The VocabuList:

2,000 vocabulary words for the SAT

Jim Kawashima
1st Edition
................................................................................. Introduction 3
...................................................................................... When Do Words Matter? 3
................................................................................... Exam-Day Attack Strategy 3
............................................................................ The VocabuList 5
.................................................................................. How the VocabuList Works 5
............................................................................................ How to Use This List 5
............................................................................................. The Nice & the Easy 6
............................................................................................ The 600-Point Club 35
............................................................................................. The Brain-Busters 111
Introduction
Greetings and welcome to the Prestige Learning VocabuList, the ebook weve dedicated to
one purpose: the delivery of the maximum number of meaningful vocabulary words in the
shortest possible time.
The 2,000 words in this ebook were specifically chosen for their frequency and likely
repetition on standardized exams like the SAT. Its a carefully constructed list that draws upon
some thirty (30) years experience in test preparation.
WHEN DO WORDS MATTER?
In general, SAT preparation programs rely too heavily on vocabulary testing. Sentence
completions are the only SAT questions that actually require vocabulary skills. A typical SAT has
152 questions, of which only 19 are sentence completion questions. Of those 19 questions, you
can probably handle 10 of them without too much trouble.
So were left with about 9 questions, or about 6% of the exam, for which vocabulary study
can actually help.
For that reason, vocabulary studies should be direct, targeted and efficient. The VocabuList is
ideal in that regard. But to make the best use of this word list, you must first understand the most
effective approach to sentence completion questions.
EXAM-DAY ATTACK STRATEGY
Most practice sentence completions are inaccurate. This point has been lost by even the
largest SAT preparation companies. True SAT sentence completions dont imply the correct
answers, they give you the correct answer as a paraphrase.
Heres an example of a non-SAT sentence completion problem:
The boy looked _________.
(A) mellifluous
(B) bereaved
(C) sanguine
(D) apathetic
(E) anachronistic
Without context, theres no way to fill in the blank, even if you know all the word choices. Now
heres the same problem, as most SAT prep guides would write it:
The boy looked _________ when his dog died.
(A) mellifluous
(B) bereaved
(C) sanguine
(D) apathetic
(E) anachronistic
Now its easier to see that the blank must be filled with a negative word that means sad.
Or is it?
What if the boy hated his dog? Or simply didnt care? While SAT prep books dont concern
themselves with such possibilities, the real SAT writers are always on the lookout for strange
exceptions that could undermine their exams integrity.
Thats why true SAT sentence completions will not only leave clues, but will actually tell you
the missing word as a paraphrase:
The boy looked _________, grief-stricken that his beloved dog died.
(A) mellifluous
(B) bereaved
(C) sanguine
(D) apathetic
(E) anachronistic
The term grief-stricken tells you exactly what kind of word needs to fill that blank. And there
lies the first step to attacking SAT sentence completions: identify the words that tell you the
answer.
The next step, of course, is to look for the answer. To that end, its usually better to predict
the word yourself. Sad would be a good prediction for our practice problem.
At the very least, you should consciously decide whether youre looking for a positive
word or a negative word. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that youre seeking?
Only then, should you look over the choices.
Given words you dont know, remember that you can look to word roots, and you can trust
your ear. HOWEVER, neither of those strategies work with consistency on the last two questions
in any set of sentence completions. The last two questions will not just be difficult; theyll be
tricky, specifically written to mislead you.
Each SAT has three sets of sentence completions in groups of five, six, seven and/or eight
questions. Each question set increases in difficulty as the question numbers get higher. The last
two will, however, will be more than difficult; theyll be specifically written with trap answers
that sound good.
When you tackle these trick questions, if youre unsure of the answers, just skip them
entirely. If you have a gut-level instinct favoring choice (A), you must AVOID choice (A).
Choice (A) is most likely a trap, and youre better off eliminating it and guessing among the rest.
So now that you know what to do with your SAT vocabulary, lets start actually learning
those words!
The VocabuList
HOW THE VOCABULIST WORKS
The VocabuList is more than a collection of definitions. Each entry has three (3) features
designed specifically to improve performance during standardized testing. To understand how
they work, take a look at this entry:
abhor: hate; remember: A Bad HORror is something you HATE
The first feature is the words color. Words printed in red most often have a negative
connotation or meaning, at least when they appear on standardized tests.
On exam day, if you cant recall the exact meaning of a word, you might remember its color.
And you can use that knowledge to raise your score. Since youll usually know whether you
need a positive word or a negative word, you can rule out or identify possible choices based on
the words colors here in the VocabuList. Eliminating even one choice will improve your odds.
The second feature has to do with mnemonics. Each word has a cute, creepy, funny or
downright bizarre association, a trick to help you remember. This is the science of mnemonics,
those off-beat mind games that can help you memorize difficult subjects. The stranger and more
vivid the mnemonic reminder, the more memorable it will be on exam day.
In the VocabuList, the most important mnemonic cues are not only boldface, but ALL
CAPS, making them easy to focus on and even easier to remember.
The final feature is subtle: each words actual meaning is brief and in italics. For most fonts,
this makes the meaning more difficult to read. This feature allows you to review the list visually
while skipping the definitions, focusing instead only on the colors and BOLDFACE CAPS.
Its like having a deck of flashcards that you never need to flip.
HOW TO USE THIS LIST
There are two ways to make maximum use of this ebook.
The first is simple: review the list, word by word. Skim the easy words, concentrate on the
tough words. Spend at least ten seconds actually visualizing each words mnemonic trick.
Concentrate on each words color.
The second is unconventional, and might even feel like cheating. Rest assured, its a
proven method that has bumped up vocabulary scores faster and more effectively than any other
method weve ever encountered.
As a general principle, vocabulary is most easily learned in context, when you actually see
how the word is used. When you practice with real SAT sentence completion problems, keep this
ebook handy, and use it to look up every difficult word you come across.
Its like having a small dictionary with you while you practice.
Again, this method may feel dishonest somehow. You certainly cant do the same on a real
SAT. Nonetheless, weve discovered that this method is the most effective means of learning in
context vocabulary. Give it a try, and see for yourself whether the words have sunk in after
you finish.
THE NICE & THE EASY
The words in this section are required for basic SAT competence. Chances are, youll already
know many of them right off the bat. That said, you should resist the the urge to skip this section
entirely (feel free to review it later, after youve tackled the more difficult words).
While these are the easy words, not all of them are used in their most common sense.
(pedestrian, for example) Additionally, theyre shown here in their most common context,
negative or positive, on the SAT, even if they can be used either way in real life.
1. abhor: hate; remember: A Bad HORror is something you HATE
2. abstinence: self denial; remember: "ABSTINENCE only" education = "just say no"
3. abundant: plentiful; remember: A BUN to THE ANT is PLENTY of food to the ant
4. abyss: deep hole; remember: "when you gaze into the ABYSS, the ABYSS gazes also
into you"
5. accredit: give credit; remember: give him a CREDIT
6. accumulate: gather more; remember: gather up a huge, growing CUMU-lous cloud
7. acute: sharp; remember: "a cute" splinter is still SHARP
8. addendum: an addition; remember: ADD on after the END
9. adept: skilled (also ADROIT); remember: an ENTIRE DEPT. (department) will have a
LOT of SKILL
10. adorn: decorate; remember: root AD (to) + ORNaments = ADD ORNaments to
DECORATE a tree
11. adverse: against (NOT "averse"); remember: root AD (against) + root VERS (turn) =
turn against
12. advocacy: support for a cause; remember: an AD is a VOCal form of SUPPORT
13. advocate: supporter; remember: an ADVOCATE will ADVance your cause and
eduCATE others about it
14. affinity: affection; remember: root AFF (related); AFFection-ITY; A-FRIEND-ITY
15. affront: an insult; remember: you INSULT him openly, right A-FRONT of his face
16. aggravate: make worse; irritate; remember: IRRITATE sounds like AGGRAVATE;
AGGRession can irriTATE
17. aggress: attack first; remember: AGGRESSion is the practice of ATTACKING first
18. aghast: horrified; remember: you're AGHAST when you see A GHOST
19. ailment: sickness (minor); remember: ILL-ment
20. allegory: metaphor; remember: ALL-E-GORY = being LIKE "AL GORE" is not
literally being "AL GORE"
21. alleviate: relieve, make more bearable; remember: A-LESS-IVATE = you make
something LESS painful
22. allocate: distribute; remember: ALL-LOCATE = find locations for ALL things
23. amateur: beginner; remember: root AMA (love) = doing something only for the love of
it
24. ambidextrous: able to write, etc., with both hands; remember: root AMBI (both) + root
DEX (hands) = both-hand writing
25. ambiguous: uncertain, variably interpretable; remember: root AMBI (both) = having
both meanings
26. ambivalent: having opposing feelings; remember: root AMBI (both) + root VALEN
(position) = having both feelings
27. amenable: willing, compliant; remember: "I'M IN AND ABLE" = I'm on board, I'm
willing, I'm AMENABLE
28. amiable: friendly; remember: "I AM ABLE" to be your friend; you have a friend
named AMY
29. anew: all over again; remember: "starting anew" = "starting A NEW [whatever]"
30. annihilate: destroy absolutely; remember: AND I'LL HATE it so much that I'll
DESTROY IT COMPLETELY
31. anonymous: being unknown, unrecognized; remember: ANY ONE OF US could have
written that ANONYMOUS letter
32. antagonism: hostility; remember: ANTAGONIST = a hostile enemy
33. antiseptic: clean, sterile; remember: root ANTI (against) + SEPTIC (disease) = against
sickness
34. appraise: assess the worth or value of; remember: ap-PRAISE = praising something
for its VALUE
35. appreciable: noticeable, considerable; remember: you can only APPRECIATE
something visi-ABLE
36. apprehend: seize, arrest, also understand; remember: to APPREHEND an idea is to
COMPREHEND it
37. appropriate: take, make use of; remember: ap-PROPER-ate = proper
38. arbitrary: based on random factors, implicitly unfair; remember: imagine ARBY's
roast beef given out UNFAIRLY to vegans
39. arcane: obscure, secret, known only by a few; remember: your SECRETS are
HIDDEN in an ARK; they're ARK-IN
40. archaic: outdated, old, pass, old-fashioned; remember: an ARK is an OLD
FASHIONED way to sail; it's ARK-AIC
41. ascertain: perceive, learn; remember: ASCERTAIN as much as you can to be AS-
CERTAIN as possible
42. aspiration: a hope for great achievement; remember: A SPIRIT of a NATION is its
HOPE for a better tomorrow
43. assent: agree, express agreement, consent; remember: ASSENT = ACCept + conSENT
44. assets: the things you own (esp. when taking out loans); remember: often used to refer to
positive traits, like intelligence and talent
45. attribute: credit, assign; remember: you get CREDIT for A-TRIP-YOU took to a
museum
46. atypical: not typical, unusual; remember: root A (not) + "typical" = unusual because it's
NOT TYPICAL
47. avert: avoid; remember: you AVERT catastrophe by AV-oiding a per-VERT
48. baffle: confuse; remember: BAD + WAFFLE = deep confusion + indigestion
49. bedlam: loud craziness; remember: imagine jumping CRAZILY on your BED with a
LAMP (a bad idea)
50. belated: make late; remember: BELATED means you make someone BE LATE
51. belittle: disparage; remember: to INSULT someone, you make him BE LITTLE
52. benign: favorable, not threatening, mild; remember: sounds like "BE NICE"
53. berate: scold vehemently; remember: BE-IRATE, BE-irritATED
54. beseech: beg, plead, implore; remember: common phrase: "I BESEECH you" = "I'm
begging you"
55. bleak: desloate; remember: you BLINK to avoid the BLEAK vision before you
56. blemish: an imperfection, flaw; remember: a BLEeding MESS on your face is a
BLEMISH
57. bombard: assail with any missile or with abusive speech; remember: BOMBS ARE
coming out of your mouth and hitting your enemy
58. bountiful: abundant, productive, fertile; remember: FULL of BOUNTY (treasure); a
MOUNTAIN-FULL of stuff
59. calamity: an event with disastrous consequences; remember: a disaster = a giant
CLAM eats a cITY
60. callous: harsh, cold, unfeeling; remember: a CALLOUS is tough, UNFEELING skin;
a CALLOUS man will KILL US easily
61. cavort: leap about, behave boisterously; remember: imagine someone DANCING in a
CAVE
62. charlatan: a liar, a cheat, a faker; remember: a SHORT, LITTLE TIN man is
pretending to be huge & human
63. chasm: a gap, canyon, deep divide; remember: Cliffs and a vASt gAp form a CH-A-
SM
64. cherish: really love; remember: to CHERISH a moment is to LOVE that moment
65. circulate: disseminate, pass around; remember: hand out in a CIRCLE, so it goes
AROUND to everyone
66. clamor: loud noise; remember: CLANG-MORE to make LOUD NOISE
67. coalition: combination, unity, team; remember: imagine collecting COAL together; a
team of COAL = COALITON
68. coincide: correspond; remember: root CO (with) + incidence = incidences that occur
together
69. collaborate: to cooperate, work together or partner; remember: NOT "corroborate";
COLLABORATE sounds like COOPERATE
70. commotion: a violent disturbance; remember: COME see the MOTION of the
COMMOTION
71. commute: to replace, usually with something less harsh; remember: can mean "travel,"
but usually means REPLACE
72. concede: accept as valid; remember: root CON (with) + CEDE (yield, go) = go along
with, agree
73. concur: agree; remember: root CON (with) + CUR (run) = go along with someone
74. concurrent: occuring at the same time; remember: root CON (with) = CON-
OCCURANCE = occuring at once
75. confidant: a person entrusted with secrets; remember: not "confidENT," but
CONFIDE-ANT, a person in whom you CONFIDE
76. congregate: bring together ina crowd; remember: CONGRess gets TOGETHER to
legislATE
77. corroborate: confirm, back up, support; remember: NOT "collaborate";
CORROBORATE sounds like CORRECT-ORATE
78. crass: coarse, rude, blunt in speaking; remember: a CRASS speaker makes people
CROSS with his COARSE words
79. credible: believable; remember: root CRED (believe); IN-CREDIBLE means
unbelievable
80. cudgel: to club, strike or beat; remember: you'll CATCH HELL if you CUDGEL
someone in school
81. culinary: having to do with food or cooking; remember: see it as "COOK-LINARY"
82. culmination: the climax, the ultimate result or end product; remember: a giant
COLUMN IN A NATION of sculptors is an ultimate accomplishment
83. culprit: wrongdoer, criminal; remember: a CULPRIT steals CLIP-ART
84. decimate: wipe out, destroy; remember: when a cannibal DECIMATES his victim, he'll
DICE AND EAT him
85. deft: skillful, capable; remember: a "DEFT touch" is skillful ability
86. demean: lower the status or stature of something; remember: DE-MEAN = it's MEAN
to insult someone's height (stature)
87. demure: quiet, modest (NOT "demur" = hesitate); remember: the DEMURE dame hid
THE MIRROR, too MODEST to look into it
88. denounce: to publicly criticize; remember: DE-ANNOUNCE = anti-announce by
listing someone's criticisms
89. depravity: wickedness; remember: to DEPRIVE others is DEPRAVED and shows
DEPRAVITY
90. desist: cease from action; remember: common phrase: "cease & DESIST"
91. deter: frighten away, dissuage, discourage; remember: you DE-TIRE someone's car to
DETER him from driving
92. detract: lower value, attack, criticize; remember: to DE-ATTRACT is to drive away
rather than draw towards (attract)
93. detriment: something that harms or hurts; remember: a DIRTY-MINT would harm
your breath, not freshen it
94. deviate: take a different course; remember: root DE (away) + root VIA (way); AWAY
from the WAY
95. dilate: enlarge in all directions; remember: DILATED pupils are huge; contracted
pupils are small
96. diligent: showing care in doing ones work; remember: a DILIGENT worker takes
DELIGHT IN working
97. disavow: deny knowledge of or responsibility for; remember: root DIS (lack); you
LACK a VOW to follow, you're not responsible
98. disclaim: disavow, deny any connection; remember: root DIS (lack) + CLAIM = to
ANTI-claim (i.e., deny) friendship or agent
99. discredit: injure the reputation of; remember: root DIS (lack); you LACK CREDIT
when you get DIS-CREDITED
100. disdain: scorn, hold in low esteem; remember: root DIS (lack); you have DISDAIN for
THIS STAIN on your shirt
101. dismissive: snooty, purposely ignoring someone; remember: a DISMISSIVE person
DISMISSES your ideas & very existence
102. disparage: criticize or speak ill of; remember: root DIS (lack); when you criticize your
folks, you DISrespect PARENTS
103. disregard: lack of concern; remember: root DIS (lack) + REGARD = lack of regard
104. dissent: disagree; remember: root DIS (lack) + ASSENT (agreement) = lack of
agreement
105. divulge: reveal something secret; remember: THE BULGE will DIVULGE your
SECRET pregnancy
106. dogged: stubborn, persistent; remember: you latch on like a DOG chomping down
107. dormant: latent, inactive but not dead, "sleeping"; remember: root DORM (sleep);
DORM-ANT = sleeping
108. dubious: doubtful, doubt-worthy; remember: DOUBT-BE-US = we are doubtful
109. duplicity: crafty dishonesty; remember: DUPLIC-ate + dishones-TY = DUPLICITY; a
CITY of tricky DUPLICATES
110. dwindle: diminish or become less; remember: D'WIND blows it away, so it
DWINDLES off into the distance
111. ecstatic: intensely and overpoweringly happy; remember: ECSTACY = happiness
112. elicit: bring forth, draw out (NOT "illicit" = illegal); remember: you ELICIT a reaction
to get him to RELEASE-IT
113. eloquent: well-spoken, persuasive speech; remember: root LOQ (speech); Excellent-
LOQ (excellent speaking ability)
114. emanate: flow forth or proceed, as from some source; remember: an EM-erald in a
MAN who ATE it is GLOWING through his belly
115. embellish: decorate; also "enhance" stories w/details; remember: to M-BELL-ish =
DECORATE with MANY BELLS
116. embroil: involve in dissension or strife; remember: you are lowered into BOILING
water, and are EMBROILED in trouble
117. emit: send or give out; remember: HE MADE a weird sound that EMITTED from his
mouth
118. emphatic: spoken or communicated with great emotion; remember: an EMPHATIC
message is made with great EMPHASIS
119. encroach: invade, creep up on; remember: house invaded by INK-ROACHes leaving
tracks everywhere
120. estrange: alienate; remember: A STRANGE person gets alienated as a weirdo
121. euphoric: elated, uplifted; remember: root EU (good) = EU-FEEL-IA = good feeling
122. evoke: call or summon forth, elicit a response; remember: root E (out) + root VOC
(call) = to call out; HE WOKE it up
123. exemplify: show by example; remember: EXAMPLE-PLIFY = to become an example
for others
124. exempt: released, not covered by rules; remember: an EXCEPTION to rules is made
for an EXEMPT person
125. exhaustive: thorough, complete; remember: an EXHASTIVE search is when you've
EXHAUSTed EVery possibility
126. exhilarate: fill with high or cheerful spirits; remember: so excited you EXHALE-AIR
in a big sigh
127. existence: continued being, the condition of being; remember: imagine X's in TENTS
that are REAL not imaginary
128. exodus: mass departure or escape; remember: the Bible's book of EXODUS tells if the
MASS ESCAPE from Egypt
129. expediency: efficiency, effectiveness; remember: ex + SPEED + efficIENCY = make it
more efficiently speedy
130. expedite: hasten the movement or progress of; remember: ex-SPEED-ite = make it
speedier
131. extensive: wide-ranging, broad, comprehensive; remember: an EXTENded Set of
options is EXTENSIVE
132. extricate: disentangle; remember: root EX (out) = get OUT of a TRICKY situation =
EXTRICATE yourself
133. fervor: intensity of emotion, often love or enthusiasm; remember: FERVOR is like
having a FEVER for something you love
134. flabbergasted: astounded; remember: you're so shocked your jaw drops and FLAPS
wildly as you GASP
135. flamboyant: showy, gaudy, overly dramatic; remember: imagine FLAME-BOY, a
ridiculously dramatic character in a sideshow
136. flippant: disrespectfully joking, childish; remember: imagine FLIPping ANTS instead
of studying them SERIOUSLY
137. formidable: difficult, frighteningly tough; remember: FEAR-mi-DO-able = you're
afraid to do it because it's so FORMIDABLE
138. fraught: filled, full of; remember: think of a FREIGHT train PACKED FULL (i.e.,
FRAUGHT with) cargo
139. frivolous: of little importance, trifling; remember: if it's FREE FOR US, it must be
MINOR or CHEAP
140. furtive: secretive, sly; remember: a small, sneaky FURRY creature is FURTIVE (FUR
+ secreTIVE)
141. gallant: brave; remember: a GALLANT knight GALLOPS to the rescue
142. garnish: decoration; remember: sounds like FURNISH and means FURNISHING/
FURNITURE
143. gauge: measure or estimate; remember: you use a GAUGE to GAUGE distance, depth,
etc.
144. genial: friendly, affable; remember: a GENIE is FRIENDLY because he freely grants
your wishes
145. ghastly: really ugly; remember: a gruesome GHOST makes you GAG
146. giddy: dizzy. Silly; remember: a GUY who walks like a KIDDY must be GIDDY
147. grandiose: on a magnificent or exaggerated scale; remember: GRAND-iose = too
grand, ridiculously grand
148. hackneyed: stale because of repetition; remember: a HACK is a sloppy, low-level artist
creating STALE works of art
149. haggard: worn out, gaunt, messy; remember: sounds like RAGGED; RAGGED
clothing creates a HAGGARD appearance
150. hapless: helpless, without means; remember: HELPLESS / HAPLESS / HOPELESS -
sound alike & have similar meanings
151. havoc: devastation, chaos, confusion; remember: to HAVE an OX at home will cause
CHAOS
152. heedless: thoughtless, without "heed" (caring); remember: if you're HEEDLESS, it's
like being HEADLESS and thus CLUELESS
153. impervious: impenetrable, incapable of being affected; remember: root IM (not) +
PERV = you're IMMUNE to PERVERTS like US
154. impinge: impact, affect, make an impression; remember: it makes an IMPRESSION on
HIM to PINCH him; he'll definitely notice!
