SAT exam underwent a change in 2005 and then reverted back to its original state after 2016. The change that was made during this brief period was to increase the overall score from 1600 to 2400. This change in scale further changed the exam pattern through the inclusion of difficult vocabulary testing questions. It became a practice to learn for SAT with flashcards full of word meanings in order to crack the high sounding, uncommon words that were sought after in the test.
But after 2016, the questions regarding vocabulary have reduced along with their difficulty. Now, vocabulary is focused on by students to gain an upper hand by easily scoring in the ERW section by learning words and their meaning. The difficulty has been toned down to a medium and is now asked within a context in a passage which makes identifying the word easier.
Let us now go through a list of words and their meanings that will assist you in cracking those questions for extra points. Keep in mind that memorizing the words is not the agenda behind the list. It is to make you familiar with the words and their meanings that will help you place them in a context during the test.
| Word | Meaning |
| abeyance | a state of temporary inactivity
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| abound | to be copiously supplied
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| abscond | to get free from a dangerous or confining situation
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| abundant | possessing or covered with great numbers or amounts of something specified
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| admonish | to give advice to
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| amiable | having an easygoing and pleasing manner especially in social situations
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| animosity | a deep-seated ill will
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| annihilate | to defeat by a large margin
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| anomalous | departing from some accepted standard of what is normal
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| aromatic | having a pleasant smell
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| ascertain | to come upon after searching, study, or effort
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| banter | good-natured teasing or exchanging of clever remarks
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| beacon | something that provides illumination
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| berserk | in a confused and reckless manner
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| braggart | someone who boasts
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| bucolic | of, relating to, associated with, or typical of open areas with few buildings or people
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| cache | a supply stored up and often hidden away
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| cantankerous | having or showing a habitually bad temper
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| capricious | prone to sudden illogical changes of mind, ideas, or actions
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| celestial | of, relating to, or suggesting heaven
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| censure | an often public or formal expression of disapproval
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| chasten | to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes
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| churlish | having or showing crudely insensitive or impolite manners
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| clamor | loud, confused, and usually inharmonious sound
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| clarification | a statement that makes something clear
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| concept | something imagined or pictured in the mind
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| confiscate | to take ownership or control of (something) by right of one's authority
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| conflagration | a state of armed violent struggle between states, nations, or groups
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| confound | to prove to be false
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| connive | to engage in a secret plan to accomplish evil or unlawful ends
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| contemptuous | intended to make a person or thing seem of little importance or value
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| continuity | uninterrupted or lasting existence
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| credible | worthy of being accepted as true or reasonable
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| culminate | to bring to a triumphant conclusion
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| curb | something that limits one's freedom of action or choice
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| dawdle | to spend time doing nothing
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| debunk | to reveal the true nature of
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| decree | an order publicly issued by an authority
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| depravity | the state or quality of being utterly evil
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| despondent | feeling unhappiness
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| detract | to draw the attention or mind to something else
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| devoid | lacking contents that could or should be present
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| dilettante | lacking or showing a lack of expert skill
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| disgruntled | having a feeling that one has been wronged or thwarted in one's ambitions
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| disrepute | the state of having lost the esteem of others
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| diversity | the quality or state of being different
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| dowager | a dignified usually elderly woman of some rank or authority
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| dynamic | marked by or uttered with forcefulness
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| eerie | fearfully and mysteriously strange or fantastic
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| egalitarian | one who advocates or practices social equality
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| encounter | a brief clash between enemies or rivals
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| encroach | to advance gradually beyond the usual or desirable limits
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| epic | large and impressive in size, grandeur, extent, or conception
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| erroneous | not being in agreement with what is true
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| esoteric | not known or meant to be known by the general populace
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| espouse | to take for one's own use (something originated by another)
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| eulogy | a formal expression of praise
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| exhilarating | causing great emotional or mental stimulation
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| exuberant | joyously unrestrained
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| fizzle | something that has failed
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| flaunt | to present so as to invite notice or attention
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| flotsam | the portion or bits of something left over or behind after it has been destroyed
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| fluctuation | the frequent and usually sudden passing from one condition to another
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| flux | abnormally frequent intestinal evacuations with more or less fluid stools
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| folly | language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense
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| foreboding | being or showing a sign of evil or calamity to come
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| forego | to go or come before in time
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| frigid | lacking in friendliness or warmth of feeling
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| frustrating | causing annoyance
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| fusion | a distinct entity formed by the combining of two or more different things
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| gala | a time or program of special events and entertainment in honor of something
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| heartrending | deserving of one's pity
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| humility | the absence of any feelings of being better than others
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| hyperbole | the representation of something in terms that go beyond the facts
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| ignited | being on fire
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| ignite | to set (something) on fire
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| illuminated | filled with much light
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| illusion | a false idea or belief
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| imminent | being soon to appear or take place
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| incredulous | too extraordinary or improbable to believe
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| indefatigable | showing no signs of weariness even after long hard effort
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| indictment | a formal claim of criminal wrongdoing against a person
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| indict | to make a claim of wrongdoing against
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| indifferent | marked by justice, honesty, and freedom from bias
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| indigenous | being a part of the innermost nature of a person or thing
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| indignation | an intense emotional state of displeasure with someone or something
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| indisputable | not capable of being challenged or proved wrong
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| induce | to cause (someone) to agree with a belief or course of action by using arguments or earnest requests
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| indulge | to treat with great or excessive care
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| ineffectual | producing no results
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| infest | to spread or swarm over in a troublesome manner
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| inflammatory | tending to excite political disorder or insurrection
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| infringe | to fail to keep
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| ingenuous | lacking in worldly wisdom or informed judgment
