SAT Vocab: A Flashcards
abase
to humiliate, degrade
verb
After being overthrown and abased, the deposed leader offered tob ow down to his conqueror.
abate
to reduce, lessen
verb
The rain poured down ofr a while, then abated.
abdicate
to give up a position, usually one of leadership
verb
The king abdicated his thrown after realizing the enemy would win.
abduct
to kidnap, take by force
verb
The evildoers abducted the fairy princess from her happy home.
aberration
something that differs from the norm
noun
In 1918, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series, but the success turned out to be an aberration, and the Red Sox have not won a World Series since.
abet
to aid, help, encourage
verb
The spy succeeded only because he had a friend on the inside to abet him.
abhor
to hate, detest
verb
Because he always wound up kicking himself in the head when he tried to play soccer, Oswald began to abhor the sport.
abide
1) to put up with
2) to remain
verb
1) Though he did not agree agree with the decision, Chuck decided to abide by it.
2) Despite the beating they’ve taken from the weather throughout the millennia, the mountains abide.
abject
wretched, pitiful
adjective
After losing all her money, falling into a puddle, and breaking her ankle, Eloise was abject.
abjure
to reject, renounce
verb
To prove his honesty, the President abjured the evil policies of his wicked predecessor.
abnegation
denial of comfort to oneself
noun
The holy man slep ton the floor, took only cold showers, and generally followed other practices of abnegation.
abort
to give up on a half-finished project or effort
verb
After they ran out of food, the men, attempting to jump rope around the world, had to abort and go home.
abridge
1) to cut down, shorten
2) shortened
1) verb
2) adjective
1) The publisher thought the dictionary was too long and abridged it.
2) Moby-Dick is such a long book that even the abridged version is longer than most normal books
abrogate
to abolish, usually by authority
verb
The Bill of Rights assures that the government cannot abrogate our right to a free press.
abscond
to sneak away and hide
verb
In the confusion, the super-spy absconded into the night with the secret plans.
absolution
freedom from blame, guilt, sin
noun
Once all the facts were known, the jury gave Angela absolution by giving a verdict of not guilty.
abstain
to freely choose not to commit an action
verb
Everyone demanded that Angus put on the kilt, but he did not want to do it and abstained.
abstruse
hard to comprehend
adjective
Everyone else in the class understood geometry easily, but John found the subject abstruse.
accede
to agree
verb
When the class asked the teacher whether they could play baseball instead of learn grammar they expected him to refuse, but instead he acceded to their request.
accentuate
to stress, highlight
verb
Psychologists agree that those people who are
happiest accentuate the positive in life.
accessible
obtainable, reachable
adjective
After studying with SparkNotes and getting a
great score on the SAT, Marlena happily realized that her goal of getting into an Ivy-League college was accessible.
acclaim
high praise
noun
Greg’s excellent poem won the acclaim of his friends.
accolade
high praise, special distinction
noun
Everyone offered accolades to Sam after he won the Noble Prize.
accommodating
helpful, obliging, polite
adjective
Though the apartment was not big enough for three people, Arnold, Mark, and Zebulon were all friends and were accommodating to each other.
