ACT - SAT Vocab Words - F, G, H, L Flashcards
fabricate
(v.) to make up, invent (When I arrived an hour late to class, I fabricatedsome excuse about my car breaking down on the way to school.)
façade
(n.) the wall of a building (Meet me in front of the museum’s main façade.) 2. (n. a deceptive appearance or attitude (Despite my smiling façade, I am feeling melancholy.)
facile
(adj.) easy, requiring little effort (This game is so facilethat even a four-year- old can master it.) 2. (adj. superficial, achieved with minimal thought or care, insincere (The business was in such shambles that any solution seemed facileat best; nothing could really helpit in the long-run.)
fallacious
(adj.) incorrect, misleading (Emily offered me cigarettes on the fallacious assumption that I smoked.)
fastidious
(adj.) meticulous, demanding, having high and often unattainable standards (Mark is so fastidiousthat he is never able to finish a project because it always seems imperfect to him.)
fathom
(v.) to understand, comprehend (I cannot fathomwhy you like that crabby and mean-spirited neighbor of ours.)
fatuous
(adj.) silly, foolish (He considers himself a serious poet, but in truth, he only writes fatuouslimericks.)
fecund
(adj.) fruitful, fertile (The fecundtree bore enough apples to last us through the entire season.)
felicitous
(adj.) well suited, apt (While his comments were idiotic and rambling, mine were felicitousand helpful.) 2. (adj.) delightful, pleasing (I spent a felicitous afternoon visiting old friends.)
feral
(adj.) wild, savage (That beast looks so feralthat I would fear being alone with it.)
fervent
(adj.) ardent, passionate (The ferventprotestors chained themselves to the building and shouted all night long.)
fetid
(adj.) having a foul odor (I can tell from the fetidsmell in your refrigerator that your milk has spoiled.)
fetter
(v.) to chain, restrain (The dog was fetteredto the parking meter.)
fickle
(adj.) shifting in character, inconstant (In Greek dramas, the ficklegods help Achilles one day, and then harm him the next.)
fidelity
(n.) loyalty, devotion (Guard dogs are known for the great fidelitythey show toward their masters.)
figurative
(adj.) symbolic (Using figurativelanguage, Jane likened the storm to an angry bull.)
flabbergasted
(adj.) astounded (Whenever I read an Agatha Christie mystery novel, I am always flabbergastedwhen I learn the identity of the murderer.)
flaccid
(adj.) limp, not firm or strong (If a plant is not watered enough, its leaves become droopy and flaccid.)
flagrant
(adj.) offensive, egregious (The judge’s decision to set the man free simply because that man was his brother was a flagrantabuse of power.)
florid
(adj.) flowery, ornate (The writer’s floridprose belongs on a sentimental Hallmark card.)
flout
(v.) to disregard or disobey openly (I floutedthe school’s dress code by wearing a tie-dyed tank top and a pair of cut-off jeans.)
foil
(v.) to thwart, frustrate, defeat (Inspector Wilkens foiledthe thieves by locking them in the bank along with their stolen money.)
forage
(v.) to graze, rummage for food (When we got lost on our hiking trip, we foraged for berries and nuts in order to survive.)
forbearance
(n.) patience, restraint, toleration (The doctor showed great forbearancein calming down the angry patient who shouted insults at him.)
forestall
(v.) to prevent, thwart, delay (I forestalledthe cold I was getting by taking plenty of vitamin C pills and wearing a scarf.)
forlorn
(adj.) lonely, abandoned, hopeless (Even though I had the flu, my family decided to go skiing for the weekend and leave me home alone, feeling feverish and forlorn.)
forsake
(v.) to give up, renounce (My New Year’s resolution is to forsakesmoking and drinking.)
fortitude
(n.) strength, guts (Achilles’ fortitudein battle is legendary.)
fortuitous
(adj.) happening by chance, often lucky or fortunate (After looking for Manuel and not finding him at home, Harriet had a fortuitousencounter with him at the post office.)
forum
(n.) a medium for lecture or discussion (Some radio talk-shows provide a good forumfor political debate.)
