SSAT Last Page Part 9

tome

A _____ is a large book. If you're pre-med, chances are you're going to have one heck of a _____ for your biology class. ______ is often used to refer to a book that is not only really large but also unusually important.

travesty

A ________ is a cheap mockery, usually of something or someone serious, such as a _________ of justice.

sycophant

A ________ is a person who tries to win favor from wealthy or influential people by flattering them. Also known as brown-nosers, teacher's pets or suck-ups.

timorous

A ________ person is timid or shy, like your _________ friend who likes to hang out with close pals but gets nervous around big groups of new people.

voluptuary

A _________ loves the good life — he is a person whose fondest wish might be to lie on a velvet sofa while being fed chocolate cupcakes.

variance

A change to the norm is called a _________. It suggests a difference or shifting away from the expected or usual, an example being snow in July, which is a _________ in the weather of the United States, even in Minnesota.

vigor

Anything _________ is done with force and energy. _________ exercise makes you sweat, and a _________ denial makes someone else sweat.

stupefy

Don't be embarrassed if the magician's tricks ______ you. It means you're amazed. Who doesn't want to be stopped in his tracks sometimes?

stagnate

If after high school you choose to live in your parents' house, keep the same job, and spend time with the same friends, your mother might worry that you've decided to ________, or stop moving forward.

tenuous

If something is ________ it's thin, either literally or metaphorically. If you try to learn a complicated mathematical concept by cramming for 45 minutes, you will have a ________ grasp of that concept, at best.

vicarious

If something is _________, it delivers a feeling or experience from someone else. If your child becomes a big star, you might have a _________ experience of celebrity.

uncanny

If something is _________, it is so mysterious, strange, or unfamiliar that it seems supernatural. If you hear strange music echoing through your attic, you might refer to it as positively _________.

winsome

If you are described as _________, take it as a compliment. It means you are attractive or charming in an open and delightful way.

truculent

If you are quick to argue, always looking for a fight, and hard to please, you are _________. You can also write a _________ essay, and fans upset by a loss can become _________.

telepathic

If you can read your brother's mind, you can describe yourself as _________, or able to communicate psychically.

sybarite

If you know someone who's totally addicted to luxurious things and all of life's pleasures, call them a ______. Unless she's inviting you over for champagne brunches and showering you with gifts — in which case you should keep your mouth shut.

surmise

If you see the empty ice cream containers, the sprinkles littering the ground, a kicked can of Reddi-wip in the trash, you can ______ what has happened: Sundaes. To ______ is to form an opinion or make a guess about something.

torrid

If you're having a _______ romance, that means it's steamy and emotionally charged. If you're listening to a ______ band, then you're listening to a band that has a lot of energy.

vocation

Is not likely to be a "vacation." Rather, the word means something you know how to do--or what you do for a living.

ubiquitous

It's everywhere! It's everywhere! When something seems like it's present in all places at the same time, reach for the adjective _________.

supplant

Kate was out sick for a month with mono, and when she came back to school, Jessie had _______ her as the funny girl at the lunch table. _______ means to take the place of.

upbraid

No, _________ isn't what girls get done at a salon before prom. When you _________ people, you scold them, tell them off and criticize them. (You could, however, _________ your stylist after a bad haircut.)

terrestrial

Not straying far from its Latin root "terra" meaning "earth," _________ means "of the earth." If it's ________, you'll find it on earth. If it's extraterrestrial, you'll find it emerging from a UFO.

taciturn

Someone who is _______ is reserved, not loud and talkative. The word itself refers to the trait of reticence, of seeming aloof and uncommunicative. A _____ person might be snobby, naturally quiet, or just shy.

veracious

Someone who is _________ speaks the truth — like your brutally honest friend who always lets you know what she thinks about your outfits, your hairstyle, your lasagna recipe, and your taste in movies.

steadfast

Someone who is firm and determined in a belief or a position can be called _________ in that view, like your mom when she thinks you really shouldn't wear that outfit.

variegated

Something _________ has many different colors, as in the trees of autumn or the feathers of a peacock. Whenever you see "vari" at the beginning of a word, you know that the idea of difference or change is involved.

succinct

Something that is ______ is short and clear. If you're going to be interviewed on television about your new book and only have a five minute slot, you'll need to come up with a ______ version of your story. No sinking is permitted.

