SAT Vocabulary Exam Update with 989 Correct
Terms.
abase - Correct Answer (v.) to humiliate, degrade (After being overthrown and abased,
the deposed leader offered to bow down to his conqueror.)
abate - Correct Answer (v.) to reduce, lessen (The rain poured down for a while, then
abated.)
abdicate - Correct Answer (v.) to give up a position, usually one of leadership (When he
realized that the revolutionaries would surely win, the king abdicated his throne.)
abduct - Correct Answer (v.) to kidnap, take by force (The evildoers abducted the fairy
princess from her happy home.)
aberration - Correct Answer (n.) something that differs from the norm (In 1918, the
Boston Red Sox won the World Series, but the success turned out to be an aberration,
and the Red Sox have not won a World Series since.)
abet - Correct Answer (v.) to aid, help, encourage (The spy succeeded only because he
had a friend on the inside to abet him.)
abhor - Correct Answer (v.) to hate, detest (Because he always wound up kicking himself
in the head when he tried to play soccer, Oswald began to abhor the sport.)
abide - Correct Answer 1. (v.) to put up with (Though he did not agree with the decision,
Chuck decided to abide by it.) 2. (v.) to remain (Despite the beating they've taken from
the weather throughout the millennia, the mountains abide.)
abject - Correct Answer (adj.) wretched, pitiful (After losing all her money, falling into a
puddle, and breaking her ankle, Eloise was abject.)
abjure - Correct Answer (v.) to reject, renounce (To prove his honesty, the President
abjured the evil policies of his wicked predecessor.)
abnegation - Correct Answer (n.) denial of comfort to oneself (The holy man slept on the
floor, took only cold showers, and generally followed other practices of abnegation.)
,abort - Correct Answer (v.) to give up on a half-finished project or effort (After they ran out
of food, the men, attempting to jump rope around the world, had to abort and go home.)
abridge - Correct Answer 1. (v.) to cut down, shorten (The publisher thought the
dictionary was too long and abridged it.) 2. (adj.) shortened (Moby-Dick is such a long
book that even the abridged version is longer than most normal books.)
abrogate - Correct Answer (v.) to abolish, usually by authority (The Bill of Rights assures
that the government cannot abrogate our right to a free press.)
abscond - Correct Answer (v.) to sneak away and hide (In the confusion, the super-spy
absconded into the night with the secret plans.)
absolution - Correct Answer (n.) freedom from blame, guilt, sin (Once all the facts were
known, the jury gave Angela absolution by giving a verdict of not guilty.)
abstain - Correct Answer (v.) to freely choose not to commit an action (Everyone
demanded that Angus put on the kilt, but he did not want to do it and abstained.)
abstruse - Correct Answer (adj.) hard to comprehend (Everyone else in the class
understood geometry easily, but John found the subject abstruse.)
accede - Correct Answer (v.) to agree (When the class asked the teacher whether they
could play baseball instead of learn grammar they expected him to refuse, but instead he
acceded to their request.)
accentuate - Correct Answer (v.) to stress, highlight (Psychologists agree that those
people who are happiest accentuate the positive in life.)
accessible - Correct Answer (adj.) obtainable, reachable (After studying with SparkNotes
and getting a great score on the SAT, Marlena happily realized that her goal of getting
into an Ivy-League college was accessible.)
acclaim - Correct Answer (n.) high praise (Greg's excellent poem won the acclaim of his
friends.) accolade (n.) high praise, special distinction (Everyone offered accolades to
Sam after he won the Noble Prize.)
,accolade - Correct Answer (n.) high praise, special distinction (Everyone offered
accolades to Sam after he won the Noble Prize.)
accommodating - Correct Answer (adj.) helpful, obliging, polite (Though the apartment
was not big enough for three people, Arnold, Mark, and Zebulon were all friends and were
accommodating to each other.)
accord - Correct Answer (n.) an agreement (After much negotiating, England and Iceland
finally came to a mutually beneficial accord about fishing rights off the cost of Greenland.)
accost - Correct Answer (v.) to confront verbally (Though Antoinette was normally quite
calm, when the waiter spilled soup on her for the fourth time in 15 minutes she stood up
and accosted the man.)
accretion - Correct Answer (n.) slow growth in size or amount (Stalactites are formed by
the accretion of minerals from the roofs of caves.)
acerbic - Correct Answer (adj.) biting, bitter in tone or taste (Jill became extremely acerbic
and began to cruelly make fun of all her friends.)
acquiesce - Correct Answer (v.) to agree without protesting (Though Mr. Correlli wanted
to stay outside and work in his garage, when his wife told him that he had better come in
to dinner, he acquiesced to her demands.)
acrimony - Correct Answer (n.) bitterness, discord (Though they vowed that no girl would
ever come between them, Biff and Trevor could not keep acrimony from overwhelming
their friendship after they both fell in love with the lovely Teresa.)
acumen - Correct Answer (n.) keen insight (Because of his mathematical acumen, Larry
was able to figure out in minutes problems that took other students hours.)
acute - Correct Answer 1. (adj.) sharp, severe (Arnold could not walk because the pain in
his foot was so acute.) 2. (adj.) having keen insight (Because she was so acute, Libby
instantly figured out how the magician pulled off his "magic.")
adamant - Correct Answer (adj.) impervious, immovable, unyielding (Though public
pressure was intense, the President remained adamant about his proposal.)
, adept - Correct Answer (adj.) extremely skilled (Tarzan was adept at jumping from tree to
tree like a monkey.)
adhere - Correct Answer 1. (n.) to stick to something (We adhered the poster to the wall
with tape.) 2. (n.) to follow devoutly (He adhered to the dictates of his religion without
question.)
admonish - Correct Answer (v.) to caution, criticize, reprove (Joe's mother admonished
him not to ruin his appetite by eating cookies before dinner.)
adorn - Correct Answer (v.) to decorate (We adorned the tree with ornaments.)
adroit - Correct Answer (adj.) skillful, dexterous (The adroit thief could pick someone's
pocket without attracting notice.)
adulation - Correct Answer (n.) extreme praise (Though the book was pretty good, Marcy
did not believe it deserved the adulation it received.)
adumbrate - Correct Answer (v.) to sketch out in a vague way (The coach adumbrated a
game plan, but none of the players knew precisely what to do.)
adverse - Correct Answer (adj.) antagonistic, unfavorable, dangerous (Because of
adverse conditions, the hikers decided to give up trying to climb the mountain.)
advocate - Correct Answer 1. (v.) to argue in favor of something (Arnold advocated
turning left at the stop sign, even though everyone else thought we should turn right.) 2.
(n.) a person who argues in favor of something (In addition to wanting to turn left at every
stop sign, Arnold was also a great advocate of increasing national defense spending.)
aerial - Correct Answer (adj.) somehow related to the air (We watched as the fighter
planes conducted aerial maneuvers.)
aesthetic - Correct Answer (adj.) artistic, related to the appreciation of beauty (We hired
Susan as our interior decorator because she has such a fine aesthetic sense.)
affable - Correct Answer (adj.) friendly, amiable (People like to be around George
because he is so affable and good-natured.)
