SAT - F's

Question 1

Facilitate

Answer 1

V. help bring out; make less difficult.

Rest and proper nourishment should facilitate the patient’s recovery.

Question 2

Fallacious

Answer 2

Adj. false; misleading.

Paradoxically, fallacious reasoning does not always yield erroneous results; even though your logic may be faulty, the answer you get may nevertheless be correct.

Fallacy, N.

Question 3

Fallow

Answer 3

Adj. flowed but not sowed; uncultivated.

Farmers have learned that it is advisable to permit land to lie fallow every few years.

Question 4

Falter

Answer 4

V. hesitate.

When told to dive off the high board, she did not falter, but proceeded at once.

Question 5

Fanaticism

Answer 5

N. excessive zeal; extreme devotion to a belief or cause.

When Islamic fundamentalists demanded the death of Salman Rushdie because his novel questioned their faith, world opinion condemned them for their fanaticism.

Question 6

Fastidious

Answer 6

Adj. difficult to please; squeamish.

Bobby was such a fastidious eater that he would eat a sandwich only if his mother first cut off every scrap of crust.

Question 7

Fathom

Answer 7

V. comprehend; investigate.

I find his motives impossible to fathom; in fact, I’m totally clueless about what goes on in his mind.

Question 8

Feasible

Answer 8

Adj. practical.

Is it feasible to build a new stadium for the Yankees on New York’s West Side?

Question 9

Fell

Answer 9

V. cut or knock down; bring down (with a missile).

Crying “Timber!” Paul Bunyan felled the mighty redwood tree.

Question 10

Fervor

Answer 10

N. growing ardor; intensity of feeling.

At the protest rally, the students cheered the strikers and booed the dean with equal fervor.

Question 11

Fitful

Answer 11

Adj. spasmodic; intermittent.

After several fitful attempts, he decided to postpone the start of the project until he felt more energetic.

Question 12

Flagrant

Answer 12

Adj. conspicuously wicked; blatant; outrageous.

The governor’s appointment of his brother-in-law to the State Supreme Court was a flagrant violation of the state laws against nepotism (favoritism based on kinship).

Question 13

Florid

Answer 13

Adj. ruddy; reddish; flowery.

If you go to Florida and get a sunburn, your complexion will look florid.

Question 14

Foolhardy

Answer 14

Adj. rash.

Don’t be foolhardy. Get the advice of experienced people about undertaking this venture.

Question 15

Frivolous

Answer 15

Adj. lacking in seriousness; self-indulgently care-free; relatively unimportant.

Though Nancy enjoyed Bill’s frivolous, lighthearted companionship, she sometimes wondered whether he could ever be serious.

Question 16

Frugality

Answer 16

N. thrift, economy.

In economically hard times, anyone who doesn’t learn to practice frugality risks bankruptcy.

Frugal, Adj.

Question 17

Furtive

Answer 17

Adj. stealthy; sneaky.

Noticing the furtive glance the customer gave the diamond bracelet on the counter, the jeweler wondered whether he had a potential shoplifter in his hands.