147, 247. SAT Words Flashcards
(40 cards)
abase
(v)
lower; humiliate.
Defeated, Queen Zenobia was forced to abase herself before the conquering Romans, who made her march in chains before the emperor in the procession celebrating his triumph
abash
(v)
embarrass
He was not at all abashed by her open admiration
abate
(v)
subside; decrease, lessen
Rather than leaving immediately, they waited for thee storm to abate
abdicate
(v)
renounce; give up.
When Edward VII abdicated the British throne to marry the woman he loved, he surprised the entire world
aberrant
(n)
abnormal or deviant
Given the aberrant nature of the data, we doubted the validity of the entire experiment
abet
(v)
aid, usually in doing something wrong; encourage
She was unwilling to abet him in the swindle he had planned
abhor
(v)
detest; hate
She abhorred all forms of bigotry
abject
(adj)
wretched; lacking pride
On the streets of New York the homeless live in abject poverty, huddling in doorways to find shelter from the wind.
abjure
(v)
renounce upon oath
He abjured this allegiance to the king
abnegation
(n)
repudiation; self-sacrifice
Though Rudolph and Duchess Flavia loved one another, their love was doomed, for she had to marry the king; their act of abnegation was necessary to preserve the kingdom
abominable
(adj)
detestable; extremely unpleasant; very bad
Mary liked John until she learned he was dating Susan; then she called him an abominable young man, with abominable taste in women.
aboriginal
(adj)
being the first of its kind in a region; primitive; native
Her studies of the primitive art forms of the aboriginal Indians were widely reported in the scientific journals.
abortive
(adj)
unsuccessful; fruitless
Attacked by armed troops, the Chinese students had to abandon their abortive attempt to democratize Beijing peacefully.
abrade
(v)
wear away by friction; scrape; erode
Because the sharp rocks had abraded the skin on her legs, she dabbed iodine on the scrapes and abrasions
abrasive
(adj)
rubbing away; tending to grind down
Just as abrasive cleaning powders can wear away a shiny finish, abrasive remarks can wear away a listener’s patience
abridge
(v)
condense or shorten
Because the publishers felt the public wanted a shorter version of War and Peace, they proceeded to abridge the novel
abscond
(v)
depart secretly and hide
The teller who absconded with the bonds went uncaptured until someone recognized him from his photograph on “America’s Most Wanted”
absolve
(v)
pardon(an offense)
The father confessor absolved him of his sins
abstain
(v)
refrain; hold oneself back voluntarily from an action or practice.
After considering the effect of alcohol on his athletic performance, he decided to abstain from drinking while he trained for the race
abstemious
(adj)
sparing in eating and drinking; temperate
Concerned whether her vegetarian son’s abstemious diet provided him with sufficient protein, the worried mother pressed food on him
abstract
(adj)
theoretical; not concrete; nonrepresentational
To him, hunger was an abstract concept; he had never missed a meal
abstruse
(adj)
obscure; profound; difficult to understand
Baffled by the abstruse philosophical texts assigned in class, Dave asked Lexy to explain Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason
abundant
(adj)
plentiful; possessing riches or resources.
At his immigration interview, Ivan listed his abundant reasons for coming to America: the hope of religious freedom, the prospect of employment, the promise of a more abundant life
mono
one
monarchy government by one ruler
monotheism belief in one god
