s

Question 1

saccharine

Answer 1

(adj.) sickeningly sweet (Tom’s saccharine manner, although intended to make him popular, actually repelled his classmates.)

Question 2

sacrosanct

Answer 2

(adj.) holy, something that should not be criticized (In the United States, the Constitution is often thought of as a sacrosanct document.)

Question 3

sagacity

Answer 3

(n.) shrewdness, soundness of perspective (With remarkable sagacity, the wise old man predicted and thwarted his children’s plan to ship him off to a nursing home.)

Question 4

salient

Answer 4

(adj.) significant, conspicuous (One of the salient differences between Alison and Nancy is that Alison is a foot taller.)

Question 5

salve

Answer 5

(n.) a soothing balm (After Tony applied a salve to his brilliant red sunburn, he
soon felt a little better.)

Question 6

sanctimonious

Answer 6

(adj.) giving a hypocritical appearance of piety (The sanctimonious
Bertrand delivered stern lectures on the Ten Commandments to anyone who would
listen, but thought nothing of stealing cars to make some cash on the side.)

Question 7

sanguine

Answer 7

(adj.) optimistic, cheery (Polly reacted to any bad news with a sanguine smile and the chirpy cry, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!”)

Question 8

satiate

Answer 8

(v.) to satisfy excessively (Satiated after eating far too much turkey and stuffing, Liza lay on the couch watching football and suffering from
stomach pains.)

Question 9

scintillating

Answer 9

(adj.) sparkling (The ice skater’s scintillating rhinestone costume nearly blinded the judges.)

Question 10

scrupulous

Answer 10

(adj.) painstaking, careful (With scrupulous care, Sam cut a snowflake out of white paper.)

Question 11

scurrilous

Answer 11

(adj.) vulgar, coarse (When Bruno heard the scurrilous accusation being
made about him, he could not believe it because he always tried to be nice to
everyone.)

Question 12

sedentary

Answer 12

(adj.) sitting, settled (The sedentary cat did little but loll in the sun.)

Question 13

semaphore

Answer 13

(n.) a visual signal (Anne and Diana communicated with a semaphore
involving candles and window shades.)

Question 14

seminal

Answer 14

(adj.) original, important, creating a field (Stephen Greenblatt’s essays on Shakespeare proved to be seminal, because they initiated the critical school of New Historicism.)

Question 15

sensuous

Answer 15

(adj.) involving sensory gratification (Paul found drinking Coke, with all the
little bubbles bursting on his tongue, a very sensuous experience.)

Question 16

serendipity

Answer 16

(n.) luck, finding good things without looking for them (In an amazing bit
of serendipity, penniless Paula found a $20 bill in the subway station.)

Question 17

serene

Answer 17

(adj.) calm, untroubled (Louise stood in front of the Mona Lisa, puzzling over the famous woman’s serene smile.)

Question 18

servile

Answer 18

(adj.) having or showing an excessive willingness to serve or please others. (he bowed his head in a servile manner)

Question 19

sinuous

Answer 19

(adj.) lithe, serpentine (With the sinuous movements of her arms, the dancer mimicked the motion of a snake.)

Question 20

sobriety

Answer 20

(n.) sedate, calm (Jason believed that maintaining his sobriety in times of crisis was the key to success in life.)

Question 21

solicitous

Answer 21

(adj.) concerned, attentive (Jim, laid up in bed with a nasty virus, enjoyed the solicitous attentions of his mother, who brought him soup and extra
blankets.)

Question 22

solipsistic

Answer 22

(adj.) believing that oneself is all that exists (Colette’s solipsistic attitude
completely ignored the plight of the homeless people on the street.)

Question 23

solvent

Answer 23

1. (n.) a substance that can dissolve other substances (Water is sometimes called the universal solvent because almost all other substances can dissolve into it.) 2. (adj.) able to pay debts (Upon receiving an unexpected check from her aunt,
   Annabelle found herself suddenly solvent.)

Question 24

somnolent

Answer 24

(adj.) sleepy, drowsy (The somnolent student kept falling asleep and waking
up with a jerk.)

Question 25

sophomoric

Answer 25

(adj.) immature, uninformed (The mature senior rolled her eyes at the
sophomoric gross-out humor of the underclassman.)

Question 26

spurious

Answer 26

(adj.) false but designed to seem plausible (Using a spurious argument, John convinced the others that he had won the board game on a technicality.)

Question 27

staid

Answer 27

(adj.) sedate, serious, self-restrained (The staid butler never changed his
expression no matter what happened.)

Question 28

stolid

Answer 28

(adj.) expressing little sensibility, unemotional (Charles’s stolid reaction to his
wife’s funeral differed from the passion he showed at the time of her death.)

Question 29

strident

Answer 29

(adj.) harsh, loud (A strident man, Captain Von Trapp yelled at his daughter
and made her cry.)

Question 30

stupefy

Answer 30

(v.) to astonish, make insensible (Veronica’s audacity and ungratefulness
stupefied her best friend, Heather.

Question 31

subjugate

Answer 31

(v.) to bring under control, subdue (The invading force captured and
subjugated the natives of that place.)

Question 32

succinct

Answer 32

(adj.) marked by compact precision (The governor’s succinct speech energized
the crowd while the mayor’s rambled on and on.)

Question 33

superfluous

Answer 33

(adj.) exceeding what is necessary (Tracy had already won the campaign so her constant flattery of others was superfluous.)

Question 34

surfeit

Answer 34

(n.) an overabundant supply or indulgence (After partaking of the surfeit of
tacos and tamales at the All-You-Can-Eat Taco Tamale Lunch Special, Beth felt
rather sick.)

Question 35

surmise

Answer 35

(v.) to infer with little evidence (After speaking to only one of the students, the
teacher was able to surmise what had caused the fight.)

Question 36

surreptitious

Answer 36

(adj.) stealthy (The surreptitious CIA agents were able to get in and out of
the house without anyone noticing.)

Question 37

surrogate

Answer 37

(n.) one acting in place of another (The surrogate carried the child to term for
its biological parents.)

Question 38

swarthy

Answer 38

(adj.) of dark color or complexion (When he got drunk, Robinson’s white skin became rather swarthy.)

Question 39

sycophant

Answer 39

(n.) one who flatters for self-gain (Some see the people in the cabinet as the
president’s closest advisors, but others see them as sycophants.)