155. implausible: unlikely, improbable, unbelievable; remember: sounds like
"IMPOSSIBLE" and "IMPROBABLE" & means nearly the same
156. implicate: involve in an incriminating way, incriminate; remember: to IMPLY is to
SUGGEST; IMPLICATE = INCRIMINATE
157. imprudent: heedless, careless, NOT "impudent"; remember: root IM (not) = NOT
PRUDENT (not careful with PRUNES)
158. inadvertent: accidental, thoughtless, by mistake; remember: IN-AN-ACCIDENT,
people's actions are INADVERTENT
159. inarticulate: unable to express oneself in words; remember: root IN (not) + articulate
(well spoken)
160. inaudible: incapable of being heard, too quiet to hear; remember: root IN (not) + root
AUD (hear) = you cannot HEAR it
161. incandescent: glowing with heat; remember: IN-CANDLE-ESCENT = glowing like a
CANDLE
162. incentive: a motivation or temptation; remember: IN-CENT-IVE = offering you
CENTS to do something
163. incessant: unending; remember: root IN (not) + CEASING = neverending
164. incoherent: illogical, incomprehensible; remember: root IN (not) + HEAR = you can't
"HEAR" him because he's INCOHERENT
165. incompatible: non-matching, discordant; remember: root IN (not) + CON/COM (with)
= not "with" the group, not matching
166. inconsequential: without value or consequence; remember: root IN (not) +
CONSEQUENCE = without consequence
167. inconsistent: contradictory, not fitting; remember: root IN (not) + CON/COM (with) =
not "with" the rest, different
168. inconstant: changeable, unreliable; remember: root IN (not) + CONSTANT = not
constant = unreliable
169. indispensable: needed, necessary; remember: IN-DISPENSE-ABLE = you cannot
DISPENSE it, you must keep it
170. induce: bring about, stimulate; remember: IN-tro-DUCE; bring INTo USE; it's IN
USE when it's INDUCED
171. inexplicable: impossible to explain; remember: root IN (not) + EXPLICABLE
(explain-able)
172. infallible: never making mistakes; remember: INFALLIBLE = un-FAIL-able
173. infamous: notorious, well known for bad deeds; remember: an EN-emy's FAME makes
him EN-FAMOUS
174. inference: guess, a conclusion based on evidence; remember: you GUESS that the
animal's itch comes from IN-FUR-ANTS
175. ingenious: clever, resourceful, NOT "ingenuous" (candid); remember: see it as IN-
GENIUS
176. inhibit: prevent, restrain, stop; remember: the INN HE BIT held him back
(INHIBITED) until he fixed the damage
177. innocuous: harmless, inoffensive; remember: HE KNOCKS YOU into US, but doesn't
HARM anyone
178. insomnia: inability to go to sleep; remember: root SOMN (sleep) + root IN (not) =
inability to sleep
179. instigate: to urge or encourage, usu. something bad; remember: to INITIATE a Stink
180. intermittent: irregular, subject to interruption; remember: INTERrupted eMISSions
are INTERMITTENT
181. intervene: interfere for some end; remember: root INTER (between) + VEN (go) = go
between a person & his issues
182. invaluable: very precious, highly valuable; remember: IN-VALUABLE = being IN the
actual VALUE makes you MORE valuable
183. invoke: call on for assistance or protection; remember: IN-VOCAL = you must CALL
for help
184. irradiance: luster, shininess; remember: RADIANT = glowing; IR-RADIANT =
STILL glowing
185. irrational: crazy, unreasonable; remember: root IR (not) + RATIONAL = not rational
186. irrelevant: inapplicable, unrelated; remember: root IR (not) + REL (related) = not
related
187. jeopardize: imperil; remember: sounds like LEOPARD-IZE = in danger of being eaten
by a LEOPARD
188. jubilant: extremely joyful, happy; remember: JOY-BILLIONS = billions feel JOY and
are JUBILANT
189. judicious: having or exercising sound judgment; remember: being of SOUND
JUDGMENT means you JUDGE LIKE US
190. juncture: a joint, seam or joining; point in time; remember: often a particular moment
in time when a decision must be made
191. jurisdiction: a territory of control, usu. of a court; remember: the JUDGE's
RESTRICTION only works in her JURISDICTION
192. laborious: troublesome, toilsom, tiresome; remember: LABOR for I and US
193. lax: laid back, lazy, overly permissive; remember: when RULES re-LAX, they are said
to be LAX
194. legible: easy to read, decipherable, clear; remember: root LEG (read) = a READ-
ABLE LEGI-BOOK
195. legitimacy: legality, propriety; remember: root LEG/LEX (law) = LEGAL-itimacy
196. lenient: tolerant but in a "wimpy" way; remember: a WIMPY JUDGE is LEANING
IN rather than sitting up straight
197. lethargic: in a state of sluggishness or apathy; remember: a LAZY man will LET HER
JACK up the car instead of doing it himself
198. liability: a disadvantage; remember: to LIE about your ABILITY puts you at a
DISADVANTAGE
199. lionize: worship, place on a pedestal; remember: to treat someone like a MIGHTY
LION in your EYES is to LIONIZE him
200. lithe: graceful, flexible, supple; remember: a LITHE dancer is LIGHT on her feet
201. livelihood: means of subsistence; remember: your LIVELIHOOD is how you LIVE
IN a 'HOOD
202. lucid: clear, easily understandable; remember: when you LOOSEN up, things become
LUCID and CLEAR
203. lucrative: profitable; remember: root LUC (money); LUC-rative = LIKELY to make
MONEY
204. lustrous: richly shining and/or reflective; remember: a gem's LUSTER(us) is
LUSTROUS
205. luxuriance: excessive luxury or fanciness; remember: LUXURY for ANTS is excessive
206. malevolent: wanting harm befall others; remember: root MAL (bad) + "violent" =
MALEVOLENT, wanting to harm others
207. meager: deficient in size or quality; remember: a MEEK SEEKER will find
MEAGER wealth in life, to the bold go the spoils
208. medley: a mixture of differing things; remember: imagine a MIX-LEY of MEDicines
209. metamorphosis: the change of form, shape, substance; remember: root META (not
quite, external) + MORPH (shape) = not in the same shape
210. miffed: mildly offended or annoyed; remember: he was MIFFED that he MISSED his
showtime
211. minion: a loyal servant; remember: imagine a MINI-ONION is your tiny servant
212. minute: very small in extent or quantity; remember: generally NOT "minute" vs. "hour"
but "mi-NUTE" vs. "large"
213. mischievous: tricky, sneaky but in cute way; remember: MISCHIEF-ous
214. moderate: not extreme; remember: MEDI-rate (medium, not high or low)
215. momentous: highly important, significant; remember: a GREAT MOMENT for US is
a MOMENTOUS occasion
216. momentum: tendency to keep moving; remember: at the MOMENT of MOVEMENT
you have MOMENTUM
217. monologue: one person telling a story; remember: root MONO (one) + LOG/LOQ
(speak) = speak alone
218. monotonous: tedious, unchanging, boring; remember: root MONO (one) = a ONE-
TONE song is BORING to US
219. morale: confidence, courage; remember: good MORALS give you MORALE
(strength)
220. motley: mixed, eclectic, haphazardly thrown together; remember: a MESSY MEDLY
of MOTLEY individuals has MANY MODELS of manhood
221. muddle: to confuse or make unclear; remember: MUD in the MIDDLE creates a
MUDDLE
222. muffle: deaden the sound of, as by wraps; remember: a MUFFLER MUFFLES engine
noise
223. mutation: change; remember: root MUT (change) + ation (as in rotation) = the act of
CHANGE
224. mystic: someone with magical insight; remember: a MYSTIC has MYSTICAL/
MAGICAL powers surrounded by MYSTery
225. nondescript: lacking a distinctive character; remember: root NON (without) +
description = without traits worth describing
226. notorious: widely and unfavorably known; remember: NOTed for being fuRIOUS =
bad reputation
227. nurture: assist the development of; remember: it's a mother's NATURE to NURTURE
her young; NURse-TURE
228. obligatory: binding, necessary, mandatory; remember: an OBLIGATION (a duty) is
OBLIGATORY
229. obstinate: not yielding easily, stubborn; remember: OX-stinate = stubborn as an OX
230. oddity: something strange; remember: ODD-ity
231. omission: exclusion, left out; remember: Off-MISSION = left out of the mission
232. onset: an attack or start of an assault; remember: ONSET is when your attackers SET
upON you
233. onslaught: a violent ONSET, or attack; remember: ONSLAUGHT = ONSET +
SLAUGHTER
234. opportune: timely, well-timed, fortunate; remember: an OPPORTUNITY occurs at an
OPPORTUNE time
235. oration: a formal speech; remember: root ORA (speech); FORmal ORATION can
BORE a NATION
236. overshadow: to overwhelm, to minimize something else; remember: you cast a
SHADOW OVER someone & OVERSHADOW his importance
237. pageant: a dramatic, spectacular display; remember: NOT always a beauty contest,
ANY showy display LIKE a beauty contest
238. pandemonium: an uproar, chaos, noisy confusion; remember: imagine DEMONS
clanging PANS, making a huge noise
239. paraphrase: rephrase in your own way; remember: root PARA (beside) + phrase = talk
around a subject, your way not theirs
240. parentage: the origin of something; remember: your PARENTS are your ORIGIN
241. participate: receive or have a part or share of; remember: your PART in the project is
how you PART-ICIPATE
242. passive: weak, inactive, unresponsive; remember: oppositive of ACT-IVE is PASS-
IVE, instead of acting, you let life PASS by
243. pedestrian: someone walking, ALSO: common, ordinary; remember: root PED (foot),
FOOT-WALKER = pedestrian, an EVERYDAY sight
244. pendant: a dangling ornament; remember: not always jewelry, anything that dangles
245. penetration: discernment (as well as breaking through); remember: not always
physical, anything that "gets through" (as in convincing another)
246. permissible: allowable, permitted; remember: PERMIT-ABLE, able to be permitted =
PERMISSABLE
247. perpetrator: someone who commits a crime; remember: PERPEtual law-violATORS
are PERPETRATORS
248. perplex: confuse; remember: a PERson is PER-PLEXED by comPLEX ideas
249. persistence: continued survival, stubbornness; remember: a PURSE that EXISTS
forever is a PERSISTENT PURSE
250. personality: character, not always of a person; remember: a PERSON-ALITY is ALL
that makes a PERSON special
251. perspective: a point of view; remember: PEER (peek) with SPEC = PERSPECT-IVE
252. pert: flippant, bold, lively; remember: PERT = PERK = PERKY
253. pervert: (verb form) to twist or warp; remember: a PERVERT has twisted or warped
values
254. philosophy: a guiding principle, a particular worldview; remember: in PHILOSOPHY
class, you'll learn a WAY TO SEE THE WORLD
255. phonetic: relating to sounds of speech; remember: root PHON (sound) = SOUND-etic
256. phonic: relating to sound; remember: root PHON (sound)
257. phosphorescence: emitting glowing light; remember: PHO-to flashes fill the night with
glowing PHOSPHERESCENCE
258. physique: physical build, overall health; remember: your PHYSIQUE-al body is your
PHYSIQUE
259. piecemeal: gradually; remember: a PIECE of your MEAL at a time = gradual meal
260. pinnacle: the highest point; remember: the PINE tree ABLE to grow on a PEAK is a
PINNACLE pine
261. pioneer: an early explorer, not always geographical; remember: any FIRST
EXPLORER can be a PIONEER; bringing the SKY to NEAR
262. pitiful: pathetic, worthy of pity; remember: PITY-FULL = fills you with pity
263. pitiless: mean, merciless; remember: PITILESS = PITY-LESS, without pity
264. pleasurable: enjoyable, NOT "feeling pleasure"; remember: something enjoyable is
ABLE to PLEASe YOU
265. pliable: flexible; remember: root PLI (bend) = bendable
266. plummet: a plumb line used to measure depth; to fall; remember: not just to fall, often a
noun meaning a tool for measuring depth
267. poise: calmness, balance, composure; remember: motionless boys show POISE
268. pollen: dust-like seeds from a flower; remember: can also refer to anything that plants
seeds, including seeds of ideas
269. possessive: demanding, selfish, greedy; remember: wanting to POSSESS IT all =
POSSESSIVE
270. possible: within reach, but NOT necessarily "probable"; remember: usually contrasted
with "probable," meaning "likely"
271. potent: powerful; remember: imagine a POTENT POTATO that explodes in your
TENT
272. predicament: a difficult situation; remember: imagine having to PROTECT-A-MINT
from trolls with bad breath
273. prescribe: set rules, give directions, command; remember: root PRE (before) + root
SCIB (write) = pre-written rules
274. proceedings: an official process; remember: official PROCESS + PROCEED =
PROCEEDINGS
275. proclamation: a public announcement; remember: to CLAIM in PUBLIC = PUB-
CLAIM
276. productive: effective, yielding abundantly; remember: PRODUCE-tive
277. prohibitionist: someone favoring an absolute ban; remember: PROHIBIT = forbid, i.e.
FORBID-ITIONIST
278. propeller: something that propels; remember: not just a plane/boat propeller, but
anything that moves you forward
279. proportionate: of comparable size; remember: PRO-PART-TIONATE = PRO (in
favor of) equal PARTS for everyone
280. protective: sheltering; remember: PROTECT-ive
281. provocation: stimulus, something that causes a reaction; remember: to POKE &
PROVOKE someone will cause a REACTION
282. punctual: always on time; remember: he PUNKED YOU ALL by being on time while
everyone else was late
283. ravage: destroy, pillage, lay waste; remember: a SAVAGE will RAVAGE the land
284. recapture: capture again; remember: root RE (again) + capture
285. recede: move back or away; remember: root RE (back) + CEDE (yield, go) = pull back
286. receivable: able to be received, usu. something owed; remember: you're ABLE to
RECEIVE something someone OWES to you
287. receptive: open to impressions, ideas or suggestions; remember: you're open to
RECEIVE ideas
288. recitation: to state repeatedly, usu. fr. memory; remember: to RECITE to a NATION
requires REPEATED ORATION
289. reckless: not caring about danger; remember: RECKLESS people get into WRECKS
290. reclaim: to retrieve or redeem; remember: root RE (again, back) + CLAIM = to claim
again what's been previously lost
291. recline: lean back, lie back; remember: root RE (back) + "LYING" = lying back
292. recoil: start back as in dismay, loathing, or dread; remember: root RE (again, back); to
COIL BACK, as in PULL AWAY
293. recollect: recall the knowledge of; remember: RECALL-ect; root RE (again) + call =
call back
294. recreate: refresh after labor; remember: root REC (play), as in PARKS &
RECREATION
295. redemption: recovery, regaining, saving from "sin"; remember: you RECOVER your
bottle deposit at REDEMPTION centers
296. regenerate: re-grow, reproduce; remember: root RE (again) + generate = generate over
again
297. regiment: a group, usu. soldiers; remember: NOT "regimen"; think of a RACK-OF-
MEN, marching together
298. regretful: feeling or full of regret; remember: differs from REGRETTABLE (the actual
thing you regret doing or saying)
299. regurgitate: vomit; remember: re-GURGLE-up what you ATE
300. rehabilitate: restore, heal, not always from addiction; remember: root RE (again) + root
HAB (live) = return someone to "life"
301. reign: hold and exercise sovereign power; remember: root REX/REG (king); to
REIGN (rule) like a KING
302. reimburse: pay back for an expense; remember: root RE (again/back); to put cash back
IN (a) PURSE is to REIMBURSE
303. rein: means of control, usually horses; remember: not always animals, often a verb
meaning "to get under control"
304. reinstate: restore a former state, station, or authority; remember: root RE (again); you
are AGAIN in your STATE where you have authority
305. rejoinder: reply, usu. clever or witty; remember: root RE (again/back); to JOIN behind
your BACK takes CLEVERNESS
306. relent: yield; remember: when you GIVE UP, you must RELEASE your AUNT
307. relevant: related, logically meaningful; remember: RELATED-vant; a REAL VAN is
more meaningful than a FAKE VAN
308. reliant: dependence; remember: RELY-ance = RELY-ant
309. relinquish: give up using or having; remember: RELEASE when you're vanQHISHed
= RELINQUISH
310. relish: enjoy; remember: you RELISH having RELISH on your hotdog (i.e., you don't
hate it)
311. remedial: intended to repair or heal gaps; remember: a REMEDIAL action is a
REMEDY when you're ILL
312. reorganize: to move about, change for the better; remember: root RE (again) =
organize all over again
313. reparation: making amends; remember: REPAIR-ation
314. repeal: to take back, render useless, remove; remember: when you RE-PEEL an
orange, you cover it back up so it's USELESS to eat
315. repel: to drive away, repulse, push off; remember: you REBEL to REPEL authority
316. repetition: the act of repeating; remember: REPEAT-ition
317. reproduce: make a copy of; remember: root RE (again) + produce = create another one
318. reseat: place in position of office again; remember: imagine a returning king is RE-
SEATed in his throne
319. reservoir: reserves, large supply; remember: RESERVE-voir
320. residue: a small bit of remains from something else; remember: the REST o' DEW in
the morning is the RESIDUE of the night
321. resource: a stockpile of material OR of talent; remember: your own "natural
RESOURCES" include your wit and wisdom
322. retaliate: repay evil with a similar evil; remember: re-TAIL-iate - imagine STRIKING
BACK at someone using your TAIL
323. retention: to keep something, to remember information; remember: RE-TENT-ION,
means you KEEP it in your TENT
324. reunite: unite or join again, as after separation; remember: root RE (again) + unite =
bring together again
325. revise: correct, make changes, NOT "revile"; remember: you RE-VISIT a document to
RE-VISE it for the better
326. revocation: repeal, the act of revoking or taking back; remember: REVOKE = take
away; REVerse VACATION = vacation time taken away fr. you
327. revoke: take back; remember: a REVOKED license is taken away from you
328. ridicule: make fun of, mock, insult; remember: to RIDICULE someone, say he looks
RIDICULous
329. rightful: having a legitimate claim; remember: I'm FULL of RIGHTS, so I'm the
RIGHTFUL owner
330. risqu: tasteless, mildly obscene; remember: it's RISQU (risky) to put sexual jokes in
a high school play
331. rupture: break or burst apart; remember: to RIP a picTURE is to RUPTURE it
332. scoundrel: a rascal, thief, cheater; remember: imagine the phrase, movie and play:
"Dirty, Rotten SCOUNDRELS"
333. semblance: outward appearance, typically deceptive; remember: a SEMBLANCE re-
SEMBLES something REAL, but is actually FAKE
334. serviceable: durable, usable, repairable; remember: SERVICE-able, still able to
provide SERVICE
335. siege: sustained attack (NOT "singe); remember: to SIEZE a castle you must SIEGE
its walls
336. signification: the meaning conveyed by someone; remember: if it's SIGNIFICANT to
someone, he'll SIGNIFY it to you
337. simulate: imitate; remember: IMITATE = SIMULATE = EMULATE (all sound
similar, too)
338. skepticism: doubt, often reflexive more than reasonable; remember: SKEPTICS doubt
everything; usu. negative on the SAT
339. slothful: lazy, slow; remember: like a SLOTH (a slow-moving mammal)
340. sociable: enjoying the company of other people; remember: SOCIAL-ABLE = able to
be social, friendly, enjoying crowds
341. souvenir: a token of remembrance; remember: not always a thing, but anything that
reminds you
342. spectrum: not just colors, but any range of variation; remember: often phrased: "A
FULL SPECTRUM OF [opportunities, choices, etc.]"
343. speculative: based on guesswork; remember: root SPEC (see)
344. statuesque: graceful, poised, tall; remember: like a STATUE
345. stimulus: incentive, motivation; remember: a STIMULUS can STIMULATE you into
action
346. studious: loving to study; well educated; remember: he's STUDIOUS because he'll
STUDY-US, along with everything else
347. stupendous: huge (NOT "stupid"); remember: a GIGANTIC PEN would a useless
STUPID-PEN
348. submissive: quick to surrender or obey; remember: root SUB (under) + messy = being
underneath a mess
349. submittal: something turned in; the act of surrender; remember: root SUB (under) +
MIT (send)
350. succeed: accomplish; follow; remember: watch out for the secondary meaning: to
follow in sequence
351. suggestible: something that can be implied or suggested; remember: SUGGEST-able
(not "SUGGESTIVE" which is usually negative)
352. suggestive: stimulating thought, planting ideas; remember: to SUGGEST usu.
something bad
353. tapestry: ornamental hanging; scene from life; remember: imagine old home movies on
videoTAPE(stry)
354. tempter: someone who leads you astray; remember: a TEMPTER can TEMPT you
into evil
355. testimonial: public statement of approval; remember: public approval means you've
passed the TEST-OF-MANY opinions
356. thoroughfare: street or roadway usu. public & heavily used; remember: see it as
THROUGH-FAIR = a fast way through a busy fair
357. toilsome: difficult, requiring a lot of work; remember: TOIL = work; you TOIL over
SOIL on a farm
358. torturous: painful, agonizing, NOT "tortuous" (twisty); remember: we're in PAIN when
they TORTURE-US
359. transcend: surpass; remember: root TRAN (across) + SCEN (move) = move across
into a new category
360. transmissible: able to be passed; remember: TRANSMISSIBLE = easily
TRANSMITTED
361. travesty: horrible version of something; remember: a TRAshed VEST is a horrible
piece of clothing to wear
362. twinge: momentary minor pain; remember: a TWINKLE of a PINCH = a tiny, brief
sort of pain
363. typify: to be an example; remember: a TYPICAL example TYPIFIES its kin
364. upheaval: overthrow, toppling of establishment; remember: UP-HEAVE a building,
causing it to topple
365. vendor: seller; remember: to VEND is to sell, like VENDing machines do
366. versatile: able to do many things, easily adaptable; remember: VARIOUS TILES can
fit into ANY opening
367. vex: confuse or annoy; remember: not FIX (help) but VEX (hurt, confuse, annoy)
368. vigilance: watchfulness, diligent care; remember: a VIGILANTE is DILIGENT
superhero who represents VIGILANCE
369. vile: hateful; remember: imagine a VIAL of VILE, stinky sewage - keep it corked, it's
VILE!
370. vocation: a job or profession; remember: you take a VACATION from your
VOCATION (job)
371. volition: willpower, choice; remember: root VOL (wish), think of VOLuntary acTION
372. wily: tricky; remember: WILE-E-COYOTE is a TRICKY coyote
373. wistful: sentimental yearning; remember: WISH-ful, you WISH things were different
374. witticism: clever saying; remember: WITTY-CISM = something WITTY
375. wreak: inflict punishment; remember: you WRECK a guy's car to PUNISH him
376. wretch: unhappiness; remember: you're such a WRETCH that you're a WRECK and
you RETCH (vomit)
377. writhe: twist; remember: imagine you WRITE a twisty pattern in ICE
378. wrought: fashioned, carefully constructed; remember: "WROUGHT-iron" =
decoratively FASHIONED iron
379. zealous: eager; remember: ZEAL = enthusiasm, imagine an eager SEAL
380. zenith: high point; remember: a ZENITH television high on a mountaintop
THE 600-POINT CLUB
Medium-difficulty is an over-used and ambiguous term. The words in this section arent
easy, but theyre not truly difficult either. They are, however, exactly the kinds of words a
student should know to get a solid 600 on the SAT reading section.
This assumes you do as well on the passages (a subject for another book entirely) as you do
with the sentence completions, but as a general rule, these are words a college-educated student
should know.
381. abase: embarrass; remember: embarrass a baseball pitcher by stealing A-BASE
382. abate: reduce, lessen; remember: common phrase: "nuisance ABATEMENT" =
reducing a nuisance
383. abdicate: quit your job; fail to complete; remember: root AB (away) + root DIC (say);
say it like this: "I-BE-QUIT"
384. abet: help commit; remember: make A BET that someone will succeed
385. abide: tolerate, accept, await; remember: you ABIDE with A PIE (you sit quietly,
because you have a pie)
386. abject: pitiful; remember: root AB (away); imagine you EJECT a PITIFUL loser
AWAY from you
387. abominable: hateful, horrible, terrible; remember: the ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN
is a HORRIBLE monster
388. abridge: trim, cut back, shorten; remember: imagine you SLICE A BRIDGE and cut it
off from its far end
389. abrogate: abolish, end, cut back; remember: root AB (away) + root ROG (law); I
BROKE A GATE to END our confiement
390. abscond: run off; remember: ABS-GONE = your abs run off, are GONE, have
ABSCONDED
391. absolve: forgive; remember: forgiveness can (AB)SOLVE your problems
392. absorbed: engrossed, obsessed, focused; remember: imagine that you're literally
ABSORBED into your task
393. accede: agree; remember: root AC (agree) + CEDE (yield, go) = go along with another
394. acclaim: praise; remember: ALL CLAIM your GREATNESS
395. accolade: praise; remember: ACCOLADE becomes ACCO-LAUD becomes
APPLAUD
396. accomplished: completed, ALSO distinguished & respected; remember: an
ACCOMPLISHED musician has ACCOMPLISHED many tough songs
397. accord: agreement; remember: we're in agreement; A CORD connects our thoughts
398. accost: confront; remember: as A COST of doing business, you must ACCOST
shoplifters
399. accountable: responsible; remember: I-COUNT-ABLE means I COUNT on you, so
you must be RESPONSIBLE
400. accustom: get used to; remember: do it so much that it's A CUSTOM
401. achromatic: colorless; remember: root A (without) + CHROM (color)
402. acquiesce: surrender, agree; remember: A QUIET US will agree to anything; a loud us
will fight everything
403. acquittal: set free; remember: A QUITTAL = your captor QUITS keeping you
PRISONER, you're ALL free
404. adamant: stubborn; remember: immovable, like "A DAM" to an "ANT"
405. addle: mess up; remember: mess it up by whacking it with a pADDLE
406. adherent: follower; remember: ADHERE (stick) to the rules
407. adjacency: being near; remember: root AD (to); "ADJACENT" = near TO
408. admonish: scold; remember: ADD + PUNISH = scolding by adding punishment
409. adroit: skillful (also ADEPT); remember: imagine A DROID very SKILLFULLY
assembling a watch
410. adumbrate: vaguely explain; remember: a DUMB BRAIN can only "sort of" explain
things
411. advent: beginnning / arrival; remember: the ADVENTure BEGINS at the ADVENT
of opportunity
412. adversity: bad luck; remember: luck that goes AGAINST you
413. aesthetic: artistic; remember: We hired Susan as our interior decorator because she has
such a fine aesthetic sense
414. affable: friendly; remember: root AFF (related); AF-riend-ABLE
415. affectation: fake appearance; remember: a-FAKE-tation
416. affiliate: associated; remember: root AFF (related); AFFILIATED stations are
RELATED to each other
417. affluent: rich, wealthy; remember: imagine A FLUID that's actually LIQUID GOLD,
making you RICH
418. aggregate: whole (NOT "aggravate"); remember: A GREAT GROUP of GATES will
AGGREGATE at the GATE convention
419. aggrieve: give grief; remember: AGGravate + GRIEF
420. alabaster: white like marble; remember: imagine A LAB made of PLASTER where
everything is WHITE
421. alacrity: speed; remember: ALArm + activITY = great speed, or ALACRITY (due to
fear)
422. alcove: covered open chamber; remember: ALCOVE is an indoor "ALmost-CAVE"
423. allay: soothe, ease; remember: you hide in an ALLEY to CALM yourself
424. allege: claim; remember: imagine a LAWYER on A LEDGE accusing you unfairly;
he's ALLEGING
425. allotment: a portion given; remember: divide a pie into A LOT of pieces for every
single guest
426. allude: suggest, compare, imply; remember: imagine COMPARING someone else's
actions to ALL-YOU-DO
427. allusion: suggestion, comparison (NOT "illusion"); remember: a valid COMPARISON
is ALL-FUSION, it all fits together
428. aloof: reserved, distant; remember: imagine A LOAF of bread hiding in the corner,
ALOOF and shy
429. altercation: a fight; remember: an ALTERed vaCATION where you get into fights
instead of relaxing
430. altruism: placing others' good above your own; remember: ALL-TRUE-ism = always
true to the common good
431. amatory: relating to love; remember: root AMA (love) + predatory = hunting down
love
432. ambrosial: really delicious; remember: "AMBROSIA" = food of the gods
433. amend: to repair, change or improve; remember: you MEND your torn shirt, thus
AMENDING the tear in the fabric
434. amicable: friendly; remember: root AMA (love) + cable = a "love cable" joins friends
together
435. amity: Friendship; remember: friendship is A-MIGHTY thing
436. amorous: showing love, particularly sexual; remember: root AMA (love) + OUS =
love-like, loving "US"
437. amorphous: without definite shape or type; remember: root A (without) + root
MORPH (shape) = without shape
438. analogous: similar to; remember: ANALOGies show similarities
439. anecdotal: based on a personal story, not evidence; remember: see "ANECDOTE," but
note that ANECDOTAL is often NEGATIVE
440. anecdote: a personal story, not verified, NOT "antidote"; remember: people ask about a
NECK-DOT; you explain it with a PERSONAL STORY
441. animosity: hatred, hostility; remember: ENEMY-osity = the state of having enemies &
being HOSTILE
442. anomaly: something that doesn't fit, a defect; remember: AN EMILY doesn't fit among
GUYS; an ANEMONE on land is out of place
443. anterior: prior, earlier; remember: root ANTE (before): a before-place (vs. interior,
exterior, posterior, etc.)
444. anticlimax: a let-down, surprisingly boring outcome; remember: root ANTI (opposite)
= opposite of an exciting CLIMAX
445. antipathy: a strong dislike, repugnance; remember: root ANTI (opposite) + root
PATHOS (feeling) = feeling OPPOSED, hating
446. antithesis: the absolute opposite; remember: root ANTI (opposite) = opposite of
THESIS or main idea = opposite, period
447. apathy: lack of caring, indifference; remember: root A (without) + root PATHO
(feeling); uncaring, you wander down A PATH
448. apex: highest point, pinnacle, tippy-top; remember: a bodybuilder's PECS are his
MOST PROMINENT feature
449. appalling: inspiring shock, horror, disgust; remember: opposite of APPEALING &
APPLAUDING is APPALLING
450. appease: calm, satisfy; remember: imagine CALMING someone by burying him under
PEAS
451. append: to add or attach something usu. optional; remember: ATT-ach to the END =
APP-END
452. ardent: Burning with passion; remember: ARD-ANT, aARDvarks eat ANTS ardently
453. artifice: trickery, deception; remember: ARTIFICial plants DECEIVE you into
thinking they're real
454. assail: attack; remember: imagine ATTACKING A SAIL, ripping it to shreds
455. assiduous: hard-working, diligent; remember: imagine WORKING HARD to remove
ACID-FROM-US
456. assuage: ease, pacify; remember: I ASK-YOUR-AGE, and you become CALM as you
reply
457. astute: very clever, crafty; remember: A STUDENT who's ASTUTE can learn without
STUDY
458. asylum: place of refuge; remember: ASYLUM (sort of) sounds like A-SAFE-ROOM
459. atone: repent, make amends; remember: when you're TRULY SORRY, you're AT-
ONE with your conscience
460. atrophy: wither away, decay; remember: A TROPHY sits on a shelf so long that it
shrinks away
461. attest: certify as accurate, genuine, or true; remember: it's TRUE if it can pass A-
TEST
462. augment: add to, expand; remember: imagine OX-MEN, growing LARGE as oxes
463. augmentation: improvement, addition; remember: OX-MEN are STRONGER than
ordinary men
464. automaton: a person or animal that acts like a robot; remember: AUTOMatic perSON
= AUTOMA-TON
465. avarice: greed (NOT "averse"); remember: GREED drives you to HAVE ALL the
RICE, instead of just enough rice
466. averse: opposed to (NOT "adverse" or "avarice"); remember: you AVOID what you're
AVERSE to, because you don't like it
467. avidity: excessive eagerness, extreme affection; remember: sounds like & sorta means
AFFINITY which sounds like AFFECTION
468. avow: acknowledge / declare; remember: make A VOW in public
469. awry: wrong; remember: you hit your thumb WRONG-ly and yell OW-RY!