foster
(v.) to stimulate, promote, encourage (To fostergood health in the city, the mayor started a “Get out and exercise!” campaign.)
fractious
(adj.) troublesome or irritable (Although the child insisted he wasn’t tired, his fractiousbehavior—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.)
fraught
(adj.) (usually used with “with”) filled or accompanied with (Her glances in his direction were fraughtwith meaning, though precisely what meaning remained unclear.)
frenetic
(adj.) frenzied, hectic, frantic (In the hours between night and morning, the freneticpace of city life slows to a lull.)
frivolous
(adj.) of little importance, trifling (Someday, all that anxiety about whether your zit will disappear before the prom will seem totally frivolous.)
frugal
(adj.) thrifty, economical (Richard is so frugalthat his diet consists almost exclusively of catfish and chicken liver—the two most inexpensive foods in the store.)
furtive
(adj.) secretive, sly (Jane’s placement of her drugs in her sock drawer was not as furtiveas she thought, as the sock drawer is the first place most parents look.)
garish
(adj.) gaudy, in bad taste (Mrs. Watson has poor taste and covers every object in her house with a garishgold lamé.)
garrulous
(adj.) talkative, wordy (Some talk show hosts are so garrulousthat their guests can’t get a word in edgewise.)
genial
(adj.) friendly, affable (Although he’s been known to behave like a real jerk, I would say that my brother is an overall genialguy.)
gluttony
(n.) overindulgence in food or drink (Ada’s fried chicken tastes so divine, I don’t know how anyone can call gluttonya sin.)
goad
(v.) to urge, spur, incite to action (Jim may think he’s not going to fight Billy, but Billy will goadJim on with insults until he throws a punch.)
gourmand
(n.) someone fond of eating and drinking (My parents, who used to eat little more than crackers and salad, have become real gourmandsin their old age.)
grandiloquence
(n.) lofty, pompous language (The student thought her grandiloquence would make her sound smart, but neither the class nor the teacher bought it.)
grandiose
(adj.) on a magnificent or exaggerated scale (Margaret planned a grandiose party, replete with elephants, trapeze artists, and clowns.)
gratuitous
(adj.) uncalled for, unwarranted (Every morning the guy at the donut shop gives me a gratuitoushelping of ketchup packets.)
gregarious
(adj.) drawn to the company of others, sociable (Well, if you’re not gregarious, I don’t know why you would want to go to a singles party!)
grievous
(adj.) injurious, hurtful; serious or grave in nature (Electrocuting the inmate without being sure of his guilt would be a truly grievousmistake.)
guile
(n.) deceitful, cunning, sly behavior (Because of his great guile, the politician was able to survive scandal after scandal.)
hackneyed
(adj.) unoriginal, trite (A girl can only hear “I love you” so many times before it begins to sound hackneyedand meaningless.)
hallowed
(adj.) revered, consecrated (In the hallowedcorridors of the cathedral, the disturbed professor felt himself to be at peace.)
hapless
(adj.) unlucky (My poor, haplessfamily never seems to pick a sunny week to go on vacation.)
harangue
(n.) a ranting speech (Everyone had heard the teacher’s harangueabout gum chewing in class before.) 2. (v.) to give such a speech (But this time the teacher haranguedthe class about the importance of brushing your teeth after chewing gum.)
hardy
(adj.) robust, capable of surviving through adverse conditions (I too would have expected the plants to be dead by mid-November, but apparently they’re very hardy.)
harrowing
(adj.) greatly distressing, vexing (The car crash was a harrowingexperience, but I have a feeling that the increase in my insurance premiums will be even more upsetting.)
haughty
(adj.) disdainfully proud (The superstar’s haughtydismissal of her costars will backfire on her someday.)
hedonist
(n.) one who believes pleasure should be the primary pursuit of humans (Because he’s such a hedonist, I knew Murray would appreciate the 11 cases of wine I bought him for his birthday.)
hegemony
(n.) domination over others (Britain’s hegemonyover its colonies was threatened once nationalist sentiment began to spread around the world.)
