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