Flashcards › Test Prep & College › Vocabulary

SAT/ACT Vocabulary 2: Building Words

Eighty medium-difficulty words common in college-prep reading and writing.

86 cardsGrades 9–12#sat#act#vocabulary

0 of 86 known
86 cards
  • acuteWord
    Sharp, intense or very perceptive
  • adversityWord
    Hardship or misfortune
  • aestheticWord
    Having to do with beauty or taste
  • alleviateWord
    To make pain or a problem less severe
  • altruisticWord
    Caring about the welfare of others without seeking reward
  • ambivalentWord
    Having mixed or conflicting feelings
  • amiableWord
    Friendly and pleasant
  • analogousWord
    Similar in a way that allows comparison
  • anomalyWord
    Something that departs from what is normal
  • apathyWord
    Lack of interest or concern
  • arbitraryWord
    Based on random choice, not reason
  • arduousWord
    Requiring great effort; difficult
  • articulateWord
    Able to express ideas clearly
  • astuteWord
    Clever and quick to see how to gain advantage
  • audaciousWord
    Boldly daring, sometimes rudely so
  • austereWord
    Plain and strict; without luxury
  • autonomyWord
    Freedom to govern oneself
  • benevolentWord
    Kind and generous
  • candidWord
    Open and honest
  • capriciousWord
    Changing mood or behavior suddenly and unpredictably
  • censureWord
    To criticize formally and severely
  • circumventWord
    To find a way around
  • cogentWord
    Clear, logical and convincing
  • complacentWord
    Smugly satisfied and unaware of possible trouble
  • compromiseWord
    An agreement reached by each side giving up something
  • condoneWord
    To accept or overlook behavior that is wrong
  • conventionalWord
    Following accepted customs
  • corroborateWord
    To confirm with additional evidence
  • credibleWord
    Believable; able to be trusted
  • cynicalWord
    Distrustful of people's motives
  • debilitateWord
    To weaken seriously
  • decorumWord
    Polite and proper behavior
  • deferenceWord
    Respectful yielding to another's wishes
  • depleteWord
    To use up; reduce greatly
  • deriveWord
    To obtain from a source
  • detrimentalWord
    Causing harm
  • didacticWord
    Intended to teach, often too much so
  • diligentWord
    Hard-working and careful
  • discernWord
    To recognize or make out clearly
  • disparityWord
    A noticeable difference or inequality
  • divulgeWord
    To reveal a secret
  • eccentricWord
    Unconventional and slightly strange
  • eloquentWord
    Fluent and persuasive in speech or writing
  • empiricalWord
    Based on observation or experiment
  • enigmaWord
    A puzzling person or thing
  • ephemeralWord
    Lasting a very short time
  • equivocalWord
    Open to more than one interpretation; deliberately vague
  • erroneousWord
    Wrong; mistaken
  • esotericWord
    Understood by only a small group
  • exemplifyWord
    To be a typical example of
  • exonerateWord
    To clear of blame
  • facilitateWord
    To make easier
  • feasibleWord
    Possible to do
  • ferventWord
    Showing intense and sincere feeling
  • frugalWord
    Careful about spending money
  • futileWord
    Having no useful result
  • gregariousWord
    Fond of company; sociable
  • haughtyWord
    Arrogantly proud
  • hinderWord
    To get in the way of
  • hypocrisyWord
    Claiming standards one does not follow
  • impartialWord
    Treating all sides equally
  • impetusWord
    A force that sets something in motion
  • implicitWord
    Suggested but not stated outright
  • incessantWord
    Continuing without pause
  • indifferentWord
    Having no particular interest or sympathy
  • indigenousWord
    Native to a particular place
  • inherentWord
    Existing as a permanent part of something
  • innateWord
    Present from birth
  • innocuousWord
    Not harmful or offensive
  • integrityWord
    Honesty and strong moral principles
  • intricateWord
    Having many small interlocking parts
  • jeopardizeWord
    To put at risk
  • lethargicWord
    Sluggish and lacking energy
  • lucidWord
    Clearly expressed; easy to understand
  • magnanimousWord
    Generous in forgiving
  • malleableWord
    Easily shaped or influenced
  • meticulousWord
    Showing great attention to detail
  • mitigateWord
    To make less severe
  • mundaneWord
    Ordinary; dull
  • nostalgiaWord
    A wistful longing for the past
  • noviceWord
    A beginner
  • obscureWord
    Hard to see or understand; little known
  • obsoleteWord
    No longer in use
  • ominousWord
    Suggesting that something bad will happen
  • optimalWord
    Best possible
  • ostentatiousWord
    Showy in a way meant to impress

Download this deck

Want paper cards? Paste the plain-text download into the flashcard maker.

More Vocabulary decks