470. badger: pester; remember: a BADGER is a small, fierce animal, more a PEST than a
predator
471. baleful: menacing, angry, evil; remember: BALEFUL = HATEFUL & sounds similar
472. balk: hesitate, back off, prevent; remember: you BALK-OFF (back off) when you're
HESITANT
473. bane: a burden; remember: a PAIN in your neck is a BANE to your happiness
474. bask: make warm by genial heat; remember: you BAKE in the sun as you BASK in the
sun's light
475. bauble: cheap decoration; remember: a BOBBLE-HEAD is a cheap decoration, like a
BAUBLE
476. becalm: make calm; remember: BE + CALM
477. beck: signal, nod, wave; remember: your BECK and CALL = your SIGNAL and
COMMAND
478. beget: give birth to, create, cause; remember: to BE-GET means you BE GETting
something we JUST CREATED
479. begrudge: envy; remember: a GRUDGE is anger; if you BE-a-GRUDGE, you ENVY
happiness
480. beguile: trick; remember: you BEGin to smILE when you've TRICKED someone
481. belligerent: hostile, mean; remember: root BELLI (warlike, BELLICOSE,
ANTEBELLUM)
482. bemoan: lament, complain about miserably; remember: to BE an actual MOAN, you
must TRULY be miserable
483. benevolence: kindness, an act of goodwill; remember: root BENE (root); BE-NICE-
NO-VIOLENCE = BENEVOLENCE
484. bequeath: pass on, give; remember: BE-GIVE; the BEE-QUEEN gives everything to
her hive
485. bereft: devoid of, without; remember: when HE LEFT with our stuff, we were
BEREFT of what he stole
486. beset: attack on all sides, threaten constantly; remember: BEES-SETtle on you from all
sides
487. bilateral: two-sided, usu. physical or geometric; remember: root BI (two); TWO-
LATERALS = two-sides
488. bilingual: able to speak two languages; remember: root BI (two) + root LING
(language) = TWO-LANGUAGE-AL
489. bilk: cheat; remember: stealing milk is bad, Bad-mILK = BILK
490. blatant: offensively obvious (opposite: LATENT); remember: BLAsting, BLAring
music is BLATANT disregard for peace & quiet
491. blithe: happy, carefree; remember: BLITHE = BE-LIGHT-hearted
492. boisterous: loud and full of energy; remember: a BOISTEROUS man can BOOST
HER spirits
493. bolster: support, as something wrong; remember: POLES BOOST & BOLSTER
(support) the weight above;
494. boon: a gift or blessing; remember: a BOOt is BOON at nOON (it protects your feet
from the hot pavement)
495. boorish: rude, crass; remember: someone who smells BEER-ISH is BOORISH
496. brandish: wave or shake, usu. a weapon; remember: imagine someone waving a RED
HOT BRANDING IRON to scare you
497. bravado: showy fake bravery; remember: imagine BURNing a pot, then POLISHing
off the soot
498. brazen: too bold, reckless; remember: BRAZEN = BRAVE but SENSeless
499. brevity: briefness; remember: BRIEF-ity
500. burgeoning: growing rapidly; remember: imagine a rapidly GROWING fire BURN-
ing a sur-GEON
501. burnish: polish; remember: BURN off rust, showing shiny POLISHED metal
502. buttress: support; remember: you SUPPORT a wall with BIG MATTRESSES
503. cacophony: tremendous noise, disharmonious sound; remember: root PHON (sound);
the SOUND of crows CAW-CAW-ing
504. cagey: tricky; remember: you're trying to TRICK someone into a CAGE
505. callow: nave, inexperienced; remember: a young, childish person will CALL-LOW
instead of HIGH
506. candor: honesty, frankness; remember: when you open a CAN's DOOR, all is
REVEALED, no more secrets remain
507. canny: shrewd, careful; remember: imagine a "clever CAN" sneaking out of the pantry
508. cantankerous: cranky, esp. grouchy old men; remember: imagine an OLD TANK that's
GROUCHY because you trap him in a CAN
509. cantata: a musical piece where singers "tell" a story; remember: singers CHANT AT
YA' to hear their story
510. capitulate: surrender, give in, submit; remember: your opponent can GRAB IT;
YOU're LATE because you gave up early
511. carouse: party, celebrate; remember: CAR-HOUSE, a CAR-nival in your HOUSE
512. cathartic: providing positive release of emotions; remember: imagine a CAT leaping
from your HEART taking all your HEART-ACHE
513. causal: linked to a cause; remember: the CAUSE of a problem is CAUSAL w.r.t. that
problem
514. caustic: bitter, biting, acidic; remember: to CAUSE ACIDIC damage, you must be
CAUSTIC
515. cessation: ending action or motion; remember: to perform "CESSATION" is to
CEASE-ACTION
516. chagrin: annoyance; remember: GRIN = happiness, so CHARRED-GRIN =
annoyance
517. chastise: criticize severely; remember: a full CHEST of EYES that glare at you
ANGRILY
518. check: hold back (rarely "observe" or "confirm"); remember: CHECKS and
BALANCES "hold back" government power
519. chide: voice disapproval; remember: when you're CHIDED you HIDE your CHIN in
shame
520. chronological: arranged in order of time; remember: root CHRON (time); a TIME-
based arrangement is LOGICAL
521. churlish: impolite, rude, crass; remember: it's RUDE to HURL CHAIRS and be
CHAIR-HURL-ISH
522. circumnavigate: to travel completely around something; remember: root CIRCUM
(around) + navigate = navigate a cirumference
523. circumscribed: bounded, walled-off; remember: root CIRCUM (around) + SCRIBE
(write) = draw a surrounding border
524. circumvent: to avoid by getting around something; remember: root CIRCUM (around)
+ preVENT = prevent by going AROUND an obstacle
525. clandestine: secret; remember: a CLAN hides under DUST to meet in SECRET
526. coalesce: to gather and/or fuse into a whole; remember: imagine gather & sticking
COAL together; COAL-ISH = stuck together
527. coddle: treat as a baby or an invalid; remember: to Overly CUDDLE a baby is to
CODDLE it
528. coerce: to force; remember: COERCE = CO-foRCE
529. coherent: consistent, intelligible, NOT "cohesion"; remember: COHERENT =
CLEAR-ANT; it's clear you should GO HERE
530. cohesion: stickiness, forming a whole, NOT "coherent"; remember: if you GO
SQUEEZE a glue tube, it gets STICKY
531. collateral: secondary; remember: root CO (second) + LATERAL (side) = the second
side = secondary = minor
532. colloquial: informal, usu. speech; remember: root CO (with) + "LOC/LOQ" (talk) +
QUIck = speak quickly & carelessly
533. collusion: secret agreement, conspiracy; remember: we AGREE to CO-operate in an
ILLUSION
534. complacent: self-satisfied, pleased with oneself; remember: root COM (with) + PLAC
(place) = content to stay in one place
535. complement: to make perfect, to complete; remember: NOT "compliment" (praise) but
COMPLETE-ment
536. composure: calmness; remember: when you're CALM-POISED, YOUR composure
shows
537. comprise: consist of, includes and is limited to; remember: parts COMPOSE a whole; a
whole COMPRISES its parts
538. concession: something surrendered; remember: root CON (with) + CESS (cease) =
quitting, surrendering
539. concise: brief and direct in expression; remember: root CON (with); root CIS (cut);
being direct is to CUT out extra words
540. condescend: to be snooty or look down on people; remember: root CON (with) =
WITH a DESCENDING attitude towards others
541. condolence: an expression of sympathy in sorrow; remember: root CON (with) + root
DOL (sad) = with great sadness
542. condone: pardon, deliberately overlook; remember: you CAN'T OWN something if
you CONDONE its theft
543. conducive: helpful, amenable, agreeable; remember: root CON (with) + DUC (lead) =
easy to lead, likely to agree
544. confer: bestow; remember: root CON (with); with fairness, you GIVE freely
545. conflagration: a large, destructive fire; remember: root CON (with) = WITH a
FLAG's destruCTION in a FIRE
546. congenial: agreeable, friendly; remember: root CON (with) + GEN (kind) = with
kindness
547. congruity: the quality of being in agreement; remember: root CON (with);
CONGRUENT figures "AGREE" on their shape
548. conjecture: a guess or deduction; remember: root CON (with); root JECT (throw); an
idea you THROW out there
549. conjoin: unite; remember: root CON (with); with a JOIN, you UNITE different people
550. conscientious: moral, principled; remember: root CON (with) + SCI (know) = with
knowledge of right & wrong
551. conscript: to force someone into service; remember: they CONSCRIPT you into
reading a CANNED SCRIPT
552. consensus: an agreement of opinion; remember: root CON (with); with the CONSENT
of US, all are in CONSENSUS
553. consolation: an act of comforting; remember: a CONSOLATION prize is supposed to
COMFORT a loser
554. consternation: panic, worry, concern; remember: CONCERNED NATION = lots of
worried people
555. constituency: a group, usually of voters; remember: related to CONSTITUTE (to
compose, to be a part of)
556. constrain: to hold back, repress or control; remember: root CON (with); root STRAIN
(bind); with bindings, you hold him back
557. construe: interpret; remember: to CONSTRUct a TRUE meaning, you must
CONSTRUE the facts
558. consummate: showing great skill or flair; remember: to CONSUMMATE is to
PERFECT a thing; CONSUMMATE = PERFECTED
559. continuity: uninterrupted flow; remember: CONTINUous flow = CONTINUITY
560. contrive: to carry off a scheme, usually fraudulent; remember: you CAN'T DRIVE
because you were TRICKED; con-TRICK = con-TRIVE
561. conundrum: puzzle, problem; remember: a CONE IN a DRUM is a puzzle: how do
you get it back out?
562. convalescence: recovery from an illness or injury; remember: when you RECOVER,
you CAN FEEL THE ESSENCE of health returning
563. convivial: characterized by feasting, drinking, merriment; remember: a CONVersation
that's LIVE is merry, not boring, a CON-VIV-IAL time
564. copious: abundant; remember: if you COPY-US, you'll make MANY of us
565. corpulent: obese, fat; remember: root CORP (body); the BODY YOU LENT was FAT
(it was a spare body)
566. coup: a brilliant, unexpected act; remember: to CAP-ture the COOP and all its
chickens is UNEXPECTED
567. covenant: a promise; an agreement; remember: the ARK of the COVENANT was
God's PROMISE to MOSES
568. covert: secretive, hidden; remember: hide your dirty laundry under a COVER(t)
569. credence: belief, confidence, believability; remember: root CRED (believe); CREDIT
+ SENSE = a sense that you can believe him
570. credulity: gullibility, readiness to believe anything; remember: root CRED (believe);
CREDIBLE + FOOL = a fool who believes anything
571. credulous: easily fooled; remember: IN-CREDULOUS = disbelieving; root CRED
(belief; CREDIBLE, CREDIT)
572. culpable: guilty; remember: root CULP (guilt); GUILT-ABLE
573. curt: short, cut-off, brief in a rude way; remember: sounds like CUT; your conversation
was CURT, being CUT-OFF rudely
574. curtail: cut off or cut short; remember: you CUT the TAIL off a snake cutting it
SHORT
575. daunting: intimidating, causing one lose courage; remember: a DAUNTING task is on
you DON'T THINK you can do
576. debacle: a disastrous failure, disruption; remember: it's a DEBACLE when a giant
statue TIPS-BACK & falls
577. decry: criticize openly; remember: hear DE CRY of the CRITICAL; 'DEY CRY
because they have no power
578. defame: slander, libel, spread lies about someone; remember: root DE (down) + FAME
= to LOWER someone's FAME by lying
579. deference: respect, submission, humility; remember: RESPECT is the DIFFERENCE
between DEFERENCE and OFFENSE
580. defile: make unclean, impure; remember: you DE-FILE by shuffling clean FILES with
mud & dirt
581. deluded: misled, confused, mistaken; remember: DELUSIONS are DEceptive
ILLUSIONS (DELUDED is the verb form)
582. deluge: overwhelm with a flood of water; remember: a DELUGE will DILUTE
everything with a FLOOD of WATER
583. denigrate: belittle, diminish the opinion of; remember: a TINY CRATE will hold a
LITTLE PERSON, someone you can INSULT
584. depreciate: reduce value (NOT "deprecate" = insult); remember: APPRECIATE =
enjoy HIGHER value; DE-PRECIATE = lower PRICE/value
585. deride: ridicule; remember: you DE-RIDE a bicylist by pushing him off his ride and
laughing at him
586. despondent: sad, heartbroken; remember: I'm SAD to see THIS POND's END, as it
dries up and turns to mud
587. destitute: poor, completely poverty-stricken; remember: the DUSTY TWO were too
POOR to wash their clothes
588. dilapidated: broken-down; remember: a shack so broken down, you're reduced TO
LAUGHING AT IT
589. dilettante: a dabbler, someone who studies only casually; remember: a DELIGHT-
ANT studies while DELIGHTed, but stops when he's bored
590. discomfit: thwart, baffle, embarrass, NOT "discomfort"; remember: root DIS (lack) +
root CON (together) = LACK of FITting TOGETHER
591. discordant: not agreeing, not in harmony with; remember: root DIS (lack); lack of
melodious CHORDS = non-harmonious disagreement
592. disingenuous: not genuine, fake, insincere; remember: root DIS (lack) + genuine = not
genuine
593. disinter: uncover, expose; remember: root DIS (lack) + root TER (earth); IN-TER =
bury in dirt; DIS = dig up
594. disinterested: impartial, fair (NOT "uninterested"); remember: DIStant INTEREST =
fairness (vs. UN-interested = not caring)
595. disjunctive: without connection or relevance; remember: root DIS (lack) + root JUNC
(connect) = lack of any connection
596. disparate: sharply contrasting; very different; remember: root DIS (lack) = lack of any
SAME PARTS = very different
597. disrepute: having a bad reputation; remember: to DIS-respect your own REPUTation
= fall into DISREPUTE
598. disseminate: spread widely; remember: DIS-tribute SEVENs and EIGHTS to all over;
you DISSEMINATE numbers
599. dissipate: disappear, cause to disappear; remember: DISSAPATE sounds like
DISAPPEAR (not DISSAPOINT)
600. dissuade: convince someone NOT to do something; remember: root DIS (lack) +
perSUADE = to persuade a lack of action
601. divest: strip of clothing, investments or property; remember: DIVIDE + INVEST = cut
off from your property
602. docile: easily taught or trained; remember: to be like a DOE (a female deer) is to be
DOE-CILE
603. doctrinaire: trying to impose rules on others; remember: he forces his DOCTRINES
IN HERE where they don't belong
604. dour: stern, gloomy; remember: a DOUR person has a SOUR attitude
605. duress: hardship, threat; remember: it takes DURESS to make a man wear a DRESS
606. dutiful: obedient; remember: DUTY-ful = DUTY-FOLLowing
607. eccentricity: a strange habit, peculiar but not harmful; remember: it's an
ECCENTRICITY to live without ELECTRICITY
608. edict: an order, decree; remember: root DICT (tell); HE TOOK IT because he was
ORDERED to do so
609. edify: to instruct others morally; remember: EDucate-IFY = teaching people "WHY"
610. effect: (verb) enact / perform; remember: to EFFECT is to cause effects
611. effervescent: lively, bubbly; remember: EFFERVESCENT tablets are fizzy & lively in
water
612. efficacious: effective; remember: EFFEC-tive and sp-ACIOUS = effective over a wide
area
613. egalitarian: believing that all persons are equal; remember: see it as EQUAL-
ITARIAN
614. egregious: extremely bad; remember: a GRUDGE at US is EGREGIOUS (very bad b/
c we dont like grudges)
615. egress: a place of exit; remember: E-xit + pro-GRESS = E-GRESS
616. elliptical: oval-shaped, ALSO: roundabout, evasive; remember: ELLIPSE = curved,
not STRAIGHT; ELLIPTICAL = not straightforward
617. elocution: skillful speaking, being articulate; remember: root E (good) + root LOC
(speech) = great speech that ELECTRIFIES
618. elucidate: clarify, explain; remember: root LUC (light, clear) - LUCID, LUCITE
619. emaciated: very thin, enfeebled looking; remember: the MACE HE ATE didn't feed
him - he's still SKINNY as a result
620. eminence: elevated importance; remember: imagine tiny humans bowing to giant
M&Ms
621. emollient: soothing; remember: on HIM, ONLY OINTMENT will SOOTHE his
SKIN
622. emulate: imitate; remember: if it's HIM YOU imi-TATE, you EMULATE him
623. engender: bring about, create, generate; remember: an ENGINEER can ENGENDER
bridges & building
624. engross: occupy completely; absorb; draw all attention; remember: "gross" means
"large"; IN-GROSS = completely INSIDE something LARGE
625. enigmatic: mystifying, cryptic, puzzling; remember: A NICKEL that's AUTOMATIC
is a PUZZLE: how does it work?
626. equitable: fair, even-handed; remember: it's EQUITABLE to put EQUal TABLES in
all living rooms
627. espouse: take up as a cause, support; remember: to ESPOUSE your SPOUSE is to
love an SUPPORT her/him
628. euphemism: a nice way to say a bad thing; remember: root EU (good) = GOOD
FAME by saying GOOD THINGS
629. euphonious: pleasant sounding; remember: root EU (good) + root PHON (sound) =
good sound
630. evince: show, reveal; remember: the EVIDENCE will EVINCE the crime
631. evolved: changed, usu. for the better; improved; remember: we EVOLVED from
LOWER to HIGHER forms over time
632. exacerbate: worsen a bad situation (NOT "exaggerate"); remember: similar to
EXASPERATE (irritate, frustrate); EX-ACID-BATE
633. exemplary: best example, worthy of imitation; remember: an EXAMPLE that's RARE
is the BEST example
634. exhort: urge, prod, spur; remember: your coach will EXHORT you to EXERT
yourself while working out
635. exigency: an urgent need or demand; remember: an emerGENCY EXIt is for
EXIGENCIES only
636. exonerate: set free from accusations, EXCULPATE; remember: you're SET FREE in
court and you EXIT ON HER RIGHT to freedom
637. exorbitant: excessive (usu. price or expense); remember: as EX-pense reaching
ORBITAL levels is EX-ORBIT-ANT
638. explicate: analyze in great detail (NOT "explain"); remember: to EXPLore a PLATE's
structure is to EXPLICATE a simple dish
639. exposition: explanation via presentation; remember: EXPlanation of POSITION
640. expunge: obliterate, eradicate; remember: to EXPEL it and PLUNGE into the toilet is
to WIPE IT OUT
641. extant: existing, not destroyed or lost; remember: EXIST-ANT, the EXTENT of
EXISTENCE
642. extenuate: diminish the gravity or importance of; remember: if you EXTEND what
YOU ATE, you diminish its value as a meal
643. extol: praise, revere; remember: his EX TOLD us of his GREAT FEATS
644. extraneous: irrelevant, extra, not necessary; remember: an EXTRA-KNEE is
UNNECESSARY if you've already got two knees
645. exuberance: excitement, energy; remember: imagine that you see A ZOO BEAR
DANCE with excitement and joy
646. exult: rejoice, feel happy (NOT "exalt" - praise); remember: the EX-citing ULT-imate
achievement causes you EXULTATION
647. facetious: joking, sarcastic; remember: see it as FAKE-etious
648. facile: effortless, sometimes shallow; remember: it takes NO EFFORT to FACE a
SMILE; it's harder to face a frown
649. fastidious: meticulous, concerned with detail; remember: you're FAST but TIDY, so
you clean EVERY LAST SPOT
650. faze: frighten, harm; remember: a Fired LASer can hurt you
651. fetid: having a foul odor; remember: smelling like FEET = FETID
652. fetter: chain, restrain; remember: your FEET-TAR sticks you to the ground,
STICKING you in PLACE
653. flotsam: rubbish lost from a boat; remember: FLOAT-sam (vs. jetsam, stuff thrown off
a boat on purpose)
654. flout: disregard or disobey openly, NOT "flaunt"; remember: to FLY OUT instead of
staying in as ORDERED is to FLOUT orders
655. forbearance: patience, restraint, toleration; remember: PATIENTLY, you wait FOR
BARE ANTS
656. foreboding: an omen, a feeling something bad will happen; remember: FOR-BAD-ing;
looking FORward to something BAD
657. fortify: provide with defensive works; remember: FORT-ify, make it like a FORT
658. fortitude: strength, guts; remember: a FORT-like attITUDE = courage, the attitude of a
fort, not a hut
659. founder: to sink, to fail, to "go under"; remember: a sinking person FLOUNDERS; a
sinking ship FOUNDERS
660. fractious: easily angered, irritated; remember: imagine your TEMPER is EASILY
FRACTURED, engraging you
661. frenetic: frenzied, hectic, frantic; remember: FRENETIC sounds like FRANTIC and
FRENZIED w/ similar meanings
662. gaffe: mistake; remember: it's a mistake to COUGH in class (different spelling, similar
sound)
663. gait: manner of walking; remember: imagine WALKING with a GATE in your hands:
your GATE-GAIT
664. galvanize: imbue with life or animation; remember: you CALL a VAN to get us
GOING
665. gambol: leaping & scampering (noun & verb); remember: imagine GAMBLING while
JUMPING ABOUT
666. gamut: whole range; remember: you GAME-IT all across the board; GAMUT sounds
like COMPLETE
667. garish: flashy but cheap; remember: a GARISH GARNISH is a flashy, cheap
decoration
668. gastronomy: skill of preparing fancy food; remember: root GASTRO (gut, digestion) +
ONOMY (study)
669. germane: relevant, related; remember: imagine you must RELATE everything to
GERMAN, making it GERMANE
670. glacial: cold (NOT slow); remember: GLACIERS are made of ICE
671. gluttonous: eating too much; remember: a GLUTTON is a pig whose GUT weighs a
TON
672. gnash: grind together; remember: to GRIND and CLASH your teeth is to GNASH
your teeth
673. goad: urge, spur, incite action; remember: to GOAD is to say, "GO ON, Do it!"
