SAT Vocabulary Lists and Meanings in Context for SAT Vocabulary Words for ESL Students

Advocate

• To publicly support or recommend something.
• She is an advocate for better public schools.

Alleviate

• To make a problem or suffering less severe.
• He took medicine to alleviate his headache.

Ambivalence

• Having mixed feelings or ideas about someone or something.
• He felt ambivalence toward his new job.

Analogous

• Similar or comparable to something else.
• A computer’s memory is analogous to a human brain.

Anomaly

• Something that is different from what is normal or expected.
• A snowstorm in the summer is an anomaly.

Augment

• To make something greater by adding to it.
• He took a second job to augment his income.

Austere

• Very simple, with no comfort or decoration.
• The monk lived an austere life in a small room.

Benevolent

• Well-meaning and kindly.
• The benevolent king was loved by all his people.

Bolster

• To support or strengthen something.
• Good news can bolster your confidence.

Candor

• The quality of being open and honest.
• I appreciated her candor when she told me the truth.

Censure

• To express very strong disapproval.
• The official faced public censure for his actions.

Coalesce

• To come together to form one group or whole.
• The small villages coalesced into a single large town.

Compelling

• So interesting that it holds your attention.
• The book was so compelling that I could not put it down.

Conscientious

• Wishing to do one’s work or duty well and thoroughly.
• She is a conscientious student who always completes her homework.

Conventional

• Based on what is generally done or believed.
• They chose a conventional design for their new house.

Dearth

• A scarcity or lack of something.
• There is a dearth of evidence to support his claim.

Deride

• To laugh at or insult someone or something.
• The other kids would deride him for his old clothes.

Disparate

• Essentially different; not allowing comparison.
• The report combined two disparate sets of data.

Dubious

• Hesitating or doubting; not to be relied upon.
• I was dubious about the plan’s chances for success.

Elusive

• Difficult to find, catch, or achieve.
• The answer to the mystery remained elusive.

Enhance

• To improve the quality or value of something.
• Adding spices will enhance the flavor of the food.

Equivocal

• Not clear; open to more than one interpretation.
• His equivocal answer made me wonder if he was hiding something.

Explicit

• Stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for doubt.
• She gave me explicit instructions on how to get to her house.

Facilitate

• To make an action or process easy or easier.
• A good teacher can facilitate learning.

Foster

• To encourage the development of something.
• The team tried to foster a sense of community.

Gregarious

• Fond of company; sociable.
• He was a gregarious person who loved parties.

Hinder

• To create difficulties for someone or something.
• The bad weather will hinder our travel plans.

Impartial

• Treating all rivals or groups equally; fair.
• A judge must be impartial when hearing a case.

Implicit

• Suggested though not directly expressed.
• There was an implicit trust between the two friends.

Indifference

• Lack of interest, concern, or sympathy.
• His indifference to her suffering was shocking.

Inevitable

• Certain to happen; unavoidable.
• A forest fire was inevitable after the long, dry summer.

Lucid

• Expressed clearly; easy to understand.
• The professor’s explanation was lucid and helpful.

Meticulous

• Showing great attention to detail; very careful.
• The artist was meticulous in her work.

Mundane

• Lacking interest or excitement; dull.
• He wanted to escape his mundane life.

Novel

• New or unusual in an interesting way.
• Her book offered a novel approach to the problem.

Obscure

• Not discovered or known about; uncertain.
• The meaning of the ancient text was obscure.

Plausible

• Seeming reasonable or probable.
• His story was plausible, but I still had my doubts.

Pragmatic

• Dealing with things sensibly and realistically.
• She took a pragmatic approach to solving the problem.

Proponent

• A person who advocates for a theory or project.
• He is a proponent of renewable energy.

Prudent

• Acting with or showing care and thought for the future.
• It is prudent to save money for emergencies.

Refute

• To prove a statement or theory to be wrong or false.
• The lawyer used new evidence to refute the claims.

Resilient

• Able to recover quickly from difficult conditions.
• Children are often more resilient than adults.

Skeptical

• Not easily convinced; having doubts.
• I am skeptical of claims that sound too good to be true.

Substantiate

• To provide evidence to support or prove the truth of something.
• You must substantiate your argument with facts.

Superfluous

• Unnecessary; more than enough.
• Please remove any superfluous information from the report.

Sustain

• To strengthen or support; to cause to continue.
• Hope sustained them during their difficult journey.

Tacit

• Understood or implied without being stated.
• They had a tacit agreement to not talk about the past.

Transient

• Lasting only for a short time.
• She felt a transient moment of joy.

Undermine

• To lessen the effectiveness or power of something.
• His constant criticism began to undermine her confidence.

Venerate

• To regard with great respect.
• In some cultures, people venerate their ancestors.