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| intermingle | to turn into a single mass or entity that is more or less the same throughout
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| intrepid | feeling or displaying no fear by temperament
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| intricate | made or done with great care or with much detail
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| invigorating | having a renewing effect on the state of the body or mind
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| irascible | easily irritated or annoyed
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| irate | feeling or showing anger
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| jingoism | excessive favoritism towards one's own country
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| leisurely | moving or proceeding at less than the normal, desirable, or required speed
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| lethargic | slow to move or act
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| linger | to move or act slowly
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| lofty | very dignified in form, tone, or style
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| loquacious | fond of talking or conversation
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| lugubrious | expressing or suggesting mourning
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| luscious | sexually attractive
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| malady | an abnormal state that disrupts a plant's or animal's normal bodily functioning
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| malevolent | having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it
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| mellow | having a relaxed, casual manner
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| mollify | to make more bearable or less severe
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| monotony | a tedious lack of variety
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| motif | a unit of decoration that is repeated all over something (as a fabric)
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| myriad | too many to be counted
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| nomadic | travelling from place to place
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| nullify | to put an end to by formal action
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| obscured | being without light or without much light
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| obtrusive | thrusting oneself where one is not welcome or invited
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| orthodox | tending to favor established ideas, conditions, or institutions
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| palpable | not subject to misinterpretation or more than one interpretation
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| panoramic | covering everything or all important points
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| pantomime | an actor in a story performed silently and entirely by body movements
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| paradox | someone or something with qualities or features that seem to conflict with one another
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| partisan | inclined to favor one side over another
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| pastoral | of, relating to, or characteristic of the clergy
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| penitent | feeling sorrow for a wrong that one has done
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| perfidious | not true in one's allegiance to someone or something
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| permeate | to spread throughout
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| pernicious | causing or capable of causing harm
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| perpetual | lasting forever
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| perpetuate | to give eternal or lasting existence to
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| persevere | to continue despite difficulties, opposition, or discouragement
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| pertinent | having to do with the matter at hand
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| peruse | to go over and mentally take in the content of
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| pessimist | a person who distrusts other people and believes that everything is done for selfish reasons
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| phlegmatic | not feeling or showing emotion
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| piecemeal | proceeding or changing by steps or degrees
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| pioneer | coming before all others in time or order
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| placid | free from disturbing noise or uproar
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| plausible | worthy of being accepted as true or reasonable
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| pliable | capable of being readily changed
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| prevalent | accepted, used, or practiced by most people
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| prodigious | unusually large
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| profligacy | immoral conduct or practices harmful or offensive to society
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| profusion | the quality or fact of being free or wasteful in the expenditure of money
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| prophetic | being a sign of a later course of events
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| prosecute | to carry through (as a process) to completion
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| proximity | the state or condition of being near
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| pulsate | to expand and contract in a rhythmic manner
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| puncture | a mark or small hole made by a pointed instrument
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| quest | an act or process of looking carefully or thoroughly for someone or something
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| raiment | covering for the human body
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| random | lacking a definite plan, purpose, or pattern
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| rant | boastful speech or writing
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| rapport | a friendly relationship marked by ready communication and mutual understanding
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| rasping | harsh and dry in sound
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| raucous | being rough or noisy in a high-spirited way
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| raze | to destroy (as a building) completely by knocking down or breaking to pieces
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| rectify | to remove errors, defects, deficiencies, or deviations from
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| reign | the right or means to command or control others
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| reinforce | to provide evidence or information for (as a claim or idea)
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| reiterate | to say or state again
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| relish | the feeling experienced when one's wishes are met
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| remedy | something that corrects or counteracts something undesirable
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| retaliate | to punish in kind the wrongdoer responsible for
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| saturate | containing, covered with, or thoroughly penetrated by water
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| sentimental | appealing to the emotions in an obvious and tiresome way
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| sham | lacking in natural or spontaneous quality
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| squander | to cause (members of a group) to move widely apart
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| stimulating | serving or likely to arouse a strong reaction
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| stringent | not allowing for any exceptions or loosening of standards
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| subtle | satisfying or pleasing because of fineness or mildness
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| supplant | to take the place of
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| tact | the ability to deal with others in touchy situations without offending them
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| temper | one's characteristic attitude or mood
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| tenable | capable of being defended with good reasoning against verbal attack
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| terse | marked by the use of few words to convey much information or meaning
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| therapeutic | tending to cure disease or restore health
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| thwart | to prevent from achieving a goal
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| torment | a source of persistent emotional distress
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| torpor | physical or mental inertness
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| tractable | readily giving in to the command or authority of another
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| transcend | to go beyond the limit of
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| transient | lasting only for a short time
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| transmute | to change in form, appearance, or use
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| tremble | an instance of shaking involuntarily with fear or cold
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| trifling | so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention
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| truncate | to make less in extent or duration
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| tundra | a broad area of level or rolling treeless country
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| turmoil | a state of noisy, confused activity
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| uncouth | lacking in refinement or good taste
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| underscore | to indicate the importance of by giving prominent display
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| ungainly | having or showing an inability to move in a graceful manner
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| union | the state of having shared interests or efforts (as in social or business matters)
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| vindication | a setting free from a charge of wrongdoing
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| vociferous | engaging in or marked by loud and insistent cries especially of protest
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| wavering | a state or an instance of temporary inaction because of uncertainty about the right course of action |