674. gossamer: delicate; remember: a imagine a transparent, faintly SHIMMERING
GOOSE
675. gourmand: eater of fine foods; remember: a GOURMet MAN eats only the finest
foods
676. gradation: step, degree, rank (NOT "graduation"); remember: a single GRADE in this
NATION is a GRADATION
677. gradient: incline; slope; change in magnitude; remember: a GRADual descENT is a
GRADIENT downwards
678. gratuitous: uncalled for, unnecessary (NOT "gratitude"); remember: GRATUITOUS
violence is UNCALLED FOR; it's CRAP TO US
679. gravity: seriousness (rarely planetary pull); remember: GRAVE-ity; more GRAVITY
= more WEIGHT, as in SIGNIFICANCE
680. grievance: a complaint; remember: if it causes you GRIEF, file a GRIEVANCE
681. grievous: serious, as in an injury; remember: GRIEVE for US, we're all hurt badly
682. guile: deceitful, cunning, sly behavior; remember: a WILY GUY has GUILE; imagine
"GUILE-E-COYOTE"
683. guileless: frank, honest; remember: lack of GUILE
684. habituate: make used to; remember: a HABIT-YOU-ATE is a HABIT YOU have
forever
685. harbinger: bringer of bad news; remember: sounds like & sort of means "HELL-
BRINGER"
686. harrowing: greatly distressing, vexing; remember: a HARROWING experience can be
very HORROR-causING to you
687. haughty: disdainfully proud; remember: if you're HAUGHTY, you think you're a
HOTTIE when you're nottie
688. hedonist: someone who seeks physical pleasure; remember: as a HEDONIST, HE's
DONE IT all: booze, babes & barhopping
689. heinous: shockingly wicked, repugnant; remember: they HATE US for our HEINOUS
crimes
690. heresy: violation of accepted principles; remember: a HURT-YOU-SEE violates
RULES against hurting others
691. heretic: one who violates a religion or common belief; remember: imagine a CHURCH
chasing a HAIRY-TICK out of its doors
692. hiatus: a pause or gap in a sequence or process; remember: STOPPING to EAT while
HIGH = HIGH-ATE-US = a meal break
693. holistic: dealing with the whole instead of the parts; remember: to be HOLISTIC is to
be WHOLE-ist, not PARTS-ist
694. hypocrisy: insincerity, breaking your own rules; remember: HE BOUGHT HIS KEEP
instead of EARNING it, as he made us do
695. hypothetical: supposed or assumed true, but unproven; remember: a HIPPO THAT IS
COOL is HYPOTHETICAL, possible but not yet found
696. imbibe: drink or take in (usu. booze); remember: IN-PIPE = the PIPE where they
POUR BOOZE down my THROAT
697. immaculate: clean, without spots or blemishes; remember: I'M A CLEAN IT kind of
guy, so I'm IMMACULATE
698. imminent: close at hand, usually dangerous; remember: IMMINENT sounds like &
means IMMediate
699. impassive: stoic, not susceptible suffering; remember: I-AM-PASSIVE in the face of
DANGER; I am always calm, never active
700. impeccable: exemplary, flawless; remember: root IM (not) = NOT PECK-ABLE, you
can't PECK holes in his flawless shell
701. impel: compel; remember: to IMmediately comPEL = IM-PEL
702. imperceptible: barely perceivable; remember: to PERCEIVE is to SEE; IMPossible to
PERCEIve = IMPERCEPTABLE
703. imperil: endanger; remember: you're IMPERILED when you're IN PERIL
704. imperious: commanding, domineering, bossy; remember: an EMPEROR of US is
IMPERIOUS over us
705. impertinence: rudeness; remember: sounds like & means IMPUDENCE; imagine
rude, self-IMPORTANT ANTS
706. impetuous: rash; hastily done; remember: he rushed off leaving US UNPAID;
UNPAID-WE-WAS
707. implicit: understood, implied; remember: I'M PLEASED at IT, without saying so /
IMPLIED
708. impromptu: done without planning, improvised; remember: root IM (not) = not
PROMPTED or PREPARED = spontaneous
709. impropriety: being improper, unfit or ill-suited; remember: an IMPROPRIETY is
IMPROPER-to-a-T
710. impudent: rude, insolent, impertinent. NOT "imprudent"; remember: root IM (not) =
NOT PUT IN his place, he's rude and obnoxious
711. impunity: free from consequence; remember: IM (not) + PUN (punish)= not punished
for crime
712. inane: silly and meaningless; remember: INSANE without "S" (for "pSycho") =
INANE (just silly, not crazy)
713. inapt: slow, awkward, clumsy; remember: root IN (not) + APTITUDE = no aptitude
(skill); INAPT sort of = INEPT
714. incarnate: existing in the flesh, embodied; remember: root CARN (flesh); something IN
a CAR must be PHYSICAL and REAL
715. incendiary: a person who agitates (literally causes fires); remember: glowing
INCENSE causes a FIRE; it's INCENDIARY
716. inception: beginning, start, initialization; remember: IN-START-TION = the START
of something
717. incognito: a concealed identity; remember: you're HIDING in a neat-looking giant cog:
IN-COG-NEATO
718. incongruous: unsuitable, ill-matched, not congruent; remember: IN-CONGRESS
nothing matches; politicians come in DIFFERENT SHAPES
719. incontrovertible: indisputable; remember: root IN (not) + root CONTRO (against) =
you can't CONVERT the truth
720. indelible: impossible to clean up or erase; remember: INDELIBLE ink is permanent
721. indict: find and declare chargeable with crime; remember: an INDICTMENT is an
ACCUSATION; you INDICT to put him INSIDE jail
722. indigent: very poor, impoverished; remember: when you're INDIGENT, you live IN
THE GENT-lemen's restroom
723. indomitable: not capable of being conquered; remember: root IN (not) = not able to be
DOMInated
724. induct: bring in, introduce, intitiate; remember: to INtroDUCe iT; sounds like
INDUCT-DUCE / INTRODUCE
725. inebriate: intoxicate; remember: ine-BEER-ate = you "ate" too much beer and got
drunk
726. inept: not suitable or capable, unqualified; remember: root IN (not) + APTITUDE =
no aptitude (skill); INEPT sort of = INAPT
727. inexorable: unstoppable; impossible to persuade; remember: sounds like & nearly
means INEXHAUSTIBLE; no EXERTION will stop it
728. infirm: weak, sickly; remember: an INFIRMary is where SICK people go
729. influx: in-flow; remember: FLUX (flow)
730. inherent: internal, instrinsic; remember: traits you INHERIT are INHERENT to you
731. innate: inborn, native, inherent; remember: IN-ATE = it's INside you because you ATE
it
732. innuendo: an insinuation, a hint (usu. insulting); remember: to HINT that YOU
WENT HOME when you didn't is INNUENDO
733. inscrutable: impossible to understand; remember: root IN (not) + SCRUTinizable =
you cannot understand it
734. insidious: evil but seductive, secretly harmful; remember: INSIDE-OF-US is our own
secret evil
735. insinuate: suggest indirectly or subtly; remember: the INcense yoU ATE gives off a
subtle, suggestive odor
736. insolent: rude, arrogant, overbearing; remember: to INSULT HIM is RUDE and
ARROGANT
737. insular: isolated by culture, like an island; remember: INSULAR = INSUL-ated =
ISOLATED
738. intercede: mediate between persons; remember: root INTER (between) + CEDE
(yield, go) = go between
739. interject: insert between other things, interrupt; remember: root INTER (between) +
root JECT (throw) = throw between, INTERrupt
740. intimation: an indirect suggestion; remember: INTIMATE-suggesTION, a potentially
offensive suggestion made in secret
741. introspection: observing oneself; remember: INTRO (inward) + SPEC (sight) = insight
742. introverted: socially awkward, without friends; remember: root INTRO (inward) + root
VERT (turn) = "turned inward" without friends
743. inveterate: stubbornly established by habit; remember: imagine a stubborn VETERAN
still marching IN place
744. invigorate: animate; remember: to IN-flate with vim & VIGOR is to IN-VIGOR-ATE
745. inviolable: secure from assault; remember: root IN (not) = not able to be VIOLAted;
assault-proof
746. iota: a tiny, unimportant bit of something; remember: I OUGHT TO care, but I don't
care an IOTA about it
747. irate: angry, irritated, outraged; remember: IRATE-ated = irritated
748. iridescent: showing rainbow colors; remember: my IRIS DESCENDS leaving
BRIGHT COLORS where my eyeball was
749. irksome: tiresome, irritating; remember: to IRK SOME people, you must be
IRRITATING
750. irony: actual meaning opposite of the literal meaning; remember: IRONY deals with
OPPOSITES, like an IRON that creates wrinkles
751. irreducible: cannot be lessened or reduced; remember: root IR (not) = not reduce-able,
must stay the same
752. irreparable: cannot be repaired; remember: root IR (not) = not repair-able, cannot be
fixed
753. irrepressible: cannot be repressed or held back; remember: root IR (not) = not repress-
able, cannot be held back
754. irreverent: not respectful, sassy; remember: root IR (without) + root REVE (respect) =
w/o respect for a REVERAND
755. irrevocable: incapable of being taken back; remember: root IR (not) = not revoke-able,
cannot be taken back
756. itinerant: wandering, traveling; remember: an ITINERary is a travel plan
757. jargon: technical speech (opposite: VERNACULAR); remember: imagine a JAR of
GUNS with SPECIAL NAMES, i.e. JAR-GON
758. jetsam: things thrown off a boat (vs. FLOTSAM); remember: you EJECT SOME
rubbish; same meaning as JETTISON
759. jocular: always joking; remember: JOKE-ULAR, what a JOKER YOU ARE
760. jovial: merry, happy, jolly; remember: JOLLY-VIAL
761. juxtapose: place close together; remember: JUNKS YOU POSE for pictures must be
CLOSE TOGETHER to fit in frame
762. juxtaposition: placing two contrasting things together; remember: you put old JUNK
& a shiny new TOP in the same POSITION
763. knavery: dishonesty, mischief; remember: KNIGHTS defend, KNAVES offend
764. kudos: praise for an achievement; remember: your trophy is your KUDOS for your
excellent JUDO
765. lackadaisical: listless, lazy, without energy; remember: you're LAZY-DAISY & SICK
766. laggard: slower than expected, a slow person; remember: to LAG is to fall back or be
late; LAGGARD sounds like SLUG-GARD
767. largess: the generous giving of lavish gifts; remember: the LARGESt presents come
from GENEROUS gift-givers
768. latent: hidden, dormant (opposite: BLATANT); remember: LATE + INTerior = it stays
INSIDE you until it's almost too LATE
769. lattice: an open frame of metal or wood, interwoven; remember: imagine LADDERS of
ICE, delicate but complicated
770. lavish: given without limits; remember: someone who LOVES US will LAVISH us
with gifts
771. levity: humor, good spirits; remember: good spirits or LEVITY can LEVITATE (lift
up) a room
772. levy: to impose (usu. a tax or fine); remember: the LEVY of fines LEFT ME penniless
773. licentious: without moral restraint; promiscuous; remember: a LICENTIOUS judge
will LICENSE US to party hard and break curfew
774. limpid: clear, transparent; remember: imagine seeing LIMES on the BED of a
LIMPID, CLEAR pool of water
775. ludicrous: ridiculous, laughable; remember: it's LUDICROUS when YOU-STICK-US
with the bill after inviting us out
776. luminescent: increasing light; remember: root LUMEN (light)
777. lurid: ghastly, sensationalistic, harshly colored; remember: SENSATIONALIST
pictures LURE HIM into buying the tabloid paper
778. malady: sickness, disease; remember: root MAL (bad); MAL-AID is illness, FIRST-
AID makes you well
779. malcontent: dissatisfied person; remember: root MAL (bad) + content = NOT a
content person
780. malefactor: an evil-doer, a bad person; remember: root MAL (bad); a BENE-
FACTOR helps while a MALE-FACTOR hurts
781. malleable: capable of being shaped or transformed; remember: MOLD-ABLE,
MALLET-ABLE, MAKE-ABLE = changeable
782. manifest: clear, obvious; remember: MANY-FACES make emotions OBVIOUS and
CLEAR
783. manifesto: a public statement of your goals or policy; remember: the MAN IN the
FESTIVAL can make PUBLIC statements
784. masquerade: a pretense, fake show, disguise; remember: a MASK-erade, where your
MASK is your DISGUISE during the PARADE
785. maxim: common saying or rule; remember: MAXIMum authority arises from well-
known MAXIMs
786. meander: wind and turn while proceeding in a course; remember: ME-WANDER =
I'm wandering around, not going straight
787. mediate: to help two parties negotiate; remember: from the MEDIAN (middle), you
negoTIATE between others
788. melancholy: sad but quiet, depressed; remember: imagine a DEPRESSED COLLIE
that must eat MELONS instead of meat
789. mellifluous: pleasant to hear; remember: a pleasing MELOdy FLOWS through US
790. mercurial: tempermental, unstable, rapidly changing; remember: MERCURY was a
FAST runner (& a fast planet), rapidly changing location
791. meritorious: worthy of esteem; NOT "meretricious"; remember: MERIT-FOR-US
means we're MERITORIUS
792. mete: hand out, deliver (usually punishment); remember: you MEET him to METE his
punishment that MADE him sorry
793. mettle: courage, conviction, fortitude; remember: your METTLE is STRONG like
METAL
794. mimic: imitate the speech or actions of; remember: a MIME copies people
795. minutia: a small detail, triviality, minor point; remember: a MINUTE is a minor unit of
time, MINUTIAE are minor details
796. misapprehend: misunderstand; remember: to MISTakenly APPREHEND (grasp) an
idea
797. miscreant: a bad guy; remember: a MESSY CREEP is a MISCREANT
798. misnomer: a name wrongy applied; remember: root MIS (wrong) + root NOM (name)
= the wrong name for something
799. mobocracy: control by the mob; remember: root OCRACY (gov't) = government by
the MOB
800. moderation: temperance, control, avoiding excess; remember: a MODERn nATION
isn't wasteful or destructive, but "green"
801. moderator: the presiding officer for a meeting; remember: a MODERn leader controls
a meeting without doing all the work
802. modernity: appropriateness for an era; remember: MODERN-ity (opposite of
ANACHRONISM)
803. modular: replaceable parts; remember: MODULAR systems are easily MODified
with spare parts
804. molt: shed or cast off; remember: imagine FEATHERS that MELT off the bird (they
MOLT, in actuality)
805. monomania: unreasonable obsession with a single idea; remember: root MONO (one,
single) + root MANIA (crazy) = crazy over ONE thing
806. morass: a swamp, often metaphorical for a "trap"; remember: you're stuck in
MOLASSES, or among MORE ASSES (donkeys, I mean)
807. morbid: relating to death or obsession with death; remember: root MOR (death); a
MORBID person looks for MORE BODies
808. mores: cultural traditions or attitudes; remember: MORES are what MORE folks
think are MORal
809. morose: gloomy or sullen; remember: you give him MORE ROSES because he's SO
GLOOMY
810. multifarious: having great diversity or variety; remember: MULTI-VARIOUS = even
more VARIOUS than VARIOUS
811. multiform: having many shapes; remember: MULTI-FORM, multiple forms
812. multiplicity: a large number or variety; remember: to MULTIPLY a CITY is to make
MANY, MANY buildings & streets
813. mundane: common; remember: MONDAYS are for MUNDANE, everyday tasks
814. muster: to collect or assemble, usu. troops; remember: a MUSTER is where you
MUST get togethER
815. mutable: able change; remember: root MUT (change); CHANGE-ABLE; MUTATE-
ABLE
816. myopic: nearsighted, ALSO unimaginative; remember: MY "O" PIC is a tiny but
unimaginative picture of the letter "O"
817. myriad: consisting of a very great number; remember: MANY ADS = myriad ads
818. nefarious: heinously villainous; remember: an EVIL villain makes ME FURIOUS
819. negligible: minor, small amount, barely worth attention; remember: it's so SMALL you
can NEGLECT it; it's NEGLECT-ABLE
820. negotiable: able to be bargained for or traded; remember: dollar bills are
NEGOTIABLE instruments useful for bargaining
821. nihilist: someone who believes in nothing; remember: you think everything is trivial,
only KNEE-HIGH in importance
822. nominal: trifling, insignificant; remember: pay it NO MIND at ALL; NOMINAL
sounds like MINIMAL
823. nonchalance: calmness when facing the unexpected; remember: non-CHILL-ance =
when surprised, you're not scared; you get NON-CHILLS
824. nonentity: someone or something of no importance; remember: a NON-ENTITY is not
an actual ENTITY; it's so trivial that it's imaginary
825. novice: a beginner; remember: root NOV (new); someone NEW to ICE slips & falls,
being a NOVICE
826. noxious: harmful, unwholesome; remember: a NOXIOUS gas has an ob-NOXIOUS
smell
827. nuance: a slight variation in meaning, tone, expression; remember: NEW ANTS are
only a TINY bit DIFFERENT from old ants
828. nuptial: relating to marriage; remember: root NUP (marriage)
829. oblique: sideways, off course; remember: OBLIQUE detours avoid O-BLOCKED
main routes
830. oblivious: unaware (NOT "obvious"); remember: to BLINK and MISS the OBVIOUS
is to be OB-BLI-VIOUS
831. oblong: rectangular, stretched out, oddly shaped; remember: a weird shape is OB-
LONG, not OB-SHORT or OB-EVEN
832. obsolescence: a condition of disuse or being worn out; remember: OBSOLEte +
SENSE
833. obstruction: hinderance, blockage; remember: an OBstacle in a conSTRUCTION site
834. obtrusive: noticeable, obvious; remember: root OB (toward) + TRUD (push) = OB-
servably in-TRUSIVE
835. obtuse: lacking quickness of sensibility or intellect; remember: acute angles are sharp
(smart); OBTUSE angles are NOT sharp
836. ode: a lyrical poem; a poetic form of praise; remember: he OWED you a POEM, so he
wrote you an ODE
837. odious: instilling hatred or intense displeasure; remember: an EVIL ODOR, to US, has
an ODIOUS smell
838. odoriferous: distinctively smelly, unpleasant smelling; remember: ODOR-ICK-FOR-
US = an ODOR that makes us go "ICK"
839. odorous: stinky; remember: ODOR-us
840. officiate: act as an officer or leader; remember: OFFICI-ACT = ACT OFFICIAL
841. omnipotent: Possessed of unlimited and universal power; remember: root OMNI (all)
+ POTENT (powerful) = all powerful
842. omniscient: Characterized by unlimited or infinite knowledge; remember: root OMNI
(all) + SCI (know) = all knowing
843. omnivorous: eating everything; remember: root OMNI (all) + deVOuR + US
844. onus: burden, responsibility; remember: You OWE-US, so it's your ONUS to pay us
845. opalescence: cloudy glowing; remember: like a glowing OPAL (white, cloudy
gemstone)
846. opulent: fancy, indicating wealth; remember: an OPAL-ANT is an OPULENT trinket
847. ornate: highly elaborate, excessively decorated; remember: too many ORNAments
makes something ORNATE
848. orthodoxy: the common "faith" or understanding; remember: root ORTHO (straight) +
DOX/DOC (teach) = teach the straight & narrow
849. ostensible: appearing as such, seemingly; remember: someone who ATTEMPTS
ABILity only SEEMS able to do something
850. oust: eject, kick out; remember: to JOUST someone OUT of office is to OUST him
851. overtone: a subtle implication, NOT "overture"; remember: the hostile TONE that
hovers OVER the meeting is its OVERTONE
852. overture: a prelude or initial move, NOT "overtone"; remember: the first move in an
advenTURE is now OVER; let's move forward
853. pacify: bring ina peaceful state; remember: root PAX/PAC (peace) = PEACE-ify
854. pact: a promise; remember: "PACT" = the sound of a HANDSHAKE that seals a
PROMISE
855. palindrome: spelled the same forwards & backwards; remember: examples: level,
civic, mom, dad, kayak, rotator
856. palpable: something you can feel; remember: you can FEEL fruit PULP in your hand
857. panacea: a remedy for all ills or difficulties; remember: your doctor gives you a PAN
OF SEALS to CURE ALL your ills
858. panorama: a wide, unbroken view; remember: root PAN (across); to PAN-AROUND-
MA gives Ma a PANORAMIC view
859. paradox: a puzzle, self-contradiction, surprisingly true; remember: PAIR of DOCKS
with no land, makes no sense
860. parallelism: a similarity or resemblance; remember: PARALLEL lines look the same,
as does anything that's PARALLEL
861. paramount: greatest in importance, rank, character; remember: root PARA (beside);
ABOUT the MOUNTain TOP is the HIGHEST rank
862. pare: cut, shave, or remove; remember: you pre-PARE a potato by PARE-ing off its
skin with a PARE-ing knife
863. pariah: an outcast; remember: a POOR HIRE is a PARIAH among rich folk
864. parish: a district or territory, esp. religious; remember: root PARO (religious);
PARson-ISH
865. parley: converse, talk, communicate, negotiate; remember: you PARLEY with your
PAL, LEE, who loves to TALK ALL DAY
866. parliament: a legislative body, esp. British; remember: PARLIAMENT is a PART OF
YOUR govern-MENT
867. parody: a satirical imitation; remember: a PARROT imitates you & makes you look
silly
868. partial: as in "partial to" - liking, preferring, biased; remember: you are PARTIAL to
PARTIAL pies, not FULL ones
869. partible: separable, able to break apart; remember: break-apart-able = PARTIBLE
870. partisan: a follower, adherent, supporter of a cause; remember: a PARTISAN is
PART-OF-SOME greater cause
871. pastoral: rural, country life; remember: instead of a house, you live in a PASTuRe
872. patent: readily seen or understood, clear; remember: an invention's PATENT makes it
CLEAR it's yours; you PAT-IT clearly
873. paternal: fatherly; remember: FATHER-NAL (vs. MATERNAL = MOTHER-NAL)
874. paternalistic: overly fatherly, controlling; remember: a FATHER who STICKs to you
is TOO paternal
875. pathology: an abnormality or malfunction, usu. fr. disease; remember: the PATH OF
ALLERGY is itself a PATHOLOGY, a result of illness
876. pathos: an emotion of sympathy; remember: root PATH (feeling)
877. patriarch: leader who rules because of his age; remember: root ARCH (ruler); PAPA-
ARCH = ruled by papa
878. patrician: noble, aristocratic; remember: root PAT (father); imagine your FATHER as
a distinguished POLITICIAN
879. patrimony: inheritance fr. one's father; heritage; remember: root PATR (father);
FATHER'S MONEY is your PATRIMONY
880. patronize: exercise an arrogant condescension toward; remember: he PATronizes you
by PATting your head (beware, PATRONAGE = "support")
881. patronymic: named after one's father; remember: root PATR (father) + root NYM
(name) = your FATHER'S NAME
882. paucity: small in quantity; remember: a POOR-CITY has a PAUCITY of wealth
883. pauperism: poverty, being poor; remember: a PAUPER is a pau-POOR person
884. payee: a person who gets paid; remember: root -EE (receiver); PAY-EE gets money
from the PAY-ER
885. peccadillo: a small, unimportant crime or sin; remember: to PICK up an armADILLO
is a small offense
886. pectoral: relating to front, chest, thorax; remember: a weightlifter's PECS are on his
FRONT/CHEST/PECTORAL area
887. pecuniary: relating to money; remember: a PENNY-COUNTING-YOU has PE-C-U-
NIARY concerns
888. pedant: a scholar who shows off his education; remember: a PEDANT is like a
PEDAL-ing ANT, trying FRANTICALLY to SHOW-OFF
889. peddle: go about with a small stock of goods sell; remember: imagine a PEDDLER
riding on a bicycle-cart, PEDALING his merchandise
890. peddler: seller of cheap items; remember: imagine a salesman PEDALING a small cart
full of cheap trinkets
891. pedigree: ancestral background, usually high quality; remember: a dog's PEDIGREE
is the PET's DEGREE of relation to other dogs
892. peer: equal; remember: "a jury of your PEERS (equals)"; "peerless" = without equal
893. peerage: an inherited title, rank or honor; remember: the PEER (equal person) you get
with AGE; a PER-son of AGE gets PEERAGE
894. peerless: of highest value, without equal; remember: PEER = one's equal; PEER-LESS
= without equal
895. peevish: petulant, childishly annoyed; remember: imagine getting ANNOYED at PEAS
& FISH falling on you
896. penance: punishment, usu. self-inflicted, oft. religious; remember: PENA-lty-NCE = a
penalty you pay once
897. pendulous: hanging, slowly swinging; remember: like a clock PENDULUM
898. peninsular: like a peninsula, almost entirely surrounded; remember: a PENINSULA is
like a PENetrating ISLAND
899. penitent: remorseful, regretful; remember: a PENITENT-ARY makes criminals
REGRET their crimes
900. pennant: small flag; remember: a PIN(nant)-sized flag; imagine a tiny FLAG on a
PEN
901. penultimate: next to last; remember: imagine a PEN or a BEAN that's NEXT TO
LAST - PEN-ULTIMATE
902. percipient: that which you can perceive; remember: PERCIEVE-ient
903. perennial: continuing for many years; remember: PER-ANNUAL = every year
904. perfunctory: showing no enthusiasm, with minimum effort; remember: a PERFECT
FUNK (lazy, depressed mood) takes LITTLE EFFORT to maintain
905. perigee: nearest point in an orbit (opposite: APOGEE); remember: a PEAR is
CLOSER to you than a giant letter "G"
906. periodicity: occurring at regular intervals; remember: every PERIOD in the CITY,
regular occurrences are witnessed
907. permeate: spread throughout, saturate; remember: he smells like the chemicals from
the PERM-HE-ATE
908. permutation: a variation, re-ordering of items; remember: root MUT (change); PER-
MUTATION = for each version/mutation
909. perpetuate: preserve from extinction or oblivion; remember: to make something
PERPETUAL; a PERFECT YOU lasts forever
910. persecution: harsh treatment, unfair bullying; remember: it's HARSH to subject a
PERSON to EXECUTION
911. perseverance: persistence, sticking to a task; remember: PERSisting SEVEREly =
never giving up
912. personage: person of importance; remember: imagine a PERSON who's famous due to
his extreme AGE
913. personnel: people engaged in a common activity; remember: PERSONS Emp-Loyed =
PERSONN-EL
914. persuadable: able to persuade or be persuaded; remember: PERSUADE-able
915. perusal: a careful examination, review; remember: a PERson USE-ing something will
first EXAMINE it carefully
916. peruse: read carefully; remember: rather than SKIM, you PEER for U's in the text
917. pervasion: spreading through every part; remember: imagine a PERV-INVASION,
where they go through EVERYTHING
918. pestilence: disease, epidemic; remember: a raging disease is like a PEST using
VIOLENCE
919. petrify: turn to stone, to freeze (usu. w/fear); remember: a PET basilisk that terRIFIES
you can PETRIFY you
920. pharmacopeia: a book detailing drugs & their effects; remember: a PHARMAcy has
COPIes of a PHARMACOPEIA
921. phenomenal: marvelous, amazing; remember: a PHENOMENON is PHENOMENAL
922. philanthropy: giving away free help to the needy; remember: root PHIL (love) +
ANTHRO (mankind) = caring for all mankind
923. philharmonic: devoted to music; remember: root PHIL (love); LOVE of HARMONY
= devoted to music
924. physiology: organic functions, bodily makeup; remember: see it as "PHYSICAL-OF-
YOU"
925. piety: faithfulness; remember: imagine WORSHIPPING a giant PIE in the sky,
showing PIE-TY
926. pillage: seize or plunder, especially in war; remember: to PILLAGE a VILLAGE is to
STEAL all its PILLOWS
927. pious: devoutly religious, intensely loyal; remember: PIOUS sounds like PRAY-US
928. pique: to irritate OR to stimulate interest; remember: you're PIQUED when you're
POKED and when you PEEK at something
929. piteous: deserving pity; remember: PITEOUS people beg you to, "PITY US"
