Week Three: Dalby's SAT Vocabulary List

1. didactic adj. intended to teach, making moral observations

2. warrant v. to justify

3. oblique adj. neither parallel nor perpendicular; indirect, devious

4. verbose adj. wordy, cf. prolix

5. tacit adj. quiet, silent cf. taciturn

6. inimical adj. hostile, unfriendly

7. ameliorate v. to make better or more tolerable

8. talisman n. a charm used to avert evil and bring good fortune

9. harbinger n. one who presages or foreshadows what is to come

10. beneficent adj. doing or producing good, especially acts of kindness and charity

11. dilettante n. a person having a superficial interest in an art or branch of knowledge

12. itinerant n. one who travels from place to place

13. obstreperous adj. stubbornly resistant to control

14. soporific adj. something that induces sleep

15. repugnance n. strong dislike or distaste

16. molt v. the shedding of shells, horns, fur, or feathers

17. digress v. to turn from the main subject of attention

18. voracious adj. having a huge appetite

19. congenial adj. pleasant, sociable

20. immaterial adj. of no substantial importance

21. drone n. a monotonous sound, also a drudge; parasite

22. inflection n. a change in pitch or loudness of voice

23. carp v. to find fault, complain

24. castigation n. severe punishment

25. collaborate v. to work jointly with others

26. exacerbate v. to make more violent, bitter, or severe

27. exonerate v. to relieve of responsibility or blame

28. temporal adj. relating to earthly life

29. impeccable adj. incapable of sinning; flawless

30. mitigate v. to lessen in severity

31. propagate v. to increase; to foster growing knowledge

32. revile v. to subject to verbal abuse

33. novice n. a beginner

34. equivocate v. to use ambiguous language with intent to deceive; to avoid committing oneself

35. paragon n. a model of excellence

36. conundrum n. an intricate and difficult problem; mystery

37. vignette n. a short, descriptive, literary sketch

38. somnolent adj. heavy with sleep, drowsy

39. charlatan n. a fraud or faker

40. quack n. a fraud, one who pretends to have medical skill

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