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SAT > Direct Hits Core Vocabulary 1 > Flashcards

Direct Hits Core Vocabulary 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

Ambivalent

A

having mixed or opposing feelings at the same time

ambi - both

Thor’s ambivalence about working with the Avengers comes from the fact that he is conflicted (uncertain, torn) about fighting his brother Loki.

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1
Q

Anomaly

A

deviation from the norm or what is expected

an - not/without

In the show The Big Bang Theory, Penny the waitress at the Cheesefactory is the anomaly in the group.

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1
Q

Affable, Amiable, Genial, Gregarious

\ˈjē-nē-əl\

A

agreeable; marked by a pleasing personality; warm and friendly

ami - friend

President Ronald Reagan was renowned for his affable grace and good humor.

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1
Q

Altruism

\ˈal-trü-ˌi-zəm\

A

unselfish concern for the welfare of others

Ghandi, MLK, and Mother Teresa are all people who exemplify altruism through their belief in the basic rights of all people regardless of race, creed, or social standing, and through their service and sacrifices for others.

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1
Q

Ambiguity

A

the quality or state of having more than one possible meaning; doubtful; equivocal (to use ambigous expressions, to mislead)

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1
Q

Ambiguous

A

unclear; uncertain; open to more than one interpretation; not definitive; dubious

The final scene in the movie Inception is deliberately ambigous.

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1
Q

Anachronism

\ə-ˈna-krə-ˌni-zəm\

A

the false assignment of an event, person, scene, or language to a time when the event, person, scene, or word did not exist

chrono - time

Many modern movies have many anachronisms such as a contemprary gas tank in the movie Gladiator.

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1
Q

Antithesis

A

the direct or exact opposite; extreme contrast; antipode

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1
Q

Antithetical

A

exactly opposite; antipodal (entirely opposed)

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1
Q

Aloof

A

detached; distant physically or emotionally; reserved ; standing near but apart

The aloof couple rarely speaks to each other even though they live together in their home.

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1
Q

Antecedent

\ˌan-tə-ˈsē-dənt\

A

a preceding event; a forerunner; a precursor

ante - before

Pocahontas serves as an antecedent for Avatar’s Neytiri.

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1
Q

Aesthetic

A

relating to the nature of beauty, art, and taste; having a sense of what is beautiful, attractive, or pleasing

It is not aesthetically pleasing if a character introduced at the very end solves a novel or play’s conflict.

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1
Q

Aquiesce

\ˌa-kwē-ˈes\

A

to comply; to agree; to give in

They demanded it, and he acquiesced.

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1
Q

Astute

A

perceptive, shrewd

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1
Q

Amity

A

friendship, harmony

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1
Q

Amicable

A

peaceable, harmonious

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1
Q

Abject

A

1. humble 2. hopeless 3. low state/condition

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1
Q

Antipode/ Antipodal

A

geograpy/botany term; exact opposite

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1
Q

Antediluvian

A

before Biblical flood, a hyperbolic word describing something extremely

ante - before

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1
Q

Antedate

A

to precede in time

ante - before

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1
Q

Anterior

A

before in time and place

ante - before

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1
Q

arrays for battle

A

Marshals

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1
Q

ambi

A

both

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1
Q

ami

A

friend

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1
Q

ante

A

before

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2
Q

Audacious

A

fearlessly, often recklessly daring; very bold

Japanese Yamamoto audaciously ordered the Japanese Air Fleet to launch a suprise attack on the American Air Fleet in Pearl Harbor.

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3
Q

Auspicious, Propitious

\ȯ-ˈspi-shəs\, \prə-ˈpi-shəs\

A

very favorable

The student’s career seemed auspicious due to his acceptance to a prestigious university. His acceptance must have been propitious because he was later able to gain a job through his university’s alumni network.

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4
Q

Austere

A

having no adornment or ornamentation; bare; not ornate

The Parthenon’s austere columns conveyed strength and simplicity because they lacked ornamentation.

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5
Q

Austerity

A

great self-denial, extreme economy, discipline; lack of adornment

Mondern Greeks vigorously oppose new austerity meaures that raise taxes and cut social welfare programs which provoked mass protests.

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5
Q

Autonomy

A

independence; self-governance

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5
Q

Autonomous

A

acting independently or having the freedom to do so; not controlled by others; self-governing

auto - self

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5
Q

Avocation

A
  • a second calling, a hobby*
  • voc, vok - call*
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7
Q

Bane

A

a source of harm and ruin

The poaching of whalesand dolphins across the world and climate change will be the bane their existence.

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10
Q

Belie

\bi-ˈlī\

A

to contradict; to prove false; used of appearances that are misrepresentative

The girl’s unusual behavior belies an incredible ability to quickly memorize new things.

