SAT - S's Flashcards
Sage
N. person celebrated for wisdom.
Hearing tales of a mysterious Master of All Knowledge who lived in the hills of Tibet, Sandy was possessed with a burning desire to consult the legendary sage.
Sanction
V. approve; ratify.
Nothing will convince me to sanction the engagement of my daughter to such a worthless young man.
Satirical
Adj. mocking.
The humor of cartoonist Gary Trudeau often is satirical; through the cmments of the Doonesbury characters, Trudeau ridicules political corruption and folly.
Saturate
V. soak thoroughly.
Saturate your sponge with water until it can’t hold any more.
Savory
Adj. tasty; pleasing, attractive, or agreeable.
Julia Child’s recipes enable amateur chefs to create savory delicacies for their guests.
Scanty
Adj. meager; insufficient.
Thinking his helping of food was scanty, Oliver Twist asked for more.
Scrupulous
Adj. conscientious; extremely thorough.
Though Alfred is scrupulous in fulfilling his duties at work, he is less conscientious about his obligations to his family and friends.
Scrutinize
V. examine closely and critically.
Searching for flaws, the sergeant scrutinized every detail of the private’s uniform.
Sedentary
Adj. requiring sitting.
Sitting all day at the computer, Sharon grew to resent the sedentary nature of her job.
Servile
Adj. slavish; cringing.
Constantly fawning on his employer, humble Uriah Heap was a servile creature.
Skeptic
N. doubter; person who suspends judgement until the evidence supporting a point of view has been examined.
I am a skeptic about the new health plan; I want some proof that it can work.
Skepticism, N.
Sluggish
Adj. slow; lazy; lethargic.
After two nights without sleep, she felt sluggish and incapable of exertion.
Somber
Adj. gloomy; depressing; dark; drab.
From the doctor’s grim expression, I could tell he had somber news.
Soporific
Adj. sleep-causing; marked by sleepiness.
Professor Pringle’s lectures were so soporific that even he fell asleep in class.
Also, N.
Sporadic
Adj. occurring irregularly.
Although you can still hear sporadic outbursts of laughter and singing outside, the big Halloween parade has passed; the party’s over till next year.
Spurious
Adj. false; counterfeit; forged; illogical.
The antique dealer hero of Jonathan Gash’s mystery novels gives the reader tips on how to tell spurious antiques from the real thing.
Spurn
V. reject; scorn.
The heroine spurned the villain’s advances.
Squander
V. waste.
If yoiu squander your allowance on candy and comic books, you won’t have any money left to buy the new box of crayons you want.
Stagnant
Adj. motionless; stale; dull.
Mosquitoes commonly breed in ponds of stagnant water.
Static
Adj. unchanging; lacking development.
Why watch chess on TV? I like watching a game with action, not something static where nothing seems to be going on.
Steadfast
Adj. loyal; unswerving.
Penelope was steadfast in her affections, faithfully waiting for Ulysses to return from his wanderings.
Stolid
Adj. unruffled; impassive; dull.
Marianne wanted a romantic, passionate suitor like Willoughby, not a stolid, unimaginative one like Colonel Brandon.
Strident
Adj. loud and harsh; insistent.
Whenever Sue became angry, she tried not to raise her voice; she had no desire to appear strident.
Stupefy
V. make numb; stun; amaze.
Disapproving of drugs in general, Laura refused to take sleeping pills or any other medicine that might stupefy her.
Stupefaction, N.
Submissive
Adj. yielding; timid.
When he refused to permit Elizabeth to marry her poet, Mr. Barrett expected her to be properly submissive; instead, she eloped!
Subordinate
Adj. occupying a lower rank; inferior; submissive.
Bishop Proudie’s wife expected all the subordinate clergy to behave with great deference to the wife of their superior.
Subside
V. settle down; descend; grow quiet.
The doctor assured us that the fever would eventually subside.
Substantiate
V. establish by evidence; verify; support.
These endorsements from satisfied customers substantiate our claim that Barron’s How to Prepare for the SAT is the best SAT-prep book on the market.
Succint
Adj. brief; terse; compact.
Don’t bore your audience with excess verbiage; be succint.
Superfluous
Adj. unnecessary; excessive; overabundant.
Betsy lacked the heart to tell June that the wedding present she brought was superfluous, she and Bob had already received five toasters.
Supplant
V. replace; usurp.
Bolingbroke, later to be known King Henry IV, fought to supplant his cousin, Richard III, as King of England.
Surfeit
V. satiate; stuff; indulge to excess in anything.
Every Thanksgiving we are surfeited with an overabundance of holiday treats.
Also, N.
Surpass
V. exceed.
Her SAT scores surpassed our expectations.
Surreptitious
Adj. secret; furtive; sneaky; hidden.
Hoping to discover where his mom had hidden the Christmas presents, Timmy took a surreptitious peerk into the master bedroom closet.
Susceptible
Adj. impressionable; easily influenced; having little resistance, as to a disease; receptive to.
Said the patent medicine man to his very susceptible customer: “Buy this new miracle drug, and you will no longer be susceptible to the common cold.”
Sustain
V. experience; support; nourish.
He sustained such a severe injury that the doctors feared he would be unable to work to sustain his growing family.
Sycophant
N. servile flatterer; bootlicker; yes man
Fed up with the toadies and flunkies who made up his entourage, the star cried, “Get out, all of you! I’m sick sycophants!”
Sycophancy, N.
