Week 1

Apex n. the tip or peak; summit

• The mountain climbers were elated to finally reach the apex of the mountain.
• He is at the apex of his career after years of climbing the corporate ladder.

Capitulate v.  to surrender

• Jackie Chan never capitulates; he just keeps on fighting until he can’t.
• Facing increasing pressure, Jerry Jones finally capitulated and raised the video board (not!).

Obtuse   adj. stupid; not clear or precise

• Are you being deliberately obtuse or do you truly not understand?
• I hate to appear obtuse, but I just don’t understand quadratic equations.

RELATED LINKS:
College Resources
2007-2008 SAT Words
2008-2009 SAT Words

Week 2

Accentuate v. to stress; emphasize

• When visiting other states, my Texas drawl is accentuated.
• The teacher was always careful to accentuate concepts that the student would see on state assessments.

Contrition n. remorse; repentance; bitter regret

• Jonathan felt a great deal of contrition when he found that Daron had overheard the disparaging remarks.
• When Joyce broke the priceless lizard sculpture, she was overcome with contrition.

Imminent adj. about to occur; impending. (Don’t confuse imminent with eminent, which means “famous.”)

• Mike is packing for his imminent trip to Wylie.
• The students were sad that no holidays were imminent.

Week 3

Ambulatory  adj. able to walk

• After he was run over by the ambulance, he was no longer ambulatory.
• My grandmother is fully ambulatory even though she is approaching 100 years of age.
• Justin Tuck is just barely ambulatory after the shot he took from Flozell Adams in the second quarter.

Laconic adj. not saying much; brief; terse; concise; succinct

• Melanie uses a laconic physical style to match her laconic vocal delivery.
• Laura’s laconic observations about life at work always make me smile.
• Romo’s laconic press conference showed his contrition for losing the game all by himself.

Tempestuous adj. stormy; turbulent; like a tempest

• The teenager’s tempestuous relationship created lots of drama for her family and friends.
• The spring is full of tempestuous nights with rumbling thunder and pounding rain.

Week 4

Celerity n. swiftness, speed

• When the light turned green, Mr. Adams floored the gas pedal with celerity spilling his latte all over his shirt.
• The celerity with which Mr. Perkins completes tasks is amazing.

Malodorous adj. smelling bad; having a bad odor

• The air coming from the field house is malodorous after a long workout.
• The malodorous pile of shoes was thrown into the trash bin.

Quandary n. state of uncertainty; dilemma

• Jerry Jones was in a quandary about whether to go to the football game or just watch it on television.
• The decision to downsize for the sake of profit or maintain the status quo to preserve jobs is an ethical quandary.

Week 5

Demur v. to object mildly

• She politely demurred when the stranger asked her to dinner.
• When the discussion turned anti Cowboys, she had to demur with a smile.

Indolence n. laziness

• If you study with indolence, it will definitely be reflected by poor grades.
• Indolent behavior is not conducive to a successful career.

Philanthropy n. improvement of the world through charity  

• The philanthropy of our students during times of crisis is an inspiration to all.
• Rather than purchase homecoming mums, the students decided to find a philanthropic way to spend their money that would benefit children in other countries.

Week 6

Amity n. peaceful relations; friendship

• The amity between the rival football teams creates a strangely noncompetitive atmosphere.
• The learning atmosphere was enhanced by the perfect amity in the classroom between the teacher and students.

Garrulous adj. very talkative; loquacious

• My garrulous seat mate on the plane drove me crazy with his constant talking.
• A garrulous student often has trouble complying with classroom discipline rules.

Vehement adj. with ardor; energetically or violently forceful  

• Rather than showing any contrition,  the crook vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
• Tony suffered vehement criticism due to his mediocre play against Denver.

Week 7

Descry v. to discern; to catch sight of something that is difficult to see

• Through the mist they could descry the form of the hungry, one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater munching on a bag of purple Skittles.
• Can you descry the ghostly form through the trees?

Malign v. to say bad things about; slander

• Flozel is often maligned for his plethora of penalties (grrrrr).
• The angry student unjustly maligned the principal.

