SAT vocabulary 3/4/13 Flashcards
abase
v. lower; humiliate
Defeated, Queen Zenobia was forced to ABASE herself before the conquering Romans made her march in chains before the emperor in the procession celebrating his triumph
Humiliate
abash
v. embarrass
He was ABASHED at the fact that he fell right in front of his crush.
Embarrassed
abdicate
v. renounce; give up
After the first test he failed, he decided to ABDICATE finishing up the second test.
Give up
aberrant
n. abnormal or deviant
The baby came out ABERRANT because the couple were actually cousins.
Abnormal
abet
v. aid, usually in doing something wrong; encourage
She was unwilling to ABET him in the swindle he had planned.
Help out
abhor
v. detest, hate
She ABHORRED her mother for embarrassing her in front of all the popular kids.
Hate
abject
adj. wretched; lacking pride
On the streets of New York, the homeless live in ABJECT poverty, huddling in doorways to find shelter from the wind.
Lacking pride
abjure
v. renounce upon oath
He ABJURED his allegiance to the king.
To reject, avoid
abnegation
n. repudiation; self-sacrifice
Their act of ABNEGATION was necessary to preserve the kingdom.
Self-sacrifice
abominable
adj. detestable; extremely unpleasant; very bad
Because he treated the ladies so harshly, the ladies called him an ABOMINABLE young man.
Unpleasant
aboriginal
adj., n. being the first of its kind in a region; primitive; native
Her studies of the primitive art forms of the ABORIGINAL Indians were widely reported in the scientific journals.
The first
abortive
adj, unsuccessful; fruitless
Attacked by the armed troops, the Chinese students had to abandon their ABORTIVE attempt to democratize Beijing peacefully.
abrade
v. wear away by friction; scrape; erode
Because the sharp rocks had ABRADED the skin on her legs, she dabbed iodine on the scrapes and ABRASIONS.
Scrape
abrasive
adj. rubbing away; tending to grind down
Just as ABRASIVE cleaning powders can wear away a shiny finish, ABRASIVE remarks can wear away a listener’s patience.
Rubbing Away
abridge
v. condense or shorten
Because the publishers felt the public wanted a shorter version of War and Peace, they proceeded to ABRIDGE the novel.
Shorten
abscond
v. depart secretly and hide
The teller who ABSCONDED with the bonds went uncaptured until someone recognized him from his photograph on “America’s Most Wanted.”
To leave and hide
Absolve
v. pardon (an offense)
The father confessor ABSOLVED him of his sins.
To forgive
abstain
v. refrain; hold oneself back voluntarily from an action or practice
After considering the effect of alcohol on his athletic performance, he decided to ABSTAIN from drinking while he trained for the race.
Hold back
abstemious
adj. sparing in eating and drinking; temperate
Concerned whether her vegetarian son’s ABSTEMIOUS diet provided him with sufficient protein, the worried mother pressed food on him
abstract
adj. theoretical; not concrete; nonrepresentational
To him, hunger was an ABSTRACT concept; he never missed a meal.
Not concrete
abstinence
n. restraint from eating or drinking
The doctor recommended total ABSTINENCE from salted foods/
abstruse
adj. obscure; profound; difficult to understand
Baffled by the ABSTRUSE philosophical texts assigned in class, Dave asked Lexy to explain Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason.
Hard to understand
abundant
adj. plentiful; possessing riches or resources.
At his immigration interview, Ivan listed his ABUNDANT reasons for coming to America: the promise of a more ABUNDANT life.
mono
- one
- monarchy: gov’t by one ruler
- monotheism: belief in one god
multi
- many
- multifarious: having many parts
- multitudinous: numerous
neo
- new
- neologism: newly coined word
- neophyte: beginner; novice
non
- not
- noncommittal: undecided
- nonentity: person of no importance
ob, oc, of, op
- against
- obtrude: push into prominence
- occlude: close; block out
- offend: insult
- opponent: someone who struggles against; foe
olig
- few
- oligarchy: gov’t by a few
pan
- all, every
- panacea: cure all
- panorama: unobstructed view in all directions
para
- beyond, related
- parallel: similar
- paraphrase: restate; translate
per
- through, completely
- permeable: allowing passage through
- pervade: spread throughout
peri
- around, near
- perimeter: outer boundary
- periphery: edge
- periphrastic: stated in a roundabout way
poly
- many
- polygamist: person with several spouses
- polyglot: speaking several languages
post
- after
- postpone: delay
- posterity: generations that follow
- posthumous: after death
pre
- before
- preamble: introductory statement
- prefix: word part placed before a root/stem
- premonition: forewarning
prim
- first
- primordial: existing at the dawn of time
- primogeniture: state of being the first born
pro
- forward, in favor of
- propulsive: driving forward
- proponent: supporter
proto
- first
- prototype: first of its kind
pseudo
- false
- pseudonym: pen name
