Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

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


See full index

SAT Reading > False Roots > Flashcards

False Roots Flashcards

This deck sets aside a list of words where rooting really shouldn't be used in the selection process. They represent the "trap" words in SAT vocabulary. Study these words carefully and remember that rooting them can lead to wrong conclusions for most of them.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

glacial

A

Meaning: slow-moving

It’s the way glaciers move.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

fundamentalist

A

Meaning: someone who bases beliefs on strict interpretation of core texts

Not related so closely to money or funds.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

denigrate

A

Meaning: to lower a reputation.

It is related to the Latin root for black, but the connection is an offensive one today.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

lapidary

A

Meaning: gem cutting

Has nothing to do with lap, or lapping.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

impale

A

Meaning: to stick a stick through

Has nothing to do with being pale, though you’d probably turn pale if you were properly impaled.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

lacrimous

A

Meaning: sad, doleful, like a funeral sad

There is no crime here.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

mimicry

A

Meaning: to mock; to act or talk like someone in a ridiculing way

No one is crying, unless they are mimicked unmercifully.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

mnemonic

A

Meaning: aiding in memory

Has nothing to do with nemesis.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

repast

A

Meaning: meal

Has nothing to do with again, passing, or the past.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

fastidious

A

Meaning: really picky, having unattainable standards

Has nothing to do with either speed or not eating.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

compromise

A

Positive AND negative meaning:

  1. compromise is positive in that it solves difficulties, shows respect
  2. compromise is negative referring to principles, showing a lack of conviction
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

restive

A

Meaning: unable to keep still

The opposite of rest.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

fatuous

A

Meaning: silly

Not fat.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

latent

A

Meaning: hidden within, capable or surfacing

Not related to being late.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

quandary

A

Meaning: in a state of confusion

Not related to when.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

rail

A

Meaning: to complain bitterly

You’d think you know this word, and eliminate it, and THEN, you’d be wrong.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

eclectic

A

Meaning: deriving ideas, style or taste from a variety of sources

Not related to lecture or electric.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

taciturn

A

Meaning: reserved in speech, unwilling to speak too much

There is no turn here, neither left nor right.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

abet

A

Meaning: giving shelter or help

Wanna bet it has nothing to do with a wager.

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

callous

A

Meaning: unfeeling, hard-hearted

It doesn’t mean “call us.”

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

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

debunk

A

Meaning: prove something to be nonsense

Doesn’t mean dumping someone out of their bed at camp.

22
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

decorous

A

Meaning: socially proper

Not really too closely related to decoration.

23
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

fallacious

A

Meaning: incorrect, misleading

Not so much “fall”, but “FAIL”.

24
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

maxim

A

Meaning: words to live by

Not related to maximum or scantily clad celebrities.

25
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

carp

A

SAT Meaning: to annoy, pester

It’s a fish, but a badger, a nag, a termagent, and a shrew are all just animals. They all have meanings related to being a royal pain.

26
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

expound

A

Meaning: explain systematically and in great detail

The word is related to “ponder” which means “to weigh, to wonder at, to consider deeply, to mull over”, but it is really probably better not to root this one.

27
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

recalcitrant

A

Meaning: defiant, unapologetic

Neither “calcium” nor “calculate” leads you to the right meaning here.

28
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

tenable

A

Meaning: able to be defended or maintained

Doesn’t mean “able to be ten”.

29
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

redoubtable

A

Meaning: respected as a serious challenge, formidable, commanding respect

Doesn’t not mean “able to doubt again” or “able to be doubted again”.

30
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

winsome

A

Meaning: charming, pleasing

Doesn’t mean “some that you win”.

31
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

adumbrate

A

Meaning: to explain in a sketchy way

“Umbrella” doesn’t really help. There’s no dumb here.

32
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

clairvoyant

A

Meaning: clearsighted, insightful to the point it seems supernatural

“Voyage” is not in this word.

33
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

clamor

A

Meaning: loud noise from generally various sources

Sinces clams never contribute to any clamor, the word is not related to the tasty mollusk.

34
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

clandestine

A

Meaning: secret, covert

Has nothing to do with the destiny of the clan.

35
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

cleave

A

Meaning both: to chop apart, separate AND to stick to (something)

Not really a false root, but watch out because a child cleaves to his mother and your tongue can cleave to the roof of your mouth.

36
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

empirical

A

Meaning: based upon observations or experience, capable of being proved or disproven

This word is used in science related to data and is not related to the empire.

37
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

noisome

A

Meaning: offensive, unpleasant, usually to the sense of smell

More like “annoying” than “noisy”.

38
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

ambiguous

A

Meaning: unclear

Not having to do with bigness though.

39
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

entail

A

Meaning: comes with, included as a necessary step

Maybe as the tail comes with the dog.

40
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

espouse

A

Meaning: to take up as a cause

Not really so close to the “husband” or “wife”.

41
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

stagnate

A

Meaning: to cease motion, progress, or change

Not a deer named Nate.

42
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

arboreal

A

Meaning: related to trees

Although trees can be boring.

43
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

arcane

A

Meaning: obscure, known to a select few, secret

Doesn’t have anything to do with a cane.

44
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

mores

A

Meaning: moral attitudes and fixed customs of people

Not related to having more.

45
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

buffet

A

Meaning: a smack or punch, a blow

Of course it also means a spread of food where you serve yourself. You wouldn’t want a buffet of buffets, because that would be a savage beatdown.

46
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

atrophy

A

Meaning: loss of strength or size due to lack of use

Not really related to a trophy.

47
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

curtail

A

Meaning: to lessen or reduce

A “cur” is an old word for dog, but this doesn’t mean doggy tail.

48
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

dogmatic

A

Meaning: asserting a position based on faith, not fact

Again, no dog here.

49
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

ribaldry

A

Meaning: humor based in rude or vulgar subject matter

Has little to do with bald dudes, although they might dig ribald humor.

50
Q

Describe the following “trap” word that can easily be falsely rooted:

surfeit

A

Meaning: overabundant in supply, indulgent

No one is surfing here, although there could be a surfeit of wonderwaves.

SAT Reading (22 decks)

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