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11
Q

Bolstered

A

reinforced

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12
Q

Boon

A

a timely benefit; blessing

The couple’s generous donation was a great boon to the charity’s campaign fundraiser.

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15
Q

Chronic

A

continuing for a long time

chrono - time

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16
Q

Chronicle/ Chronicler

A

a record of events in order of time/ a historian, an a chronicler of events

chrono - time

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17
Q

chrono

A

time

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18
Q

Chronology

A

the science of recording events by date

chrono - time

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19
Q

Clandestine, Surreptitious

\ˌsər-əp-ˈti-shəs\

A

secret; covert; not open; not aboveboard

Men in Black, S.H.I.E.L.D, and Dumbeldore’s Army are all clandestine groups that conduct surreptitious activities.

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21
Q

Conjecture

A

an inference based upon guesswork; a supposition (act of supposing)

There are several conjectures on the creation of the universe one notably called The Big Bang Theory.

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22
Q

Convocation

A
  • a calling together, a gathering*
  • voc, vok - call*
24
Q

Covet

A

to strongly desire; to crave

Lord Voldemort covets the Elder Wand.

25
Q

Covetous

\ˈkə-və-təs\

A

grasping, greedy, eager to obtain something; avaricious (greedy of gain)

Most villains are covetous of an object or control.

26
Q

Dearth, Paucity

A

a scarcity or shortage of something

Critics and moviegoers alike have observed that there is an overall dearth of respect for animated features in the Academy Awards.

27
Q

dem, demo

A

the people

28
Q

Diffident, Self-Effacing

\ˈdi-fə-dənt\

A

hesitant due to a lack of self-confidence; unassertive; shy; retiring

The student was diffident about stating her opinions in the class.

28
Q

Disaffected

A

disconnected

28
Q

Anteroom

A

a waiting room outside a larger room

ante - room

29
Q

disconnected

A

Disaffected

31
Q

Elated

A

very happy

32
Q

Enigmatic, Inscrutable

A

mysterious; puzzling; unfathomable; baffling

Harry Potter’s professor Snape is enigmatic and his loyalties remain inscrutable until the final chapters of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

33
Q

Enrthalled

A

fascinated

34
Q

Epidemic

A

a rapid spread of a contagious disease or other negative condition

dem, demo - the people

36
Q

Equivocate

A

to use ambigous expressions, to mislead

voc, vok - call

37
Q

Evocation

\ˌē-vō-ˈkā-shən\

A

an imaginative re-creation of something; a calling forth

voc, vok - call

The movie Titanic is a remarkable evocation of what it was liek to be a passenger on the great, but doomed ship.

40
Q

Fortitude

A

strength of mind that allows one to endure pain or adversity with courage

forc, fort - strong

Rosa Parks illustrates the principle that fortitude is needed to achieve difficult goals.

40
Q

Fathom

A

understand

42
Q

Futile

A

completely useless; doomed to failure in vain

43
Q

Gaffe

\ˈgaf\

A

a blunder; a faux pas (\fō-ˌpä*; a clumsy social or diplomatic error*

The politican’s gaffe was highly controversial in the visiting country.

46
Q

Hobbled

A

hampered

47
Q

Homage

A

tribute

50
Q

Impasse

\ˈim-ˌpas\

A

a deadlock; stalemate; failure to reach an agreement

At the end of the Hunger Games, Peeta and Katnis faced an impasse with the gamemakers as they threatened to commmit suicide.

51
Q

Implausible

A

unbelievable, incredible

52
Q

Indifferent, Apathetic

A

marked by a lack of interest or concern; nonchalant

The teacher’s indifferent students ignore his monotone lecture on economics.

53
Q

Indigenous, Endemic

A

native to an area

dem, demo - the people

Divorce has become so endemic in our society that a whole lore has risen up around it: that divorce is a temporary crisis.

54
Q

Invoke

A

to call upon

Epic poems often begin with an Invocation of the Muse, or goddess of artisitc inspiration.

voc, vok - call

55
Q

Irrevocable

A

incapable of being recalled or altered

voc, vok - call

57
Q

Marshals

A

arrays for battle

58
Q

Meticulous, Painstaking, Fastidious

A

extremely careful; very exacting

*Fastidious: takes meticulous to the next level of exacting and overparticular

A new car owners is usually fastidious about keeping their cars spotless.

60
Q

Mitigate, Mollify, Assuage, Alleviate

\ˈmä-lə-ˌfī\, \ə-ˈswāj\

A

to relieve; to lessen; to ease

All attempts to mollify the extremists had failed.

