SAT Vocabulary

Cards · 55

Anomalous

Scientists struggled to explain the anomalous data points that deviated sharply from established models.

Aberration

The sudden surge in voter turnout was viewed as a statistical aberration rather than a lasting political realignment.

Capricious

Investors grew wary of the regime because its capricious policy changes undermined long-term economic stability.

Mercurial

Her mercurial temperament made diplomatic negotiations unpredictable and fraught with tension.

Pragmatic

The committee adopted a pragmatic approach, choosing feasible short-term reforms over idealistic overhauls.

Utilitarian

The architect favoured utilitarian designs that prioritised structural efficiency over ornamental flourish.

Ephemeral

Social media trends often exert an ephemeral influence on public discourse before fading entirely.

Evanescent

The morning mist provided an evanescent veil over the valley before vanishing in the sunrise.

Pervasive

Digital surveillance has become a pervasive feature of modern urban governance.

Ubiquitous

Smartphones have become ubiquitous across demographic groups throughout the developed world.

Laconic

The general was famous for his laconic dispatches, often summarizing major victories in a single phrase.

Taciturn

Known as a taciturn scholar, he rarely spoke during faculty meetings unless directly addressed.

Loquacious

The loquacious host kept the symposium audience engaged with continuous anecdotes and digressions.

Garrulous

His garrulous testimony frustrated the defense attorney, who struggled to keep the witness focused.

Rhetoric

The politician used impassioned rhetoric to persuade undecided voters before the referendum.

Equivocate

When pressed on fiscal deficits, the spokesperson chose to equivocate rather than offer concrete projections.

Ambiguous

The treaty language was deliberately ambiguous to accommodate the divergent interests of both nations.

Lucid

The professor offered a lucid explanation of quantum mechanics that even first-year undergraduates understood.

Cogent

She presented a cogent argument demonstrating the direct causal link between deforestation and regional drought.

Pellucid

His pellucid prose style illuminated dense philosophical theories without sacrificing nuance.

Mitigate

The city implemented coastal buffers to mitigate the destructive impact of seasonal storm surges.

Ameliorate

New humanitarian aid programs sought to ameliorate living conditions in the refugee camps.

Alleviate

Targeted tax relief helped alleviate the financial burden on impoverished rural households.

Exacerbate

Unregulated emissions will exacerbate rising global temperatures and accelerate glacial retreat.

Aggravate

Premature economic reopening threatened to aggravate the already strained healthcare system.

Corroborate

Subsequent laboratory experiments helped corroborate the original hypothesis formulated by the research team.

Substantiate

The prosecutor failed to substantiate the fraud charges with verified financial documentation.

Refute

Recent archaeological findings decisively refute earlier assumptions about early agricultural settlements.

Repudiate

The new administration voted to repudiate the previous treaty, citing violations of sovereignty.

Vindicate

The discovery of unredacted archival records served to vindicate the historian's controversial claims.

Antipathy

Historical antipathy between the neighboring provinces hindered efforts to form a unified regional council.

Animosity

Decades of territorial disputes bred profound animosity between the bordering states.

Affable

His affable demeanor allowed him to build consensus among previously hostile diplomatic factions.

Amiable

The negotiations proceeded smoothly thanks to the amiable relationship between the lead delegates.

Bellicose

The regime's bellicose rhetoric provoked condemnation from the international security coalition.

Pugnacious

The senator maintained a pugnacious stance throughout the debate, challenging every opposition premise.

Complaisant

The complaisant board of directors rarely questioned the chief executive's unilateral decisions.

Obsequious

Aides maintained an obsequious deference toward the minister, concealing unfavorable policy outcomes.

Sycophant

Surrounded by sycophants who never challenged his assumptions, the leader misjudged public sentiment.

Intransigent

Both parties remained intransigent during labor negotiations, prompting a prolonged municipal strike.

Tenacious

Through tenacious investigative reporting, journalists uncovered systemic corruption within the department.

Obstinate

The minister faced obstinate resistance from civil servants unwilling to abandon traditional procedures.

Malleable

Cognitive researchers noted that neural pathways remain remarkably malleable even in late adulthood.

Pliable

The newly synthesized polymer proved pliable under moderate heat yet durable at ambient temperatures.

Docile

Colonial administrators incorrectly assumed the rural populace would remain docile under heavy taxation.

Spurious

The journal retracted the paper after uncovering spurious statistical correlations based on falsified data.

Specious

The editorial presented a specious argument that sounded plausible until scrutinized against economic evidence.

Veracious

Historians rely on her diary as a veracious firsthand account of the revolutionary tribunal.

Candor

The governor spoke with unexpected candor regarding the structural deficits of the state budget.

Dissemble

The witness attempted to dissemble his financial ties to the defendant under cross-examination.

Prevaricate

Under oath, the official chose to prevaricate rather than admit administrative negligence.

Prosaic

Beyond its sensational headline, the document outlined prosaic procedural reforms for municipal waste.

Pedestrian

Critics dismissed the novel's pedestrian plot, noting that it relied heavily on formulaic genre conventions.

Quotidian

The anthropologist focused on the quotidian routines of village life rather than extraordinary ceremonial events.

Profound

The transition to agrarian society produced profound structural shifts in human social organization.