SAT Vocabulary Words by Difficulty

Sample Word Links

• abase — to humiliate or degrade someone; to lower in rank or esteem
• abnegation — the act of rejecting or renouncing something; self-denial.
• accede — to agree to a demand, request, or treaty.
• acerbic — sharp and forthright (of a comment or style of speaking); tasting sour or bitter.
• adroit — clever or skillful in using the hands or mind.
• affinity — a spontaneous or natural liking or sympathy for someone or something.
• agrarian — relating to cultivated land or the cultivation of land.
• altercation — a noisy argument or disagreement, especially in public.
• amicable — characterized by friendliness and absence of discord.
• anesthesia — insensibility to pain, especially as induced by drugs before an operation.
• antecedent — a thing or event that existed before or logically precedes another.
• apathetic — showing or feeling no interest, enthusiasm, or concern.
• arable — used or suitable for growing crops.
• arduous — involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring.
• aspire — to direct one's hopes or ambitions toward achieving something.
• attenuate — to reduce the force, effect, or value of.
• avarice — extreme greed for wealth or material gain.
• bard — a poet, traditionally one reciting epics and associated with a particular oral tradition.
• bereft — deprived of or lacking something.
• bourgeois — characteristic of the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes.
• calibrate — to mark a gauge or instrument with a standard scale of readings.
• capricious — given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior.
• caustic — sarcastic in a scathing and bitter way.
• cherish — to protect and care for someone lovingly.
• clairvoyant — a person who claims to have a supernatural ability to perceive events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact.
• coda — a concluding part of a literary or musical work.
• combustion — the process of burning something.
• complacent — showing smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's achievements.
• concede — to admit that something is true or valid after first denying or resisting it.
• condolence — an expression of sympathy, especially on the occasion of a death.
• confound — to cause surprise or confusion in someone, especially by acting against their expectations.
• consequence — a result or effect of an action or condition.
• contemporaneous — existing or occurring in the same period of time.
• contrive — to create or bring about (an object or a situation) by deliberate use of skill and artifice.
• coronation — the ceremony of crowning a sovereign or a sovereign's consort.
• credible — able to be believed; convincing.
• cunning — having or showing skill in achieving one's ends by deceit.
• debase — to reduce (something) in quality or value; to degrade.
• defiant — showing defiance; boldly resistant or challenging.
• demarcation — the action of fixing the boundary or limits of something.
• deplore — to feel or express strong disapproval of (something).
• despondent — in low spirits from loss of hope or courage.
• dilatory — slow to act.
• discomfit — to make (someone) feel uneasy or embarrassed.
• disparate — essentially different in kind; not allowing comparison.
• distend — to swell or cause to swell by pressure from inside.
• dour — relentlessly severe, stern, or gloomy in manner or appearance.
• edict — an official order or proclamation issued by a person in authority.
• elated — make (someone) ecstatically happy.
• eminent — famous and respected within a particular sphere or profession.
• enervate — to cause (someone) to feel drained of energy or vitality; to weaken.
• epitome — a person or thing that is a perfect example of a particular quality or type.
• euphoric — characterized by or feeling intense excitement and happiness.
• execrable — extremely bad or unpleasant.
• expurgate — to remove matter thought to be objectionable or unsuitable from (a book or account).
• fallacious — based on a mistaken belief.
• fickle — changing frequently, especially as regards one's loyalties, interests, or affection.
• foil — to prevent (something considered wrong or undesirable) from succeeding.
• foster — to encourage or promote the development of (something, typically something regarded as good).
• garrulous — excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters.
• gregarious — (of a person) fond of company; sociable.
• harsh — unpleasantly rough or jarring to the senses.
• hypocrisy — the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense.
• immerse — to involve oneself deeply in a particular activity or interest.
• impervious — not allowing fluid to pass through; unable to be affected by.
• inane — silly; stupid.
• inconspicuous — not clearly visible or attracting attention.
• indomitable — impossible to subdue or defeat.
• ingenious — (of a person) clever, original, and inventive.
• innovate — to make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products.
• instigate — to bring about or initiate (an action or event).
• intractable — hard to control or deal with.
• iridescent — showing luminous colors that seem to change when seen from different angles.
• laconic — using very few words.
• lenient — (of punishment or a person in authority) permissive, merciful, or tolerant.
• loquacious — tending to talk a great deal; talkative.
• manifold — many and various.
• mendacious — not telling the truth; lying.
• modulate — to exert a modifying or controlling influence on.
• mutable — liable to change.
• nocturnal — done, occurring, or active at night.
• noxious — harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant.
• obsequious — obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree.
• opaque — not able to be seen through; not transparent.
• ostentatious — characterized by vulgar or pretentious display; designed to impress or attract notice.
• panacea — a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases.
• partisan — a strong supporter of a party, cause, or person.
• penitent — feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong; repentant.
• perspicacity — the quality of having a ready insight into things; shrewdness.
• pithy — (of language or style) concise and forcefully expressive.
• pliable — easily bent; flexible.
• precipice — a very steep rock face or cliff, typically a very tall one.
• prescribe — (of a medical practitioner) to advise and authorize the use of (a medicine or treatment) for someone, especially in writing.
• profligate — recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources.
• propriety — the state or quality of conforming to conventionally accepted standards of behavior or morals.
• pulchritude — beauty.
• querulous — complaining in a petulant or whining manner.
• raze — to completely destroy (a building, town, or other site).
• rectitude — morally correct behavior or thinking; righteousness.
• remote — (of a place) situated far from the main centers of population; distant.
• reprobate — an unprincipled person (often used humorously or affectionately).
• resplendent — attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous.
• ribald — referring to sexual matters in an amusingly coarse or irreverent way.
• salutation — a gesture or utterance made as a greeting or acknowledgment of another's arrival or departure.
• scurrilous — making or spreading scandalous claims about someone with the intention of damaging their reputation.
• servile — having or showing an excessive willingness to serve or please others.
• solid — firm and stable in shape; not liquid or fluid.
• sporadic — occurring at irregular intervals or only in a few places; scattered or isolated.
• stupefy — to make (someone) unable to think or feel properly.
• surfeit — an excessive amount of something.
• tangential — diverging from a previous course or line; erratic.
• terrestrial — of, on, or relating to the earth.
• torpor — a state of physical or mental inactivity; lethargy.
• tremulous — shaking or quivering slightly.
• umbrage — offense or annoyance.
• utopia — an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.
• venerable — accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character.
• vicissitude — a change of fortunes or circumstances, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.
• vivacious — (especially of a woman) attractively lively and animated.
• whimsical — playfully quaint or fanciful.