930. pithy: concisely meaningful; remember: a PIT-HY statement gets to the point like the
PIT at the HEART of a fruit
931. pitiable: contemptibly small, only worth pity; remember: PITY-ABLE = you CAN pity
it, but you don't; you just hate it
932. pittance: small amount, usually money; remember: PETTY (cheap) or PITiful little
ANTS
933. placate: ease the anger of, soothe; remember: if you PLEASE-KATE, she won't be
ANGRY anymore
934. placid: calm, peaceful; remember: you take a carp and PLACE IT in a PLACID lake
935. plausible: believable, reasonable; remember: sounds like POSSIBLE and
PROBABLE & means nearly the same
936. plenitude: an abundance; remember: PLENTY-tude
937. plenteous: abundant, plentiful, in large amounts; remember: PLENTY-of-US means
we are plentiful
938. plumb: to measure depth, to explore depths; remember: imagine lowering a PLUM on a
line into a lake to measure its DEPTH
939. plurality: a large portion of a group; remember: PLURAL = more than one;
PLURALITY = group-ness
940. pneumatic: having to do with air; remember: root PNEUMO (air; PNEUMONIA)
941. poignant: touching, sympathetic; remember: POINT-ant = pointing out and
TOUCHING another
942. polar: opposite, opposed, separated; remember: the North Pole & South Pole are
POLAR opposites
943. polysyllable: having numerous syllables (i.e., more than 3); remember: root POLY
(many) + syllable
944. pompous: self-important, excessively dignified; remember: our teachers PUMP-US
with false pride, making us POMPOUS and prideful
945. ponder: to think about, meditate on; remember: imagined you WONDER about a
mysterious POND; you POND-wonDER
946. pontiff: literally, the Pope; the highest leader; remember: imagine you jump up and
PUNT OFF the POPE's hat
947. populace: the common folk; remember: POPULAtion's fACE = the "common folk"
948. portfolio: a collection of examples of someone's work; remember: a PORTFOLIO
(folder) holds a PORTFOLIO (collection of art)
949. posit: present in an orderly manner; remember: I have an idea and POSE IT as a
POSSIBILITY
950. posse: an informal group of law-enforcers; remember: popularized in the "Old West,"
but can be used metaphorically
951. postdate: to set a written date after the actual date; remember: root POST (after) = to
DATE something AFTER today
952. posterior: the back area; remember: root POST (after) = the AFT or back area, your
POST-REAR
953. postgraduate: studies that follow a college education; remember: root POST (after);
AFTER graduation
954. postscript: a final message, usu. in a letter; remember: root POST (after) = the
SCRIPT at the back of a book
955. practicable: feasible, do-able; remember: NOT "practical," but PRACTICE-ABLE,
you can practice it, it's do-able
956. pragmatic: practical; remember: you're so PRActical it's autoMATIC for you
957. preamble: introductory statement, usu. explanatory; remember: root PRE (before) +
root AMB (walk) = it COMES BEFORE the main speech
958. precarious: dangerous, perilous; remember: root PRE (before); BEFORE you
CARRY US to safety, we're in DANGER
959. precedence: priority in time, rank or position; remember: PRECEDE-nce; root PRE
(before) + CEDE (yield, go)
960. precession: moving forward, esp. in a long orbit; remember: root PRE (before); a PRE-
PROCESSION = a march that started early
961. preclude: prevent; remember: root PRE (before) + CLU (close) = close off early
962. precursor: forerunner, herald, one who comes before; remember: root PRE (before) +
CUR (rin) = to run before
963. predecessor: the one who came before, usu. in office; remember: root PRE (before);
sounds like "PRECEDE-SESSOR," one who precedes
964. preempt: take early action to prevent sonething; remember: root PRE (before);
PREEMPT sounds like & almost means PREVENT
965. preemption: The right or act of purchasing before others; remember: root PRE
(before) + EM (cover) = cover up before it shows
966. preengage: preoccupy, distract, take up all the attention; remember: root PRE (before);
you're ALREADY ENGAGED, and thus OCCUPIED
967. preestablish: settle or arrange beforehand; remember: root PRE (before); to
ESTABLISH beforehand
968. preexist: to exist before something else; remember: root PRE (before) + exist
969. preface: introduction, prelude; remember: root PRE (before) + face = before you even
get to the FACE
970. preferential: giving or getting special treatment; remember: PREFER-ential
971. prejudice: negative judgment formed without reason; remember: root PRE (before) +
root JUD (judge) = to pre-judge, without evidence
972. prelude: the opening, start or beginning; remember: root PRE (before) + root LUDE
(play); to play before the main event
973. premature: too soon; remember: root PRE (before) + mature = before it's time
974. premier: first in rank or position; remember: root PRE (before); NOT "premiere" (the
first showing)
975. premise: basis for judgment; remember: root PRE (before) + MIS (send) = an early
message leading to a conclusion
976. premonition: a strong feeling something bad will happen; remember: root PRE
(before) + root MONI (root) = early warning
977. preoccupy: to be the subject of obsession; remember: PRE-OCCUPY = occupy so
much attention that nothing else can fit
978. preordain: to command early, before something happens; remember: root PRE (before)
+ "order" = orders given before all others
979. preposterous: ridiculous, absurd; remember: root PRE (before) + root POST (after);
it's silly to be both before & after
980. presentment: formal presentation, NOT "presentiment"; remember: PRESENT-
MENT = PRESENTation before important MEN
981. presumption: often "assumption"; sometimes "arrogant"; remember: root PRE
(before); PRE-ASSUME you're "better" than others
982. presumptive: presumed, the default position; remember: similar to PRESUMPTION,
but without any negative connotation
983. presumptuous: disrespectfully bold; remember: you PRESUME-TOO-MUCH when
you're PRESUMPTUOUS
984. pretension: a deliberately showy display, often fake; remember: PRETEND-sion
985. prevalent: frequent or wide occurrence; remember: root PRE (before) + VALENT
(power) = winning by being powerful first
986. prim: overly proper, uptight; remember: common phrase: "PRIM & proper"
987. prima: the first, usu. a ballerina; remember: PRIME-AH = the FIRST one
988. primeval: original, ancient, primitive, raw, animalistic; remember: PRIME-EVIL =
the FIRST evil, raw instinct
989. pristine: unspoiled, in its original condition; remember: a PRIZE TEAM stays in
PRISTINE, original condition to remain on top
990. probation: a testing period, sometimes punishment; remember: PROBE-ation = a time
when your suitability is PROBED
991. proctor: to monitor or watch over; remember: a PROCTOR maintains PROPER
behavior
992. procure: obtain, acquire; remember: when you're really sick, you PROCURE a PRO-
CURE
993. prodigious: immense, considerable; remember: a PRODIGIOUS wall will PROTECT
us well
994. prodigy: gifted with exceptional ability; remember: a PRODIGY is a child with
EXCEPTIONAL skill; a PRO-DIGGER
995. profane: lewd, indecent; remember: PROFANE language is prohibited; it's explosive,
like PROPANE near a fire
996. proffer: offer another for acceptance; remember: to PRE-OFFER is to OFFER early
to see if he'll ACCEPT it
997. proficiency: very skilled; remember: PROFessionals need PROFICIENCY
998. profiteer: someone who profits excessively & unfairly; remember: someone who
PROFITS from TEARS is a PROFITEER
999. prolific: producing a lot, esp. offspring; remember: if you're PRO-LIFE, you make a
LOT of babies, PROLIFIC-ly
1000. prologue: a separate introduction, a lead-in; remember: root PRO (first) + root
LOGUE (speech) = a SPEECH given FIRST
1001. promenade: a scenic walkway; to walk leisurely; to escort; remember: a ship's
PROMENADE deck is where people walk around slowly
1002. prominent: conspicuous, visibly important; remember: a PRO of MINE will be well
known
1003. promiscuous: indiscriminate, unselective, socially shallow; remember: an unselective
person is a PRO at MIXING YOU with US
1004. promissory: related to a vow, obligation or promise; remember: PROMISE-ory =
related to PROMISES
1005. propriety: the quality or state of being proper, decent; remember: PROPER-iety =
being proper
1006. prospectus: summary of a proposed project; remember: a PROSPECTUS provides a
PROJECT's PROSPECTS
1007. protagonist: the main character, the leader; remember: root PRO (first) + root
AGONIS (actor) = the primary actor
1008. protg: a student, apprentice, follower; remember: you PROTEct your collEGE
student because she's your PROTG
1009. protestation: complaints, emphatic opposition; remember: PROTEST-ation = the act
of protesting
1010. protocol: an official procedure; remember: root PROTO (first) = PROTOCOL tells
you who to CALL FIRST
1011. prototype: a model, an initial attempt at something; remember: root PRO (first); the
FIRST TYPE of something
1012. protrusion: something sticking out; remember: root PRO (forward) + TRUD (thrust) =
thrust out forward
1013. protuberance: something that sticks out; remember: PRO-TUBE-RANCE = a TUBE
that sticks out and LANCES you
1014. providence: good fortune; remember: good luck PROVIDES PROVIDE-ENCE
1015. provincial: related to a province; narrow-minded; remember: imagine an isolated
PROVINCE full of small-minded people
1016. prowess: extraordinary ability; remember: PROWESS = POWER
1017. prudence: cautious, circumspect; remember: you'll PROTECT your CENTS by
showing PRUDENCE while spending
1018. pulmonary: related to lungs or breathing; remember: hear it as PUL-LUNG-NARY
1019. pupilage: being a student; remember: the PUPIL-AGE is your age as a PUPIL
1020. purport: intention, to intend, to claim; remember: PURpose + rePORT = PURPORT
(to report with a purpose)
1021. purveyor: one who supplies; remember: a PURVEYOR is a PROVIDER who
CONVEYS SUPPLIES
1022. putrid: stinky with rot, PUTRESCENT; remember: a PUs-filled, PUke-smelling,
aCID-like mess is truly PUTRID, PEE-YOO
1023. qualm: a feeling of doubt or nausea; remember: you're QUEASY, not CALM, when
you feel a QUALM
1024. query: to question, make an inquiry; remember: to QUE-stion or to in-QUIRE is to
QUERY
1025. quibble: a slight, trivial objection; a nit-pick; remember: a QUIET DRIBBLE is slight
but still annoying
1026. quiescence: dormancy, inactivity, being quiet; remember: your QUIET-SENSE keeps
you quiet during your QUIESCENCE
1027. quiet: (as a verb) "to calm" or "lessen"; remember: to MAKE a hysterical person
QUIET is to QUIET his fears
1028. quizzical: confused, usu. facial expression; remember: a QUIZ that's COMICAL gives
you a QUIZZICAL expression
1029. raiment: clothing; remember: RAyon garMENT = RAIMENT
1030. rancid: having a terrible taste or smell; remember: imagine RAIN made of stomach
ACID; it's stinky and corrosive
1031. rancor: deep, bitter resentment; remember: anger that pulls you down is a RAGE-
ANCHOR, a R-ANCOR
1032. rapport: mutual understanding and harmony; remember: if we can RAP back &
FORTH, we have a RAPPORT
1033. rash: hasty, incautious; remember: your itchy RASH makes you RASH and you RUSH
carelessly forward
1034. raucous: loud, boisterous; remember: ROCK-US with your RAUCUS heavy metal
ROCK music
1035. ravenous: furiously hungry, starving; remember: so HUNGRY you'll eat a RAVEN =
RAVEN-OUS
1036. reactionary: too quick to react with hostility; remember: REACTION to AIR = too
quick to REACT
1037. rebuff: noun & verb: to reject ungraciously; remember: to REJECT while in the BUFF
is clear but ungracious
1038. rebut: oppose by argument or a sufficient answer; remember: when you REBUT his
argument, you kick his REBUTT, symbolically
1039. recessive: tending to retreat; remember: imagine RUNNING AWAY during RECESS
1040. reck: have a care or thought for; remember: RECK-LESS means CARE-LESS
1041. reclusive: solitary, shunning society; remember: root RE (back) + TRUD (thrust) =
thrust backwards, retreating
1042. recognizance: a promise to a court to do something; remember: you RECOGNIZe the
importANCE of obeying the COURT
1043. reconcilable: able to be resolved, compromised or fixed; remember: root RE (back) +
root CON (with) = you're "back with" a former enemy
1044. recourse: assistance during trouble; remember: root RE (again); when in trouble,
CHANGE COURSE to a RE-COURSE
1045. recuperate: get well, recover, heal; remember: RECOVER-ate
1046. recurrent: repeating frequently; remember: root RE (again); RE-OCCUR means to
happen again
1047. redoubtable: formidable, strong; remember: NOT "doubt" but RE-sistant to DOUBT
1048. reducible: subject to simplification; remember: a REDUCIBLE problem can be
REDUCED to SIMPLE ideas
1049. redundance: excess, repetition; remember: something that's done, then RE-DONE, is
RE-DONE-DANT
1050. reflexible: able to be reflected; remember: REFLECT-ABLE
1051. refract: distort, change; remember: to REFlect but FRACTure the beam of light is to
CHANGE & REFRACT it
1052. refurbish: restore, clean up; remember: to RE-FURNISH with new FURNISHINGS
1053. regality: royalty, quality of rulership; remember: root REG (king); REG-al = King-like
1054. regent: member of government; stand-in for a king; remember: root REG (king); a
RECENT KING is still the REGENT
1055. regicide: killing of a king; remember: root REG (king) + root CIDE (kill) = Rex-icide
kills kings like insectiCIDE
1056. regime: rulership, those in control; remember: root REG/REX (king)
1057. regimen: a system of diet and exercise; remember: NOT "regiment"; think of RICH-
MEN with special chefs & fitness trainers
1058. regress: return a former place or condition; remember: REverse proGRESS; progress
backwards
1059. reiterate: say or do again and again; remember: root RE (again); RE-ENTER-IT, you
go back in again
1060. rejuvenescence: re-energizing, feeling young again; remember: to REACH-YOUTH
again is to gain REJUVENESCENCE
1061. relapse: a return to sickness after recovery; remember: root RE (again) = col-LAPSE
AGAIN from sickness = RE-LAPSE
1062. reluctant: unwilling, hesitant; remember: root RE (again) + "lack" = to AGAIN lack
motivation is to be UNWILLING
1063. reminiscence: a memory or recollection; remember: REMEMBER-ISCENCE
1064. remission: temporary lessening, usu. disease; remember: root RE (again) + mission =
no longer sick, you can REsume your MISSION
1065. renaissance: rebirth; remember: root RE (again) + root NAS (birth) = born again
1066. rendezvous: a pre-arranged meeting; remember: I RUN TO YOU to MEET at our
RENDEZVOUS
1067. renovate: restore, return original state; remember: root RE (again) + NOV (new) =
new all over again
1068. renown: honor, acclaim; remember: KNOWN and RE-KNOWN to everyone
1069. repartee: witty, fast-moving conversation; remember: REPORT-spEEd = two people
REPORTING as quickly as they can
1070. repellent: hateful, able to push back or drive away; remember: something you HATE is
something you'd REPEL
1071. repentance: being sorry, making amends; remember: to become a new, better person,
you RE-PAINT yourself in REPENTANCE
1072. replenish: refill; remember: root RE (again) + plenty = provide "plenty" again (i.e.,
refill)
1073. repose: rest, lie down; remember: when you lie down, you're in a REST-POSE
1074. repository: a storage place; remember: your RECEIVABLES get DEPOSITED in a
RE-POSIT-ORY
1075. repress: keep under restraint or control; remember: root RE (again); to PRESS down
AGAIN is to RESTRAIN & CONTROL
1076. reprimand: chide or rebuke for a fault; remember: a scolding so vicious it RIPS-A-
MAN wide open (gross but memorable)
1077. repulsive: offensive, hateful; remember: you PULL BACK, then RE-PULL BACK,
from something REPUL-SIVE
1078. reputable: of good reputation; remember: you're REPUTABLE because of the
REPUTation YOU are ABLE to keep
1079. repute: general opinion; remember: REPORTS of you can affect your REPUTE /
REPUT-ation
1080. requisition: an official request, usu. for goods; remember: a REQUEST + an official
PETITION
1081. resilience: the ability to spring back or recover; remember: RESIST-ELASTIC-ience
= resistance based on the asbility of bouncing back
1082. resilient: resistant to injury, quick to recover; remember: RESISTANT to ILLness =
RES-ILL-iant
1083. resistant: capacity for resisting; remember: RESIST-ant
1084. resolve: find a solution, fix, settle a dispute; remember: root RE (again); to SOLVE
AGAIN means to REALLY solve something
1085. resonance: reinforcement by similarity, usually sound; remember: root RE (again) +
SON (sound) = sound repeats and builds up
1086. respite: a break, rest; remember: imagine a REST-PIE, a giant pie on which you REST
and relax
1087. respondent: the act of answering, person who answers; remember: RESPOND-ent
1088. resumption: taking back, retrieving or restarting; remember: to RESUME your
ASSUMPTIONS = going back to business as usual
1089. resurgent: an increase in activity after a quiet period; remember: root RE (again); RE-
SURGE, to SURGE out again
1090. resurrection: return from death; remember: can also refer to reviving a "dead" idea
1091. resuscitate: restore from apparent death; remember: mouth to mouth
RESUSCITATION is supposed to RESTORE LIFE
1092. retort: to reply to an insult; remember: root RE (again/back) + root TORT (twist) = to
SNAP BACK at an insult
1093. retouch: fix, modify, make minor repairs; remember: root RE (again); to TOUCH
something AGAIN because you're FIXING it
1094. retrace: follow backwards; remember: root RE (back) + TRACE (draw) = follow a line
or path backwards
1095. retract: withdraw, take back, pull out; remember: root RE (again); you TAKE BACK
something by RE-ATTRACTing it
1096. retrospective: looking backwards in time; remember: root RETRO (back) + root SPEC
(see) = seeing the past
1097. revelation: a surprising fact made public; remember: REVEAL-ation, a secret
REVEALED
1098. revere: esteem, show deference, venerate; remember: we REVERE (respect) Paul
REVERE for his midnight ride
1099. reverent: respectful, humble; remember: you're REVERENT before a REVEREND
1100. reversion: return to a former state; remember: root RE (back) + VERT (straight) = go
straight backwards, retreat
1101. revert: return, go backwards, lose ground; remember: root RE (again/back) + root
VERT (turn) = to TURN BACK
1102. revisal: the act of revision or change; remember: you REVISE-ALL, changing
EVERYTING
1103. rhapsodize: engage in excessive enthusiasm; remember: so enthusiastic that you RAP
and sing SONGS; you RHAPSODIZE
1104. rhapsody: enthusiastic praise; remember: someone who RAPS about TEA is
PRAISING it endlessly
1105. rhetoric: the art of persuasive speech; remember: a RED-ORAL person has a VERY
VISIBLE MOUTH that you cannot ignore
1106. rhetorician: showy writer or speaker; remember: RHETORIC
1107. riddance: getting rid of something troublesome; remember: to get RID of something is
RID-ANCE
1108. righteousness: virtue, being pure and holy; remember: being RIGHT to US is
RIGHTEOUS
1109. ripplet: a small ripple, usu. in water; remember: RIPPLE + root LET (baby) = baby
ripple
1110. rotary: circular, movement around something; remember: ROTATE (turn); ROTATE-
ARY = rotational movement
1111. rotund: round, usu. referring to a fat perdon; remember: just ROUND with a "T" stuck
into it (RO-T-UND)
1112. rudimentary: basic, crude, undeveloped, primitive; remember: RUDE-MEN haven't
DEVELOPED civilized manners
1113. rustic: simple and charming in a farm-like way; remember: a RUSTY old gate has the
RUSTIC charm of the ANTIQUE
1114. saline: containing or made of salt; remember: SALT-INE (not "SALIENT" = relevant)
1115. salve: a soothing balm (NOT "solve"); remember: a SOOTHING SALVE can SOLVE
your SORE SKIN PROBLEMS
1116. sanctity: sacredness, holiness; remember: sounds like SAINT-ity, the SACREDNESS
of a SAINT
1117. satiate: fully satisfy, usu. a hunger; remember: SATIsfied because you ATE
1118. satiric: mocking, insulting by imitating; remember: you SAT on a TIRE to SATIRIZE
"The Thinker"
1119. savor: appreciate by taste or smell; remember: when you ENJOY your food, you
SAVE-FOR later so you can have it again
1120. scarcity: insufficiency, absence, lack; remember: SCARCE-CITY = where things you
need are scarce, rare or missing
1121. scathing: sharp, critical, hurtful; remember: imagine a MEAN SKATER who's
SKATING over your skin, HURTING you
1122. scholastic: related to schools or education; remember: SCHOOL-astic
1123. scintilla: faint ray of light (or hope); remember: you must SQUINT hard to see a
SCINTILLA of light
1124. scope: a range, a view; remember: your rifle SCOPE shows the SCOPE of your target
area
1125. scribe: a writer or record-keeper; remember: a SCRIBE inSCRIBES SCRIPTS
1126. secant: a division into two parts; remember: cutting something in half creates a FIRST
part and a SECANT part
1127. secession: withdawing from a group; to "pull out"; remember: the civil was was a war
of SECESSION; the south tried to SECEDE
1128. seclusion: solitude, being alone; remember: you SEEK CLUES alone and in secret
1129. second: (verb) to support or aree with; remember: the SECOND person supports the
FIRST
1130. sedate: calm (both verb and adjective); remember: SIT-ate, makes you SIT and be calm
1131. seer: a prophet or fortuneteller; remember: a SEER is a SEE-ER of the future
1132. seethe: be violently excited or agitated; remember: you SEE THE lava SEETHING
with RED HEAT
1133. selective: choosy; remember: SELECT-ive
1134. semaphore: a visual signal; remember: too SEE MY "4" from FAR away requires
SEMAPHORE
1135. seminary: a private school, usu. for preachers; remember: SEA-MEN learn about the
AIR at the SEMINARY
1136. sentence: pass judgment; remember: a JUDGE passes a SENTENCE on a criminal
1137. sentinel: a guard, one who keeps watch; remember: a SENTINEL is SENT-IN to
HELP protect others
1138. separable: able to be divided; remember: SEPARATE-ABLE
1139. separate: take apart; remember: SEPARATE is a verb as well as an adjective
1140. separatist: one who favors separating from the group; remember: SEPARATE-ist
1141. sequent: next in time; remember: sounds like SEQUENCE, means nearly the same
thing
1142. serendipity: happy chance, unexpected luck; remember: SERENDIPITY (happy
chance) makes you SURRENDER PITY and be happy
1143. servile: subservient, obedient; remember: SERVILE means act like a SERVant;
SERVant-STYLE
1144. servitude: slavery, subject to another; remember: SERVANT-tude
1145. severance: separation, ending connections; remember: SEVER (cut off) = imagine
ANTS SEVERing your leg and taking it away
1146. sheer: complete, total, absolute; remember: a SHEER cliff is totally straight, SHEER
nylons are totally smooth
1147. shiftless: lacking energy or motivation; remember: you're so lazy, you can't even
SHIFT positions, so you're SHIFTLESS
1148. sidelong: towards one side; remember: SIDE-long
1149. simile: a comparison, usually using the word "like"; remember: SIMILE sounds like
SIMILAR
1150. siren: a mythical nymph who beckons you into danger; remember: imagine a air-raid
SIREN that BECKONS you into the shelter
1151. skiff: small, flat boat; remember: a SKIFF SKIms along the surface
1152. skirmish: a small battle; remember: sounds like "SCRIMMAGE" (a small game)
1153. slipshod: careless, hastily assembled; remember: SLIP-SHOED means your shoes slip
because they were sloppily made
1154. sluggard: someone who's always lazy; remember: imagine a giant SLUG on a couch
watching TV all day
1155. sobriety: sedate, calm; remember: not drunkness but SOBER-ity = your calmness
1156. solace: comfort during bad times; remember: SOLO-SADNESS requires SOL-ACE
1157. solder: to attach, usu. by melting; NOT "soldier"; remember: to make a SOLID-ER
bond, you SOLDER pieces together
1158. solicitor: chief legal officer; a salesman; remember: a SALE-licitor sells, a so-LAW-
citor practices law, a SOLICITOR does both
1159. soluble: able to be dissolved; remember: dis-SOL-uble = dissovlable
1160. solvent: able to dissove things; having enough money; remember: to DISSOLVE in a
SOLVENT; enough money is SOLVING your problems
1161. somber: gloomy, sad, depressed; remember: a GLOOMY guy sits and cries under his
SOMBER-O (big hat)
1162. soothsayer: a fortuneteller, a prophet; remember: a prophet SOOTHES fears by
SAYING what the future brings
1163. sophisticate: deprive of simplicity of mind or manner; remember: often means "to
overcomplicate" even though "sophisticated" = high-class
1164. sophistry: using fake arguments to push lies; remember: imagine that SOFT-
HISTORY = squishy facts, mostly untrue,
1165. sordid: degraded, perverted, ugly; remember: you're SORRY you DID it, because it
was so PERVERTED
1166. sovereign: having absolute authority in a certain area; remember: SO VERY
REIGNING (REIGN = rule over)
1167. sparse: thinly spread, rare, wispy; remember: SPARSE sounds like SPREAD +
SCARCE
1168. spartan: severely minimal, having no luxuries, bare; remember: SPARTANS were
EFFICIENT warriors with ZERO excess
1169. spasmodic: irregular, occuring in bursts; remember: imagine SPASM-MODE, a
condition with unpredictable spasms
1170. specialize: specify in a particular skill or talent; remember: SPECIAL-ize
1171. speculator: a high-risk investor; a profiteer; remember: you SPECULATE that value
will rise, so you INVEST
1172. spontaneous: without planning; impulsive; remember: root SPONT (self); on the
SPOT decisions are SPOT-TANEOUS
1173. sprightly: vivacious, lively; remember: SPRINGING to your feet as if you're LIGHT
as a feather = SPRIGHTLY
1174. squabble: quarrel; remember: SQUAwking + raBBLE
1175. squalid: dirty, unpleasant, miserable; remember: it's SQUALID to SQUAT-in-MUD
1176. squander: waste; remember: it's a WASTE of fruit to SQUish it and WANDER off
1177. squatter: one who occupies without permission; remember: a SQUATTER squats on
YOUR land and won't move
1178. staid: sedate, serious, self-restrained; remember: instead of RUSHING IN, he STAID
(stayed) behind
1179. stanza: a verse in a poem, a group of rhyming lines; remember: a POET assumes a
STANCE to recite a STANZA about PIZZA
1180. static: at rest, motionless, without change; remember: STATIC electricity gathers on
clothes then SITS there
1181. statistician: an expert in numbers and samples; remember: a STATISTICS-
electriCIAN is an expert with numbers
1182. stature: the height, usu. of an animal or person; remember: someone's STATURE is
shown when he STANDS SURE of himself
1183. stealth: secrecy, caution; remember: STEAL-TH = a THIEF must be SILENT and
SECRETIVE
1184. steely: strong; remember: strong like STEEL
1185. stellar: related to stars; excellent; remember: STAR-lar, like STARS
1186. sterling: genuine, valuable; remember: STERLING silver is REAL, GENUINE silver
1187. stigma: a mark of shame; remember: it's shameful to STICK to your MA
