (During the Olympics, the victories of U.S. athletes engendera patriotic spirit among Americans.)

63
Q

enigmatic

A

(adj.) mystifying, cryptic (That man wearing the dark suit and dark glasses is so enigmaticthat no one even knows his name.)

64
Q

enmity

A

(n.) ill will, hatred, hostility (Mark and Andy have clearly not forgiven each other, because the enmitybetween them is obvious to anyone in their presence.)

65
Q

ennui

A

(n.) boredom, weariness (I feel such ennuithat I don’t look forward to anything, not even my birthday party.)

66
Q

entail

A

(v.) to include as a necessary step (Building a new fence entailstearing down the old one.)

67
Q

enthrall

A

(v.) to charm, hold spellbound (The sailor’s stories of fighting off sharks and finding ancient treasures enthralledhis young son.)

68
Q

ephemeral

A

(adj.) short-lived, fleeting (She promised she’d love me forever, but her “forever” was only ephemeral: she left me after one week.)

69
Q

epistolary

A

(adj.) relating to or contained in letters (Some people call me “Auntie’s boy,” because my aunt and I have such a close epistolaryrelationship that we write each other every day.)

70
Q

epitome

A

(n.) a perfect example, embodiment (My mother, the epitomeof good taste, always dresses more elegantly than I do.)

71
Q

equanimity

A

(n.) composure (Even though he had just been fired, Mr. Simms showed great equanimityby neatly packing up his desk and wishing everyone in the office well.)

72
Q

equivocal

A

(adj.) ambiguous, uncertain, undecided (His intentions were so equivocal that I didn’t know whether he was being chivalrous or sleazy.)

73
Q

erudite

A

(adj.) learned (My Latin teacher is such an eruditescholar that he has translated some of the most difficult and abstruse ancient poetry.)

74
Q

eschew

A

(v.) to shun, avoid (George hates the color green so much that he eschewsall green food.)

75
Q

esoteric

A

(adj.) understood by only a select few (Even the most advanced students cannot understand the physicist’s esoterictheories.)

76
Q

espouse

A

(v.) to take up as a cause, support (I love animals so much that I espouseanimal rights.)

77
Q

ethereal

A

(adj.) heavenly, exceptionally delicate or refined (In her flowing silk gown and lace veil, the bride looked ethereal.)

78
Q

etymology

A

(n.) the history of words, their origin and development (From the study of etymology, I know that the word “quixotic” derives from Don Quixote and the word “gaudy” refers to the Spanish architect Gaudí.)

79
Q

euphoric

A

(adj.) elated, uplifted (I was euphoricwhen I found out that my sister had given birth to twins.)

80
Q

evanescent

A

(adj.) fleeting, momentary (My joy at getting promoted was evanescent because I discovered that I would have to work much longer hours in a less friendly office.)

81
Q

evince

A

(v.) to show, reveal (Christopher’s hand-wringing and nail-biting evincehow nervous he is about the upcoming English test.)

82
Q

exacerbate

A

(v.) to make more violent, intense (The gruesome and scary movie I saw last night exacerbatedmy fears of the dark.)

83
Q

exalt

A

(v.) to glorify, praise (Michael Jordan is the figure in basketball we exaltthe most.)

84
Q

exasperate

A

(v.) to irritate, irk (George’s endless complaints exasperatedhis roomate.)

85
Q

excavate

A

(v.) to dig out of the ground and remove (The pharaoh’s treasures were excavatedby archeologists in Egypt.)

86
Q

exculpate

A

(v.) to free from guilt or blame, exonerate (My discovery of the ring behind the dresser exculpatedme from the charge of having stolen it.)

87
Q

excursion

A

(n.) a trip or outing (After taking an excursionto the Bronx Zoo, I dreamed about pandas and monkeys.)

88
Q

execrable

A

(adj.) loathsome, detestable (Her pudding is so execrablethat it makes me sick.)

89
Q

exhort

A

(v.) to urge, prod, spur (Henry exhortedhis colleagues to join him in protesting against the university’s hiring policies.)

90
Q

exigent

A

(adj.) urgent, critical (The patient has an exigentneed for medication, or else he will lose his sight.)

91
Q

exonerate

A

(v.) to free from guilt or blame, exculpate (The true thief’s confession exoneratedthe man who had been held in custody for the crime.)

92
Q

exorbitant

A

(adj.) excessive (Her exorbitantpraise made me blush and squirm in my seat.)

93
Q

expedient

A

(adj.) advisable, advantageous, serving one’s self-interest (In his bid for reelection, the governor made an expedientmove by tabling all controversial legislation.)

94
Q

expiate

A

(v.) to make amends for, atone (To expiatemy selfishness, I gave all my profits to charity.)

95
Q

expunge

A

(v.) to obliterate, eradicate (Fearful of an IRS investigation, Paul tried to expungeall incriminating evidence from his tax files.)

96
Q

expurgate

A

(v.) to remove offensive or incorrect parts, usually of a book (The history editors expurgatedfrom the text all disparaging and inflammatory comments about the Republican Party.)

97
Q

extant

A

(adj.) existing, not destroyed or lost (My mother’s extantlove letters to my father are in the attic trunk.)

98
Q

extol

A

(v.) to praise, revere (Violet extolledthe virtues of a vegetarian diet to her meat- loving brother.)

99
Q

extraneous

A

(adj.) irrelevant, extra, not necessary (Personal political ambitions should always remain extraneousto legislative policy, but, unfortunately, they rarely are.)

100
Q

extricate

A

(v.) to disentangle (Instead of trying to mediate between my brother and sister, I extricatedmyself from the family tension entirely and left the house for the day.)

101
Q

exult

A

(v.) to rejoice (When she found out she won the literature prize, Mary exultedby dancing and singing through the school’s halls.)

ACT/SAT Vocab Words (10 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions