sat vocabulary

SAT VOCABULAR

YSEMESTER 1

Set #1

unanimousPart of Speech: adjective (adj)Definition: in total agreementSounds like: you, Nanny MoosePicture: A moose named Nanny is running for

president. Immediately after the election the members stand up and announce, “We all voted for you, Nanny Moose!”

Sentence: Everyone wanted Michelle to be class president, so the vote was unanimous.

lethargicPart of Speech: adjDefinition: tired; sluggish; drowsySounds like: leather chickPicture: A young chicken is trying to run around

the barn, but she is too tired because she is covered in leather instead of feathers. The heat and the exercise has drained her energy.

Sentence: He’d intended to mow the lawn, but was too lethargic and simply fell asleep.

vilify

verbDefame; attack someone’s reputationSounds like: village flyA giant fly, known as the Village Fly, goes

from house to house saying bad things about the neighbors.

He was so vilified in the press that his reputation never recovered.

Acquiescent AdjReluctantly agreeable; compliant; obeyingSounds like: agree yes centThere is a penny sitting on a park bench. The

children want the penny to play with them and won’t leave him alone. Finally the penny gives in and agrees to play.

Some employers demand that their employees are acquiescent or they will fire them.

furtiveAdjSneaky; secretiveSounds like: fur tipA husband and wife are leaving a fancy

restaurant. They pick up their fur coats from the coat check. The husband refuses to tip the coat check girl so the wife must sneak her a dollar while her husband isn’t looking.

Three hours late, he tiptoed furtively into the house.

criteriaNounRequirements or standards used to make a

decisionSounds like: cry tearierAn actress is auditioning for a role in a movie.

The director keeps telling her, “you must cry tearier! The person who we choose must be able to cry tearier!”

There must be many criteria for selecting astronauts who will travel to Mars.

arbitraryAdjSelected by random choice and without solid

reasonSounds like: our bee, JerryA boy loses his pet bee. He looks into a giant

glass tank with a thousand bees and points to one near the top. “That must be him, That’s our bee, Jerry”

Your selection of a seat in a nearly empty theater is somewhat arbitrary.

meagerAdjSmall in size or amount; thin; weakSounds like: me grrrA small puppy has just been given a tiny

amount of food. As his owner walks by the puppy expresses his anger “Me grrr!”

The movie promised plenty of action, but the plot was meager.

Succinct AdjShort and to the point; conciseSounds like: suck sinkTwo boys are standing by the kitchen sink. One

boy has his head under the faucet and is slurping up the water. Their mother walks in alarmed and the one boy says succinctly to his mother “thirsty.”

Those five minute news shows have to be succinct.

nefarious

AdjExtremely evilSounds like: no ferry isA crazy wicked pirate attacks and plunders

ferry boats. He always says to his crew “No ferry is safe from me!”

The gangster’s nefarious ways shocked his mother, who thought he was a dentist.

unprecedented

AdjThe first of its kindSounds like: un-presidentedGeorge Washington’s inauguration was

unprecedented, because he was the first.Sandra Day O’Connor’s appointment to the

Supreme Court was unprecedented.

effervescentAdjBubbly; happy; full of lifeSounds like: ever pheasantA field full of pheasants (a bird) who are running

around singing and dancing. Two beavers look on “Ah, pheasants, ever pheasants. So bubbly. So full of life…”

The cheerleader was so effervescent that nobody had ever seen her in a bad mood.

Set #2

ambivalent• Adj• Indecisive; being unable to choose• Looks like: ambulance• A woman named Val is having a baby. She can’t

decide whether or not to get in the ambulance without her husband in order to get to the hospital

• The house had been in the family for generations, so they were ambivalent about selling it.

scrutinize• Verb• Examine closely; inspect carefully• Sounds like: screwed-in eyes• There is a Frankenstein look alike contest.

The judge is holding a magnifying glass and noticed that one Frankenstein did not have screwed-in eyes like the real Frankenstein.

• The inspection went on for hours because the principal scrutinized every locker.

antagonistic• Adj• In hostile competition; opposing• Sounds like: ant tag on his stick• An ant is holding a stick that has a tag that

says “I’ll fight anybody, any time!”

• Political parties are often antagonistic toward each other.

imminent• Adj• About to take place; happening soon• Sounds like: in a minute• A farmer and his son are discussing a tornado

that is on its way. The farmer asks “they say the tornado is imminent, when do you think it will be here?” The son replies “in a minute?”

• Another stabbing contraction and the pregnant woman knew the birth was imminent.

despondent• Adj• Feeling hopeless or depressed• Sounds like: the spoon dent• A man collects spoons. His son played with

his spoons and one spoon ended up with a dent. The man cried for days.

• After the fire, Sam was despondent for weeks.

optimist• Noun• Someone who always believes things will turn

out okay, looks on the bright side• Looks like: a combo of optometrist and mist• An optometrist is leading his family on a hike up

a mountain. It is really misty and he can’t see, but he keeps repeating “we will make it to the top! I just know it!”