1188. stingy: not generous, not inclined spend or give; remember: a STINGY person is
STINKY, because he KEEPS all his smells to himself
1189. strait: narrow passage connecting two bodies of water; remember: can be metaphoric or
refer to any narrow, connecting passage
1190. strenuous: requiring tremendous energy or stamina; remember: a STRENUOUS task
requires more STRENGTH TO US
1191. strident: harsh, loud; remember: it's a HARSH LOUD SOUND when you STRIKE
your DENTAL fillings
1192. suave: smooth and pleasant, charming; remember: James Bond is SUAVE/SMOOTH
and SOPHISTICATED
1193. subconscious: below conscious perception; remember: root SUB (under); UNDER your
CONSCIOUS thought
1194. subjection: bring about submission, conquering; remember: SUBJECTION makes you
a SUBJECT; root SUB (under) + JECT (throw)
1195. subjugate: bring under control, subdue; remember: root SUB (under) = bring someone
UNDER your JUDGMENT & control
1196. sublime: lofty, grand, exalted; remember: imagine a giant LIME-shaped
SUBMARINE that everyone's worshipping
1197. subordinate: lower in rank or class; remember: root SUB (under) + root ORD (order)
= a "lower order"
1198. subsequent: following in time or sequence; remember: SUB-SEQUENCE; imagine the
next submarine in a long line
1199. subservience: obedience; remember: root SUB (under) + servants = so obedient, you
obey servants
1200. subside: relapse ina state of repose and tranquility; remember: root SUB (under) + side
= go to the underside, calm down
1201. subsist: to get by, to be supported (just barely); remember: root SUB (under) + SIS
(stand) = support fr. below keeps you standing
1202. substantive: solid, meaningful; remember: SUBSTANCE-TIVE is the opposite of
IMAGINA-TIVE
1203. subtend: extend under to support (like plant roots); remember: root SUB (under) + ex-
TEND = SUB-EXTEND, reach out under
1204. subterfuge: evasion; remember: root SUB (under) + TER (earth) = hidden under
ground
1205. subterranean: below the earth; remember: root SUB (under) + TERRAIN (ground) =
under the ground
1206. subtle: delicate, understated; remember: root SUB (below); SUB-TLE is to work
BENEATH the scenes
1207. subvert: undermine, sabotage from within; remember: root SUB (below) + root VERT
(turn); to get under it and turn it around
1208. successor: the next in line, one who succeeds another; remember: based on
"SUCCEED" meaning "to follow" (not "to win")
1209. succulent: juicy; remember: SUCK-ulent, full of juices to SUCK up
1210. succumb: cease resisting, give in, surrender; remember: imagine you GIVE UP and get
SUCKED in by a giant CUCUMBER
1211. summary: brief, to the point; remember: a SUMMARY is a short version;
SUMMARY means "no nonsense"
1212. sumptuous: splendid, luxurious; remember: the SUM of all YOU want is
LUXURIOUS = SUMPT-U-OUS
1213. superabundance: too much; remember: ABUNDANT = much, SUPERABUNDANT
= too much
1214. supersede: displace; remember: root SUPER (above) + root SEDE (sit) = sit above &
take over, thus replace
1215. supplant: take the place of; remember: SUPPLY a PLANT to replace a dead plant
1216. supple: flexible, easily bent; remember: a plant stalk is often described as "smooth and
SUPPLE" (bendable)
1217. supplicate: beg humbly and earnestly; remember: imagine you SUPPLY KATE
because she's BEGGING you
1218. supposition: guess; remember: the phrase, "just SUPPOSE..." is a SUPPOSITION
1219. suppression: prevention by holding down; remember: to STOP by PRESSING down is
STOP-PRESSION
1220. surmise: guess, infer, usu. with little evidence; remember: it's a SURPRISE that you
can SURMISE so much with so little proof
1221. surmount: overcome by force of will; remember: you SURprise-MOUNT a
MOUNTAIN, climbing by SHEER WILLPOWER
1222. susceptibility: a weakness, a vulnerability; remember: a criminal SUSPECT is ABLE
to exploit your SUSCEPTIBILITY (weakness)
1223. sustenance: food, nourishment; remember: SUSTAIN-ence
1224. syllabus: an outline or overview, usually of a course; remember: professor hides his
notes in a SILLY BUS
1225. symphonic: pleasant blend, usually sound or music; remember: a SYMPHONY blends
its sounds pleasantly
1226. synchronism: in time, coincident, being simultaneous; remember: to be in SYNC is to
work TOGETHER in TIME
1227. synopsis: summary; remember: root SYN (same) + ops = same operations but shorter
(i.e., a summary)
1228. synthesis: to create something by combining things; remember: SYNTHETIC = "fake"
because it's man-made not natural
1229. systematic: methodical, careful, thorough; remember: following a SYSTEM
autoMATICally is being SYSTEM-ATIC
1230. tangency: touching, contact, being barely related; remember: a TANGENT just
TOUCHES a circle; it's related but not part of it
1231. tangent: touching; remember: a TANGENT line TOUCHES a circle without entering
it
1232. tangential: incidental, peripheral, divergent; remember: a TANGENT just barely
touches a circle; it's TANGENTIAL to the circle
1233. tangible: something you can feel; remember: TOUCH-able
1234. tantamount: equivalent in value or significance; remember: a TENT on a MOUNT is
just as HIGH as the MOUNT
1235. tarnish: lessen or destroy the luster of in any way; remember: you rub TAR on
furNISHins, ruining their shiny finish
1236. taunt: tease (NOT "TAUT" = tight); remember: imagine TEASING someone's TENT
and AUNT; you TAUNT them all
1237. taut: tightly stretched; remember: TAUT = TIGHT, a LOT
1238. technic: technical terms or methods; remember: TECHNICal TECHNIque =
"TECHNIC"
1239. technicality: particular to a trade; remember: a TECHNICALITY is known to
TECHNICIANS
1240. technography: the history & geography of arts & sciences; remember: TECHNO-
GRAPHY is TECHNOlogy's geoGRAPHY
1241. tedious: dull, boring; remember: it's BORING to keeping TIDYING US UP, when
we're already clean
1242. teem: be full overflowing; remember: a whole TEAM fills up a small space
1243. temperance: moderation in action or thought; remember: a TEMPER should be kept
under control, i.e. moderated
1244. temporal: temporary, current, related to the everyday; remember: TEMPORary
ORAL speech comes and goes, relates to the "now"
1245. tenable: able be defended or maintained; remember: root TEN (hold); HOLD-able,
able to hold onto an idea or thing
1246. tenacious: unyielding, stubborn, persistent; remember: to grab on with all TEN fingers
is TEN-ACIOUS
1247. tenet: a principle or rule; remember: a TENT full of law-books
1248. tenor: the actual meaning; remember: a TENOR's TENOR is in his WORDS not his
TUNE
1249. tentative: experimental, cautious, delicately careful; remember: you're too CAUTIOUS
to venture out of your TENT; you're TENT-ative
1250. tenuous: having little substance or strength; remember: imagine a TENUOUS
(TENNIS) net, unable to HOLD WATER
1251. tenure: a term, often of office or leadership; remember: TEN-YEAR term of office
1252. tepid: lukewarm, unenthusiastic; remember: water is TEPID in the TORPID
TROPICS
1253. terminal: relating the the end, finish or death; remember: to TERMINATE is to END
something; a TERMINAL disease kills you
1254. terminus: final goal or end point; remember: TERMINATE-US at the final point
1255. testament: a will, a final statement, a proclamation; remember: the old and new
TESTAMENTS are meant to be the "final word" of God
1256. thesis: a statement of position on a subject; remember: your THESIS statement states
your POSITION
1257. thrall: being under another's control; remember: you're EN-THRALLED when your
admiration is EN-SLAVED
1258. timorous: timid, fearful; remember: TIMID-FOR-US means REALLY timid or scared
1259. tincture: to flavor by adding a tiny amount of something; remember: a TINy
puNCTURE is enough to release a TINCTURE of FLAVOR
1260. tinge: a trace, slight influence; remember: a TINT is SLIGHT coloring, like a PINCH
of color; TINT+PINCH = TINGE
1261. tipsy: drunk; remember: so drunk you TIPsy over
1262. tithe: percentage of income given to a church; remember: you TITHE a FIFTH of your
pay as a TOLL WITH the church
1263. toady: one who flatters in the hope of gaining favors; remember: a TOAD that kisses up
to you
1264. topography: a map of physical contours, hills, valleys, etc.; remember: root GRAPHY
(writing); a WRITTEN map showing TOPS of hills
1265. tortious: wrongful, harmful; remember: root TORT (twist); it's WRONG to TORTure
US
1266. transfigure: tranform or bestow a glorified appearance; remember: root TRANS
(across) + FIGURE (form) = transform
1267. transfusion: transfering fluid from one to another; remember: a blood
TRANSFUSION is the TRANSER-sion of blood to a patient
1268. transgress: violate, go over a limit; remember: root TRANS (across) + root GRESS
(move) = move across LIMITS
1269. transmute: change or alter in form; remember: root TRANS (across) + root MUT
(change) = change across forms
1270. transpire: come to pass, to happen; remember: root TRANS (across) + SPIR (breath) =
as breath passes, things occur
1271. treasonable: treacherous, traitorous; remember: TREASON-ABLE = able to
constitute TREASON
1272. treatise: a composition, usually written; remember: a well-written EASY-to-read
ESSay is a TREAT
1273. tribune: champion of rights; remember: a TREE-BONE is stout, strong & upright, like
a HERO
1274. trifling: trivial; remember: a TRIVIAL-FLING
1275. trim: neat, clean, thin; remember: to TRIM is to CUT AWAY excess, leaving a NEAT
finish
1276. trite: not original, overused; remember: it's been TRITE (tried) and TRITE until it's
completely OVERUSED
1277. trove: a collection of valuable things; remember: usually part of the phrase:
"TREASURE TROVE"
1278. truncate: shorten by cutting off; remember: imagine SLICING something with a CAR
TRUNK; you TRUNK-ATE it
1279. tyranny: absolute rulership, usu. unjust & cruel; remember: a TYRANT is an evil
king; you get TIRED of a NANNY who's too bossy
1280. tyro: novice, beginner; remember: a TYRO is about to TRY-O for the first TIME-O
1281. ulterior: beyond what's admitted or obvious; remember: an ULTERIOR motive is a
HIDDEN motive
1282. ultimatum: final statement of terms; remember: ULTIMATE-UM, the FINAL warning
1283. umbrage: resentment, offense; remember: you're so offended you feel UNBelievable
RAGE (UMB-RAGE)
1284. unanimity: being of one mind; full agreement; remember: when we agree, we're UNIted
and MIGHTY
1285. unbecoming: unsuitable, inappropriate, unflattering; remember: root UN (not); NOT-
BECOMING = not changing for the better
1286. unbiased: impartial, fair, seeing both sides; remember: BIAS = unfairly favoring one
side (PREJUDICE = unfair DISfavor)
1287. unbridled: unrestrained, uncontrolled; remember: a BRIDLE controls a horse; UN-
BRIDLED, it's UNCONTROLLED
1288. unconscionable: excessive, unacceptably wrong; remember: UN-CONSCIENCE-
ABLE = so bad that your conscience rejects it
1289. unimpeachable: impossible to criticize; trustworthy; remember: you can't IMPEACH
(attack) him; he's immune to PEACHES thrown at him
1290. uproarious: noisy, rowdy; remember: UP-ROAR = even louder than a roar
1291. usurp: seize by force, take possession without right; remember: YOU STRIP a king of
his power when you USURP his REIGN
1292. usury: illegally high interest on a loan; remember: loan sharks USe-yoU for fREE
money
1293. utilitarian: relating or aiming at usefulness; remember: UTILITY or USEFULNESS
is what a UTILITARIAN cares about
1294. utilize: to use for an unintended purpose, NOT "use"; remember: You USE a bat to hit
a ball; you UTILIZE it to scare away intruders
1295. vacuous: lack of content or ideas, stupid; remember: VACUum-US, leaving nothing left
but empty space
1296. vagabond: wanderer, tramp, traveler; remember: a VAGABOND leaves a VACANT
HOME behind him
1297. vagrant: a wanderer, a tramp, a bum; remember: a BUM gives off a VILE
FRAGRANCE
1298. vainglory: excessive vanity; remember: contrast real glory vs. VAIN-GLORY
1299. validate: confirm, support, corroborate; remember: to make VALID and give VALUE
is to VALIDATE
1300. valorous: courageous, brave; remember: Prince VALIANT shows VALOR and is thus
VALOROUS
1301. vanguard: forward guard, pioneer, forefront; remember: imagine GUARDS in front of
a VAN
1302. vapid: lacking liveliness, dull; remember: VAPOR has no substance or value (though
VAPID really rhymes with RAPID)
1303. vaporizer: atomizer, a spray device; remember: makes VAPOR for your EYES
1304. variable: tending to change; remember: VARY-able
1305. variegated: diversified, distinctly marked; remember: VARIETY-gated
1306. vehement: very eager, forceful, usu. about something bad; remember: to
VEHEMENTLY deny is to VIOLENTLY deny
1307. vendible: marketable, suitable for sale; remember: root VEND (sell); a VENDOR
VENDS VENDIBLE VENDING machines
1308. vendition: the act of selling; remember: to VEND is to sell, suffix TION means "the
act"
1309. veneer: deceptive outward appearance; remember: a PHONY EAR disguises your
REAL EAR; dental VENEERS cover your teeth
1310. venerable: respectable based on age/experience; remember: an OLD VENDOR is an
HONORABLE salesman
1311. veracity: truthfulness, accuracy; remember: root VER (truth); a CITY full of VERy
honest people
1312. verbatim: repeated word for word; remember: VERBally imitATE
1313. verbiage: unnecessary wordiness; remember: VERBal garbAGE
1314. verbose: wordy, impaired by wordiness; remember: VERB-ose, too many verbs
1315. verity: truth, reliability; remember: VERY-T = very truthful = highly reliable
1316. vernacular: ordinary language (opposite: JARGON); remember: a NORMAL guy
named VERN uses NORMAL, non-spectACULAR language
1317. vertigo: dizziness, often from height; remember: you get VERTIGO from being too
high VERTICALLY
1318. vestige: a mark or trace of something lost or vanished; remember: imagine your VEST
is the last VESTIGE of your STOLEN CLOTHING
1319. vestment: clothing; remember: your VEST is part of your VESTMENT
1320. veto: the power of a leader to reject an idea; remember: to VETO is to SAY-NO
1321. viable: workable, do-able, possible; remember: I-(am)-ABLE to do a VIABLE thing
1322. vicarious: experiencing through another; remember: YOU-CARRY-US = your
adventure stories carry us all away
1323. vie: to contend, to attempt, to struggle for; remember: to VIE it to TRY rather than give
up and DIE
1324. vignette: a short descriptive story; remember: root ETTE (small version) + VIGN = a
small vine sprouting tiny books
1325. vincible: able to be overcome; remember: IN-VINCIBLE means unbeatable;
VINCIBLE means beatable
1326. vindicate: avenge; free from allegation; set free; remember: AVENGE-icate (to avenge
is NOT negative)
1327. vindicatory: punishing, vengeful; remember: re-VENGE-acatory (revenge is negative)
1328. virtuoso: one who excels, usually at art or music; remember: also an adjective; having
artistic VIRTUes SO great, you're a VIRTUOSO
1329. virulent: very hostile or severe; remember: VIRULENT sounds like VIOLENT
1330. visage: face or appearance of a person; remember: your VISible AGE is shown on
your FACE
1331. viscous: not free flowing, syrupy (NOT "vicious"); remember: imagine a FISH you
SQUEEZE produces VISCOUS, gooey, liquid organs
1332. vivacious: lively, sprightly; remember: root VIV (life) + ACIOUS (full of); lively
ACES dance out of the deck
1333. vivify: endue with life; remember: root VIV (life) + IFY; antonym: MORT-IFY
(embarrass to DEATH)
1334. vociferous: loud, boisterous; remember: VOICE-iferous, using lots of loud VOICES to
make your point
1335. volatile: unstable; remember: an UNSTABLE building is made of FALLING TILE
1336. voluptuous: full figured, esp. women; remember: VOLUME-uptuous = lots of form,
shapely
1337. voracious: wildly, excessively hungry; remember: root VOR (eat), deVOUR-acious
1338. waive: relinquish, overlook, give something up; remember: WAVE goodbye to
something you WAIVE
1339. wallow: to roll around, to indulge oneself (esp. in pity); remember: a big WET-
SWALLOW causes you to WALLOW in water
1340. wane: shrink; remember: WAN is pale, shrunken; to WANE is to become WAN
1341. warily: cautiously; remember: sounds like CAREFULLY and means nearly the same
thing
1342. wax: grow; remember: ball of WAX grows into the MOON (which waxes and wanes)
1343. wheedle: cajole, encourage with flattery; remember: you WHIne and nEEDLE
someone to get what you want
1344. whet: make eager; remember: your tongue gets WET when you're hungry & you
WHET your appetite
1345. whimsical: flighty / unfocused; remember: a WHIM is a snap-judgment or impulse
1346. winnow: trickle away; remember: imagine a Wiggling mINNOW slipping away down
a drain
1347. wizened: wrinkled with age; remember: an OLD person with WISDOM is WIZENED
with age
1348. wrangle: a noisy argument or dispute (also a verb); remember: you argue so violently
that you WRestle and strANGLE the other person
1349. wrest: take forcefully; remember: to WRESTle (using force) an object from someone's
grasp
1350. xenophobe: someone who hates foreigners; remember: you fear an ALIEN named
"XENO"; root XENO (foreign) + PHOB (fear)
1351. zealot: blindly eager follower; remember: ZEALOTS are ZEALOUS but OUGHT
NOT to be
THE BRAIN-BUSTERS
These are among the toughest words the SAT will ever throw at you. Master these, and youll
be on your way to a perfect reading score. Youll also have a college-level vocabulary thatll
ensure you make the best possible impression, once you hit the seminar room.
Just remember, for SAT purposes, even if you cant recall the meanings of these words, try at
least to recall their colors. Youll be able to eliminate wrong answers, and guess intelligently. It
just might be enough to get you that perfect score!
1352. aberration: weirdness; remember: it's WEIRD to see A BEAR on VACATION
1353. ablution: washing; remember: sounds like "Anti-POLLUTION"; imagine a clean-
smelling APPLE-SOLUTION
1354. abnegate: reject; remember: your ABS get REJECTED and GATED off
1355. abrade: scrape; remember: an ABRAsion is a scrape (a laceration is a cut)
1356. abscission: cut off; remember: cut off your ABS with an INCISION (eeewww)
1357. absolution: cleaned of wrongdoing; remember: "ABSOLUTe shine" = completely
clean
1358. abstemious: denying oneself; remember: imagine STEAMing your ABs while dieting
(denying yourself food)
1359. abstruse: mysterious; remember: OBScure + mysterioUSE = ABSTRUSE
1360. accentuate: show off; remember: an ACCENT shows off a feature, room or word
1361. accouter: clothe; remember: a CLOTHIER is someone who can CLOTHE you in
CLOTHES
1362. accretion: slowing of growth; remember: put A CREASE in a plant to SLOW its
GROWTH
1363. acerbic: bitter tone; remember: sounds like ACID-BITTER, a tone that's bitter and
acidic
1364. acrid: bitter taste; remember: ACID tastes bitteR (i.e., "ACID" plus "R")
1365. acrimonious: bitter tone; remember: bitter, ACID-toned harMONY is
ACRIMONIOUS
1366. actuate: make something happen; remember: ACT now, because U already ATE
1367. acumen: cleverness; remember: ACCUrate MEN have ACUMEN; their cleverness
ensures their accuracy
1368. adduce: to cite as evidence in support of a position; remember: root AD (to) + root
DUC (lead) = evidence LEADS TO a conclusion
1369. adjunct: externally connected; remember: ADhering JUNK sticks you but isn't part of
you
1370. adulation: heavy praise; remember: ADoring infLATION blows you up with praise
1371. affect: (noun) emotion, usu. pron."AFF-ect"; remember: your AFFECT (mood) will
affect your actions
1372. aggrandize: increase excessively; remember: ag-GRAND-ize = made GRAND in your
EYES
1373. aliment: nourishment; remember: ALIMENT cures an AILMENT
1374. amalgam: an alloy or mix of different materials; remember: a MIX of GUM = imagine
mixing different GUM to make an AMALGAM
1375. amalgamate: bring together, unite; remember: amal-GUM-ate = stick things together
with GUM
1376. ameliorate: improve, relieve from pain (also MELIORATE); remember: very similar to
ALLEVIATE; imagine Nurse EMILY lessens your PAIN
1377. anachronism: something in the wrong time period; remember: root ANA (against) +
CHRON (time) = in the wrong time
1378. anathema: a cursed, detested person or thing; remember: sounds like ANTI-TEAM,
someone the TEAM will naturally HATE
1379. ancillary: a thing or person that provides support; remember: imagine ANTS carrying
a guy named LARRY; they SUPPORT him
1380. annotate: add explanatory notes; remember: add A NOTE to explicATE difficult text
1381. annunciation: proclamation, important announcement; remember: ANNOUNCE-
iation
1382. antecedent: something that came before; remember: root ANTE (before) + CEDE
(yield, go) = come before
1383. antechamber: waiting room, usually in a castle; remember: root ANTE (before) +
chamber = the room BEFORE the rest
1384. antedate: to assign an earlier date; to backdate; remember: root ANTE (before) + date
= before-date, pre-date, back-date
1385. anteroom: a small entry room; remember: ANTS stay in the ANTEROOM before
getting into the house
1386. anthropomorphous: human in form; remember: root ANTHRO (human) + root
MORPH (shape) = human-shaped
1387. antipode: an exact opposite, usu. magnetic poles; remember: root ANTI (opposite) +
root POD (foot) = opposite "feet" or poles
1388. aphorism: proverb; remember: imagine a WISE MAN with an AFRO spouting
PROVERBS
1389. aplomb: calm, poise; remember: A PLUM sits calmly on a table
1390. apocryphal: fictitious, based on myth or urban legend; remember: A POX that's
MYTHICAL is an APOCRYPHAL disease
1391. apogee: furthest point in an orbit (opposite: PERIGEE); remember: OPPO-site of a
giant letter "G" is the FURTHEST point away
1392. apostasy: loss of faith, abondonment of religion; remember: imagine someone whacking
his church with A POST & HASTILY leaving it
1393. appellation: name / title; remember: you're named "Apple" after an APPLE you ATE
1394. appertain: relate to, concern, apply to; remember: it APPERTAINS if it APP-lies for
c-ERTAIN
1395. apposite: appropriate, matching, NOT "opposite"; remember: APPOSITE = Anti-
oPPOSITE = the same
1396. approbation: praise; remember: think of APPLAUD-ation or an APPROpriate
celebRATION
1397. archetype: first or typical version of something; remember: root ARCHE (old) + type =
the oldest type of thing, a "first version"
1398. ardor: extreme vigor, energy, enthusiasm; remember: you're ENERGETIC and LOVE
your workm so you work HARDER (ARDOR)
1399. arrant: infamous, well-known for evil, NOT "ERRANT"; remember: an ARRANT,
ARRogANT villain
1400. arrogate: take without justification (NOT "arrogant"); remember: you're
ARROGANT, so you ARROGATE others' property without reason
1401. askance: indirect glance or meaning; remember: ASide-glANCE - an indirect glance
1402. astringent: harsh, strict; remember: a-STRICT-gent = very strict, harsh or cruel
1403. athwart: from side to side; remember: imagine BATH-WART, a WART so big it fills a
BATH
1404. auspice: support, protection, authority; remember: under the protection of OZ = the
AUSPICE of OZ
1405. auspicious: favorable, indicative of good things; remember: it's a good sign when OZ
FISHES; it means he's happy
1406. austere: very bare, bleak, strict, lean; remember: an AUSTERE car has A STEERing
wheel but no seats, the bare minimum
1407. autonomous: self-governing; remember: an AUTONOMOUS system runs
AUTOmatically
1408. autonomy: self-government, self-guidance; remember: root AUTO (self) + root NOMY
(law) = your LAW comes from your SELF
1409. avant-garde: progressive, stylish, innovative; remember: the VANGUARD is on the
front line; an ADVANCE GUARD
1410. aver: claim; remember: VER is the root for "true" (VERacity, VERify, VERitable)
1411. avocation: hobby; remember: "Anti-VOCATION" = anti-job, "A VACATION" from
work
1412. avuncular: friendly; remember: how like my fAVorite UNCLe, yoU ARe
1413. banal: dull, common, boring; remember: nothing more BANAL than a Boring AnimAL
1414. barcarole: loud song, esp. of gondoliers; remember: BAR-CAROLE = Christmas
CAROLE sung loudly in a BAR
1415. beatify: make happy (NOT "beautify" - make pretty); remember: to BEAUTIFY
someone can BEATIFY him; you make him pretty AND happy
1416. beattitude: happiness; remember: a "BE-ATTITUDE" is the attitude you should have
to BE happy
1417. belie: misrepresent, disguise, fail to justify; remember: to BELIE means to BE a LIE,
not a TRUTH
1418. bellicose: aggressive, warlike; remember: root BELLI (war); imagine a violent BELL
in a WARRIOR'S CLOTHES
1419. beneficent: charitable, generous, kind; remember: root BENE (good) = GOOD +
magniFICENT = magnificently good
1420. benison: a blessing; remember: VENISON is deer meat; free VENISON is a
BENISON
1421. bibulous: prone to drink a lot of booze; remember: to IMBIBE-A-LOT is BIBULOUS,
drinking so much you BUBBLE-IT
1422. blandish: coax by using flattery; remember: flattery is so common that it's boring and
BLAND(ish)
1423. bombastic: loud and fancy but meaningless talk; remember: imagine someone loud and
obnoxious, with BOMBS coming out of his
1424. bromide: a trite, mindless statement meant to console; remember: a phony dude calls
you "BRO o'MINE" to trick you into liking him
1425. bumptious: really full of yourself; arrogant; remember: your self-image is PUMPED-
UP
1426. byzantine: too complicated, overly intricate; remember: imagine BUSY-ANTS forming
intricate, complicated, meaningless patterns
1427. calumny: spreading lies to hurt someone's reputation; remember: you HIT someone's
KNEE with a stone COLUMN, damaging him
1428. canon: a rule, law or guideline; remember: a rule with the force of a CANNON
1429. cant: to speak sanctimoniously, full of fake holiness; remember: you CAN'T trust a
CANT; imagine combining CAN'T and CHANT
1430. canto: verse of a poem; remember: imagine CANS of TOES arranged to form a POEM
1431. capacious: very spacious, NOT "capricious"; remember: CAP-SPACIOUS = a
spacious, roomy CAP
1432. capricious: subject whim, fickle, NOT "capacious"; remember: CAPRI SUN is a
flightly, lightweight, non-nutritious drink
1433. captious: critical; remember: harsh criticism CAPS-US so we stop growing & learning
1434. carp: annoy, pester; remember: imagine someone hitting you with a CARP until you
get ANNOYED
1435. castigate: punish; remember: imagine someone so naughty that you CAST-A-GATE at
him to punish him
1436. celerity: speed, swiftness, NOT "celebrity"; remember: acCELERation-ITY = moving
FAST
1437. censure: harsh criticism; remember: you CENSURE something so HARSHLY that
you CENSOR it entirely
1438. chivvy: to nag or remind repeatedly; remember: just repeat "CHIVVY" over and over,
to cement its nagging connotation
1439. choleric: easily angered; remember: "hot under the COLLAR"-ic = easy to get upset
1440. cipher: secret code; remember: hide your words by speaking through a SIPHON hose