surfeit

Steve baked a ______ of jam tarts. Steve ate a ______ of jam tarts. Steve _______ himself on jam tarts. Whether ______ is a noun or a verb (as in "overabundance" or "gorge"), Steve is likely to end up with a bellyache.

wax

The verb ___ is most often found in the company of its opposite, "xxxx." To ___ is to grow larger or increase.

wane

Things that _________ simply grow smaller. "My initial enthusiasm for helping ____d when I saw the pile of envelopes that needed licking."

suffice

To ______ is to be enough, in either quality or quantity. If may not be gourmet all the time, but if your food is healthy, it will ______. Be sufficient; be adequate, either in quality or quantity

whet

To _________ is to sharpen. You could _________ a knife's blade with a _________ stone, or you could _________ your appetite by having some Doritos.

trek

Want to go on a ____ through the mountains? Make sure you have good shoes, drinking water, and snacks. A ____ is a long and difficult journey.

tranquil

When a place or your state of mind is peaceful, quiet and serene, it is _________.

submissive

When animals live in packs, one animal is usually the dominant leader, while the others fall into more ______ roles. To be _______ is to obey or yield to someone else.

surreptitious

When someone behaves in a ___________ way, they're being secretive. They're doing something that they don't want to be seen doing.

umbrage

When someone takes _________ at something, they find it offensive, and it probably makes them angry.

tantamount

When something is _______ to another thing it is essentially its equivalent. For some animal activists, wearing fur is _______ to murder.

subsist

When you ______, you keep yourself alive. Since most airlines have stopped serving food, many travelers are forced to ______ on little packets of pretzels, even on long flights.

volition

When you do something voluntarily, you do it of your own _________, or will. Doing something willingly, or because you agree to it, is doing something of your own _________.

vicissitudes

When you talk of the _________ of life, you're referring to the difficult times that we all go through: sickness, job loss, and other unwelcome episodes. No one can escape the _________ of life.

trite

When you want to indicate that something is silly or overused, you would call it ______. A love song with lyrics about holding hands in the sunshine? Totally ______.

torpid

While the adjective ________ sounds a lot like the noun torpedo, it actually describes something slow or even inactive, like the torpedo that's just sitting around before it's launched.

veneer

You know how some furniture looks like solid oak or maple until it gets chipped and reveals itself to be nothing more than some cheap particle-board covered with a thin layer of fancy wood? That thin layer is called a _________.

strife

_____ is the act or state of fighting or arguing violently. The years leading up to the U.S. Civil War were characterized by great _____ between northern and southern states over slavery and the role of a federal government.

terse

_____ means brief, or using very few words. If your teacher tells you to make your writing in your essay style _____ and to the point, he's saying use as few words as you can and be simple and clear.

swarthy

_______ means dark skinned. If you like tall, dark and handsome men, you find a _______ complexion attractive.

verbose

_________ describes a person, speech, or piece of writing that uses many words, usually more words than necessary. If you talk too much, you can be described as _________, and so can your history paper if you didn't do the research and are just tried to take up space with words.

undulate

_________ describes a wave-like pattern. If a sound increases and decreases in pitch or volume like waves, you can say the sound is _________ing. When searching for the lost boy, the rescuers' cries _________ed through the forest.

tragedy

_________ is a noun that indicates disaster or bad fortune. It would be a _______ to lose your job, but an even greater _________ to fall ill while unemployed and without health care.

vim

_________ is energy and enthusiasm. If you've got _________, then you probably pack a little extra oomph in your life!

Zeitgest

_________ is the spirit or essence of a particular time. In the 1920s, flappers and speakeasies contributed to that era's _________.

unilateral

_________ means "one-sided." If parents make a _________ decision to eliminate summer vacation, it means that the students' opinions or opposing views weren't considered.

reproach

_________ means to mildly criticize. If you show poor manners at your grandmother's dinner table, she will _________ you.

vacillate

_________ means to waver back and forth, unable to decide. You might _________ between ordering waffles and pancakes at your favorite diner — it's hard to pick just one when both are so tasty!

toothsome

___________ describes something that's absolutely delicious, like a bite of your famous flourless chocolate cake.