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