Hardest 250 SAT words

Jason K.
Source: sparknotes
249 words 105 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. abjure
    formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief
  2. abrogate
    revoke formally
  3. acerbic
    sour or bitter in taste
  4. acrimony
    a rough and bitter manner
  5. acumen
    shrewdness shown by keen insight
  6. adumbrate
    describe roughly or give the main points or summary of
  7. alacrity
    liveliness and eagerness
  8. anathema
    a formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by excommunication
  9. antipathy
    a feeling of intense dislike
  10. approbation
    official acceptance or agreement
  11. arrogate
    seize and take control without authority
  12. ascetic
    someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline
  13. aspersion
    a disparaging remark
  14. assiduous
    marked by care and persistent effort
  15. blandish
    praise somewhat dishonestly
  16. boon
    something that is desirable, favorable, or beneficial
  17. brusque
    rudely abrupt or blunt in speech or manner
  18. buffet
    piece of furniture that stands at the side of a dining room
  19. burnish
    polish and make shiny
  20. buttress
    a support usually of stone or brick
  21. cacophony
    loud confusing disagreeable sounds
  22. cajole
    influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
  23. calumny
    a false accusation of an offense
  24. capricious
    determined by chance or impulse rather than by necessity
  25. clemency
    leniency and compassion shown toward offenders
  26. cogent
    powerfully persuasive
  27. concomitant
    following or accompanying as a consequence
  28. conflagration
    a very intense and uncontrolled fire
  29. contrite
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
  30. conundrum
    a difficult problem
  31. credulity
    tendency to believe readily
  32. cupidity
    extreme greed for material wealth
  33. cursory
    hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough
  34. decry
    express strong disapproval of
  35. defile
    make dirty or spotty
  36. deleterious
    harmful to living things
  37. demure
    shy or modest, often in a playful or provocative way
  38. deprecate
    express strong disapproval of; deplore
  39. deride
    treat or speak of with contempt
  40. desecrate
    violate the sacred character of a place or language
  41. desiccated
    thoroughly dried out
  42. diaphanous
    so thin as to transmit light
  43. diffident
    showing modest reserve
  44. discursive
    tending to cover a wide range of subjects
  45. dissemble
    behave unnaturally or affectedly
  46. dither
    be undecided or uncertain
  47. ebullient
    joyously unrestrained
  48. effrontery
    audacious behavior that you have no right to
  49. effulgent
    radiating or as if radiating light
  50. egregious
    conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
  51. enervate
    weaken physically, mentally, or morally
  52. ephemeral
    anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day
  53. eschew
    avoid and stay away from deliberately
  54. evanescent
    short-lived; tending to vanish or disappear
  55. evince
    give expression to
  56. exculpate
    pronounce not guilty of criminal charges
  57. execrable
    unequivocally detestable
  58. exigent
    demanding immediate attention
  59. expiate
    make amends for
  60. expunge
    remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line
  61. extant
    still in existence; not extinct or destroyed or lost
  62. extol
    praise, glorify, or honor
  63. fallacious
    containing or based on incorrect reasoning
  64. fastidious
    giving careful attention to detail
  65. fatuous
    devoid of intelligence
  66. fecund
    capable of producing offspring or vegetation
  67. feral
    wild and menacing
  68. fetid
    offensively malodorous
  69. florid
    elaborately or excessively ornamented
  70. fractious
    easily irritated or annoyed
  71. garrulous
    full of trivial conversation
  72. grandiloquence
    high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation
  73. gregarious
    temperamentally seeking and enjoying the company of others
  74. hackneyed
    repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
  75. hapless
    unfortunate and deserving pity
  76. harangue
    a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion
  77. hegemony
    the dominance or leadership of one social group over others
  78. iconoclast
    someone who attacks cherished ideas or institutions
  79. ignominious
    deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
  80. impassive
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
  81. imperious
    having or showing arrogant superiority
  82. impertinent
    improperly forward or bold
  83. impervious
