100 SAT Words Beginning with "A" : Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus

abase

She is not abased or dejected, but exalted, rather.

aberration

While Tampa Bay has taken a huge nosedive a year after going 10-6, maybe that 2010 success was an aberration.

abhor

There are sane readers who abhor gratuitous violence but love Reacher’s menacing wisecracks.

abject

Mr. Jobling stood wringing his hands helplessly, his flaccid features expressive of abject despair.

abrasive

“He has always been focused, driven, demanding and, as a result, very difficult and abrasive,” Mr. Norman said.

abstain

Griffin felt that he had better abstain from questioning, and let his host run on.

abstract

Presenting an abstract concept, waving our arms trying to describe it, we will lose our audience right away.

abundant

Fringing and barrier reefs are abundant throughout the archipelago, surrounding nearly every island.

accentuate

It was a carefully studied costume; and he accentuated its eccentricity by adopting theatrical attitudes and an air of satisfied negligence.

acclimate

The Jets will leave Friday for Denver, the better to acclimate to the altitude and change in time zone.

accomplice

Tiller, the thief, and a supposed accomplice, are under arrest.

accord

Friday's accord removes one of two main sticking points that have been holding up a strategic partnership agreement between the two countries.

acerbic

They were complaining, sometimes yelling, and maybe a bit acerbic.

acme

Paris wholly has got to the acme of its frenzy; whirled, all ways, by panic madness.

acquiesce

I favored building a fire and staying there till morning, but Frank preferred pushing on to camp, so I acquiesced.

acquit

He said that in the absence of other evidence, “the accused is acquitted and discharged.”

acrimonious

At times, the two groups squabble like schoolchildren, and the exchange gets acrimonious.

acute

Labor shortages are already so acute in many Chinese industrial zones that factories struggle to find enough people to operate their assembly lines.

adamant

But high profile or no, Mr. Kors is adamant about keeping his personal life under wraps — even as his wedding day approaches.

adept

He proved an adept playmaker, however, making several nice passes and finishing with 7 assists.

adhere

Adhering to strict safety standards has kept me alive in some very dangerous situations.

admonish

"Children, children, stop quarrelling, right here in public!" admonished Mrs. Dering, in a low, shocked tone.

adorn

Old master reproductions adorn chianti-colored walls; tapestries hang in the restrooms.

adroit

Neither is he adroit in the exercise of his duty; instead performs it bunglingly; his thoughts preoccupied, and eyes wandering about.

adulation

Taylor, a demagogue of the Democratic party, was hypocritically appealing to his "horny handed neighbors" in language of feigned adulation.

adversity

Forty years in the wilderness, meeting adversities together, fighting enemies, marching as one host, made them a nation.

advocacy

That sentiment faded after the 1930s, he said, as consumer advocacy focused more on protecting shoppers.

aesthetic

In old-fashioned, aesthetic terms, his glossy, color pictures of modern housing projects in Turkish cities under moody, gray skies are beautiful.

affable

She is restless, irritable, out of sorts, censorious, complaining at home; animated, gracious, affable, complaisant abroad.

affinity

Malaysia has a close affinity with many Middle Eastern nations through their shared religion.

affliction

Firm and exceptional natures are thus moulded out of miseries, misfortunes and afflictions.

affluent

Affluent families can afford guns, which are more efficient for bagging some elusive animals than a poorer household’s typical snare trap.

aggrandize

Louis XIV. was growing increasingly ambitious of enlarging his domains and aggrandizing his power.

agile

Are not many beasts physically stronger, more nimble and agile than man?

agrarian

We’re not an agrarian society any longer, where more hands help farm the land.

alacrity

The men obeyed with alacrity, as all were glad to go, lying in camp so long.

alienate

Keeping schools closed and blocking certain public services is not a strategy we support and could alienate public opinion and play into the governor’s hand.

allege

David is alleged to have written several Psalms, but of this there is little evidence beyond pious assertion.

allegiance

Notwithstanding this good fortune, Pontiac daily saw his followers dropping off from their allegiance; for even the boldest had lost heart.

allegory

Achingly beautiful, quiet and graceful, his award-winning novel Waiting is a love story superimposed on a political allegory.

alleviate

Lewis said he got a Synvisc shot – an injection commonly used to alleviate arthritic symptoms – in his left knee on Monday.

allude

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Mr. Obama turned up the heat, alluding to the plan without fleshing out details.

aloof

Too much focus on official duties can make an incumbent look isolated and aloof.

altruistic

The gesture was not necessarily altruistic; he was hoping for a donation in return.

ambiguous

"The election law in New York is written in an ill-defined, ambiguous way," Goldfeder said, adding that he did not believe any laws were broken.

ambivalent

"If managers are ambivalent, or wavering, then investor uncertainty increases and the stocks become more volatile."

ameliorate

Possessed of broadly humanitarian sympathies, he became interested in ameliorating the conditions of imprisoned debtors.

amiable

He was also remarkable for his amiable and cheerful manners.

amicable

Thus, by kindness, the natives of this region were won to friendship, and amicable relations were established.

amnesty

After three years in prison, he was released last October in an amnesty that freed about 200 political detainees.

