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SAT/ACT Vocabulary 4: Hardest Words
Seventy-five of the harder words, for students aiming at top scores.
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- abstruseWordHard to understand; deep or obscure
- accoladeWordAn expression of praise or honor
- acerbicWordSharp and biting in tone
- alacrityWordCheerful eagerness and speed
- amalgamateWordTo combine into one
- anachronismWordSomething placed in the wrong time period
- antediluvianWordExtremely old-fashioned; from before the Flood
- apocryphalWordOf doubtful authenticity; widely told but probably untrue
- approbationWordApproval or praise
- arcaneWordKnown by few; mysterious
- asceticWordLiving with strict self-denial
- assiduousWordHard-working and persistent
- attenuateWordTo weaken or reduce in force
- axiomaticWordSelf-evident; accepted as true without proof
- bellicoseWordInclined to start fights
- blandishmentWordFlattery used to persuade
- bucolicWordPleasantly rural
- cajoleWordTo persuade by flattery or coaxing
- cannyWordShrewd, especially in practical matters
- castigateWordTo criticize severely
- causticWordBitingly sarcastic; able to burn
- chicaneryWordTrickery used to get one's way
- circumspectWordCareful to consider all consequences
- clandestineWordKept secret, often for improper reasons
- colloquialWordUsed in informal conversation
- connoisseurWordAn expert judge in matters of taste
- contentiousWordLikely to cause argument
- contriteWordFeeling sorry for wrongdoing
- convolutedWordExtremely complex and twisting
- credulousWordToo ready to believe
- culpableWordDeserving blame
- cursoryWordHasty and not thorough
- dauntingWordSeeming difficult in a discouraging way
- decryWordTo publicly condemn
- deleteriousWordHarmful
- demurWordTo raise doubts or objections
- denigrateWordTo belittle someone's reputation
- desultoryWordLacking a plan; jumping from one thing to another
- diatribeWordA bitter, lengthy verbal attack
- dichotomyWordA division into two contrasting parts
- diffidentWordLacking self-confidence
- disseminateWordTo spread widely
- dogmaticWordInsisting that one's opinions are correct
- ebullientWordOverflowing with enthusiasm
- efficaciousWordProducing the desired result
- effusiveWordGushing with feeling
- egregiousWordOutstandingly bad
- elucidateWordTo make clear
- empathyWordUnderstanding another person's feelings
- enervateWordTo drain of energy
- equanimityWordCalmness under stress
- eruditeWordHaving great learning
- euphemismWordA mild word used in place of a harsher one
- exacerbateWordTo make worse
- exculpateWordTo free from blame
- exigentWordUrgent; demanding immediate action
- extraneousWordNot belonging to the subject at hand
- fastidiousWordVery attentive to detail; hard to please
- fatuousWordSilly and pointless
- felicitousWordWell chosen; fitting
- fortuitousWordHappening by lucky chance
- garrulousWordTalking too much
- grandiloquentWordUsing pompous language
- iconoclastWordSomeone who attacks cherished beliefs
- ignominiousWordDeserving shame; humiliating
- imperviousWordNot allowing anything to pass through or affect
- imperturbableWordUnable to be upset
- inchoateWordJust begun and not fully formed
- incorrigibleWordImpossible to reform
- inexorableWordImpossible to stop
- insidiousWordSpreading harmfully in a hidden way
- intransigentWordRefusing to change one's position
- inundateWordTo flood or overwhelm
- inureWordTo accustom to something unpleasant
- laconicWordUsing very few words
- laudWordTo praise highly
- loquaciousWordVery talkative
- maudlinWordOverly sentimental
- mendaciousWordDishonest; lying
- nefariousWordWicked
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