Gate Vocabulary 

SAT Word of the day!

Students should make their own sentences containing context clues on their 3X5 cards.

1. aborigine - noun - an original inhabitant

2. altercation - noun - a noisy dispute

3. amalgam - noun - a mixture of different elements

4. ambrosial - adjective - delicious, fragrant, divine

5. ambulatory - adjective - walking or moving; alterable

6. amphibious - adjective - able to function both on land and in water

7. androgynous - adjective - having both male and female characteristics; unisex

8. aperture - noun - an opening; a hole

9. apex - noun - highest point; summit

10. apparition - noun - an unusual or unexpected sight

11. appendage - noun - something attached to a larger item

12, arcane - adjective - secret; mysterious

13. archetype - noun - the original pattern or model

[Test on the "A" SAT words]

14. ballyhoo - noun - a noisy attention-getting demonstration or talk

15. bedlam - noun - uproar; confusion

16. bellicose - adjective - warlike; quarrelsome

17. billet-doux - noun - a love letter

18. bizarre - adjective - out of the ordinary; eccentric; freakish

19. bombast - noun - pretentious, inflated speech or writing

20. bona fide - adjective - made in good faith; genuine

21. boudoir - noun - a woman's dressing room, bedroom, or private sitting room

22. brouhaha - noun - hubbub; uproar; furor

23. buffoon - noun - a clown, comedian or laughable person

24. buttress - verb - to support or prop

25. cacophonous - adjective - harsh-sounding or confused-sounding

26. cadence - noun - rhythm

27. cameo - noun - a raised image on a precious stone; a small role

28. carcinogen - noun - a substance that causes cancer

29. carnivore - noun - a flesh-eating animal

30. caucus - noun - a closed meeting of members of a political party or faction

31. celestial - adjective - heavenly

32. circumvent - verb - to avoid by going around; to encircle; to outwit

33. citadel - noun - a fortress

34. cogitate - verb - to ponder or think deeply

35. comatose - adjective - unconscious; inactive

36. conflagration - noun - a large destructive fire

37. contretemps - noun - an embarrassing incident

38. conveyance - noun - a means of transporting; a vehicle

39. corona - noun - a halo of light around the sun or moon

40. cryptic - adjective - secret; mysterious

41. cuisine - noun - food; style of cooking

42. debonair - adjective - suave, charming, lighthearted

43. decanter - noun - a vessel used to receive liquid poured from another

44. deciduous - adjective - shedding at a certain stage

45. demagogue - noun - a leader who promises things to people to gain power

46. dexterous - adjective - skillful, adroit

47. disheveled - adjective - untidy

48. distaff - noun - pertaining to females; a stick that holds wool or flax for spinning

49. doggerel - noun - loose, irregular verse; inferior poetry

50. dormant - adjective - sleeping, inactive

51. dulcet - adjective - sweet; melodious; soothing

52. echelon - noun - one in a series of levels of command

53. effervescent - adjective - bubbly, lively

54. egregious - adjective - flagrant; out of the ordinary

55. emaciated - adjective - painfully thin; wasted

56. embellish - verb - to make beautiful with ornamentation; to decorate

57. equestrian - adjective - relating to horseback riding

58. equilibrium - noun - a state of balance

59. escalate - verb - to enlarge; to increase

60. exodus - noun - a mass departure

61. expletive - noun - an exclamatory word or phrase, often obscene or profane

62. expunge - verb - to strike out; to erase; to remove

63. fecund - adjective - fruitful; productive

64. festoon - noun - a decorative chain or strip hung in a curve between two points

65. fiasco - noun - a failure

66. flamboyant - adjective - ornate, showy

67. flotilla - noun - a fleet of small ships

68. formidable - adjective - frightening; dreadful; awe-inspiring

69. gargoyle - noun - a rain spout in the shape of a grotesque human or animal figure

70. gauntlet - noun - a thick, heavy glove from a suit of armor

71. germinate - adjective - to begin to grow, sprout

72. globule - noun - a tiny drop; a small ball

73. googol - noun - the figure 1 followed by 100 zeroes, equal to 10 to the 100th power

74. gossamer - noun - something light, delicate or tenuous

75. gregarious - adjective - living in groups; social

 76. gyrate - verb - to revolve around a point or axis

77. halcyon - adjective - calm, peaceful

78. harbinger - noun - forerunner, herald

79. hirsute - adjective - very hairy

80. holocaust - noun - widespread destruction, especially by fire

81. impropriety - noun - improper conduct; bad manners

82. incarcerate - verb - to put in prison

83. inclement - adjective - stormy, harsh

84. indolent - adjective - lazy

85. intrepid - adjective - fearless; bold

86. irascible - adjective - easily angered; hot-tempered

87. irreparable - adjective - cannot be repaired

88. itinerary - noun - the route of a journey

89. jettison - verb - to discard; to cast off as an encumbrance

90. juxtapose - tr. verb - to place side by side

91. kowtow - verb - to be overly polite and flattering; to fawn

92. labyrinthine - adjective - complicated; perplexing; mazelike

93. lambent - adjective - softly bright; flickering

94. languid - adjective - drooping, sluggish

95. libation - noun - a beverage; archaic: the act of pouring out a liquid as a religious offering

