USEFUL SAT WORDS
grandiloquent:
speaking pompously, with long words.
eloquent:
speaking well, with poise.
soliloquy:
speaking while alone or as is alone,
cliche:
an overused phrase that has lost all its two words are seen together all the time. gane original impact, like "strong as an ox". Cliches are trite, and these
terse:
brief, concise, laconic.
amicable:
characterized by goodwill, used to describe something, rather than a person. Their parting was amicable.
genial:
cheerful, friendly, kind.
malediction:
curse, slander, saying mean things. "diction" means speaking.
malignant:
dangerous, likely to cause harm or pain. His tumor was diagnosed as malignant, so the doctor removed it.
colloquial:
familiar, informal speech.
amiable:
friendly, showing goodwill. The salesperson was amiable and spent a long time helping us find what we wanted.
affable:
friendly, warm, easy to talk to.
ambiguous:
having several meanings, vague, unclear. His reply was ambiguous, so I couldn't tell if he liked the present.
empathy:
identification with a feeling. You are empathetic when you have had the same experience.
malapropism:
inappropriate use of words so that they make no sense.
ineffable:
indescribable, cannot be put in words.
colloquium:
informal discussion or dialogue.
taciturn, tacit:
quiet, of few words. A tacit agreement is unspoken.
reticent:
reserved, silent, quiet.
sympathy
sharing or agreeing with feeling
curt:
short, brief, almost rude.
gregarious:
sociable, likes to be in groups, living in a herd. Cows are gregarious animals, whereas cats often are not.
unequivocal:
straight forward, not wavering, certain.
garrulous:
talkative
loquacious:
talkative, garrulous
voluble:
talkative, garrulous.
misnomer:
the wrong name for something.
malevolent:
wishing evil to others, mean, harmful. His malevolence was clear in the way he held the knife. Related words:
congenial:
with (con) friendliness and goodwill. "greg" means group, or flock.
anarchy:
without government. Remember monarchy, oligarchy, hierarchy?
amorphous:
without shape. Remember metamorphosis (a change in shape), polymorphous (many shapes)?
asymmetrical:
without symmetry.
jaded:
wom out, overused.
vérbose:
wordy, long-winded, loquacious.
misdemeanor:
wrong behavior or conduct.
antipathy
(n.) a strong dislike, hostile feeling
congregation:
a group of people.
malice:
meanness
"mal"
means bad
"loq"
means having to do with speaking:
equivocate:
negative wishy-washy. Literally speaking equally on both sides of an issue.
malcontent:
not happy about the situation.
anomaly:
not normal or typical.
atypical:
not typical, not normal.
admonish:
to warn or caution. He was admonished to avoid trouble.
platitude
trite, is a synonym for cliché.
hackneyed:
trite, overused
ambivalent:
uncertain, feels both positive and negative at the same time.
ambidextrous:
uses both hands.
laconic:
using few words, brief, concise. Though the question was argumentative, he laconically answered "no".
misanthrope:
"anthro" is mankind, as in anthropology, study of man. someone who hates mankind. "mis" means wrong, ill, incorrect, mistaken.
altruistic:
kind, charitable to others. Other "mis" words:
The prefix "a" means without apathy:
lack of feeling, lack of interest. Many people are apathetic about school until they find a subject they like
trite:
lacking originality, stale, overused.
philanthropy:
love of mankind, giving for common good.
aggregate:
to clump together, or a clump of something.
