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

It baffles her physician as well, and has got doctors increasingly worried.

His glance fell on Van Bleit, pallid, red-eyed, obviously suffering, observing him with the baleful look of some savage captive beast.

balk

Congressional Republicans, particularly in the House of Representatives, have balked at raising the debt ceiling unless it is accompanied by significant spending cuts.

ballad

And in the encore there was a new ballad, “Silent Treatment,” which Ms. Bryan sang gently, backed only by Mr. Dafydd on acoustic guitar.

ban

That’s why gambling and wagers are heavily regulated or banned outright in nearly every country.

banal

Not bare or messy — that might be interesting — just banal.

bane

Knee pain is the bane of many runners, sometimes causing them to give up altogether.

banish

He, however, was destined never to return but was proscribed and banished.

banter

Instead, they bantered, enthused, tripped over each other's words and generally offered their audience the warmest welcome imaginable.

barbaric

The law was immediately hailed as a victory by animal welfare groups over what they consider to be a barbaric and outdated practice.

barrage

They destroyed army communications, local cellphone towers and laid down a barrage of mortar fire.

barren

New homes are sprouting from farmland once irrigated by the nearby Tigris River but rendered barren by war and neglect.

bastion

Dinner over, melons disposed of, fort, stores, and quarters examined, arrangements were made for sleeping in the various sheds and bastions of the fort.

bathetic

Taken together, her tribulations have the makings of bathetic melodrama.

bearing

He thought her face, her whole bearing, singularly composed in view of his announcement.

beckon

Ten minutes more and the orderly opened the door, and, obedient to my beckoning finger, stepped out as the lady was ushered in.

bedlam

With more than 190 people killed and hundreds wounded just three days before the country’s general election, Spain was thrown into political bedlam.

befuddle

But regulators are profiling data to help find patterns in trading activity that previously would have left regulators befuddled and scratching their heads.

beguile

This is such an entertaining, beguiling, charming and exciting picture.

behemoth

Behemoths like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and UBS have snapped up numerous small firms to create industry giants.

beholden

Now, this obligation has offended me very much, because I am proud, and do not like to be beholden to people.

behoove

The Hamburg magistrates had offered one hundred thalers for my arrest; consequently it behooved me to be very cautious.

belie

Tang's congenial and accommodating administrative style, however, sometimes belies a harder edge.

belittle

A splendid or an affecting story may be degraded or belittled by being told in an unworthy style.

bellicose

So far from unduly fostering a bellicose spirit tending to war, these would be tactful preventives of wasteful foreign and civil broils.

belligerent

He was carrying his war tools and stood facing me for an instant in quite a belligerent attitude.

bemoan

Facing life-threatening surgery, Adam calls his therapist and bemoans all the things he’s never done.

bemused

Alternately bemused, puzzled, and intrigued, he read it over again and again.

benefactor

Even world-class universities such as Oxford and Cambridge live off "old money" from property assets and a few key benefactors.

benevolent

Invariably gentle, attentive, serious, benevolent, easily satisfied, he remained serene and peaceful.

benign

But its images cannot distinguish malignant tumors from benign growths filled with harmless breast tissue.

bequeath

The widow lived for a few years, and, at her death, he bequeathed upon the daughter of his adoption all that his mother possessed.

berate

At almost every move through the drill he berated them caustically, though in such faultless military language of reproof as to keep him from censure.

bereavement

The team also helps the patients' families, instructing them in caring techniques and providing bereavement counseling after death.

beseech

Mr. Binney pleaded and besought, but all to no avail, and left his Tutor's presence at last, a disgraced and despairing man.

besiege

The troops in the Potomac army were all lying in front of Petersburg, under fire day and night, preparing to besiege the place.

besmirch

Because the dealer, widely respected in the Zurich art world, did not want his reputation besmirched, he agreed to settle the claim out of court.

bestow

There was stillness in the room—utter stillness as at last Percivale laid his sleeping wife down, and, bending over her, bestowed a parting kiss.

betrothed

Perhaps he thinks an engaged young lady should be demure and dutiful, having no eyes or ears for any one except her betrothed.

bewildered

Only the most commonplace things were said, and yet she puzzled him, bewildered him.

bias

Analytical thinking happens in the left hemisphere of the brain and is essential to making more objective, less biased decisions.

bicker

At times it felt like the candidates had already talked themselves out on the big themes and could only bicker over table scraps.

bifurcated

Like Lost, it’s story, at least at first, is bifurcated, taking place half in the magical world, half in ours.

bilateral

Economic issues took up about half of the bilateral talks between the two leaders, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

billowing

It was here that the Army cooked up chemical weapons, launched poison-packed mortar shells and sent gas clouds billowing over the fields.

binge

The government surveys showed binge drinking — having more than five drinks in one day — increased among all ethnic groups and genders, but particularly among men.

blanch

Officers and men stood aghast, with blanched faces, scarce knowing how to act.

bland

Many critics were less than enamored with the kind of “easy listening” Mr. Williams embodied, deriding his approach as bland and unchallenging.

blandishment

He had expected coaxings, blandishments, the pleadings and wiles with which Virginia the elder had made him so intimately acquainted.