amorphous

The problem is that where genes are tidy bits of DNA, the environment is huge, amorphous and hard to quantify.

ample

Both are highly respected and well known, with ample experience in development and economic policy making.

anachronism

Today, the British monarchy seems like even more of an anachronism, notes my friend Merida, a London bureau friend now living in New York.

analogous

The two conditions, although apparently analogous, are, in reality, very different.

anecdote

With his fourth book, “Business at 16,” Mr. Bagchi hopes to get teenagers interested in business, partly by using fictional anecdotes, including boy-meets-girl stories.

animosity

In this brutal contest, two opposing teams face off against each other with competing agendas, borrowed tuxedos and tight smiles concealing deep animosities.

annihilate

Men deployed may fall back and escape; a mass of columns under direct artillery fire must surrender or be annihilated.

anomaly

In this view, crises can be understood only as anomalies, the consequences of unusual outside shocks.

anonymous

Throughout the process, the targeted consumers are tagged with an alphanumeric code, removing their names and making the data anonymous.

antagonism

It bred a sense of resentment and secret antagonism which he took less pains to hide, from that night.

antecedent

Paul Bunyan is known by his mighty works; his antecedents and personal history are lost in doubt.

anthropomorphic

The same anthropomorphic fallacy that accords human attributes to giant corporations like BP distorts clear thinking about how to limit their political influence.

anticipate

I will continue to sit here as usual, waiting, grinning, tapping and anticipating my future.

antipathy

At any rate, they had, as a matter of fact, produced widespread discontent and bitter antipathies between classes.

antithetical

Memorisation has a bad reputation in education today, dismissed as antithetical to creativity.

apathy

When not thus engaged, his days were passed in listless apathy.

aptitude

If there is such a thing as inherited aptitude for art it certainly showed itself in the family of Bach.

arbitrary

The pieces don’t build or develop, sections are carelessly joined, endings seem arbitrary.

arcane

Not just the knowledge of world geography but the very conceptualisation of space in this late medieval map looks to us remote and arcane.

archaic

There are other advantages as well to reading the classics electronically—you can tap archaic words on the screen for an instant definition.

archetype

In many ways, Mr. Romney and Mr. Huntsman embody the Mormon archetype: clean-cut, Republican American family men.

ardent

Age, study, experience, retirement, reflection, had in no wise dimmed the fire of his ardent nationalism.

arduous

He seemed about thirty-five years of age, though the trace of arduous mental and physical exertion gave him a rather worn and older appearance.

aristocratic

Several aristocratic families were stripped of their status after World War II, limiting the number of royal matches.

artifice

But small men use lying artifices and disguises to protect themselves.

ascetic

Another frequent cause of visions is long-continued fasting combined with more or less ascetic devotion.

aspire

India’s leaders, eager for a bigger footprint in global affairs, now aspire to a permanent seat on an expanded United Nations Security Council.

assimilation

On the contrary, they themselves become Americanised, thanks to that faculty of assimilation which they possess in a high degree.

assuage

Moreover, I became at rest within myself, and the gaping, aching void which has filled my vitals these many days, became assuaged.

atone

But let us pause for a moment to remember what “redeeming” actually is: atoning or making up for some mistake or wrongdoing.

attest

Anticipating compensation, thousands flooded treatment centers seeking medical certificates attesting to their cholera.

attire

She was elegantly and fashionably attired, wearing rich earrings, gold chain and locket, three valuable rings in addition to her wedding-ring, and so forth.

attribute

This means that fundamentally important attributes such as common sense and curiosity are starting to take primacy.

attribution

But borrowing from sample essays found online or other online sources without attribution, even unintentionally, might result in your application being rejected.

audacious

It was such an audacious, daring thing that the very thought made her dizzy.

audible

Tavannes answered--but his words were barely audible above the deafening uproar.

augment

Computer engineers, in high demand but short supply, can command six-figure salaries right out of college, augmented by signing bonuses and equity or stock options.

augur

But ultimately the numbers augured an inescapably grim fate: Lieberman's approval rating in Connecticut bottomed out at just 31 percent last fall.

augury

It was altogether a pretty picture, that seemed to be a happy augury of the good times in store.

auspicious

The coast at the point at which he reached it seemed specially designed by nature for his favorable and auspicious reception.

austere

Adams was poor, simple, ostentatiously austere; the blended influence of Calvinistic theology and republican principles had indurated his whole character.

authentic

This census is not considered authentic, as many transparent errors were found in various parts of it.

authoritarian

But, he said, “all the ingredients of a repressive regime, an authoritarian regime, are there.”

authoritative

His plays are being revived, and an authoritative and exhaustive edition of his writings is being issued by a leading publishing house.

avarice

Greed about getting or keeping money pertains to avarice, not necessarily to simony.

avenge

But Amon-Ra of Thebes avenged the dishonour that had been done him, and stirred up his adorers to successful revolt.

aversion

Our peculiar aversion, nay, our dread, of various alimentary substances are well known.

avid

An avid runner, Moyer eventually began arriving six hours early on game days to exercise on an underwater treadmill.

avuncular

He is a consummate retail politician, given to small talk and an avuncular style.

awe

The aurora deeply impressed him, inspiring feelings of awe and reverence.

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100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"

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