96. lineage - noun - descent in a direct line from an ancestor

97. loquacious - adjective - given to excessive talking

98. ludicrous - adjective - laughable because of obvious absurdity

99. lugubrious - adjective - exaggeratedly or affectedly mournful

100. luminary - noun - one who is notable in a particular field

101. maelstrom - noun - a powerful whirlpool; turmoil

102. manacle - noun - a handcuff; restraint

103. masticate - verb - to chew; to soften by crushing

104. mausoleum - noun - a large, elaborate tomb

105. mellifluous - adjective - smoothly flowing; sweet

106. metamorphosis - noun - a transformation; a marked alteration

107. monolith - noun - a single large stone, often in the form of a column or monument

108. nadir - noun - the lowest point

109. nocturnal - adjective - pertaining to the night; active at night

110. nodule - noun - a small lump

111. obdurate - adjective - hard; unmoved by persuasion

112. obsequious - adjective - fawning; servile

113. opulent - noun - demonstrating great wealth; extravagant

114. oscillate - verb - to swing back and forth

115. ostracize - verb - to exclude from a group; to banish

116. ovation - noun - enthusiastic display of approval; applause

117. panorama - noun - a wide, unbroken view

118. paraphernalia - noun - personal belongings; equipment

119. pariah - noun - an outcast

120. parochial - adjective - relating to a church parish; limited in scope

121. penurious - adjective - stingy; extremely poor

122. pilfer - verb - to steal insignificant items

123. pinion - verb - to restrain by binding the arms; to hold fast

124. pinnacle - noun - the highest point; a spire

125. plummet - verb - to fall or plunge straight downward

126. pogrom - noun - an organized persecution or massacre

127. polyglot - adjective - using several languages

128. posh - adjective - elegant, fashionable

129. potable - adjective - fit to drink

130. precarious - adjective - dangerous, risky; dependent on chance

131. progeny - noun - offspring; descendants

132. projectile - noun - a missile; something thrown

133. promontory - noun - a high point of land or rock projecting into water

134. prostrate - adjective - lying flat, face down

135. pugilist - noun - fighter, boxer

136. pulchritude - noun - physical beauty

137. queue - noun - a waiting line, especially of persons or vehicles

138. ravenous - adjective - hungry; very eager

139. recalcitrant - adjective - stubbornly resistant to authority or restraint

140. remorse - noun - regret for having done wrong

141. remuneration - noun - reward, payment

142. rendezvous - noun - an appointment; a meeting place

143. replicate - verb - to duplicate; to repeat

144. reverberate - verb - to echo; to resound

145. reverie - noun - daydream; being lost in thought

146. roster - noun - a list of names

147. ruminate - verb - to ponder; to think over

148. salutary - adjective - promoting health; beneficial

149. sangfroid - adjective - poise, calmness, especially under strain

150. satiated - adjective - fully fed; fully satisfied

151. saturnine - adjective - gloomy, surly

152. scintillate - verb - to sparkle, to flash

153. sediment - noun - matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid

154. seraph - noun - and angel

155. sibilant - adjective - making a hissing sound

156. silhouette - noun - a dark outline against a light background

157. sinewy - adjective - strong and firm; tough

158. somnambulist - noun - sleepwalker

159. soporific - adjective - causing sleep

160. spectrum - noun - a wide range or sequence

161. symposium - noun - a meeting to discuss a particular topic

162. taciturn - adjective - disinclined to talk; silent

163. tantalize - verb - to tease by keeping something out of reach

164. tendril - noun - a coiling part of a climbing plant which serves to attach it to a support

165. timorous - adjective - easily frightened, timid

166. titanic - adjective - huge, powerful

167. tortuous - adjective - winding or twisting; devious

168. transpose - verb - to reverse the order or place of

169. tributary - noun - a stream or river flowing into a larger stream or river

170. truculent - adjective - savage; fierce

171. truncated - adjective - cut off; shortened

172. valor - adjective - courage; bravery

173. verve - noun - energy, liveliness

174. vie - verb - strive; compete; contend

175. vintage - adjective - classic, outstanding, old

176. virtuoso - noun - person with unusual skill in any field, particularly in the arts

177. votary - noun - a person devoted to something

178. wanderlust - adjective - strong impulse to travel

179. whet - verb - to sharpen; to stimulate

180. xenophobia - noun - fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners