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Word Of The Day > The Toughest Words on the SAT > Flashcards

The Toughest Words on the SAT Flashcards

1
Q

indefatigable; unflagging

A
  • tireless

You must be indefatigable and unflagging as you prepare for the upcoming PSAT.

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2
Q

indomitable

A
  • invincible; incapable of being conquered

You must have an indomitable will as you take the PSAT.

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3
Q

vacillate

A
  • to waver; hesitate; swing back and forth; be indecisive Hamlet vacillates over what course of action to follow: “To be, or not to be.”
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4
Q

hubris

A
  • exaggerated pride; arrogance

In Greek tragedy, hubris is often the hero’s tragic flaw that causes his downfall.

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5
Q

excoriate

A
  • to denounce scathingly
    In the movie The Nutty Professor, Dean Richmond excoriates Professor Klump for alienating all of the college’s wealthy donors.
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6
Q

innocuous

A
  • harmless; inoffensive

In The Wizard of Oz we learn that water is innocuous to scarecrows but toxic to wicked witches.

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7
Q

capricious; mercurial

A
  • very changeable; fickle; constantly shifting
    moods
    Marie knew she could not depend on her capricious little sister because she constantly changed her mind.
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8
Q

supplant

A
  • to take the place of

Happy Gilmore supplants Shooter McGavin as the biggest star on the golf tour.

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9
Q

laconic; succinct

A
  • very brief; concise
    In the poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe, the raven gives a laconic one-word answer, “Nevermore,” to all of the narrator’s questions.
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10
Q

ubiquitous

A
  • present everywhere at once; omnipresent; prevalent; widespread
    The popularity of portable digital music has made the iPod ubiquitous.
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11
Q

archaic

A
  • obsolete; old-fashioned; out-of-date and thus not “in,” “with it,” or contemporary
    The students felt that their school’s dress code was archaic and outdated.
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12
Q

reciprocal

A
  • shared and expressed by both sides; mutual
    In the movie Rush Hour, Carter shows Lee how to move with the music. Lee then reciprocates by showing Carter some new karate moves.
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13
Q

alacrity

A
  • great speed; promptness

In the movie The Waterboy, Bobby is eager to help the team and responds with alacrity to the coach’s invitation to play.

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14
Q

implacable

A
  • incapable of being appeased

In the movie Rocky III, Rocky and Clubber Lang are implacable enemies.

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15
Q

grandiloquent

A
  • using lofty, pompous language

The Munchkin mayor made a grandiloquent speech when he welcomed Dorothy and thanked her for killing the Wicked Witch.

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16
Q

motley

A
  • very different; very heterogeneous
    The variety of outfits worn by the Continental Army soldiers gave them a motley appearance compared with the British soldiers, who dressed uniformly.
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17
Q

juxtapose

A
  • to place side by side

In television makeover shows, before-and-after pictures are juxtaposed to highlight the dramatic changes.

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18
Q

arcane

A
  • obscure; mysterious; esoteric

Shania Twain sings about being unimpressed with men who bore her with arcane facts.

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19
Q

cosmopolitan

A
  • very worldly; sophisticated

Constantinople was a very cosmopolitan city as a result of its location at the crossroads of trade.

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20
Q

ineffable

A
  • incapable of being put into words; indescribable
    In the movie Jerry McGuire, Rod’s feelings are ineffable when he finds out that he has just been offered an $11.2 million contract.
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21
Q

inundate

A
  • to fill with water; flood
    The flood waters from Hurricane Katrina inundated many communities. (It can also mean to overwhelm or saturate.) The visiting astronaut was inundated with speaking invitations. The students were inundated with homework.
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22
Q

rudimentary

A
  • basic; elementary

Harry Potter learns that levitation is one of a wizard’s rudimentary skills.

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23
Q

atone

A
  • to make amends; make up for

Patrick atones for hurting Kat in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You by buying her a guitar.

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24
Q

machinations

A
  • crafty schemes
    In the movie The Lion King, Simba is at first unaware of Scar’s evil machinations to get rid of Mufasa and make himself king.
25
Q

quandary

A
  • a dilemma; predicament
    Spider-Man finds himself in a difficult quandary: should he save the woman he loves or the tram filled with innocent children?
26
Q

pernicious

A
  • very injurious; destructive; deadly

Doctors were able to discover the cause of the pernicious disease.

27
Q

prevaricate

A
  • to lie
    In the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Will thinks Jack is prevaricating when he tells him that Will’s father
    was a pirate
28
Q

quagmire

A

-a difficult, precarious position; a predicament
In the movie Orange County, Shaun finds himself in a quagmire when he isn’t accepted at Stanford because his counselor sent in the wrong transcript and he has not applied to any “safety schools.”