blare

First there were trumpets; then brasses blared and drums rumbled.

blase

Dull-eyed, blase, frayed by the social whirl, worn out, pulseless, all of them.

blasphemy

Instead of becoming silent, he poured forth a fresh storm of blasphemy; and continued cursing all the time I remained within hearing.

blatant

Then there was great shouting among the Sophomores, with much blatant, exultant cheering.

bleak

Although the situation looks bleak, there’s still room for hope, he said.

blemish

Fine red lines often can be seen just under the skin, and some people also experience pimplelike blemishes.

blithe

Deep down inside her being something sang; outside, the carolling of the lark continued, blithe and joyous in the breaking dawn.

blunder

The candidate's first name was misspelled "John" on media badges, a blunder later repeated in some campaign mailings.

blunt

Even my lady, so blunt and outspoken by nature, had shrunk from trying to question the Dutch girl about her lover.

blurt

But after that momentary pause he blurted out, "Is everything all right, Benny?"

bluster

Ling was no longer an incarnate monster, a blustering, boisterous bully.

boast

A pompous, boasting sort of man, I did not like him at all.

bode

"Her early recovery is very promising," and bodes well for further improvement, he said.

bogus

Also, Tello allegedly put the wrong address on the letter and included fake bar codes and bogus fax and telephone numbers, they said.

bohemian

Bohemians were typically urban, liberal in outlook, but with few visible political passions and, above all, creative.

boisterous

Boys drinking champagne at adjacent tables were calling across to each other with boisterous merriment.

bolster

Manufacturing bolstered the nation’s economic recovery in March, according to data released Monday, with companies reporting strong gains in production and employment.

bombardment

He made up air raids and heavy bombardments and fairly tore up the village in which he was living.

bombastic

Once, only, your workmanship was not marred by schemes for titillating effects, for sensational contrasts, for grandiose and bombastic expression.

boon

The drilling has been an economic boon — creating jobs and reducing dependence on foreign energy.

boorish

He becomes boorish, subject to fits of passion, violent and unaccountable.

bountiful

The wheat harvest that year was so bountiful that grain overflowed storage facilities.

bourgeois

This future son-in-law is very young, and remarkably good looking; he belongs to the upper bourgeois, even bordering on the nobility.

bout

While out of work, struggling financially, and single-handedly responsible for three children, Pauline had several bouts of depression during which she felt completely isolated.

bovine

We can see handsome bovines at any fat cattle show.

bowdlerize

Being an iconic classic, however, hasn’t protected “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from being banned, bowdlerized and bleeped.

boycott

In what became known as the Chilean Winter, students at university campuses and high schools across the country organized strikes, boycotted classes and occupied buildings.

brackish

The waters of West Africa, salt, brackish, and fresh abound with fish, and many kinds are, if properly cooked, excellent eating.

braggadocio

Biggie talks about money and drugs, but “Juicy” contains no braggadocio, no empty boasts.

braggart

In his cups he was a witty, though arrogant, braggart.

brandish

Yelling, shouting, and brandishing their weapons, the insurgents poured down.

brash

Mr. Lancman, 43, is known for his brash, relentless and ambitious style.

bravado

All their courage and bravado was gone, and now, like the miserable cowards that they were, they had sought safety in flight.

brawl

The slightest quarrel, the most commonplace street brawl are pretexts for rival factions to come out in battle array.

brawn

He believes Hollywood has often have had an over-reliance on physical brawn as the deciding factor for portraying a strong man.

brazen

House has saved two lives, but Foreman is furious at his brazen disregard for the rules.

breach

Just look at how hackers breached the accounts of Google’s mail service in the past year, other RIM executives have noted.

breadth

On the left side were also two store-houses, each thirty-six paces long by twelve in breadth, covered with shingles.

brevity

Brevity is key; journalists do not have a lot of time.

brink

Patterson often asked Groce to ease up in Taylor's demanding timed conditioning drills, noticing he was on the brink of hyperventilating from pushing his limits.

brisk

The rooms were scrupulously clean, the table service brisk and punctual.

broach

Funeral directors must also navigate a topic that, even under normal circumstances, can prove uncomfortable to broach: money.

brood

In fact, a daunting quietness brooded over the spot.

browbeat

For ten minutes he bullied and browbeat the luckless sergeant, whose men had not been responsible for opening fire.

brunt

While Texas, an epicenter now for wildfires and crop losses, is taking the brunt of the drought, surrounding states are also suffering.

bucolic

He is glad when he sees men busy fishing, planting, and hunting, and engaged in all manner of bucolic occupations.

buffoon

They were sluggards, buffoons, dimwits, liars, brutes, and—without exception—drunks.

buoyant

By nature he was sunny and buoyant, taking life as he found it.

burden

Reconstruction spending is adding to the nation's huge debt burden.

bureaucracy

Professors and graduate students have benefited from improved working conditions, quicker turnaround for photocopying and scanning, and decreased bureaucracy and red tape.

burgeon

Elsewhere, rising prices highlight a more basic problem: making sure farm productivity keeps pace with burgeoning populations.

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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"

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