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SAT/ACT Vocabulary

These cards represent some of the challenging vocabulary on the SAT and ACT exams. Increase your speed on the tests by reviewing them regularly.

  • temerity
    reckless boldness, rashness
  • brash
    hasty, rash, impudent
  • audacious
    bold, daring, fearless
  • impudent
    shameless, immodest
  • impertinent
    rude, uncivil (also irrelevant)
  • trepidation
    fear, alarm, or agitation
  • jingoistic
    loudly and excessively patriotic, chauvinistic
  • frugal
    economical, sparing, not wasteful
  • memento
    a keepsake, a reminder
  • ravenous
    extremely hungry, famished, voracious
  • stagnant
    stale or foul from lack of movement
  • inimical
    unfriendly, hostile, having enemies
  • timid
    fearful, shy
  • propensity
    a natural inclination or tendency
  • proclivity
    a predisposition or natural tendency
  • propinquity
    nearness, proximity
  • superficial
    shallow, near the surface
  • disparate
    containing different elements, distinct in quality
  • disparage
    to lower in reputation, devalue, degrade
  • aloof
    indifferent, distant, unconcerned
  • trite
    unoriginal, overused, worn-out: "hashtag"
  • nostalgia
    longing for the past, homesickness, sentimentality
  • homogeneous
    of the same kind or nature, essentially alike
  • languid
    lacking in spirit or interest, indifferent
  • morose
    ill-humored, gloomy in mood
  • onerous
    burdensome, oppressive, or troublesome
  • inscrutable
    incapable of being analyzed or scrutinized
  • preclude
    to exclude or prevent
  • genial
    warmly and pleasantly cheerful
  • prevalent
    of general use or occurence
  • status quo
    the existing state of affairs, the way things are
  • voracious
    eager, avid, craving large quantities
  • imperiled
    endangered
  • elusive
    hard to express or define, evasive
  • morbid
    an unwholesome mental state, gloomy
  • holistic
    regarding the whole rather than the parts
  • paradox
    an absurdity or self-contradiction
  • prolific
    highly productive in output
  • pragmatic
    describing a a practical point of view
  • verbatim
    in exactly the same words, word for word
  • unalloyed
    pure
  • rout
    overwhelming defeat and retreat
  • sumptuous
    expensive, luxuriously fine, splendid
  • upbraid
    to censure or find fault with
  • supplant
    to replace by force, strategy, or scheme
  • contentious
    argumentative, quarrelsome, controversial
  • concise
    brief in form, but broad in scope
  • succint
    expressed in few words
  • exorbitant
    excessive, exceeding propiety, or reason
  • thwart
    to oppose successfully
  • progenitor
    a seed, a person or thing that originates
  • redundant
    unnecessarily repetitive
  • prodigious
    abnormal or extraordinary in size or force
  • dolt
    a fool, a dull, stupid person