29
Q

synergy

A
  • the positive energy that results when two different elements are combined
    There was surprising synergy when Aerosmith and Run DMC combined to perform the song “Walk This Way.”
30
Q

eschew

A
  • to abstain from; avoid; engage in abstinence

People on the Atkins diet eschew foods high in carbohydrates.

31
Q

scintillating

A
  • sparkling; dazzling; brilliant
    Melissa Etheridge gave a scintillating rendition of Janis Joplin’s classic “Piece of My Heart” at the Grammy Awards show.
32
Q

pejorative

A
  • belittling; disparaging; putting someone down

Jay Leno often makes pejorative remarks about politicians in his opening monologue on “The Tonight Show.”

33
Q

maxim

A
  • a short, concise wise saying

The maxim “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today” is good advice for those studying for the SAT!

34
Q

consensus

A 
- a general agreement
After much discussion, the members of the senior class advisory committee reached a consensus on the location of the Senior Ball.
35
Q

contrite; penitent

A
  • expressing remorse, regret, sorrow for misdeeds

Although Denise said she was sorry, she did not act contrite.

36
Q

heinous

A
  • hatefully evil; abominable

In the movie The Patriot, the British officer commits a heinous act when he burns down the church.

37
Q

excise; expurgate

A
  • to remove; delete; censure

The producer excised three scenes from his movie in order to receive a PG-13 rating.

38
Q

enthralled

A
  • fascinated; spellbound

The audience was enthralled with the special effects in the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

39
Q

subtle

A
  • slight; delicate; elusive
    There is a big difference between a drastic change which most people will oppose and a subtle change which most people will barely notice.
40
Q

sumptuous; ornate

A
  • very splendid; luxurious; magnificent
    Shrek and Fiona eat a sumptuous meal at her parents’ royal palace. The Hall of Mirrors is the most ornate room in the Versailles
    palace.
41
Q

cathartic

A
  • emotionally cleansing
    In the movie Mean Girls, the teachers encouraged the junior girls to do a cathartic exercise to release their negative feelings toward one
    another.
42
Q

chicanery; disingenuousness

A
  • trickery; fraud; deception

Napoleon Dynamite’s dishonest Uncle Rico uses chicanery to sell his defective products.

43
Q

premonition

A
  • a forewarning; hunch; feeling ahead of an event

In the movie Star Wars, Leia has a premonition that Luke is in danger.

44
Q

provocative

A
  • thought provoking
    The teacher wrote the senator’s provocative statement on the board in
    order to start a class discussion.
45
Q

vilify

A
  • to denounce; defame; turn into a villain

Darth Vader is vilified by the Rebel Alliance in the Star Wars movies.

46
Q

magisterial

A
  • learned and authoritative

In the Harry Potter books, Dumbledore serves as the magisterial headmaster of Hogwarts.

47
Q

oblivious

A
  • unaware

In the movie Freaky Friday, Ryan is oblivious to the fact that mom Tess and daughter Anna have switched bodies.

48
Q

obstinate; adamant; obdurate

A
  • very stubborn
    In the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, a remake of Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, Julia Stiles plays the bitter, obstinate Katarina.
49
Q

incessant

A
  • constant; continuous; unceasing

On road trips, young children often drive their parents crazy by incessantly asking, “Are we there yet?”

50
Q

cajole; coerce

A
  • to coax or entice someone into doing something

SpongeBob always tries to cajole Squidward into going jellyfishing.

51
Q

pedestrian

A
  • commonplace; ordinary

Critics blasted the new play, calling it pedestrian and undistinguished.

52
Q

improvised; impromptu

A
  • done on the spur of the moment without preparation

In the beginning of School of Rock, Dewey’s lessons were all improvised; they lacked preparation.

53
Q

palpable; tangible

A
  • capable of being perceived
    There was a palpable air of excitement as Olympic swimming fans awaited the showdown between Michael “The Shark” Phelps and the Australian “Thorpedo” Ian Thorpe.
54
Q

vituperation; invective

A
  • verbal abuse; a tongue-lashing; severe
    scolding
    Her simple mistake hardly merited such vituperation.
55
Q

tenet

A
  • an article of faith; a belief

Charity is a tenet of many religions.

56
Q

inexorable

A
  • relentless; unstoppable

Gollum has an inexorable desire to regain the ring in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

57
Q

equanimity

A
  • evenness of mind, especially under stress
    Driving instructors must handle their jobs with equanimity if they are to survive the stress of teaching young people to drive.
58
Q

ameliorate

A
  • to make better; improve
    In the movie Remember the Titans, Denzel Washington’s character, Coach Boone, works hard to ameliorate the poor relationship that exists between the players on his football team.

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