1441. circuitous: roundabout; remember: making a CIRCUIT (circle) around a point instead
of being direct
1442. circumlocution: indirect and wordy language; remember: root CIRCUM (around) +
root LOC (talk) = to TALK AROUND, indirectly
1443. circumspect: cautious; remember: root CIRCUM (around) + root SPEC (see) =
cautiously, you LOOK AROUND
1444. clarion: shrill trumpeting sound; remember: the harsh, loud noise is CLEARING the
room
1445. clemency: mercy; remember: sounds like LENIENCY (mercy); imagine a friendly,
merciful LEMON
1446. cloying: sickeningly sweet; remember: imagine a SICKENINGLY CUTE kid playing
with CLAY TOYS
1447. cogent: logical, convincing, clear; remember: with COGENT reasonins, I can
COACH you INTo doing anything
1448. cogitate: to think, consider or mull over; remember: the COGS (gears) you ATE spin
wildly in your head as you THINK HARD
1449. cognizant: aware, mindful; remember: root "GNOS" for "know," cog-KNOW-zant";
alt. reCOGnize = COGnizant
1450. cohere: stick together, be united or consistent; remember: CO-HEAR = you HEAR the
same thing as your CO-workers
1451. colloquy: conversation; remember: root CO (with) + "LOC/LOQ" (talk) = talk with
1452. commensurate: corresponding in size or amount; remember: you COMMENCE
MEASUREMENT when the SIZES seem EQUAL
1453. commodious: roomy; remember: a ROOMY space can ACCOMMODATE many
people
1454. complaisant: agreeable, eager to please; remember: NOT "complacent" (self-satisfied)
but com-PLEASE-ant, eager to PLEASE
1455. comport: conduct or behave; remember: to COME FORWARD calmly is to
COMPORT yourself with dignity
1456. compunction: distress from guilt; regret (NOT "compulsion"); remember: with a
COMPUNCTION, you CAN'T FUNCTION because of guilt
1457. conciliatory: friendly, agreeable; remember: root CON (with); with SILLINESS, you
are FRIENDLY not hostile
1458. concomitant: accompanying in a subordinate fashion; remember: root CON (with) =
with COMMITMENT, you follow your leader
1459. concordance: harmony, agreement; remember: root CON (with); CON-CUR = agree
with; CON-CORD = with one accord
1460. confluence: a gathering together; remember: a CONFERENCE for INFLUENTIAL
people is a CONFLUENCE of power
1461. consonance: being in agreement; remember: speaking with the same CONSONANTS
and vowells means you agree
1462. contemporaneous: during the same time; remember: CONTEMPORARY = now,
CONTEMPORANEOUS = same time
1463. contentious: having a tendency quarrel or dispute; remember: a CONTENTIOUS
person makes everything a CONTEST for US
1464. contiguous: touching, neighboring, adjacent; remember: root CON (with); with
TICKLING means you're TOUCHING
1465. contingency: a possibility, esp. an unpredictable one; remember: you CAN'T INCH
forward not knowing what'll happen next
1466. contravene: contradict, oppose, violate; remember: root CONTRA (against) + root
VEN (come); to MOVE AGAINST something
1467. contrite: penitent, apologetic, eager be forgiven; remember: so sorry that you CAN'T
WRITE anymore
1468. contumacious: rebellious, spitefully stubborn; remember: combines root for
"CON" (with) and "TUM" (fight) = "with a struggle"
1469. credential: qualification for a task; remember: root CRED (believe); CREDENTIALS
prove you are CREDIBLE (believable)
1470. cupidity: greed, strong desire; remember: imagine a golden CUPID stealing with
RAPIDITY due to his GREED
1471. dearth: lack or scarcity; remember: nothing left but DEARTH ("dirt")
1472. debase: lower in character or virtue; remember: root DE (down) + base = to LOWER
a statue by stealing its BASE
1473. decorous: appropriate, tasteful; remember: to show DECORUM is DECOROUS; our
DCOR is proper (DCOR-US)
1474. decorum: proper behavior; remember: the CORE DCOR is proper, not too much, not
too little
1475. defenestrate: to expel or eject, usu. out a window; remember: in DEFENSE, he throws
the villain STRAIGHT out a window
1476. defunct: no longer used or existing; remember: a DEFECT makes something
DEFUNCT (unusable, and therefore unused)
1477. delectation: extreme delight; remember: DELIGHT-NATION = a whole nation of pure
delight
1478. denuded: stripped down, worn down, worn away; remember: DE-NUDED = make a
thing NUDE by STRIPPING off its covering
1479. deprecate: criticize, insult (NOT "depreciate" = lessen); remember: root DE (against);
DE-PRAY-CATE = to PRAY AGAINST = to insult
1480. depredation: the act of pillaging, looting or exploiting; remember: DE-PREDATE-
TION = to PREY like a PREDATOR by PILLAGING
1481. desiccated: dried up; remember: DESert-CATED = made desert-like (i.e. "dry")
1482. desultory: irrelevant, unrelated to the last thing; remember: DEvoid of reSULT =
without relevance
1483. diaphanous: transparent, airy, like taffeta; remember: imagine a DIAPHONOUS
DOLPHIN; you can see right through it
1484. diatribe: bitter criticism; remember: imagine an angry TRIBE yelling at a DYING man
1485. dictum: order, command of a judge or rule; remember: a DICTATOR's order to
THEM = DICTUM
1486. didactic: intended to teach; instructive; remember: a DIDACTIC method is a TEACH-
TACTIC, designed to instruct
1487. dilatory: causing delay; remember: DELAY-tory
1488. disabuse: to change someone's mind; remember: root DIS (lack/halt) = stop someone's
ABUSE by changing his mind
1489. disaffected: rebellious, resentful of authority; remember: root DIS (lack) + affected =
you are not affected by orders from above
1490. discursive: rambling without order; remember: root DIS (lack) + CUR (curve) = lack
of direction, aimless
1491. disenfranchise: deprive of any right privilege or power; remember: root DIS (lack) =
you lose your fast-food FRANCHISE & all its "power"
1492. dissemble: conceal, fake; remember: root DIS (lack) = you DIS-ASSEMBLE the truth
when you LIE
1493. dogmatic: blindly following rules; remember: blind obedience like a DOG, an
autoMATIC dog
1494. dolorous: extremely sad, causing great sorrow; remember: SORROW-US; DO-
LOWER-US into depression
1495. durance: confinement, imprisonment; remember: imagine EN-DURANCE required to
survive DURANCE in jail
1496. ebullient: enthusiastic, bubbly, excited; remember: ALL-BUBBLY-ANT
1497. eclectic: consisting of a diverse variety of elements; remember: to SELECT without
EXCEPTION, a WIDE SELECTION
1498. efface: wipe out, obliterate, rub away; remember: to ERASE a FACE
1499. effrontery: impudence, nerve, insolence; remember: not polite, respectful or tactful,
you're UP-FRONT in a bad way
1500. effulgent: radiant, splendorous; remember: HE's FULL of GENT-le kindness, making
him EFFULGENT from within
1501. effusive: overly grateful or sentimental; remember: it's OFFENSIVE to be EFFUSIVE
when being THANK-YOU-SIVE
1502. enconium: warm praise or a work of praise; remember: an enconium: "INClude ONLY
HIM, because only HE is WORTHY"
1503. enjoin: command; remember: imagine a coach COMMANDING you to JOIN-IN
1504. enmity: hatred; remember: you feel ENMITY for your ENEMY
1505. ennui: boredom, weariness; remember: ANY WEariness can become ENdless ENNUI
1506. ephemeral: short-lived, fleeting, temporary; remember: HE'LL FLY FROM ALL of
us soon, because he's EPHEMERAL
1507. equanimity: composure; remember: EQUAL-ENEMY = he's CALM because he's the
EQUAL of any ENEMY
1508. equivocal: ambiguous, uncertain, undecided; remember: EQUally VOCAL politicians
leave you UNDECIDED
1509. errant: nomadic, NOT "in error" or "ARRANT"; remember: your worldwide
ERRANds make you ERRANT, always on the move
1510. erudite: educated, eloquent; remember: an ERUDITE person was EDUcated RIGHT
1511. eschew: shun, avoid; remember: food you AVOID is food you must EX-CHEW
1512. esoteric: understood by only few; remember: ESOTERIC is "O, I SECRET"
scrambled up (making it MORE secret)
1513. exculpate: release from guilt or blame, EXONERATE; remember: root EX (out) + root
CULP (guilt); EX-GUILT-ATE
1514. execrable: loathsome, hateful; remember: EXECRABLE sounds like EXCREMENT
(poop)
1515. exegisis: a critical explanation of a text; remember: an EXEGESIS will EX-plain A
thESIS
1516. exhume: dig out of the earth; remember: root EX (out); to DIG OUT a HUMAN from
a GRAVE (gross but memorable)
1517. expurgate: edit out offensive text; remember: root EX (out) = EX-PUSH-GATE = push
it out the gate
1518. extirpation: completely destroy; remember: sounds like "EXTERMINATION" and
means nearly the same thing
1519. extrude: drive away; remember: you want to EX-trude an IN-truder
1520. fatuous: silly, foolish; remember: a silly person's head looks FAT-TO-US
1521. felicitous: suitable, apt, well chosen; remember: he fit the bill so they hired him FOR
LESS THAN US
1522. fortuitous: by chance, NOT always "fortunate"; remember: FORTunate for YOU or
US? It's up to CHANCE
1523. frangible: fragile, easily broken, vulnerable, delicate; remember: a FRAGILE
BUBBLE is a FRANGIBLE, so pretty yet so delicate
1524. fulsome: offensively extreme praise/brown-nosing; remember: you're FULL of
SOMEthing that rhymes with IT
1525. garrolous: talkative; remember: a GARROLOUS GUY will QUARREL with US over
his excesive talking
1526. gesticulate: using big gestures instead of talking; remember: ARTICULATE =
speaking well; GESTICULATE = speaking with gestures
1527. gibbous: humped, partly visible (esp. a 3/4 moon); remember: imagine you GIVE US a
HUMPED PARTIAL MOON; a GIBBOUS MOON
1528. gibe: tease; remember: you JAB at someone to TEASE him
1529. glutinous: sticky; remember: sticky like GLUE-tinous
1530. grandiloquence: lofty, pompous language; remember: root LOC (speak); to SPEAK in
GRAND terms
1531. gregarious: drawn the company of others, sociable; remember: GREG, GARY & US
are all party-animals
1532. harangue: a ranting speech, series of complaints; remember: HE RANG the bell while
COMPLAINING endlessly about the noise
1533. hegemony: leadership, dominance; remember: he who HAS THE MONEY, has the
leadership as well
1534. hirsute: hairy, covered with hair; remember: a HIRSUTE person wears a "HAIR-
SUIT" (a suit made of hair, eeeewww)
1535. homonculous: "mini-Me"; a small image of a human; remember: root HOMO (man/
same); HOMO-NUCLEUS, the tiny "nucleus" of a man
1536. hubris: pride that causes failure; remember: burdened by a HUge RICE bag that you're
too PROUD to put down
1537. iconoclast: one who opposes the establishment; remember: root CLAST (destroy) =
destroys ICONS representing the establishment
1538. ignoble: of low character; remember: the opposite of REAL-NOBLE is PIG-NOBLE
1539. ignominious: Low in character or purpose; remember: IGNOrant MINIOns = dumb,
low-level slaves
1540. imbroglio: an unpleasant misunderstanding; remember: HIS BROKEN WHEEL
resulted from a MISTAKEN left turn
1541. imperative: necessary, pressing; remember: IMPortant ERRAnds are always necessary
1542. imperturbable: calm, impossible to disturb; remember: sounds like & means UN-
DISTURB-ABLE
1543. impetus: incentive, motivation; remember: IMPact on US gets us moving; not
IMPETUOUS (hasty)
1544. implacable: incapable of being appeased or stopped; remember: root IM (not) = NOT
BLOCK-ABLE, you can't PLACE anything in his path
1545. importune: harass with persistent demands or entreaties; remember: I IMPORT-YOU
into his home where you can PESTER him
1546. improvident: Lacking foresight or thrift; remember: im-PROVIDE-ent = not providing
for the future
1547. impugn: accuse of dishonesty, attack integrity; remember: sounds like & nearly means
"IMPUTE"; calling YOU an IMP is an INSULT
1548. impute: assign blame to something; remember: sounds like & nearly means
"IMPUGN"; root PUG (fight) = blame for fighting
1549. inchoate: unformed or formless, in a beginning stage; remember: IN-CHO-ATE =
INCO-mpl-ATE (incomplete)
1550. incipient: initial, beginning, developing; remember: INSIDE-HE-WENT at the very
START of the story
1551. incipient: initial, first; remember: only the INitial PAYMENT, there's more to come
1552. incisive: clear, sharp, direct; remember: INCISORS are your SHARP teeth for cutting,
DIRECT to the INSIDE
1553. incitement: an incentive, usu. to do something bad; remember: generating
EXCITEMENT to IN-jure people is IN-CITEMENT
1554. incorrigible: incapable of correction, delinquent; remember: IN-CORRECT-ABLE =
impossible to fix
1555. incumbent: one who holds an office; remember: the INCOME is already paid to the
INCUMBENT still in office
1556. indefatigable: incapable of defeat, failure, decay; remember: IN-de-FATIGUE-able =
incapable of being fatigued (tired)
1557. indigenous: originating in a region; remember: INDIGENOUS plants grow IN THIS
reGION near US
1558. indolent: lazy (NOT "insolent"); remember: a LAZY man lives IN THE LINT rather
than cleaning it up
1559. ineffable: indescribable in a sacred way; remember: IN-F-ABLE = you can't "FxxK"
something that's SACRED & SPECIAL
1560. ingenuous: innocent and candid, NOT "ingenious" (clever); remember: INNOCENT =
INNO-GENT = INGEN-UOUS, "you are innocent to us"
1561. ingratiate: to gain favor by sucking up or flattering; remember: to get INto good
GRACES by APE-ing good behavior: IN-GRACE-E-APE
1562. inimical: hostile, enemylike; remember: IN-ENEMY-ICAL = like an enemy
1563. iniquity: wickedness or sin; remember: a WICKED man doused MY NECK WITH
TEA, where it burned terribly
1564. injunction: an order of official warning; remember: you'll only live IN JUNK if a
judge ORDERS you to live IN JUNK
1565. insipid: dull, boring, lacking flavor; remember: you WON'T SIP IT if it has NO
REAL FLAVOR
1566. insuperable: invicible; remember: IN-SUPER(man)-ABLE = unable to harm
Superman
1567. interminable: endless, usu. boring as well; remember: root IN (not) + root TERM
(end); NOT-TERMINATE-ABLE, never ends
1568. interpolation: interject, insert, interrupt; remember: root INTER (between) = to insert
between POLES or extremes
1569. intractable: difficult manipulate, unmanageable; remember: IM-possible to at-TRACT
= impossible to CONTROL = IN-TRACT-ABLE
1570. intransigent: stubborn, refusing to consider other ideas; remember: he's IN a
TRANCE and ENTRENCHED, completely closed off to new ideas
1571. invective: an angry verbal attack; remember: his INVECTIVE will INFECT your
self-esteem with its ANGER
1572. inveigh: utter vehement censure or invective; remember: to IN-sult someone you EN-
VY is to INVEIGH
1573. invidious: likely to anger others; unfair; remember: you're ENVIOUS of him, so you
are INVIDIOUS (unfair) to him
1574. irascible: easily angered; remember: to be easily IRRITATE-ABLE by a mere
RASCAL is IRASCIBLE
1575. ire: anger, wrath; remember: IRE-ritated
1576. irk: afflict with pain, vexation, or fatigue; remember: to IRK it to IRK-itate (irritate)
someone
1577. jaundice: sickness, usu. indicated by yellow skin; remember: you swallow JUNK DICE
that make you turn YELLOW
1578. jocose: jokingly; remember: JOKE-ose = jokingly
1579. knell: the ring of a funeral bell; remember: "DEATH KNELL" @ the death/end of
something
1580. lascivious: lustful, prurient; remember: LUST + enVIOUS = full of lust and envy
1581. laudable: praiseworthy; remember: ap-LAUDABLE = worthy of applause; root LAUD
(praise)
1582. laudatory: expressing admiration or praise; remember: app-LAUD-ATORY = express
admiration with APPLAUSE
1583. loquacious: talkative; remember: root LOQ (talk); talking all the WAY
1584. lugubrious: overly sad or mournful; remember: YOU-CRY-BY-US when you're
LUGUBRIOUS
1585. luminary: a heavenly light source, a leader; remember: root LUM (light); a
LUMINous digniTARY is an enlightened leader
1586. magnate: high ranking leader; remember: a giant MAGNET pulls the MAGNATE to
the TOP of the office building
1587. malediction: a curse; remember: root MAL (bad); opposite of a BEN-ediction, a good
thing a priest says
1588. maleficent: mischevous, malicious, tricky; remember: root MAL (bad);
magNIFICENTly evil = MALEFICENT
1589. malingering: faking illness; remember: root MAL (bad); think of mal-LYING-gering -
lying to get out of work
1590. manifold: diverse, varied; remember: MANY-FOLD = many types of folds, i.e.,
diverse
1591. manumission: emancipation, being set free; remember: the guy you set free is the
MAN-U-MISS
1592. manumit: set free from bondage; remember: you SET FREE that MAN-YOU-MET,
because he's a MAN not a SLAVE
1593. maudlin: weakly sentimental; remember: a MOUSE that's MODELING is excessively
cute and SENTIMENTAL
1594. mawkish: sentimental in a feeble, sickly way; remember: MAWKISH behavior
MOCKS real sentiment
1595. meliorate: to improve or enhance (also AMELIORATE); remember: you MADE IT
ALRIGHT when you MELIORATEd his pain
1596. mendacity: untruthfulness; remember: lying MEN DASH their CITY's hopes
1597. meretricious: gaudy, falsely tempting, NOT "meritorious"; remember: it looks nice, but
it's MERELY VICIOUS when it's MERETRICIOUS
1598. meticulous: extremely careful with details; remember: you MADE IT with CARE
FOR US, because you're METICULOUS
1599. metonym: a name based on a trait (racing is "the track"); remember: root META
(change) + root NYM (name) = changing a name to match a trait
1600. mettlesome: courageous; remember: bravery = being like SOME METAL
1601. mien: the external appearance of someone; remember: imagine someone's FACE with
chow MEIN all over it
1602. misanthropy: hostility towards other people; remember: root MIS (hate) + root
ANTHRO (man) = hating all mankind
1603. misogyny: hostility towards women; remember: root MIS (hate) + root GYN (woman)
= hate all women
1604. mitigate: make less violent, alleviate; remember: you MADE A GATE to KEEP OUT
the VIOLENCE
1605. mnemonics: tricks to aid memory; remember: MNEMO = "mind"
1606. modicum: a small amount of something; remember: a MINI-CAM photographs a
MODICUM of the greater image
1607. modulate: exert influence to control or change; remember: his CONTROL over you
MADE YOU LATE even as you rushed to work
1608. mollify: pacify, calm someone down; remember: MOLLY is able to CALM DOWN
angry people; she MOLLY-FIES them
1609. monition: warning of danger; remember: amMUNITION is a WARNING of
DANGER from bullets
1610. monograph: a paper discussing a single subject; remember: root MONO (one) + root
GRAPH (writing); a WRITING on ONE subject
1611. monolith: a single-piece structure, usu. large; remember: root MONO (one) + root
LITH (stone) = one big stone block
1612. moratorium: an emergency prohibition; remember: root MOR (death); to KILL OFF
further action in the audiTORIUM
1613. mordant: bitingly insulting; remember: MORE DENTal work = more BITING
1614. moribund: near death; remember: root MOR (death) = "death-bun," a lethal pastry that
can kill you
1615. munificence: generosity; remember: free MONey shows magNIFICENT generosity
1616. nascent: being born; remember: THEY SENT a NEWBORN baby to you for your
NASCENT parenthood
1617. neophyte: beginner, amateur; remember: root NEO (new) + root PHYT (plant) = "just
planted," a beginner, new to it
1618. noisome: offensively smelly (NOT "noisy"); remember: see the word not as noise-some
but as NOSE-some
1619. nomic: customary, everyday, normal; remember: associate NOMIC with "normic" with
"normal"
1620. nonage: period of youth or childishness; remember: your NON-AGE is when you're too
YOUNG to have an AGE
1621. nonpareil: so excellent as to have no equal; remember: root NON (without) + parallel =
having no parallel, equal or peer
1622. nugatory: valueless, unimportant; remember: NOUGAT is NUGATORY junk food
with no nutritional VALUE
1623. obdurate: unyielding, stubborn, refusing to change; remember: OBDURATE sounds
like OBSTINATE and means much the same thing
1624. obsequious: excessively obedient; remember: blind OB-edience is SICK to WE/US
1625. obstreperous: noisy, unruly; remember: A STRAP FOR US is the punishment for
being OBSTREPEROUS
1626. obviate: to overrule or make unnecessary; remember: if it's OBVIous that he ATE,
more food is UNNECESSARY
1627. occlude: obstruct, block or butt-up against; remember: to O-CLUTTER is to BLOCK
with obstacles
1628. officious: offering help that's not wanted or needed; remember: to OFFer FISH to US,
when we're not hungry, is OFFICIOUS
1629. olfactory: of or pertaining the sense of smell; remember: ODOR-FACTORY sends
SMELLS up your NOSE
1630. onerous: burdensome; remember: a BURDEN upON HER & US is ONEROUS to
HER & US
1631. opprobrium: accused, scorned, disgraced; remember: A PROBE into your BRAIN
reveals your EMBARRASSING secrets
1632. oscillate: sway from one side the other; remember: a PENDULUM will O-SO-
SLOWLY-WAIT before swinging back & forth
1633. ossify: convert into bone; be stubborn & rigid; remember: to OSSIFY sounds like
FOSSILIZE & means, figuratively, the same thing
1634. ostentatious: excessively showy, glitzy; remember: an AWESOME TASTE-TEST is
unnecessarily showy (it's just food!)
1635. ostracize: exclude from public or private favor; remember: imagine kicking an
OSTRICH out of your group; you OSTRICH-IZE him
1636. palette: a range of colors or qualities; remember: to get PAINT from the TUBE, you
must PULL-IT onto your PALETTE
1637. palimpsest: rewritable surface, like a whiteboard; remember: PALE LIMP SETS of
fabric can be WRITTEN ON and ERASES
1638. palinode: retraction, usually in poetry; remember: an ODE is a poem; when you
PULL-AN-ODE back, you're retracting an ODE
1639. pall: to become boring through familiarity; remember: even exciting things can PALL
over time, becoming PALE in your eyes
1640. palliate: lessen a symptom (not the disease); remember: the painkiller PILLS-HE-ATE
treat his PAIN but not his CANCER
1641. pallid: lacking color; remember: PALE-id
1642. panache: showy style, flamboyant confidence; remember: imagine a juggler tossing
PANS with STYLE, SKILL & PANACHE
1643. pandemic: affecting all people regardless of class; remember: root PAN (across) +
epidemic = a disease that hits everyone
1644. panegyric: a fancy/formal speech praising someone; remember: to praise you, he
dances the PAN-GYR-IC, spinning with a steel pan
1645. panoply: a complete set; an impressive collection; remember: root PAN (across); a
COMPLETE SET of PILES; ACROSS-ALL-PILES
1646. paradigm: perfect model of something; remember: a PAIR A' DIMES is the
PARADIGM for 20
1647. paragon: a model of excellence or perfection; remember: the PERFECT PEAR is
quickly eaten, becoming a PEAR-AGON
1648. paramour: a secret lover; remember: root PARA (beside) + root AMO (love) = the
"outside" lover
1649. paraphernalia: various bits of equipment for a given purpose; remember: root PARA
(beside); FUR and NAILS you have BESIDE other things
1650. parity: equality, worthiness, consistency; remember: imagine a PAIR o'TEEs, both
identical to each other, of EQUAL value
1651. parity: quality of status/rank; remember: imagine that a PAIR of T's shows RANK
(more T's = greater rank)
1652. parityparity: a person without morals, a hedonist; remember: LIBERTY from the
TEAM = freedom to be a self-serving pleasure-seeker
1653. parlance: the way you speak; remember: your PARents' LANGuage is their PAR-
LANCE
1654. paronymous: words that come from the same root; remember: root PARA (beside) +
root NYM (word) = words that arise, side by side
1655. paroxysm: a sudden burst of activity; remember: when your old PA ROCK HIS house,
it's sudden and shocking
1656. parricide: murder of a parent, sometimes metaphorical; remember: root CIDE (kill) =
PARENT-CIDE works like INSECTICIDE on PARENTS
1657. parse: to describe in detail, a part at a time; remember: you describe the PARTS, not
the WHOLE
1658. parsimonious: overly thrifty (like a tightwad); remember: a tightwad holds back his
song, and is only PARtly harMONIOUS
1659. parsimony: frugality, stinginess; remember: PARSIMONY is unwillingness to PART
WITH MONEY
1660. patter: mumble something over and over; remember: to Pray quietly until it doesn't
mATTER is to PATTER
1661. peccable: able to "sin" or do wrong; remember: remember IM-PECCABLE = without
sin; PECCABLE = FALLIBLE
1662. peccant: guilty, causing illness or offense; remember: it's OFFENSIVE when you
PICK-ON-ANTS; they're so little & helpless
1663. pedagogics: the science / art of teaching; remember: an educated PET wears GOGgles
1664. pedagogue: teacher, esp. a strict one; remember: root PED (child) + GOG (lead) = a
leader of little kids (i.e. a lame leader)
1665. pejorative: derogatory, insulting; remember: calling someone a pig is a PIG-orative
1666. pellucid: easily intelligible, clear; remember: sPELL-YOU-SAID was CLEAR and
EASILY UNDERSTOOD
1667. penchant: a tendency, partiality, preference; remember: you have a PENCHANT for
PINCHING things when you like them
1668. penurious: miserly, stingy; remember: PENny-fURIOUS = furiously saving every last
penny
1669. penury: extreme poverty; remember: when you're POOR, then every PENNY YOU
NEED
1670. perambulate: walk about; remember: root PER (for) + AMBU (walk; AMBLE) =
walking just to walk
1671. peremptory: demand attention; not open to challenge; remember: to PREEMPT
challenge is PEREMPTORY
1672. perfidious: disloyal, unfaithful; remember: root PER (perish) + FID (faith) = destroyed
faith, disloyalty
1673. peripatetic: traveling about; remember: imagine a PEAR and a POTATO traveling
around together
1674. pernicious: extremely destructive or harmful; remember: not just VICIOUS, but
BURN-VICIOUS
1675. perquisite: profit or payment beyond wages, a bonus; remember: the term "PERKS" is
short for PERQUISITES
1676. persiflage: banter, slightly mean teasing; remember: to PRESS-A-FLAG into the mud
is a MEAN way to TEASE patriots
1677. perspicacious: perceptive, insightful; remember: a PERCEPTIVE-ACE is
PERSPICACIOUS
1678. perspicuous: lucid, clearly stated; remember: to ex-PRESS-TO-US clearly so we'll
agree takes a PERSPICUOUS speaker
1679. pertinent: related, relevant; remember: PERTAIN-ent; imagine a CURTAIN wrapped
tightly around something
1680. perturb: disturb greatly; remember: disTURBed PERson is PER-TURBED
1681. perverse: unreasonable; remember: PERVERSE is less warped than PERVERT ("S"
sound vs. "T" sound)
1682. peter: fail or lose power, efficiency, or value; remember: imagine PETER Pan losing
power and falling to the ground
1683. petulant: childishly impatient; remember: imagine the PET YOU LENT is acting
CHILDISH, wanting to come home
1684. philander: to court women casually and too often; remember: a PHILANDERER will
FLATTER women as he WANDERS about
1685. philogynist: someone who loves women; remember: root PHILO (love) + root GYN
(women) = lover of women
1686. philologist: a language expert; remember: root PHILO (love) + root LOGO (language)
= lover of language
1687. philology: study of language through history & literature; remember: root: PHILO
(love) + LOGOS (words)
1688. phlegmatic: uninterested, unresponsive; remember: someone so full of PHLEGM that
he's immobile (eeeewww!)