heinous
(adj.) shockingly wicked, repugnant (The killings were made all the more heinousby the fact that the murderer first tortured his victims for three days.)
heterogeneous
(adj.) varied, diverse in character (I hate having only one flavor so I always buy the swirled, or should I say heterogeneous, type of ice cream.)
hiatus
(n.) a break or gap in duration or continuity (The hiatusin service should last two or three months—until the cable lines are repaired .)
hierarchy
(n.) a system with ranked groups, usually according to social, economic, or professional class (Women found it very difficult to break into the upper ranks of the department’s hierarchy.)
hypocrisy
(n.) pretending to believe what one does not (Once the politician began passing legislation that contradicted his campaign promises, his hypocrisybecame apparent.)
hypothetical
(adj.) supposed or assumed true, but unproven (Even though it has been celebrated by seven major newspapers, that the drug will be a success when tested in humans is still hypothetical.)
laceration
(n.) a cut, tear (Because he fell off his bike into a rosebush, the paperboy’s skin was covered with lacerations.)
laconic
(adj.) terse in speech or writing (The author’s laconicstyle has won him many followers who dislike wordiness.)
languid
(adj.) sluggish from fatigue or weakness (In the summer months, the great heat makes people languidand lazy.)
larceny
(n.) obtaining another’s property by theft or trickery (When my car was not where I had left it, I realized that I was a victim of larceny.)
largess
(n.) the generous giving of lavish gifts (My boss demonstrated great largessby giving me a new car.)
latent
(adj.) hidden, but capable of being exposed (Sigmund’s dream represented his latentparanoid obsession with other people’s shoes.)
laudatory
(adj.) expressing admiration or praise (Such laudatorycomments are unusual from someone who is usually so reserved in his opinions.)
lavish
(adj.) given without limits (Because they had worked very hard, the performers appreciated the critic’s lavishpraise.) 2. (v.) to give without limits (Because the performers had worked hard, they deserved the praise that the critic lavishedon them.)
legerdemain
(n.) deception, slight-of-hand (Smuggling the French plants through customs by claiming that they were fake was a remarkable bit of legerdemain.)
lenient
(adj.) demonstrating tolerance or gentleness (Because Professor Oglethorpe allowed his students to choose their final grades, the other teachers believed that he was excessively lenient.)
lethargic
(adj.) in a state of sluggishness or apathy (When Jean Claude explained to his boss that he was lethargicand didn’t feel like working that day, the boss fired him.)
liability
(n.) something for which one is legally responsible, usually involving a disadvantage or risk (The bungee-jumping tower was a great liabilityfor the owners of the carnival.) 2. (n.) a handicap, burden (Because she often lost her concentration and didn’t play defense, Marcy was a liabilityto the team.)
libertarian
(adj.) advocating principles of liberty and free will (The dissatisfied subjects overthrew the monarch and replaced him with a libertarianruler who respected their democratic principles.)
licentious
(adj.) displaying a lack of moral or legal restraints (Marilee has always been fascinated by the licentiousprivate lives of politicians.)
limpid
(adj.) clear, transparent (Mr. Johnson’s limpidwriting style greatly pleased readers who disliked complicated novels.)
linchpin
(n.) something that holds separate parts together (The linchpinin the prosecution’s case was the hair from the defendant’s head, which was found at the scene of the crime.)
lithe
(adj.) graceful, flexible, supple (Although the dancers were all outstanding, Jae Sun’s control of her lithebody was particularly impressive.)
litigant
(n.) someone engaged in a lawsuit (When the litigantsbegan screaming at each other, Judge Koch ordered them to be silent.)
lucid
(adj.) clear, easily understandable (Because Guenevere’s essay was so lucid, I only had to read it once to understand her reasoning.)
luminous
(adj.) brightly shining (The light of the luminousmoon graced the shoulders of the beautiful maiden.)
lurid
(adj.) ghastly, sensational (Gideon’s story, in which he described a character torturing his sister’s dolls, was judged too luridto be printed in the school’s literary magazine.)
