SAT vocabulary Flashcards
buttress
v. support; prop up.
- Her friends went to her case so that they can attempt to BUTTRESS her.
- help
buxom
adj. plump; full-bosomed.
- Model agencies usually prefer thin girls rather than girls that are BUXOM.
- plump
cabal
n. small group of of persons secretly united to promote their own interests
- The CABAL was defeated when their scheme was discovered.
- club, group
cache
n. hiding place.
- She wanted to isolate herself, so she found a CACHE near the woods.
- hidden sanctuary, hiding place
cacophonous
adj. discordant; inharmonious.
- The CACOPHONOUS sounds that the band would make while they are tuning is such a racket.
- bad noise, without any harmony
cadaver
n. corpse
- In a horror movie, a mental guy was obsessed with collecting CADAVERS.
cadence
n. rhythmic rise and fall (of words or sounds); beat
- Marching down the parade, CADENCE of the marching band was very entertaining.
- sound, beat
cajole
v. coax; wheedle
- Diana tried to CAJOLE her father into letting her drive the family car.
- decieve
calamity
n. disaster; misery
- In the news, they reported that there was a CALAMITY in my old middle school.
- distress, misery
caldron
n. large kettle
- My mom cooked the soup in the large CALDRON.
caliber
n. ability; quality
- The college looked for certain students that had a high CALIBER in school.
callous
adj. hardened; unfeeling
- He had worked hard in the hospital for so many years that he was CALLOUS to the suffering in the wards.
- feeling no emotion
callow
adj. youthful; immature; inexperienced
- When she was a freshman, the seniors made fun of them because of how CALLOW they were in high school.
- inexperienced, immature
calorific
adj. heat-producing
- In the winter, my heater is not CALORIFIC, but in the summer it heats up perfectly.
calumny
n. malicious misrepresentation; slander
- He was the target of CALUMNY because of his religious beliefs
- scandalous
camaraderie
n. good-fellowship
- She felt really comfortable in her new job because of the CAMARADERIE her and her co-workers had.
- brotherhood, companionship
candor
n. frankness; open honesty
She asked for CANDOR about her project and when she got it, she was mad.
-blunt, straight-forward
canny
adj. shrewd; thrifty
- She was very CANNY when it came to talking about the secrets of her secret club.
- clever, careful, steady
cant
n. insincere expressions of piety; jargon of thieves.
- She had failed her test and when she told her envious friend, she was full of mere CANT.
- not sincere
cantakerous
adj. ill-humored; irritable
- She was always complaining about how she look and she was always so CANTAKEROUS; it was very unpleasing.
- not pleasing, irritable
canter
n. slow gallop.
- Because the racehorse had outdistanced its competition so easily, the reporter wrote that the race was won in a CANTER.
canto
n. division of a long poem
- Dante’s poetic masterpiece The Divine Comedy is divided into CANTOS.
canvass
v. determine votes, etc.
- After CANVASSING the sentiments of his constituents, the congressman was confident that he represented the majority of opinion in his district
- discuss, debate
capacious
adj. spacious
- She moved from her cramped apartment to a new CAPACIOUS pent house.
capitulate
v. surrender
- The criminal was warned to CAPITULATE or he would be shot by the cops.
- surrender
capricious
adj. unpredictable; fickle; fanciful
- She was very CAPRICIOUS; she would have different boyfriends every week.
- changes a lot
captivate
v. charm or enthrall
- He was captivated by her good looks and intelligence.
- intrigue, to be interested
cardinal
adj. chief
- If you want to increase your word power, the CARDINAL rule of vocabulary-building is to read.
- main, important
careen
v. lurch; sway from side to side
- The taxicab CAREENED wildly as it rounded the corner.
- toss
caricature
n. exaggerated picture or description; distortion
- The cartoonist’s CARICATURE of President Bush grossly exaggerated the size of the president’s ears.
- and exaggerated cartoon
carnal
adj. fleshly
- Is the public more interested in CARNAL pleasures than in spiritual matters?
- marked by sexuality, worldly
carping
adj. finding fault
- A CARPING critic is a nit-picker: he loves to point out flaws.
- Something is always wrong, never can be perfect
castigate
v. criticize severly; punish
- My mother will CASTIGATE me if I ever disrespect her again.
- to ground, to get into trouble
cataclysm
n. violent upheaval; deluge
The Russian Revolution was a political and social CATACLYSM that overturned czarist society.
-catastrophe, trouble
catalyst
n. agent which brings about a chemical change while it remains unaffected and unchanged
- Many chemical reactions cannot take place without the presence of a CATALYST.
- chemistry, biology, catalyst
cataract
n. great waterfall; eye abnormality
- She gazed with awe at the mighty CATARACT known as Niagra Falls.
grad, gress
meaning: go, step
- regress: go backwards
- gradual: step by step, by degrees
graph, gram
meaning: writing
- telegram: instantaneous message over great distance
- epigram: pithy statement
greg
meaning: flock, herd
- aggregate: group, total
- gregarious: tending to group together as in a herd
helio
meaning: sun
- heliograph: instrument that uses the sun’s rays to send signals
it, itiner
journey, road
- exit: way out
itinerary: plan of journey
jac, jact, jec
meaning: to throw
- projectile: missile; something thrown forward
- trajectory: path taken by thrown object
jur, jurat
meaning: to swear
- prejure: testify falsely
- jury: group of men and women sworn to seek the truth
labor, laborat
meaning: to work
laboratory: place to where work is done
collaborate: work together with others
leg, lect, lig
meaning: to choose, to read
election: choice
legible: able to be read
leg
meaning: law
legislature: law-making body
legitimate: lawful
liber, libr
meaning: book
library: collection of books
libretto: the “book” of a musical play
liber
meaning: free
liberation: the fact of setting free
liberal: generous (giving freely); tolerant
log
meaning: word, study
monologue: speech by one person
entomology: study of insects
loqu, locut
meaning: soliloquy: speech by one individual
loquacious: talkative
luc
meaning: light
elucidate: enlighten
lucid: clear
translucent: allowing some light to pass through
magn
meaning: great
magnify: enlarge
magnitude: greatness, extent
mal
meaning: bad
malevolent: wishing evil
malediction: curse
man
meaning: hand
manufacture: create (make by hand)
manuscript: written by hand
emancipate: free
mar
meaning: sea
maritime: connected with seafaring
submarine: undersea craft
mariner: seaman
mater, matr
meaning: mother
maternal: pertaining to motherhood
matriarch: female ruler of a family, group, or state
mit, miss
meaning: to send
missile: projectile
dismiss: send away
transmit: send across
mob, mot, mov
meaning: move
mobilize: cause to move
immovable: not able to be moved
mon, monit
meaning: to warn
admonish: warn
premonition: foreboding
monitor: watcher
mori, mort
meaning: to die
mortuary: funeral parlor
moribund: dying
immortal: not dying
morph
meaning: shape, form
amorphous: formless. lacking shape
metamorphosis: change of shape
anthropomorphic: in the shape of a man
mut
meaning: change
immutable: not able to be changed
mutate: undergo a great change
mutability: changeableness. inconstancy
nat
meaning: born
innate: from birth
prenatal: before birth
nativity: birth
nav
meaning: ship
navigate: sail a ship
circumnavigate: sail around the world
naval: pertaining to ships