61
Q

Dystopia

A

an imaginery society characterized by oppression and human misery

62
Q

Myopic

A

shortsighted, lacking foresight

64
Q

Naïve, Gullible

A

unaffectedly simple; lacking worldly expertise; overly credulous; unsophisticated; immature; inexperienced; ingenuous (child-like simplicity)

65
Q

Nostalgia

A

a wistful, sentimental longing for a place or time in the past

A wave of nostalgia swept over me when I saw my childhood home.

66
Q

Obsolete, Archaic, Antiquated

A

no longer in use; outmoded in design or style

Archaic Kodak films have become antiqated in today’s fast-paced digital camera world.

67
Q

Outlandish

A

bizarre, outrageous

69
Q

Pandemic

A

an epidemic that is geographically widespread and affects a large proportion of the population

pan - all

The 1918 flu pandemic claimed millions of lives

71
Q

Paradox

A

a seemingly contradictory statement that nonetheless expresses a truth

It is a paradox that computers need maintenance so often, since they are meant to save people time.

73
Q

Plausible

A

believable; credible

74
Q

Pragmatic

A

practical; sensible; not idealistic or romantic

Protestant King Henry IV made a pragmatic decision in inheriting a Catholic-dominated country and chose to resolve the issue through convertng to Catholicism.

76
Q

Prattle

A

to speak in a foolish manner; to babble incessantly

Michael Scott in the tv show The Office, often prattles when conversing with his employees.

77
Q

Presumptuous

A

taking liberties; brashly overstepping one’s place; impertinently (irrelevant, unrestrained) bold; displaying effrontery (rude, arrogant behavior)

During the MTV Video Music Awards, Kayne West presumptously took the microphone from Taylor Swift and declared Beyonce should’ve won instead of her.

78
Q

Prodigious

A

huge, massive

79
Q

Propaganda

A

zealous advancement of a group’s principles

80
Q

Prototype

A

an original model; an initial design

The Bat mobile was designed as a prototype for a flying tank military vehicle.

81
Q

Prudent

A

careful; cautious; sensible

Bella and Edward must be prudent in dealing with the dangers that they face, among them werewolves, vengeful vampires, and the ominous Volturi.

81
Q

Provoke

A
  • to call forth*
  • voc, vok - call*
82
Q

Recalcitrant

\ri-ˈkal-sə-trənt\

A

stubbornly resistant and defiant; obstinate; obdurate \ˈäb-də-rət\; refractory; disobedient

re - back/agian, calc - stone

Charlie Sheen recalcitrantly refuses to stop excessively drinking alcohol and abusing drugs.

84
Q

Rescind

A

revoke

85
Q

Revoke

A
  • to call back, to rescind, to repeal*
  • voc, vok - call*
86
Q

Sarcastic, Sardonic, Snide

A

mocking, derisive, taunting, and stinging

Winston Churchill was known for his sarcastic and sardonic comments.

87
Q

Searingly

A

scorchingly

89
Q

Soporific

A

sleep-inducing

92
Q

Subversive

A

tending to overthrow

93
Q

Synchronic

A

happening at the same time

chrono - time

94
Q

Synchronicity

A

phenomenon of events which coincide in time and appear meaningfully related but have no discoverable casual conection

chrono - time

98
Q

Trite, Hackneyed, Banal, Platitudinous, Insipid

\ˈhak-nēd\, \bə-ˈnal\, -ˈtüd-nəs\, \in-ˈsi-pəd\

A

unoriginal; commonplace; overused; clichéd

Holden Caulfield sees straight through his headmaster’s platitude that “Life is a game” understanding the message to be trite, unoriginal, and lacking freshness. The classic story has been based upon to create numerous similar stories, making Holden’s personality and character hackneyed.

99
Q

Ubiquitous, Prevalent

A

characterized by being everywhere; omnipresent; widespread; pervasive

The company’s advertisements are ubiquitous.

100
Q

Unconventional, Unorthodox

A

not ordinary or typical; characterized by avoiding customary conventions and behaviors

Lady Gaga is known for her unconventional outifits and unorthodox stage performances.

101
Q

Upbraid, Reproach, Castigate

A

to express disapproval; to scold; to rebuke; to censure

The corrupt cops upbraided the mischievous teenagers and castigated them by forcing them to perform pushups. The teenagers’ family were reproachful to hear about their treatment by the authorities.

102
Q

voc, vok

A

call

104
Q

Vocal

A
  • related to the voice, speaking*
  • voc, vok - call*
105
Q

Vocation

A
  • your calling. your profession, often used for a religious career*
  • voc, vok - call*
106
Q

Vociferous

A
  • making an outcry, clamorous*
  • voc, vok - call*
107
Q

Wry, Droll

A

dry; humorous with a clever twist and a touch of irony

*Wry: appeals to intellect and produces a knowing smile

*Jocular: appeals to your funny bone and produces a belly laugh

SAT (12 decks)

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