Chapter 4: Every SAT Word Has A History (131-155)

Question 1

draconian

Answer 1

characterized by very strict laws, rules, and punishments

Question 2

laconic

Answer 2

very brief, concise

Question 3

spartan

Answer 3

plain, simple, strict

Question 4

halcyon

Answer 4

calm and peaceful, an untroubled time of satisfaction, happiness, and peace

Question 5

sophistry

Answer 5

a plausible but deliberately misleading argument designed to deceive someone

Question 6

chimerical

Answer 6

existing only in the imagination, impossible, unrealistic

Question 7

ostracize

Answer 7

to deliberately exclude from a group

Question 8

impecunious

Answer 8

poor

Question 9

nefarious

Answer 9

famous for being wicked, unpleasant

Question 10

jovial

Answer 10

good humored, cheerful

Question 11

dirge

Answer 11

a funeral hymn, a slow, sad musical composition

Question 12

mauldlin

Answer 12

tearful, excessively sentimental

Question 13

sentimental

Answer 13

feeling rather than reason or thought, emotional

Question 14

quixotic

Answer 14

impractical in the pursuit of ideals

Question 15

pandemonium

Answer 15

a wild uproar

Question 16

martinet

Answer 16

a person who demands strict adherence to rules

Question 17

fiasco

Answer 17

a complete failure

Question 18

bowdlerize

Answer 18

to remove or delete parts of a work that are considered offensive

Question 19

galvanize

Answer 19

to electrify, to stir into action

Question 20

picayune

Answer 20

small value or importance

Question 21

gerrymander

Answer 21

to divide an area up into voting districts to give an unfair advantage to one party in elections

Question 22

maverick

Answer 22

an independent person who does not go along with a group or party; a nonconformist

Question 23

juggernaut

Answer 23

an irresistible force that crushes everything in its path

Question 24

zenith

Answer 24

the highest point, the peak, the apex

Question 25

nadir

Answer 25

the lowest point, the bottom

Question 26

serendipity

Answer 26

discovery by fortunate accident