1689. physiognomy: external appearance, usu. the face; remember: FACE-IOGNOMY;
NOT "physiography"
1690. physiography: description of a landscape; remember: sounds like PHYSICAL
GEOGRAPHY; NOT "physiognomy"
1691. picayune: worthless, without value; remember: he has no VALUE so he PICKS at
YOU to feel better
1692. pillory: display for public scorn; remember: imagine a PUBLIC beating with
PILLOWS
1693. plangent: sad, deep (usually a sound); remember: imagine a BIG, SAD-sounding
BELL that PLANGS instead of CLANGS
1694. plasticity: easily changed; remember: imagine SOFT PLASTIC, easily reshaped
1695. platitude: an uninspired remark, clich; remember: a PLATE's ATTITUDE is
UNINSPIRED (it just sits there on the table)
1696. plaudit: praise, applause, approval; remember: when you PRAISE a performance, you
ap-PLAUD-IT
1697. plebeian: common, low-class; remember: the LOW-CLASS are PLEAsed with
BEANS, alone
1698. plenary: entire, complete, total, absolute; remember: to PLEASE an entire PLANET
brings PLENARY (total) PLEASURE
1699. plenipotentiary: a representative with full authority to act; remember: you're
PLENTY-POTENT if you can speak on behalf of the whole nation
1700. plethora: an abundance, excess; remember: a PLETHORA of poky vines has
PLENTY of THORNS
1701. pluperfect: a past time earlier than other past times; remember: if PERFECT = past
tense; PLUS-PERFECT = MORE in the past
1702. plutocracy: government by the wealthy; remember: imagine PLUTO the planetoid,
made of GOLD and controlling the WORLD
1703. poesy: poetry, verse; remember: POESY looks & sounds like POETRY
1704. poetaster: a weak poet, a poser; remember: a POET-TASTER only TASTES poetry,
never gets fully into it
1705. polemic: an aggressive, angry argument, an attach; remember: imaging angrily striking
someone with a MICrophone on a POLE, a POLE-MIC
1706. polyanna: cluelessly cheerful, navely optimistic; remember: imagine POLYANNA as
an annoyingly, overly cheerful girl (which she was)
1707. polyarchy: government by a group of persons; remember: root POLY (many) + root
ARCH (gov't) = government by a group, not a king
1708. polygamy: married to more than one person; remember: root POLY (many) + root
GAMY (marriage) = opposite of MONO-GAMY
1709. polyglot: speaking multiple languages; remember: root POLY (many) + GLOT
(language); think of POLYG'language
1710. polytechnic: practice in many areas of specialization; remember: root POLY (many) +
root TECH (art) = skilled in many arts
1711. polytheism: belief in many gods; remember: root POLY (many) + THEO (gods,
religions)
1712. ponderous: weighty, overly serious; remember: he's taking too long to PONDER-US;
we're really not that difficult
1713. portend: to foreshadow or give an omen; remember: your POOR TENT sags before it
rains; it PORTENDS a rainstorm
1714. portent: an omen; remember: a POOR TENT is a bad omen predicting a wet,
miserable camping trip
1715. potable: safe / suitable for drinking; remember: imagine DRINKING from a POT of
cool, clean water
1716. potentate: one who has great power, a ruler; remember: POTENT-ate = someone with
POWER
1717. prate: talk about endlessly and/or foolishly; remember: to PRATE is to speak like a
BRAT (related form: "PRATTLE")
1718. prattle: childish talk, usually annoying; remember: to childishly TATTLE =
PRATTLE
1719. precipitant: adj.: rushing carelessly; noun: motivation; remember: rushing blindly may
lead you over a PRECIPice (cliff)
1720. precocious: advanced, developing ahead of time; remember: root PRE (before) + COQ
(cook) = pre-cooked, developing early
1721. predicate: to be the basis, to base an idea on something; remember: root PRE (before)
+ root DIC (speech) = logic comes BEFORE you SPEAK
1722. predilection: a preference or inclination for something; remember: root PRE (before);
see it as pre-DELIGHT-tion or predi-LIKE-tion
1723. predominance: superiority; remember: PRE-dominate = conquer first (and therefore
best)
1724. preeminence: special importance (eminence); remember: root PRE (before) +
EMINENT (important) = the first to be important
1725. prehensile: adapted for grasping or holding; remember: root PRE (before) + HEN
(grab) = able to grab before grabbing
1726. prehension: grasp, understanding; remember: com (with) + PREHENSION = "with
understanding"
1727. prelate: a ranking member, usu. of a church; remember: a HIGH-RANKING preacher
can PREach LATE if he wants
1728. preponderant: prevailing; remember: sounds like "PREDOMINANT" and/or "(pre)
PARAMOUNT"
1729. prepossessing: attractive looking; remember: root PRE (before); PRETTY people
POSSESS things BEFORE ugly ones
1730. prerogative: superior rank, precedence or privilege; remember: root PRE (before) +
root ROG (question) = you get to ask the first question
1731. presage: an omen (noun & verb); remember: PRE-SAGE = knowing something before
the wise man (the sage) knows
1732. prescience: knowing what will happen before it happens; remember: root PRE (before)
+ root SCIEN (know) = to know before anyone else
1733. presentiment: vague fear of the future (NOT "presentment"); remember: root PRE
(before) = feeling bad (SENTIMENT) BEFORE it happens
1734. preternatural: unusual, unnaturally extreme; remember: root PRE (before); BEFORE
you TURN NATURAL, you're UNNATURAL
1735. pretext: a fake reason or motivation; remember: a PRETEND TEXT give a FAKE
REASON
1736. prevaricate: lie, dissemble, make things up; remember: PRE-VARY-CATE = he
VARIES his story EARLY and often because he LIES
1737. priggish: stuck-up, conceited, self-centered; remember: a PR-oud PIG is PRIGGISH,
stuck-up and proud even though it's just a pig
1738. primer: a written guide or instructions; introduction; remember: a PRIME-er is your
FIRST guide; PRIMER goes first, under a coat of paint
1739. privateer: private vessel in a public war; remember: imagine a PRIVATE ship shooting
TEAR gas
1740. privation: lacking basic necessities; remember: DE-PRIVATION of necessities results
in PRIVATION
1741. privity: a legally recognized relationship; remember: PRIVITY = PRIVATE-'TWEEN
= privacy between two people
1742. privy: authorized to hear secret information; remember: PRIVY = a PRIVilege to hear
PRIVate information
1743. probate: related to proof after death, a will; remember: you PROBE a guy's EIGHT
houses after his death
1744. probity: virtue, integrity; remember: PROB-able integrITY = PROB-ITY
1745. proclivity: a habit of choosing something; remember: his PROCLIVITY for mountain-
climbing is his PRO-CLIFF-ITY
1746. prodigal: wasteful, spending too much; remember: the PRODIGAL son was
WASTEFUL; he hired a PRO-TICKLER
1747. profligate: extravagant, wasteful; remember: pro-FLING-ate = wastefully FLINGING
away good money
1748. profuse: plentiful, abundant; remember: root PRO (for); opposite of RE-FUSE is
PRO-FUSE, a LOT of stuff
1749. progeny: offspring, children; remember: imagine your CHILD is a PRO-GENIE, an
expert wish-granter
1750. proletarian: working class; remember: the working POOR are the POOR-letarians
1751. prolix: wordy, verbose; remember: root PRO (push) + LIX (language) = pushing lots of
words
1752. promontory: a vantage point, usu. a seaside cliff; remember: a PRO-truding MOUNT-
ain OVER the ocean = PRO-MOUNT-OVER
1753. promulgate: proclaim, make known; remember: to PROclaim at the GATE for all to
hear
1754. propaganda: pushing an idea via newspaper, TV or radio; remember: root PRO
(push); to PUSH a CAN in TV commercials
1755. propagate: to multiply, spread out or grow; remember: root PRO (push) = growth that
PUSHES a "POOR GATE" open
1756. propensity: an inclination, preference; remember: root PRO (push); a TENDENCY to
PUSH
1757. propitious: favorable; remember: to PROP-IT-UP is FAVORABLE; to knock it down
is unfavarable
1758. prosaic: plain, lacking liveliness; remember: unlike POETRY, PROSE is boring;
PROZAC is for LACK OF LIVELINESS
1759. proscribe: condemn, outlaw; remember: PRO sounds like "NO" - NO-SCRIBE =
opposite of PRE-SCRIBE
1760. prostrate: lying flat, face down, usu. on the ground; remember: to PROSTRATE
yourself is to FALL-STRAIGHT on your FACE
1761. protean: subject to frequent change; remember: imagine PROTEIN powder forming
shapes; PROTEUS was a shape-changer
1762. protomartyr: the earliest victim of a greater cause; remember: root PROTO (early) +
MARTYR (one who dies for a cause)
1763. protoplasm: stuff of life, literally the fluid in a cell; remember: root PROTO (early) +
root PLASM (life) = early stuff of life
1764. protract: prolong; remember: imagine a PROTRACTor being STRETCHED OUT
1765. provenance: origin, birthplace; remember: your birthplace is your PROVEN
PROVINCE of origin
1766. provender: food, bounty; remember: PROVide to an EATER = PROV-EATER
1767. provident: prepared for emergencies; remember: to PROVIDE for the future is
prudENT
1768. proviso: a condition or requirement, usu. in a contract; remember: a command that you
must PROVIDE-DOUGH to the baker
1769. proximity: nearness, relatedness; remember: the BOX NEAR TO ME is in
PROXIMITY to me
1770. proxy: someone who stands in for someone else; remember: someone else, instead of
you, gets Chicken POX, he's your PROXY
1771. puerile: juvenile, immature; remember: PURE-ly CHILD-ish
1772. pugnacious: quarrelsome, combative; remember: imagine a viCIOUS PUG dog
1773. puissant: strong; remember: so strong you can PUSH Anything
1774. pulchritude: physical beauty; remember: BULGing POULTRY is BEAUTIFUL to a
hungry TOOTH
1775. pummel: beat with your fists, to punch; remember: you PUMMEL a PUNCHING-
BAG with PUNCHES
1776. punctilious: eager follow rules or conventions; remember: to be PUNCTUAL (on
time) so much it's SILLY of US
1777. purl: cause whirl, as in an eddy; remember: imagine PEARLS SWIRLing around in a
WHIRLPOOL
1778. purloin: steal; remember: you STEAL a PEARL-I-OWN
1779. pusillanimous: timid, cowardly; remember: a PUSSY-LION is a small, scared,
PUSILLANIMOUS lion
1780. putrescent: decayed, rotten, PUTRID; remember: a deSCENT into PUTRID decay
1781. pyre: a bonfire, usually for an honored dead body; remember: a P-erson honored with f-
YRE = PYRE
1782. quell: use force to subdue or calm others down; remember: to QUiet them wELL =
QUELL
1783. querulous: whiny, complaining; remember: the QUERULOUS wimp was QUIvering
& CRYING TO US
1784. queue: a line, usually of persons waiting; remember: imagine a giant "Q" of people
waiting in line for a movie
1785. quintessence: the most essential part of a thing; remember: quint-ESSENCE = the
essence
1786. quotidian: common, humdrum, everyday, mundane; remember: a QUOTIDIAN saying
is QUOTED agAIN and again
1787. radix: the origin, where something starts; remember: imagine a giant RADISH from
which all plants grow; it's their RADIX
1788. rake: thief or wrongdoer; remember: imagine a CRIMINAL carrying a RAKE instead
of a gun
1789. rankle: produce irritation or resentment; remember: you RESENT it when I
WRINKLE your shirt; WRINKLES IRRITATE you
1790. rapacious: greedy & grabby; remember: GRAB-acious
1791. rapine: violent taking of someone's property; remember: you ROPE his PINE and
YANK it off his land
1792. rapt: completely fascinated; remember: you're RAPT when you're all WRAPPED up
in what you're seeing
1793. raptorial: seizing prey; remember: a RAPTOR (hawk) attacks its prey
1794. raze: demolish, level; remember: a BLAZE will RAZE a building; to RAID is similar
to RAZE
1795. rebuke: scold, criticize; remember: you scold someone who PUKES then RE-PUKES
on your rug
1796. recalcitrant: defiant, unapologetic, disobedient; remember: the engineer RECALLS-
A-TRAIN in defiance of the STRICT schedule
1797. recant: withdraw formally ones belief; remember: WE-CAN'T do it if you RECANT
your order to do it
1798. recapitulate: sum up, repeat (short form: "recap"); remember: sounds like: REPEAT
for YOU LATEr
1799. recidivist: repeating criminal; remember: he RECEDES back into into a life of crime
1800. reciprocal: interchangeable or convertible; remember: a mathematical RECIPROCAL
is a REVERSAL of numerator & denominator
1801. reciprocate: give in return; remember: you RECEIVE and DONATE when you
RECIPROCATE
1802. reconnoiter: to do an initial survey; remember: the short form, RECON, means the
same thing
1803. recreant: cowardly, unfaithful; remember: someone who'd rather RECREATE (play)
than fight
1804. recrudescence: recurrence of symptoms; remember: RE-CRUDE-ESCENCE =
becoming CRUDE again, after learning manners
1805. rectify: repair, fix, right a wrong; remember: to COR-RECT-IFY is to make something
CORRECT that was WRONG
1806. rectitude: uprightness, extreme morality; remember: the RIGHT-ATTITUDE is
RECTITUDE, being moral all the time
1807. redolence: suggestive of something, esp. smell; remember: a REmembrANCE of a
SENSE of smell is RE-TELLing, or REDOLENCE
1808. redolent: sweet smelling; remember: a DOLE pineapple has a sweet, pleasant smell
1809. redress: remedy, fix, right a wrong; remember: you RE-DRESS someone whose
DRESS was stolen to REDRESS the theft
1810. refractory: stubborn, not easily controlled, resistant; remember: a shatter-resistant glass
must be RE-FRACTured
1811. refragable: able to be refuted, disproven or criticized; remember: RE-FRAGment-
ABLE = able to be broken up again and again
1812. refringency: refractiveness; remember: REFlect + impINGE = skewed, minor
reflection = refraction
1813. refute: prove wrong; remember: you REFUSE to do what you REFUTE, because
you've PROVEN it WRONG
1814. regale: give unusual pleasure, amuse, entertain; remember: you RECALL an EAGLE
soaring, and it ENTERTAINS you
1815. regalia: signs, clothing or symbols of royalty; remember: looking REGAL (kingly) in
your REGALIA
1816. regnant: exercising royal authority; remember: root REG (king), REGN-ANT = "like a
king"
1817. relegate: assign to an inferior place; condemn; remember: you RELEGATE someone
you REALLY HATE to a lesser position
1818. remiss: negligent, failing take care; remember: if we're REMISS in our duties, WE
MISS important things
1819. remonstrate: forcefully protest a wrong; remember: imagine a terrible wRong you
dEMONSTRATE against
1820. remunerate: pay or pay for; remember: re-MONEY-rate = pay with money
1821. rendition: interpretation, version, personal take; remember: you RUN-THIS-IN the
way YOU want to run this
1822. renunciation: reject; remember: you READ ONCE and HATE book, so you REN-
UNCI-ATE it
1823. repertory: repertoire, set of skills or theater plays; remember: you REPeat your
exPERT hisTORY of plays as your REP-ERT-ORY
1824. repine: worry, criticize, nitpick (NOT "recline"); remember: you PICK AT a gRAPE-
VINE, nitpicking it to pieces
1825. replete: full, abundant; remember: when supply REPLacement is comPLETE, we'll be
REPLETE with supplies
1826. reprehend: find fault with; remember: REPREHENSIBLE = hateful, and you hate
what you find faulty
1827. repressible: able to be controlled; remember: root RE (again) + press = you can
PRESS him down, again & again
1828. reprieve: a temporary delay of punishment; remember: a REPRIEVE can RELIEVE
you of punishment
1829. reprisal: retaliation against an enemy; remember: RE-venge that sur-PRISEs your
enemy is a REPRISAL
1830. reprobate: evil, unprincipled; remember: an EVIL person will RE-offend even after
PROBATion
1831. reproof: expression of blame, scolding, criticism; remember: when BLAMING YOU,
he'll RIP-OFF the ROOF of your self-esteem
1832. repudiate: reject, refuse accept; remember: when you REFUSE pudding, you RE-
PUDDING-ATE it back into the bowl
1833. repugnance: strong hatred; remember: you HATE it when someone PUKES, then RE-
PUKES on your rug
1834. requiem: solemn mass or song for the dead; remember: a last REQuest for HIM is the
song to play at his funeral
1835. requisite: necessary, required; remember: REQuired WITH IT = necessary
1836. requital: adequate payback; remember: RE-QUIET-ABLE = someone QUIETS down
when you PAY HIM BACK
1837. requite: repay either good or evil to, as a person; remember: UNREQUITED love is
love that's not returned (repaid)
1838. rescind: take back, repeal; remember: you TAKE BACK your confession when you
RE-SIN
1839. resolute: firm, determined; remember: WE-SOLID-TO-YOU = we're determined not
to change our minds
1840. resplendent: shiny, glowing; remember: root RE (again); something that's SPLENDID
AGAIN is now GLOWING
1841. restitution: restoration the rightful owner; remember: RESTORE-tution
1842. restive: resistant, stubborn, impatient; remember: not REST-ing, but RESIST-ive
1843. reticence: silent, not inclined to speak much; remember: if you'd rather READ-icent
than SPEAK-icent, you're RETICENT
1844. retinue: a group of advisors with someone important; remember: YOU RETAIN a
RETINUE to ADVISE YOU, everywhere on everything
1845. retrench: cut down or reduce in extent or quantity; remember: you CUT DOWN a
quantity by cutting RE-peated TRENCHes into it
1846. retroactive: applying to things in the past; remember: root RETRO (back) + ACTUS
(act) = actions affecting the past
1847. retrograde: cause deteriorate or move backward; remember: root RETRO (back) +
grade (slope) = backwards sloping, retreating
1848. retrogression: going backwards, losing ground; remember: root RETRO (back) +
GRES (move) = opposite of PRO-GRESS
1849. revel: enjoy intensely; remember: you REVEL in something you RELISH and LOVE
1850. revile: criticize or abuse heavily, NOT "revise"; remember: you hate something VILE,
so you RE-peat that it's VILE to you
1851. ribald: coarsely, crudely humorous; remember: a RI-diculous BALD man tells
RIBALD, crude, dirty jokes
1852. rife: abundant; remember: imagine TONS of RICE (RIFE)
1853. rigmarole: nonsense, silliness, unnecessarily complication; remember: it's silly to be
ROCKING & ROLL-ing rather than advancing
1854. rigor: thoroughness, accuracy; remember: a RIGGED RECORD must be
ACCURATE and THOROUGH
1855. rigorous: uncompromising, energetic, comprehensive; remember: RIGOR = energy, the
RIGOR of US lets us do everything we need to do
1856. risible: capable of exciting laughter; remember: root RIS (laugh); RIdicule-ABLE
1857. rivulet: a small stream of water; remember: a RIVER-LET is a "baby river"
1858. robust: strong, sturdy; remember: imagine an iron ROBot, too tough to BUST
1859. rondo: artistic repetition, usu. musical; remember: to go ROUND-OH and ROUND-
OH is to play a RONDO
1860. rookery: where crows (or low people) gather & nest; remember: a ROOKERY is
where CROOK-ery dwell
1861. rote: mindless repetition without comprehension; remember: you're mindlessly
repeating what the teacher w-ROTE
1862. rue: to regret greatly; remember: you feel SORROW because you SO RUE your
mistakes
1863. ruffian: a bully, rough criminal or thug; remember: a ROUGH-ian, someone who likes
things ROUGH
1864. ruminate: contemplate, reflect; remember: in deep thought, he just sat in a ROOM &
ATE
1865. ruse: a trick; remember: imagine a ROOSE as a "fake rooster" designed to TRICK
chicken-thieves
1866. saccharine: sickeningly sweet; remember: SACCHARINE is a FAKE SWEETener
1867. sacrosanct: too sacred to criticize; remember: so SACRED you must THANK it, never
scold it
1868. salience: conspicuous, noticeable, relevant; remember: if it's for SALE IN the store, it's
a RELEVANT source of income
1869. salubrious: health-giving, sanitary; remember: SELL-YOU-A-PRIUS for a CLEAN
and HEALTHY environment
1870. salutary: helpful, beneficial; remember: helpful soldiers SALUTE you
1871. salutation: a greeting; remember: you SALUTE as a greeting
1872. salvo: big attack; remember: launch a SAIL full of little missles
1873. sanctimonious: giving a hypocritical appearance of piety; remember: you THANKED
HIM ONLY for US, not because you meant it
1874. sanction: to approve OR punish; remember: you SINK someone to PUNISH him; you
give him a SINK to reward him
1875. sanguine: optimistic, cheery; remember: optimism means SAYING "WIN"
1876. sapid: having a strong but pleasant taste; remember: SWEET-BIT of candy has a
SAPID flavor
1877. sapiential: having wisdom; remember: homo SAPIENS is the wisest primate
1878. sardonic: scornfully sarcastic; remember: SARDONIC = SAR-castic + demONIC
1879. saturnine: gloomy, depressed; remember: he's DEPRESSED because he's got NINE
SATURNS on his head
1880. scrupulous: painstaking, careful (opposite: SCURRILOUS); remember: a PROPER
person give his SCRIPT-TO-US
1881. scurrilous: vulgar, coarse (opposite: SCRUPULOUS); remember: a vulgar person will
SCURRY away rather than WALK; he's SCURRY-LOUS
1882. scuttle: sink (a ship), reject, cancel; remember: (s)CUT(tle) a hole in a ship, and it will
SINK
1883. scythe: the long, curved blade used for reaping; remember: "Death" = a SKELETON
& SK-YTHE (actually pronounced w/o the "K")
1884. sedentary: sitting, settled; remember: SIT-IN-ary = so settled and calm that you SIT
IN all day, never going out
1885. sediment: matter settling at the bottom of liquid; remember: SANDY-ment, settles like
SAND at the bottom of liquid
1886. seditious: rebellious, treasonous; remember: imagine the rebels SAID "IT'S US!"
admitting to TREASON
1887. sedulous: persistent, dedicated; remember: sounds like ASSIDUOUS & means nearly
the same thing
1888. segue: transition; remember: a SEGUE leads to the NEXT thing in SEQUENCE
1889. seminal: original, important, primary; remember: if they're IMPORTANT, then you
SEE-'EM-IN-ALL the papers
1890. sensorium: your sensory organs; remember: you SENSE YOUR HOME with your
SENSORIUM
1891. sentience: self-awareness, intelligence; remember: you SENSE INTELLIGENCE
where there is SENTIENCE
1892. sepulcher: burial place, often a coffin or casket; remember: when you die, you SLEEP
forever in your SLEEP-PITCHER
1893. sequacious: lacking independence, easily led; remember: root SEQ (follow); a
SEQUENCE-TIOUS person FOLLOWS a sequence
1894. sequester: to withdraw or isolate; remember: SHE QUESTed (searched for) the
SEQUESTERED prisoners
1895. shrewd: clever, sharp, smart; remember: you can get THROUGH to the RUDE by
being SHREWD
1896. sibilance: hissing sound or sounds; remember: a HISSING BALANCE of sound and
slithering
1897. similitude: similarity (see VERISIMILITUDE); remember: SIMILAR attiTUDES
produce SIMILITUDES
1898. simulacrum: an inferior image or copy of someone; remember: a SIMULAtion of a
CRUMB is even SMALLER than a CRUMB
1899. sinecure: a position w/ status but no responsibility; remember: as Vice President, I
"SO-NO-CARE" about the company
1900. sinuosity: The quality of curving in and out; remember: SINEWY = twisty, flexible =
SINUOUS
1901. solander: a hiding place, usu. a hollowed out book; remember: imagine hiding your
SOLE and DIRT in a SOLANDER
1902. solecism: a mistake esp. grammatical (NOT "solipsism"); remember: "SOLO-
KISS'EM" is ungrammatical; you can't kiss when you're alone
1903. solicitous: concerned, attentive; remember: SO-LIKED-TO-US = being so nice that we
really liked it
1904. soliloquy: monologue, a long speech; remember: root SOLI (alone) + root LOQ
(speak) = a speech given while alone
1905. solipsistic: believing that you are all that's real; remember: the belief that the world is
SOLELY "I" is SOLE-I-CISM
1906. solstice: the longest or shortest day of the year; remember: root SOL (sun) + "stays" =
the sun STAYS away or STAYS with us
1907. somnambulism: sleepwalking; remember: root SOMN (sleep) + root AMBUL (walk)
= walking in your seep
1908. somniferous: causing sleep; remember: root SOMN (sleep); SLEEPING in FUR;
opposite of IN-SOMN-IA
1909. somnolence: serious sleepiness; remember: root SOMN (sleep); SLEEPING ONLY;
SLEEPING in SILENCE
1910. somnolent: sleepy, drowsy; remember: root SOMN (sleep) = SOMNolent = sleepy
1911. sonorous: deeply resonant in sound, usu. a big bell; remember: a BIG BELL makes a
SOUND of SORROW to US
1912. sophism: an intentionally deceptive argument; remember: SOFT-ism
1913. sophistical: clever but fake (NOT "sophisticated"); remember: SOPHISTICAL is a
fancy but wrong way to say SOPHISTICATED
1914. sophomoric: immature, uninformed, pretentious; remember: imagine a SOPHOMORE
who's trying to act like a SENIOR
1915. specie: coin money, NOT "species"; remember: you SPEND a "" (cent sign)
1916. specious: fake, seemingly plausible but wrong; remember: SPEECH that is
fallaCIOUS, pretentIOUS, maliCIOUS or perniCIOUS
1917. spurious: false but designed seem plausible; remember: a SPOON that makes you
FURIOUS isn't real, but SEEMS real
1918. stagnation: not flowing or changing, sitting still & stale; remember: a rotting dead
STAG stinks up the NATION
1919. stagy: theatrical, overly dramatic; remember: STAGE-Y = as if you're on STAGE,
overly DRAMATIC
1920. stanchion: a support beam; any form of support; remember: you STAND ON CHAIR
for SUPPORT (STAND-CHAIR-ON)
1921. staunch: firm, steadfast; remember: to STAy UNCHanged; you block & STop a l-
AUNCH
1922. stifle: smother; remember: you STUFF-le a sock in someone's mouth
1923. stipend: an allowance, salary or fixed payment; remember: you STOP-END payment
after a FIXED SALARY is reached
1924. stochastic: partly random, partly directed; remember: you STOKE coals into a pattern,
but fire makes it PARTLY RANDOM
1925. stoic: unaffected by passion or feeling; remember: STONE-ic, you're like a STONE
1926. stolid: expressing little sensibility, unemotional; remember: someone STONY &
SOLID shows no emotion or fear
1927. strata: layers, usu. of rock; singular: STRATUM; remember: STRATA look like
STRANDES of STONE STRING
1928. stratagem: a clever trick or tactic; remember: your STRATEGY for THEM gives you
the ADVANTAGE
1929. stringency: strictness; remember: STRICT-gency
1930. stripling: a youth, usu. nave or inexperienced; remember: not a WHOLE man, just a
STRIP, is a STRIPLING
1931. stultify: to lose enthusiasm; to make someone look silly; remember: not even STILTS
can make you HAPPY, but they'll make you look SILLY
1932. stupefy: astonish, make insensible; remember: STUPID-FY = surprises you so much
you "go stupid"
1933. stymy: stop, discourage, prevent; remember: STYMY sounds like "STOP-ME"
1934. suasion: act of persuasion; remember: SUASION means perSUASION
1935. subacid: somewhat sharp; remember: root SUB (under); SUB-ACID = not quite acid,
"under-acid"
1936. subjacent: directly underneath; remember: root SUB (under) + adjacent = UNDER
something instead of NEXT to it
1937. subliminal: below the threshold of conscious knowledge; remember: root SUB (under);
UNDER your consciousness, e.g., "subliminal advertising"
1938. sublingual: beneath the tongue; remember: root SUB (under) + root LING (tongue,
language) = under the tongue
1939. succinct: brief & clear; remember: your POINT is BRIEF and CLEAR after you
WASH it in the SINK
1940. sufferance: toleration, lack of complaint; remember: a SUFFER-ANT has only TINY
complaints ('cause it's a tiny ant)
1941. suffrage: voting rights, NOT "sufferance" or "suffering"; remember: the phrase
"women's SUFFRAGE" meant the woman's right to vote
1942. suffuse: cover or fill the surface of; remember: imagine a SUrface COVERED with
FUSEs
1943. superannuate: to deteriorate or fail with age; remember: root SUPER (over) + root
AN (year) = overly used over too many years
1944. supercilious: haughty, stuck-up, full of oneself; remember: root SUPER (over); being
snooty is SUPER-SILLY to US, we're unimpressed
1945. superficial: shallow, only looking at the surface; remember: root SUPER (over) + root
FIC (face) = only at face-level, no deeper
1946. superfluous: exceeding what is necessary; remember: SUPER-FLUID = EXCESS
fluid that "flies away" instead of spilling
1947. superlative: the best or highest of anything; remember: root SUPER (above); the TOP
LADDER is the SUPER-LADDER
1948. supernumerary: superfluous, unnecessary, excess; remember: root SUPER (over) =
over the NUMBER we need = excess numbers
1949. supine: laying face-up; remember: imagine FACE-UP + RECLINE = SUP-INE
1950. surcharge: an additional amount; remember: root SUR (after) = a charge that comes
AFTER you've already been charged
1951. surety: security deposit, a guarantee of performance; remember: to make SURE you
pay up, we'll keep your T-SHIRT; it's a SURE-T
1952. surfeit: an overabundant supply or indulgence; remember: so much stuff that it forms a
WAVE and you SURF-IT
1953. surreptitious: stealthy, secretive; remember: sounds like SECRET-titious
1954. surrogate: one acting in place of another; remember: in PLACE of the happy-gate, you
must use the SORROW-GATE in its place
1955. swarthy: of dark color or complexion; remember: imagine a dark person covered with
SWEATY WARTS
1956. sybarite: someone who loves luxury too much; remember: a SYBARITE owns a SIP-
BAR (a huge bar for just sipping drink samples)
1957. sycophant: one who flatters for self-gain; remember: a SUCK-UP-O-PHANT = an
elephant-sized suck-up
1958. synergy: a combination or interaction; remember: SUN + ENERGY = even MORE
energy, i.e. SYNERGY
1959. tableau: an arrangement of figures, usu. statues; remember: imagine a TABLE with
LOW tiny statues all over it
1960. taciturn: stern, silent, reticent, unwilling to speak; remember: root TACIT (silent) = a
TACIT-TURN is a chance to be SILENT
1961. temerity: excessive confidence or boldness; remember: TE-MER-ITY sounds like
"THE NERVE OF HE," i.e., "he's got some NERVE"
1962. temporize: to delay a decision; remember: you can't decide with only TEMPORary
EYES; you need real eyes
1963. termagant: bad tempered, usu. female; remember: "so TERrible, My AUNT she's a
TERMAGANT"
1964. terse: abrupt, short with words, usu. rudely so; remember: the word "TERSE" is itself
"TERSE," a short way to say "with few words"
1965. tilth: cultivation, growth; remember: you TILL soil to GROW plants
1966. timbre: tone, vs. volume or pitch, often of voices; remember: imagine different
TIMBERS (woods) have different SOUNDS (TIMBRES)
1967. tirade: long, angry speech or criticism; remember: imagine a TIRING PARADE of
complaints and criticism
1968. tome: a large book; remember: imagine your BIG TOE becomes a BIG BOOK
1969. torpid: lethargic, dormant, lacking motion; remember: a TROPIC setting makes you
feel TORPID, relaxed and lazy
1970. torrid: intensely hot, passionate; remember: a TORRENT of HOT WATER leaves
you feeling TORRID
1971. tortuous: winding, twisty, NOT "torturous" (painful); remember: root TORT (twist) =
twisty, like CONTORT & DISTORT
1972. tractable: easily controlled; remember: if a horse is EASY to ATTRACT, it's a
TRACTABLE horse
1973. trammel: obstacle / impediment; remember: bulls stop you by TRAMpling you; a
TRAMpoline blocks your path
1974. transient: passing through briefly, temporary; remember: imagine TRAINS coming &
going, TRANSIENT not stable
1975. transitory: temporary, just passing thorough; remember: TRAINS just pass through;
TRAINS-itory = passing like trains
1976. travail: painfully hard labor; remember: to TRAVel in hAIL is a TRAVAIL, a difficult
task
1977. treacly: overly sweet or sentimental; remember: imagine HONEY is TRICKLING
over something, making it TOO sweet
1978. tremulous: fearful; remember: when you're SCARED, you TREMBLE before US
1979. trenchant: effective, sharp, sometimes biting wit; remember: you CUT a TRENCH that
goes right to the HEART of the matter
1980. trepidation: fear, apprehension; remember: you're so SCARED that you TRIP on a
DATE; TRIP-on-DATE = scared
1981. trope: a recurring figure of speech; remember: TROOP-unity is a common TROPE
when uniting people behind a cause
1982. truculence: ferocity; remember: an evil TRUCK runs YOU down because it likes
vioLENCE
1983. turgid: swollen, usu. language that's too wordy; remember: imagine a SWOLLEN,
STUFFED TURKEY = it's a TURGID TURKEY
1984. turpitude: depravity, moral corruption; remember: TURD + ATTITUDE = the attitude
of a "turd" (i.e. corrupt & stinky)
1985. ubiquitous: existing everywhere, widespread; remember: you go EVERYWHERE
with a bicycle team saying, "YOU-BIKE-WITH-US"
1986. unctuous: greasy; excessively flattering; remember: imagine an OILY UNCLE who
rubs GREASE on US
1987. upbraid: criticize or scold severely; remember: someone lifts UP your BRAID to
SCOLD you to your FACE
1988. vacillate: fluctuate, hesitate; remember: imagine BOUNCING BACK & FORTH
across VASELINE
1989. vagary: unexpected change in behavior; remember: FAKERY results in VAGARY,
unexpected changes from a FAKE-OUT
1990. venal: corrupt, selfish, easy to bribe, NOT "venial"; remember: VENAL people have
FEEble morALS
1991. venial: forgiveable, able to be fixed, NOT "venal"; remember: GENIAL (friendly)
people are VENIAL (forgive you easily)
1992. verdant: green in tint or color; remember: root VER (green); FERTile LANd is
VERDANT with green plANTs
1993. verisimilitude: appearance of truth (see SIMILITUDE); remember: VERY SIMILAR
TO the VERI-fied TRUTH
1994. vicissitudes: chance events, unexpected developments; remember: a VICIOUS
ATTITUDE is always UNEXPECTED
1995. vilify: lower in importance, defame; remember: see it as VILLAIN-IFY = to make
someone into a VILLAIN
1996. vitiate: contaminate; remember: the FISH-HE-ATE was smelly and
CONTAMINATED
1997. vitriolic: angry, bitter, cruel; remember: a VICIOUS TREE bears BITTER fruit
1998. vituperate: violently scold or blame; remember: scolding = BERATE; violent scolding
= FIGHT-YOU-BERATE
1999. voluble: speaking fluently but without stopping; remember: it's a huge VOLUme of
words he's aBLE to speak
2000. zeitgeist: current attitudes; remember: common attitudes reflect what everyone sees, the
SIGHT of GUYS