    not admitting of passage or capable of being affected
  84. impetuous
    characterized by undue haste and lack of thought
  85. impinge
    infringe upon
  86. implacable
    incapable of being appeased or pacified
  87. impudent
    improperly forward or bold
  88. inchoate
    only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
  89. incontrovertible
    impossible to deny or disprove
  90. indefatigable
    showing sustained enthusiasm with unflagging vitality
  91. ineffable
    defying expression or description
  92. inexorable
    impossible to prevent, resist, or stop
  93. ingenuous
    lacking in sophistication or worldliness
  94. inimical
    tending to obstruct or cause harm
  95. iniquity
    absence of moral or spiritual values
  96. insidious
    working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
  97. intransigent
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
  98. inure
    cause to accept or become hardened to
  99. invective
    abusive language used to express blame or censure
  100. inveterate
    habitual
  101. jubilant
    full of high-spirited delight
  102. juxtaposition
    the act of positioning close together
  103. laconic
    brief and to the point
  104. languid
    lacking spirit or liveliness
  105. largess
    liberality in bestowing gifts
  106. latent
    potentially existing but not presently evident or realized
  107. legerdemain
    an illusory feat
  108. licentious
    lacking moral discipline
  109. limpid
    clear and bright
  110. maelstrom
    a powerful circular current of water
  111. magnanimous
    noble and generous in spirit
  112. malediction
    the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil
  113. malevolent
    wishing or appearing to wish evil to others
  114. manifold
    many and varied; having many features or forms
  115. maudlin
    very sentimental or emotional
  116. mawkish
    very sentimental or emotional
  117. mendacious
    given to lying
  118. mercurial
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
  119. modicum
    a small or moderate or token amount
  120. morass
    a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
  121. multifarious
    having many aspects
  122. munificence
    liberality in bestowing gifts
  123. myriad
    a large indefinite number
  124. nadir
    the lowest point of anything
  125. nascent
    being born or beginning
  126. nefarious
    extremely wicked
  127. neophyte
    a participant with no experience with an activity
  128. obdurate
    stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
  129. obfuscate
    make obscure or unclear
  130. oblique
    slanting or inclined in direction or course or position
  131. obsequious
    attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
  132. obstreperous
    noisily and stubbornly defiant
  133. obtuse
    of an angle, between 90 and 180 degrees
  134. odious
    extremely repulsive or unpleasant
  135. officious
    intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
  136. opulent
    rich and superior in quality
  137. ostensible
    appearing as such but not necessarily so
  138. palliate
    lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
  139. pallid
    pale, as of a person's complexion
  140. panacea
    hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases
  141. paragon
    a perfect embodiment of a concept
  142. pariah
    a person who is rejected from society or home
  143. parsimony
    extreme stinginess
  144. pathos
    a quality that arouses emotions, especially pity or sorrow
  145. paucity
    an insufficient quantity or number
  146. pejorative
    expressing disapproval
  147. pellucid
    transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity
  148. penurious
    excessively unwilling to spend
  149. perfidious
    tending to betray
  150. perfunctory
    hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough
  151. pernicious
    exceedingly harmful
  152. perspicacity
    the ability to assess situations or circumstances shrewdly
  153. pertinacious
    stubbornly unyielding
  154. petulance
    an irritable feeling
  155. pithy
    concise and full of meaning
  156. platitude
    a trite or obvious remark
  157. plethora
    extreme excess
  158. polemic
    a verbal or written attack, especially of a belief or dogma
  159. portent
    a sign of something about to happen
  160. precocious
    characterized by exceptionally early development
  161. prescient
    perceiving the significance of events before they occur
  162. primeval
    having existed from the beginning
  163. probity
    complete and confirmed integrity
  164. proclivity
    a natural inclination
  165. promulgate
    state or announce
  166. propensity
    a natural inclination
  167. propitious
    presenting favorable circumstances
