LSAT - terms

Impediment

A bar or hindrance

Principle

A comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption

Inference

A conclusion or opinion that is formed because of known facts or evidence

Idosyncratic

A peculiarity of constitution or temperament : an individualizing characteristic or quality; having quirks

Principal

A person who has controlling authority

Contention

A point advanced or maintained in an argument or debate

Antecedent

A preceding event, condition, or cause. Example: If A(definition) then B

Condition

A premise upon which the fulfillment of an agreement depends; stipulation

Principle

A primary source

Tenet

A principle, belief, or doctrine generally held to be true

Premise

A proposition antecedently supposed or proved as a basis of an argument or inference

Paradox

A statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true

Hypothesize

A tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical or empirical consequences; assumption made for the sake of argument

Categorical

Absolute

Purportedly

Allegedly; questionably true

Guarantee

An assurance for the fulfillment of a condition

Counterexample

An example that refutes or disproves a proposition or theory

Flaw

An imperfection or weakness and especially one that detracts from the whole or hinders effectiveness

Placebo

An inert or innocuous substance used especially in controlled experiments testing the efficacy of another substance

Phenomenon

An observable fact or event (sometimes considered rare or significant)

Foreseeable

Being such as may be reasonably anticipated

Either

Being the one or the other of two

Intrinsically

Belonging to the essential nature of a thing

Compatible

Capable of existing together in harmony

Viable

Capable of working, functioning, or developing adequately

Mundane

Characterized by the practical, transitory, and ordinary

Prevaricate

Deviate from the truth

Eccentric

Deviating from an established or usual pattern or style

Anomaly

Deviation from common rule; something different, abnormal, peculiar, or not easily classified

Predispose

Dispose (Set Up) in advance

Unique

Distinctive characteristic; unusual

Ambiguous

Doubtful or uncertain especially from obscurity or indistinctness

Impetus

Driving force

Manifestly

Easily understood or recognized by the mind; obvious

Sufficient

Enough to meet the needs of a situation or a proposed end

Crucial

Essential

Constitute

Establish; comprise; compose

Consequent

Following as a result

Subsequent

Following in time, order, or place

Aggregate

Formed by the collection of units or particles into a body, mass, or amount

Subsidiary

Furnishing aid or support Example: Supporting (definition) Details

Ample

Generous or more than adequate in size, scope, or capacity

Proportion

Harmonious relation of parts to each other or to the whole

Correspondingly

Having or participating in the same relationship

Cryptic

Having or seeming to have a hidden or ambiguous meaning; concealed meaning

Incompatible

Incapable of existing together in harmony

Questionable

Inviting inquiry

Inconsistent

Lacking harmony, regularity, or steady continuity

Ephemeral

Lasting a very short time

Pundit

Learned man

Unequivocal

Leaving no doubt; clear

Coherent

Logically ordered; having clarity

Necessary

Logically unavoidable; needed

Imperturbable

Marked by extreme calm, impassivity, and steadiness

Consistent

Marked by harmony, regularity, or steady continuity

Principal

Most important, consequential, or influential

Neither Nor

Not either

Invalid

Not justifiable or logically correct

Unwarranted

Not justified

Indispensable

Not subject to being set aside or neglected; necessary

Primary

Of first rank, importance, or value

Temporal

Of or relating to the sequence of time or to a particular time; chronologically

Invariably

On every occasion; always

Advocate

One that defends or maintains a cause or proposal

Vulnerable

Open to attack or damage

Skeptic

Person who has doubt about something

Indigenous

Produced, growing, living, or occurring naturally in a particular region or environment

Inflation

Puff up; a continuing rise in the general price level usually attributed to an increase in the volume of money and credit relative to available goods and services

Prominent

Readily noticeable

Correlation

Relation between things to the extent in which one relies on another Example: Husband and Wife

Preclude

Rule out in advance

Hearsay

Rumor

Sedentary

Settled; not migratory

Contingency

Something liable to happen as an adjunct to or result of something else

Proposition

Something offered for consideration or acceptance

Extant

Standing out or above; still in existence

Comprehension

The act or action of grasping with the intellect

Trial

The action or process of trying or putting to the proof

Liability

The quality or state of being held responsible by law

Jurisprudence

The science or philosophy of law

Extent

The scope of something

Advance

To accelerate the growth or progress of

Endorse

To approve openly; to express support or approval of publicly and definitely

Claim

To assert

Eschew

To avoid habitually especially on moral or practical grounds; shun; evade

Conform

To be similar or identical; obedient or compliant

Compel

To cause to do or occur by overwhelming pressure; obligate; coerce

Qualify

To characterize by naming an attribute

Oblige

To constrain by physical, moral, or legal force or by the exigencies of circumstance

Rebuttal

To contradict or oppose by formal legal argument, plea, or countervailing proof; beat back

Assertion

To declare positively

Impose

To establish or apply by authority

Verify

To establish the truth, accuracy, or reality of

Attribute

To explain by indicating a cause Example: He _______ his success to his Coach

Accumulate

To gather or pile up especially little by little; amass

Confirming

To give assurance of validity to

Entail

To impose, involve, or imply as a necessary accompaniment or result

Imply

To involve or indicate by inference, association, or necessary consequence rather than by direct statement; allude; hint

Afford

To make available, give forth, or provide naturally or inevitably

Ensure

To make sure, certain, or safe; guarantee

Generalization

To make vague or indefinite statements

Aggravate

To make worse, more serious, or more severe; intensify

Circumvent

To manage to get around especially by ingenuity or stratagem; to avoid or skirt

Disconfirming

To not give assurance of validity to

Adduce

To offer as example, reason, or proof in discussion or analysis

Indicate

To point out or point to

Betray

To prove false

Justify

To prove or show to be just, right, or reasonable; to show to have had a sufficient legal reason

Refute

To prove wrong by argument or evidence

Presuppose

To require as an antecedent in logic or fact; assume beforehand

Undermine

To subvert or weaken insidiously

Sustain

To support as true, legal, or just

Assumption

To take for granted that something is true

Derive

To take, receive, or obtain especially from a specified source; to have or take origin

Hold

To think of in a particular way; regard

Equivocate

To use language that subjects to two or more interpretations usually with the intent to mislead or confuse; to avoid committing oneself in what one says

Improbable

Unlikely to be true or to occure

Altruistic

Unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others

Irony

Use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning

Strenuously

Vigorously active

Valid

Well-grounded or justifiable

Solely

Without another

Incoherent

chaotic order; not clear

Posit

propose as an explanation

Diminution

the act, process, or an instance of making less or dwindle