Vacillate v. to waver from one side to the other

• While the skier vacillated about whether to use Vaseline or Chapstick, his lips got chapped.
• Laura loves chocolate and vacillates between Snickers and Milky Way as her favorite.

Week 8

Allay v. to soothe; to make more bearable

• The teacher allayed the student’s fears of failure by providing him with extra help in math.
• The malodorous odors coming from the closet did not allay the potential homeowner’s anxiety about purchasing the home.

Epitome n. something that perfectly represents an entire class of things

• Jason Witten is the epitome of a committed, classy professional football player.
• The Fonz was the epitome of cool!

Pedestrian n. commonplace  (another meaning: traveling on foot)

• Richard was in a quandary about changing his rather pedestrian job to something more tempestuous and exciting.
• The MISD employees’ vocabulary could never be described as pedestrian due to their extensive use of SAT words in everyday conversation!

Week 9

Acclivity n. sharp incline of a hill

• A cliff is an example of an acclivity.
  
• The steep acclivity loomed ahead of the runners as they neared the end of the race.

Erudite adj. scholarly

• Erudite people say things like, “Ere you diet, would you partake of the torte?” instead of “Want some cake?”
• Even the most erudite person can make a silly mistake.

Supercilious adj. haughty; conceited; disdainful

• All the waiters in the upscale restaurant made dining uncomfortable with their supercilious manner.
• Most people just laughed at his supercilious way of speaking.

Week 10

Cerebration (not celebration) thought; the act of thinking

• The guests at Einstein’s birthday celebration were all deep in cerebration.
• The SAT requires careful cerebration to obtain a good score.

Lackadaisical uncaring; lacking in interest or spirit

• His lackadaisical approach to leadership created an uncommitted and indolent team.
• Lackadaisical students generally are unhappy in school because they are not involved.

Tirade long and vehement speech

• The principal spent the morning announcements on a tirade about the lackadaisical attitude of the students.
• A long tirade by the coach pushed the team to work a little harder.

Week 11

Churlish boorish; rude

• The huffy patron was ejected from the restaurant due to his churlish behavior.
• It seems churlish to refuse to invite my brother-in-law to the party.

Exigent urgent; requiring immediate attention

• It is exigent that I find a date for the prom today!
• The exigent circumstances made it difficult to pay the entire amount of the doctor’s bill.

Plethora superabundance; plenty; excess

• A plethora of resources make writing research papers easy.
• The weekends are filled with a plethora of football games!

Week 12

Temperate showing self-restraint by not doing things to excess; moderate

• It’s difficult to be temperate when it comes to the Thanksgiving meal.
• He showed his temperance by not gaining even a pound during the holiday season.

Voracious eager to consume mounds of food

• We were so voracious that we even ate the Tupperware.

Week 13

Antipathy hatred; aversion; dislike

• Groan…After four days of leftovers, I am developing a strong antipathy for turkey.
• The senator’s antipathy for war caused him to vote against the military spending bill.

Foible weakness, flaw

• The foible of many actors is their relentless desire for attention.
• The diamond’s foible was not even noticed by Richard’s fiancée.

Superfluous beyond what is necessary; extra

• The huge feather on the lady’s hat seemed a bit superfluous.
• For Bill Gates, more money is just a superfluous bit of trivia.

Week 14

Amass to collect; to get a bunch of

• Amassing presents is the goal of many children for Christmas.
• The goal of a philanthropist is not to amass wealth but to share with others.

Bumptious self-assertive

• The bumptious people bumped us out of line for the $10 television sets!
• Politicians must be careful about making bumptious remarks because the media is very savvy and checks every statement.

Frenetic frenzied; frantic; manic

• The Friday after Thanksgiving should be called Frenetic Friday because of the crazy shoppers.
• The frenetic activities of the holiday season make the days zoom by.

Week 15

Gloaming twilight

• If it weren’t for the fireflies gleaming in the gloaming, it would be gloomy.
• In the gloaming, plump snowflakes fell softly in the glow of the Christmas lights accentuating the warmth of the children’s home (aahhhhhhh).

