SAT 23

Question 0

stigma- n.

Answer 0

token of disgrace; brand. I do not attach any stigma to the fact that you were accused of this crime; the fact that you were acquitted clears you completely.

Question 1

stifle- v.

Answer 1

suppress; extinguish; inhibit. Halfway through the boring lecture, Laura gave up trying to stifle her yawns.

Question 2

stilted- adj.

Answer 2

overbearing; pompous; inflated. His stilted rhetoric did not impress the college audience; they were immune to overbearing utterances.

Question 3

stoic- adj.

Answer 3

impassive; unmoved by joy or grief. I wasn’t particularly stoic when I had my flu shot; I squealed like a stuck pig. Also n.

Question 4

stricture- n.

Answer 4

restriction; adverse criticism. Huck regularly disobeyed Miss Watson’s rules and strictures upon his behavior; he wouldn’t wear shoes, no matter what she said.

Question 5

stringent- adj.

Answer 5

severe; rigid; constricted. Fearing the rapid spread of the SARS virus, the Canadian government imposed stringent quarantine measures.

Question 6

stultify- v.

Answer 6

cause to appear or become stupid or inconsistent; frustrate or hinder. His long hours in the blackening factory left young Dickens numb and incurious, as if the menial labor had stultified his brain.

Question 7

stymie- v.

Answer 7

present an obstacle; stump. The detective was stymied by the contradictory evidence in the robbery investigation. Also n.

Question 8

sublime- adj.

Answer 8

exalted or noble and uplifting; utter. Lucy was in awe of Desi’s sublime musicianship, while he was in awe of her sublime naiveté.

Question 9

subpoena- n.

Answer 9

writ summoning a witness to appear. The prosecutor’s office was ready to serve a subpoena on the reluctant witness. Also v.

Question 10

subservient- adj.

Answer 10

behaving like a slave; servile; obsequious. He was proud and dignified; he refused to be subservient to anyone.

Question 11

subversive- adj.

Answer 11

tending to overthrow; destructive. At first glance, the notion that Styrofoam cups may actually be more ecologically sound than paper cups strikes most environmentalists as subversive.

Question 12

succor- v. aid;

Answer 12

assist; comfort. If you believe that con man has come here to succor you in your hour of need, you’re an even bigger sucker than I thought. Also n.

Question 13

14. supercilious- adj.

Answer 13

arrogant; condescending; patronizing. The supercilious headwaiter sneered at customers who he thought did not fit in a restaurant catering to an ultra-fashionable crowd.

Question 14

superimpose- v.

Answer 14

place over something else. The filmmakers superimposed the credits over the movie’s opening scene.

Question 15

surly- adj.

Answer 15

rude; cross. Because of his surly attitude, many people avoided his company.

Question 16

synoptic- adj.

Answer 16

providing a general overview; summary. The professor turned to the latest issue of Dissertation Abstracts for a synoptic account of what was new in the field. synopsis, n.

Question 17

sustenance- n.

Answer 17

means of support; food; nourishment. In the tropics, the natives find sustenance easy to obtain, due to all the fruit trees.

Question 18

tangential- adj.

Answer 18

peripheral; only slightly connected; digression. Despite Clark’s attempts to distract her with tangential remarks, Lois kept on coming back to her main question: why couldn’t he come out to dinner with Superman and her?

Question 19

tangible- adj.

Answer 19

able to be touched; real; palpable. Although Tom did not own a house, he had several tangible assets- a car, a television, a PC- that he could sell if he needed cash.