  168. prosaic
    lacking wit or imagination
  169. proscribe
    command against
  170. protean
    taking on different forms
  171. prurient
    characterized by lust
  172. puerile
    displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity
  173. pugnacious
    ready and able to resort to force or violence
  174. pulchritude
    physical beauty, especially of a woman
  175. punctilious
    marked by precise accordance with details
  176. quagmire
    a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
  177. querulous
    habitually complaining
  178. quixotic
    not sensible about practical matters
  179. rancor
    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
  180. rebuke
    an act or expression of criticism and censure
  181. recalcitrant
    stubbornly resistant to authority or control
  182. rectitude
    righteousness as a consequence of being honorable and honest
  183. replete
    filled to satisfaction with food or drink
  184. reprobate
    a person without moral scruples
  185. reprove
    reprimand, scold, or express dissatisfaction with
  186. repudiate
    refuse to acknowledge, ratify, or recognize as valid
  187. rescind
    cancel officially
  188. restive
    in a very tense state
  189. ribald
    humorously vulgar
  190. rife
    excessively abundant
  191. ruse
    a deceptive maneuver, especially to avoid capture
  192. sacrosanct
    treated as if holy and kept free from violation or criticism
  193. sagacity
    the trait of having wisdom and good judgment
  194. salient
    conspicuous, prominent, or important
  195. sanctimonious
    excessively or hypocritically pious
  196. sanguine
    confidently optimistic and cheerful
  197. scurrilous
    expressing offensive, insulting, or scandalous criticism
  198. serendipity
    good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries
  199. servile
    submissive or fawning in attitude or behavior
  200. solicitous
    full of anxiety and concern
  201. somnolent
    inclined to or marked by drowsiness
  202. spurious
    plausible but false
  203. staid
    characterized by dignity and propriety
  204. stolid
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
  205. stupefy
    make someone dazed or foolish
  206. surfeit
    indulge (one's appetite) to satiety
  207. surmise
    infer from incomplete evidence
  208. surreptitious
    marked by quiet and caution and secrecy
  209. sycophant
    a person who tries to please someone to gain an advantage
  210. tacit
    implied by or inferred from actions or statements
  211. taciturn
    habitually reserved and uncommunicative
  212. tantamount
    being essentially equal to something
  213. temerity
    fearless daring
  214. tenuous
    lacking substance or significance
  215. timorous
    shy and fearful by nature
  216. torpid
    in a condition of biological rest or suspended animation
  217. tractable
    easily managed
  218. transient
    lasting a very short time
  219. transmute
    change or alter in form, appearance, or nature
  220. trenchant
    having keenness and forcefulness and penetration in thought
  221. truculent
    defiantly aggressive
  222. turgid
    ostentatiously lofty in style
  223. turpitude
    a corrupt or depraved or degenerate act or practice
  224. ubiquitous
    being present everywhere at once
  225. umbrage
    a feeling of anger caused by being offended
  226. unctuous
    unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating
  227. undulate
    move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion
  228. upbraid
    express criticism towards
  229. usurp
    seize and take control without authority
  230. vacillate
    be undecided about something
  231. vacuous
    devoid of matter
  232. vapid
    lacking significance or liveliness or spirit or zest
  233. variegated
    having an assortment of colors
  234. venerate
    regard with feelings of respect and reverence
  235. veracity
    unwillingness to tell lies
  236. verdant
    characterized by abundance of vegetation and green foliage
  237. vex
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
  238. vicarious
    experienced at secondhand
  239. vicissitude
    a variation in circumstances or fortune
  240. vilify
    spread negative information about
  241. viscous
    having a relatively high resistance to flow
  242. vitriolic
    harsh, bitter, or malicious in tone
  243. vituperate
    spread negative information about
  244. wanton
    a lewd or immoral person
  245. winsome
    charming in a childlike or naive way
  246. wistful
    showing pensive sadness
  247. wizened
    lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness
  248. zenith
    the highest point of something
  249. zephyr
    a slight wind
Created on Sun Aug 26 01:18:16 EDT 2012

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