Rampage wild behavior (n) or to move wildly (v)

• The reindeer rampaged from housetop to housetop as a bumptious Santa cheered them on.
• The frenetic elves went on a rampage when Mrs. Santa decreed there would be no more hot chocolate until they finished making more Ipods and video games.

Skullduggery sneaky, dishonest behavior; trickery

• Ed’s skullduggery was soon noticed by his friends even when he pretended to be contrite!
• Playing golf with Ed is playing a game full of skullduggery and frustration (only coal for Ed from Santa).

Week 16

Invidious making people angry; offensive

• The invidious remarks from the Eagles served as motivation for the Cowboys!
• He enjoys his reputation as an invidious comic whose audiences are more angry than entertained.

Oscillate to swing back and forth

• The oscillating fan mesmerized the bored, sleepy audience.
• Her feelings for him oscillated between anger and indifference.

Recalcitrant stubbornly resistant to and defiant of authority or restraint

• Mike’s recalcitrant behavior frequently landed him in the principal’s office.
• Scott’s recalcitrant driving resulted in his 5th red light violation costing him $678.

Week 17

Abash to embarrass

• Jeannie was abashed when she missed the first step, fell in the trash, and spilled her Dr. Pepper all over her boss.
• The students were abashed when the teacher read their text messages about the class.

Capricious unpredictable; following a whim

• Texas weather is famous for being capricious and often extreme.
• The capricious nature of the public makes it difficult to predict the reaction of customers to fashion.

Pensive engaged in deep, often sad, thought

• His lips were pursed in pensive thought about the recent failures of his football team.
• His supervisor was not happy to see his sad, pensive face when he walked into the conference room.

Week 18

Dearth scarcity

• Because of Darth Vader, there was a dearth of laughter on the Death Star.
• There is a dearth of sunshine in winter creating an indolent and unproductive atmosphere.

Neophyte beginner

• The neophyte boxer was new to fighting.
• Even though Brian was a neophyte to the teaching profession, he was a master at making students successful in his class.

Trepidation fear; state of anxiety that makes you tremble

• With great trepidation, Daron approached his supervisor’s office to face a difficult evaluation.
• Even though he was well prepared, Richard felt tremendous trepidation as he began working on the TAKS test.

Week 19

Beguile to mislead by trickery

• The evil temptress beguiled her victims with false charms and promises
• Debbie was beguiled by the twinkling lights and utopian promises.

Minuscule very tiny

• Rick looked at the minuscule box of chocolates in his hand and realized he had made a serious Valentine mistake.
• The number of plane accidents is minuscule compared to the number of safe flights.

Tangible existing materially; palpable; able to be touched

• Love is a nice intangible, but a big diamond is an even nicer tangible Valentine’s Day gift.
• Are tangible rewards more important than the intangible ones? Is a bonus check as rewarding as admiration for a job well done?

Week 20

Amok to rush about in a frenzy and behave outrageously or violently

• The students were running amok in the snow after school with snowball fights and craziness.
• The teachers were running amok in the snow during school with snowball fights and craziness.

Bucolic pastoral; typical of farms and rural life

• The scene was bucolic
  So we started to frolic
  In our feet so bare.
  Whoops! Forgot the snow was there!
• The bucolic atmosphere of quiet snow and empty, white fields created a sense of peace.

Crestfallen dejected

• The children were crestfallen as they watched their snowman melt.
• He was crestfallen when he stepped on the tube of crest that had fallen.

Week 21

Bereft lacking something needed

• Rick felt sad and bereft without his iphone to twitter upon (upon which to twitter???).
• Bereft of friends, she sat alone in a quandary over her recent actions.

Emaciated excessively thin; weak

• The rescued puppy was emaciated and dirty from weeks alone, bereft of the care he needed to thrive.
• Survivors of the plane crash were healthy but emaciated from lack of supplies and fresh water.

Prevaricate to avoid the truth; lie

• Prevaricate means to, ah—it’s from a French word—it means to, um, to win the lottery. Yeah, that’s it—win the lottery.
• Sorry. I prevaricated in the above sentence.