• You have to be an optimist if you’re going to invest your money in the stock market.

ludicrous• Adj• Absurd; ridiculous• Sounds like: lou to cross• Lou is trying to cross a 24 lane super high

way. “Lou” yells a friend, “it is ludicrous to think you will ever get across!” Lou says to himself, “isn’t it ludicrous that Bob thinks I can hear him over all this traffic?”

• It’s ludicrous to say second-hand smoke is harmless.

arrogant• Adj• Acting superior, obnoxious, smug, or rude• Looks like: arrow can’t• A traveling rifle salesman is trying to sell rifles to

some Navajo Indians. “Arrows!” he exclaims, “you are still hunting with arrows!” He says arrogantly, “arrows can’t do nearly as much as rifles.”

• The trick is to be self-confident without being arrogant.

appease• Verb• Make calm; pacify• Sounds like: peas• A baby is crying because he is hungry. His

mom feeds him some peas to appease him.• Management tried to appease the strikers

with a small salary increase.

anarchy• Noun• A lack of order; chaos• Sounds like: an ark key• The animals on Noah’s ark are running wild.

He is yelling “where is the ark key? Get these animals back in their cages! Where is the key?”

• Without laws and rules, there would be anarchy everywhere.

loathe• verb• Hate; abhor; to feel disgust for• Sounds like: load• A dump truck filled with rocks and boulders

pulls up in front of your beautiful lawn. He says that he is supposed to dump them there. You loathe his load.

• Nancy loved her children, but she loathed some of their friends.

reprimand• Verb• Scold; criticize; get mad at• Sounds like: Rep Raymond• Representative Raymond is trying to run for

President, but he isn’t very good at campaigning. Instead of being nice he walks around scolding and criticizing voters for their beliefs.

• In addition to the fine, Jim was harshly reprimanded for running the red light.

Set # 3

cacophony• Noun• Harsh or ugly sound; opposite of harmony• Looks like cocoon and symphony combined• A caterpillar is inside a cocoon learning to play

the violin. He is terrible! Today he is trying to play a symphony and all the birds and squirrels are covering their ears trying to escape the horrible sound.

• New visitors to the rainforest are struck by the cacophony.

concede• Verb• Admit reluctantly; yield; acknowledge • Sounds like: corn seed• Two farmers are examining something under

a microscope. The one finally admits to the other that he is right, it is corn seed.

• The boss had to concede that it was his assistant’s idea and give him credit.

destitute• Adj• Poor; lacking possessions• Sounds like: dusty tooth• A man is so poor that he can’t afford dental

care. This has left him with just one tooth, which is dusty, because he can’t afford a toothbrush.

• In order to qualify for the scholarship, you had to be almost destitute.

gullible

• Adj• Easily deceived or tricked• Sounds like: gully bull• A bull has fallen into a gully, tricked by the

other bulls.• Don’t be so gullible that you believe

everything.

provoke• Verb• To make angry; to stir up• Sounds like: prove oak• Two women are arguing about what type of tree is in

the front yard. One thinks it is an oak and the other thinks it is an elm. They look it up and it is an oak. The one who is right begins to mock the other woman until she is so angry that she hits her friend over the head with one of the branches.

• People involved in a long-running feud often don’t even know what provoked it.

meticulous• Adj• Extremely careful about details• Sounds like: me ticklish• There is a man who works in a pillow factory and his job

is to stuff the feathers into the pillows. He has to be very careful because he is very ticklish and if he doesn’t stuff the pillows exactly right he can’t work because of the laughing.

• Brian was fairly neat and careful about most things, but when it came to his stamp collection, he was absolutely meticulous.

incredulous• Adj• Unwilling or unable to believe• Sounds like: in red, you lose!• A man bets his whole bank account on 25

black in roulette. The attendant spins the wheel and says as the wheel slows “looking for black ink...and ink’s red, you lose!” The man refuses to believe that he’s lost everything!

• He watched incredulously as his dog got into the family minivan and drove away.

obliterate• Verb• Remove or destroy completely; erase• Looks like: Hobb litter ate• Hobb drops some litter on the floor, but then

sees a police officer walking toward him. Hobb is afraid to get a ticket for littering so he runs back and eats the litter to erase all evidence!

• The fire obliterated the building and its contents.

digress• Verb• To move away from the main topic when writing

or speaking; go off on a tangent• Sounds like: die grass• A speaker at a garden convention is lecturing about

how to keep grass from dying. However, while talking about the dead patch behind his grill that he saved, he begins discussing the awesome barbeque he threw for his friends.

• In writing, if you digress from the main point for too long, you may lose your reader.

exalt

• Verb• Raise in rank; elevate; praise• Sounds like: eggs salt• A bunch of hard-boiled eggs are

worshipping a salt shaker. As they glorify the salt, it is raised into the air, elevated by their praise.

• The popular queen was exalted by all.

genial• Adj• Friendly; gracious; kind• Sounds like: Genie Al• A Genie named Al has just come out of his

bottle. He is extremely friendly and accommodating , wanting very much to please everyone around him

• I try to be genial, but my natural grouchiness inevitably comes through.

pious

• Adj• Exhibiting religious devotion• Sounds like: pies• Pies praying• He never went to church or temple, but he

was pious all the same.