Sunday, July 27, 2014

Grammar!

1. Neither Alan nor his friends…intend(s): The second part of the nor is plural so the verb needs to be plural. 
2. For we citizens -> Us (prepositional form)
3. The man in the cereal advertisement, who(m) everyone in our town knows as Mr. Potts: Whom because it is the object
4. You may sometimes find it effective to cite the views of an authority with whom you disagree, (and you use), *might, can* Since this is hypothetical, it needs to still be in that same side
5. so absorbed (and thus) so absorbed that (idiom) 
6. The high school teacher, nearing retirement, observed that students became more spontaneous  over the years while he had been becoming less spontaneous:  (Both sides of while has to be had become)

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Princeton Review Vocabulary
quiescence- inactive, motionless, quiet,
transience- not lasting, fleeting
perspicacity keen, pays attention, differential
squalid- gross lack of care, filthy
antediluvian- very old, old fashioned
blighted: spoiled, destroyed, hurt
canonical: accepted
churlish: rude, vulgar
calumny: a false statement intended to hurt someone
byzantine: highly complex
analgesic: capable of relieving pain
bromide: a common saying
concomitant: existing or occurring at the same time
cumbersome: awkward, heavy
demarcate: to set the lines or bounds
egregious: outright bad
emollient: smoothing skin atmosphere attitude
epistolary: relating to letters
foible: error in character
exegesis: an explanation and strict interpretation
fomentation: to push for rebellion
foppish: extreme extravagance
impious: lacking respect
ignominious: disgraceful and shameful
impute: to accredit
inimical: harmful
invidious: intending to hurt
mendicant: begging
morass: swamp, difficult situation
nascent: being born, beginner, neophyte
moratorium: suspension of an ongoing activity
potentate: strong ruler
picayune: of small importance
abstruse: hard to understand
garish: showy, lurid
magisterial: overbearing, offensive
sentient: able to perceive, feel things
reparative: mending, being repaired
belligerent: warlike
expunge: erase, obliverate
solicit: to ask for
abet: to help, encourage
fetid: stinking
jettison: to discard
Jaundice: there is a bias

Thursday, July 10, 2014

SAT Vocabulary Sparknotes

ruse: tending to deceive, trick
fastidious: cleanliness, or particular to details
licentious: promiscuous
viscerally: inward feelings not intellect.
pellucid: translucently clear
amiable: friendly manner
nascent: beginning to exist or develop
tepid: lack of enthusiasm, or moderately warm, lukewarm 
trite: stale, hackneyed, overused boring, 
whimsy: excessive play, capricious humor (erratic) 
whimsical: odd notion of whimsy
wit: showing perception
petulance: someone who is petulant, impassion irritation, annoyed by something small, ill tempered 
philistine: ignorant person who does not appreciate the arts
acrimony: harshness, bitterness
pulchritude: beauty
exigency: an urgent need or demand
dire: extremely urgent
somnolent: sleepy drowsy
exigent: urgent
precocious: unusually preconceived brain, developed mind
solicitous: anxious or concerned, particular, eager
salient: prominent or conspicuous (easily seen, flagrant)
salacious: lechery, lustful
decimate: to destroy a large amount
pallid: lacking interest, wan, deficient color
verdant: covered in vegetation, green
conflagration: a destructive fire
oblique: slope, not straight to the point
tacit: implied, not expressed directly but still understood
expounded: to explain, interpret, to state detail
malodorous: smelling really bad, odorous
unctuous: characterized by excessive piousness or moralistic fervor, excessively smooth, oily and soapy
torpid: inactive or sluggish
allure: to fascinate charm
sonorous: rich and nice sound, loud deep, a deep resonant (cave)
hackneyed: lacking freshness and banal
fecund: very productive capable of producing fruit
ribald: vulgar or indecent speech, abusive
recondite: dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter:
florid:
wafting:
opprobrious:
ethereal:
decry:
vacillate:
mawkish:
gregarious:
parsimonious:
obstreperous:
benign:
cantankerous:
modicum:
surmise:
bestow:
androgynous:
veracity: credo:
fetid:
supersedes:
nadir:
undulate:
inchoate: rudimentary, not complete
penurious: extremely stingy, destitute
indigent: lacking necessities of life
paragon: a model or pattern for excellence
effrontery: audacious. impudent, shameless
approbation: official approval, sanction
munificent: very generous 
abash: make embarrassed, ashamed, perturb, to disturb self possession, ruffle
obsequious: servile obedient, 
facile: easily done, affable, agreeable
misanthropic: a hater of humankind
rapprochement: establishment or reestablishment of harmonious relationships
sedition: to against the government 
incite: to urge on, persuade 
presumptuously: full of, characterized by, or showing presumption or readiness to presume in conduct or thought. (to suppose)
unwarranted: sanction, approval, as for an action. 
lassitude: lack of energy, listlessness, languid, weak, no energy
pragmatism: practicallity
preempted: to occupy (land) in order to establish a prior right to buy, reschedule, 
eschew: to abstain from, keep away from
predilection: a tendency to think favorably of something in particular
assuage: to relieve, make less severe
bombastic: highly, inflated talk, pompous 
plaintive: mournful
abhor: disgust
corollary: something that results from something else
propagate: to spread and promote widely
annihilate: to destroy completely
ubiquity: the state of capacity of being everywhere
magnanimous: showing a generous kind nature
intrepid: fearless, bold
impetuous: sudden action, impuslive
harbinger: announces a warning to others
dispensable: being able to be administered, or thrown away, useless
conflagration: destructive large fire
fallacy: deceptive, misleading
candor: free of bias, truthful
notoriety: being publicly known for a specific trait (sometimes unfavorably)
kinesthetic: the sensation or movement or strain of the muscles
ossify: to harden like a bone, rigid, inflexible in attitudes and opinions,
jaundice: judgement is distorted, or bias
tenuous: weak (argument), thin, unsubstantial
homely: not beautiful, lacking physical attraction
approbation: commendation, approval, sanction- authoritative permission of approval
fabricate: to construct, to make art with labor, to invent
pilfer: to steal in small quantities
assail: assault, attack vigorously, violently,
chary: cautious, careful
ostensible: appearing to be true but is not
indelible: cannot be removed
untenable: not able to hold on, weak

Important Weird one:
impertinent- intrusive or presumptuous, as persons or their actions;insolently rude; uncivil:, irrelevant 

Refresh Vocabulary for SAT October 2014 Exam

1. reconcile: to win over friendliness
2. disseminate: to spread around (like a seed)
3. atrophy: weaken
4. domineer: to rule arbitrarily, unlimited power
5. prosaic: commonplace, dull
6. didactic: instructive
7. dogmatic: pertaining to a theme or condescendingly preachy
8. treacherous: betraying untrustworthy
9. pedantic: ostentatious with one's learning, paying attention to minuscule detail
10. vindictive: showing revengeful persona
11. solicit: to ask for help
12. vacillation: cannot make up one's mind
13. Pertinacious: holding tenaciously to an idea
14. malleable: changeable adaptable
15. quiescent: being quiet and motionless
16. quandary: uncertainty, perplexity
17. vestige: small amount, trace left over
18. bulwark: protection, wall, or a person who gives encouragement strength
19. egregious: amazingly obvious in a bad way, flagrant, eyesore
20. Insipid: boring, not exciting
21. trite: excessive use becoming dull
22. squander: excessive waste
23. negligent: careless
24. belligerent: warlike
25. vociferous: crying out loud, clamoring
26. supercilious: disdainful, haughty, showing on face

Weirdest one

surreptitious

: done in a sneaky way