Week 22

Audacity boldness

• “I never use SAT words,” she proclaimed with audacity! “I will not capitulate by accentuating my cerebration with a plethora of superfluous words. My pedestrian vocabulary fits my laconic and sometimes indolent style quite well.”

Germane relevant; appropriate

• “Germany is not germane to our discussion today,” said the history professor. “Instead, we shall discuss last night’s episode of Lost.”
• The staff development session was especially germane to my situation.

Novel new

• The novel format of the movie made it more interesting.
• The cafeteria served steamed vegetables for breakfast: now that’s a novel diet!
• If the Rangers have a winning season, that would be a novelty.

Week 23

Distraught anxious; worried; distressed

• The counselor worked with the distraught student to get her college application turned in by the deadline.
• “There’s no reason to be distraught,” Mr. Rachid told his students who seemed to be filled with trepidation. “You know the TAKS concepts and will be completely ready when it’s time to test.”

Facetious joking or jesting

• With a facetious smirk, the churlish Mr. Adams told his wife that he would be taking the trip to Paris without her.
• “We’ll just skip the test, and watch a movie instead,” Mrs. Lewis facetiously told her faculty.

Harbinger forerunner; something that signals an approach; omen

• The benchmark exam is the harbinger of the TAKS test.
• A great score on the SAT is a harbinger for success in college.

Week 24

Doleful sad; mournful

• The students were doleful that spring break was over but ready to begin the final weeks until summer.
• You will be doleful (Dole-full?) and sick if you eat 98 cans of pineapple chunks.

Nonplussed perplexed; baffled

• When Cade received an A-plus on the test, he was nonplussed; he had expected to get a B.
• The IRS tax code completely nonplussed the newlyweds as they tried to complete their return before April 15.

Querulous complaining; peevish

• The ladies on The Bachelor are querulous, complaining endlessly about each other.
• Because they were sleep deprived, the students were querulous in class and difficult to teach.

Week 25

Esoteric known only by a few people; beyond the understanding of most

• The speaker gave an esoteric presentation designed primarily to impress and confuse.
• Now you are one of the few people who knows this esoteric word.

Mellifluous sweet-sounding; beautifully flowing

• The mellifluous sounds from the concert assured that the taciturn judges would rate the performance with the highest marks.
• Mellifluous cooing from the baby melted the grandmother’s heart.

Precursor predecessor; what came before

• Although Mickey might disagree, many would say that the precursor to the mouse was the computer keyboard.
• The precursor to TAKS success is consistent, focused, and engaging class work.

Week 26

Chagrin embarrassment

• She grinned and blushed with chagrin.
• His chagrin, caused by the extra attention lavished on him, made the meeting uncomfortable.

Forte strong point; something a person does well

• His forte was sneaking into the fort (the one just before Fort Bee).
• Although she is a great teacher with all students, working with the unmotivated is her forte.

Ubiquitous being or seeming to be everywhere; omnipresent

• Take ten yellow Post-It notes and write ubiquitous on each one. Then stick them all around your work area and home. The stickers will then be ubiquitous.
• Stephen Colbert is ubiquitous lately; his name seems to appear all the time and in the most unlikely places.

Week 27

Cogent clear; logical; well-thought-out

• The two students on the debate team gave a cogent argument.
• The most important skill needed for the science TAKS exam is careful, cogent thought.

Imbue to saturate; to inspire

• Ms. Dugan’s students were imbued with confidence as they began working on the test.
• An imbued sense of right and wrong is the result of a healthy conscience.

Zeal enthusiasm

• Although he didn’t feel well, Michael approached the test with zeal determined to do his best.
• Doris opens her SAT email each Monday with zeal for learning new words and incorporates the words into her vocabulary all week.

Week 28 - TAKS Week!

Defenestration the act of throwing something out the window

• If you witness the defenestration of a TAKS test, grab it!
• After four days of testing, the students were ready to see a defenestration of the TAKS test (and some of the proctors).
  
• Mr. Barber was tempted to defenestrate the tests….probably not a good idea.