Glossary

Glossary

This glossary is divided into two parts. The Master Word List covers all of the vocabulary
words covered in this book, while the Cram List contains the 50 most important words you
absolutely should know before you take the SAT. Study the Cram List first if you’re short on
prep time before your exam.

Master Word List

ABSTRUSE (ab STROOS) adj hard to understand

ACQUISITIVE (uh KWIZ uh tiv) adj seeking or tending to acquire; greedy ACUTE (uh
KYOOT) adj sharp; shrewd; discerning

ADVOCATE (AD vuh kut)

• n a person who argues in favor of a position or cause


• v to argue in favor of a position or cause

AFFRONT (uh FRUNT) n an insult; a deliberate act of disrespect ALLEVIATE (uh LEE vee
ayt) v to relieve, usually temporarily or incompletely; to make bearable; to lessen
ALLOCATE (AL uh kayt) v to distribute; to assign; to allot AMBIGUOUS (am BIG yoo us)
adj unclear in meaning; confusing; capable of being interpreted in different ways
AMBIVALENT (am BIV uh lunt) adj undecided; having opposing feelings simultaneously
AMENABLE (uh MEE nuh bul or uh MEH nuh bul) adj obedient; willing to give in to the wishes
of another; agreeable AMIABLE (AY mee uh bul) adj friendly; agreeable

AMORAL (ay MOR ul) adj lacking a sense of right and wrong; neither good nor bad, neither
moral nor immoral; without moral feelings AMOROUS (AM ur us) adj feeling loving, especially
in a romantic sense; in love; relating to love AMORPHOUS (uh MOR fus) adj shapeless;
without a regular or stable shape; blob-like ANACHRONISM (uh NAK ruh niz um) n
something out of place in time or history; an incongruity ANALOGY (uh NAL uh jee) n a
comparison of one thing to another; similarity ANECDOTE (AN ik doht) n a short account of a
humorous or revealing incident; a story ANNEX (uh NEKS) v to add or attach

ANOMALY (uh NAHM uh lee) n an unusual occurrence; an irregularity; a deviation
ANTHOLOGY (an THAHL uh jee) n a collection, especially of literary works