SAT and ACT Vocab 12

baleful

deadly or pernicious in influence; foreboding or threatening evil; baneful; ominous, portending evil; harmful or malignant

canard

false or unfounded report or story; fabricated report; groundless rumor

bête noir

bugbear or person or thing strongly detested or avoided

bucolic

relating to shepherds or herdsmen, pastoral; relating to or typical of rural life; idyllic

apostasy

renunciation of a religious faith; abandonment of a previous loyalty; defection

cavil

to raise trivial objections

braggadocio

braggart; cockiness, arrogant, empty boasting, pretension

aquiline

curving like an eagle's beak

barrage

dam placed in a watercourse to increase the depth of water or divert it into a channel for navigation or irrigation

buskin

laced boot reaching halfway or more to the knee

callow

lacking adult sophistication; immature (Begins with C)

bate

to reduce the force or intensity of, restrain, deduct; to take away; to diminish, decrease

capitulate

to parley, negotiate; to acquiesce, yield; to surrender after negotiation

burgeon

to send forth new growth; sprout, bloom; to flourish

anneal

to strengthen, toughen

alacrity

Cheerful willingness; eagerness; quickness, not hesitant or reluctant

bravado

blustering swaggering conduct; pretense of bravery; foolhardy

animadversion

a critical and usually censorious remark; criticism

caryatid

a draped female figure supporting an entablature

bolster

a long pillow or cushion, a structural part designed to eliminate friction

athwart

across, in opposition to

breviary

book of prayers, hymns, psalms, divine office; brief summary

catalyst

an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action

appurtenance

an incidental right attached to a principal property right and passing in possession with it; a subordinate part or adjunct; accessory object

chattel

an item of tangible movable or immovable property; slave, bondsman

apothegm

aphorism

codicil

appendix, supplement

blazon

armorial bearings; ostentatious display

cabal

artifices or intrigue of a group of persons secretly united in a plot

apropos

at an opportune time, by way of interjection or further comment with regard to the present topic

animus

basic attitude or governing spirit, disposition, intention; enmity; usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will; inner masculine part of the female personality in the analytic psychology of Jung

antediluvian

before the flood

arrant

being notoriously without moderation

canny

clever, shrewd, prudent, careful, steady, restrained, quiet snug

billingsgate

coarsely abusive language

aplomb

complete and confident composure or self-assurance; poise; confidence

aphorism

concise statement of principle

capacious

containing or capable of containing a great deal; spacious

chicanery

deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry; trickery

bereft

deprived or robbed of the possession or use; lacking; bereaved

apotheosis

elevation to divine status; deification; perfect example; quintessence

chauvinism

excessive or blind patriotism; an attitude of superiority toward members of the opposite sex

cataclysm

flood, deluge, catastrophe; momentous and violent event marked by overwhelming upheaval and demolition

avarice

greediness, cupidity

blithe

happy lighthearted character; casual, heedless, lacking due thought and consideration

chary

hesitant and vigilant about dangers and risks; slow to grant, accept or expend; discreetly cautious; dearly treasured

apogee

highest point

apposite

highly pertinent or appropriate

bugaboo

imaginary object of fear; bugbear

cant

inclined to sing, to talk in jargon; affected singsong or whining speech; the insincere use of pious words

burlesque

literary or dramatic work that seeks to ridicule by means of grotesque exaggeration or comic imitation; mockery usually by caricature

checkered

marked by alternation or contrast of fortune

captious

marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections; calculated to confuse, entrap, entangle in argument

assiduous

marked by careful unremitting attention or persistent application

baroque

marked by complexity, bold ornamentation, extravagance, flamboyance, grotesqueness

carping

marked by or inclined to querulous and often perverse criticism

bogus

not genuine; counterfeit, sham

brindled

obscure dark streaks or flecks on a usually gray or tawny ground

augury

omen portent

canto

one or more divisions of a long poem

cockade

ornament usually worn on a hat as a badge

caparison

ornamental covering for a horse; decorative trappings and harness; rich clothing, adornment

benighted

overtaken by darkness or night, unenlightened

andirons

pair of metal supports for firewood

chiromancy

palmistry

bilious

peevish ill-natured disposition; sickeningly unpleasant

bumptious

presumptuously, obtusely and often noisily self-assertive; obtrusive

celerity

rapidity of motion or action

casuistry

resolving of specific cases of conscience, duty, or conduct through interpretation of ethical principle or religious doctrine; specious argument; rationalization

carmine

rich crimson or scarlet lake made from cochineal; a vivid red

boorish

rudeness of manner due to insensitivity to others' feelings and unwillingness to be agreeable

argot

secret vocabulary and idiom peculiar to a particular group

bulwark

solid wall-like structure raised for defense; rampart; seawall; strong support or protection; side of the ship above the upper deck

blandishment

something that tends to coax or cajole; allurement

brazen

sounding harsh and loud like struck brass; boldness

aspersion

sprinkling of water especially in religious ceremonies; a false or misleading charge meant to harm someone's reputation; the act of making such a charge

chassis

supporting frame of a structure

bivouac

temporary encampment under little or no shelter

atavism

throwback; reversion to a past style

asseverate

to affirm or declare positively or earnestly

bode

to announce beforehand, foretell; to indicate by signs; presage (Begins with B)

beleaguer

to besiege, trouble , harass

clamber

to climb awkwardly

circumscribe

to constrict the range or activity of definitely and clearly; to define or make off carefully; to draw a line around

bedizen

to dress or adorn gaudily

bowdlerize

to expurgate by omitting or modifying vulgar parts; to modify by abridging, simplifying or distorting in style or content

adumbrate

to foreshadow vaguely: intimate; to suggest, disclose, or outline partially

apprise

to give notice, to tell

batten

to grow fat; to feed gluttonously; to grow prosperous especially at the expense of another; fatten

assuage

to lessen the intensity ; ease; pacify; quench

burnish

to make shiny or lustrous especially by rubbing; polish

besmirch

to sully, soil

calumniate

to utter false statements, charges or imputations about; malign

aver

to verify or prove to be true in pleading a cause; to declare positively

bedraggle

to wet thoroughly

cede

to yield or grant typically by treaty; to assign, transfer

bullion

uncoined gold or silver in bars; metal in the mass; lace, braid, or fringe of gold or silver threads

circumlocution

use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea; evasion of speech

bootless

useless, unprofitable

churlish

vulgar, surly