Weeks 3 - 5: Let's improve our vocabulary!

This is our first week of words. Interestingly, nearly every one applies to Into the Wild. We'll be working on these words for three weeks with a test on them on August 20, 2010. You must know each spelling, definition, and part-of-speech (to include having the ability to use each in its varying forms). I shall expect that you'll use each ACCURATELY in an original sentence. Your work from this first batch will include the words, definitions, derivations, part(s)-of-speech, and one original sentence for EACH. The assignment is due 8/20/2010.

I shall reserve the right to "revisit" words at whim.

If you don't already have one, I'll expect you to secure a collegiate dictionary to use at home as a reference. A computer dictionary source may NOT be as accurate as you'll need to understand a word's usage. Thrift stores are excellent sources for used dictionaries ... Merriam-Webster, Funk and Wagnall's, and Longman's are typically excellent.

SAT Vocabulary List


Words from Official SAT Study Guide Test 1

Accolade---praise
Allusion----indirect reference
Ambivalence---uncertainty; having 'mixed' feelings
Ambivalent---unable to decide
Analogy----comparison
Anecdote---short account of something interesting; story
Anomalous---odd; not fitting the pattern
Apparition---ghost; something that 'appears'
Aspersion---negative feeling; damaging remark
Belligerence---aggression
Bombastic---too elaborate; exaggerated
Candid----truthful
Capricious---changeable; fickle
Cherished---cared for; firmly-held
Cliché----over-used expression
Conception---1. idea; view. 2. beginning of pregnancy
Convoluted---complicated or long-winded
Credence---belief
Cryptic----hidden
Currency---1. widespread acceptance, 2. money
Decorous---good and correct (used of behavior)
Denunciation----act of speaking out against
Derailed----thrown off course
Derivative---unoriginal
Despotic----acting like a tyrant
Detritus----rubbish
Diaphanous---very thin and transparent
Dictum----often-used saying
Dilettante---person who dabbles in the arts
Disdained---showed contempt for
Dispassionate---unbiased; fair
Dowager---an elderly woman of elevate social status
Dubious---doubtful
Egalitarian---equal; believer in equality
Elicit---draw out (used mainly for information or feelings)
Elliptical---1. shaped like an ellipse, 2. indirect
Epitomizes---acts as a typical example of
Equivocate---speak ambiguously/vaguely
Evasiveness---trying to avoid something
Explicitly---very clear; nothing hidden
Foraging---searching for food
Hypothetical---based on guesswork; not proven
Iconoclast---person who goes against accepted authority
Idiosyncratic---quirky; unique to an individual
Imponderable---cannot be understood
Indecorous---not well-behaved; lacking in dignity
Indigence---extreme poverty
Inept---clumsy
Inherent---inbuilt; genetic
Intricate---complicated
Irrefutable---cannot be proved wrong
Jingoism---using words to stir up exaggerated patriotism
Jubilant---joyful
Judicious---fair and equal
Lament---express regret over something
Loquacious---talkative; using too many words
Mendicancy---begging
Metaphorical---not literal; figurative
Milieu---environment; surroundings
Mitigated---made less severe
Nascent ---just begun; in an early stage of development
Nostalgia---longing for the past
Obtrusive---easily seen
Orthographical---concerned with writing and spelling
Ossified---become fixed and rigid
Ostentatious---showy
Palpable---can be felt
Pastoral---1. concerned with the countryside, 2. concerned with the care a pastor gives to someone
Pedestrian---1. boring (adj), 2. person who walks (n)
Perfidy---treachery; betrayal
Profligacy---wasteful and immoral behavior
Prohibitive---very expensive
Prudence---wisdom; caution
Pugnacious---aggressive
Purveyor---one who sells something or causes something to spread
Resonance---echo
Respite---break (from work etc.)
Resurgence---revival
Sparse---thin; not thick
Stringent---strict
Succumbing---giving in to; falling under the influence of
Supercilious---arrogant
Tenacity---firmness of purpose
Transcend---go beyond a limit
Variegated---multicolored
Venerable---worthy of respect
Viable---workable; able to live or grow
Visceral---concerned with the 'guts'; physical rather than mental