SAT VOCABULARY-A

abbess n. The lady superior of a nunnery.
abbey n. The group of buildings which collectively form the dwelling-place of a society of monks or nuns.   Free SAT prep math notes below vocabulary ↓
abbot n. The superior of a community of monks.
abdicate v. To give up (royal power or the like).
aberration n. Deviation from a right, customary, or prescribed course.
abet v. To aid, promote, or encourage the commission of (an offense).
abeyance n. A state of suspension or temporary inaction.
abject adj. Sunk to a low condition.
abjure v. To recant, renounce, repudiate under oath.
abnegate v. To renounce (a right or privilege).
aboveboard adv. & adj. Without concealment, fraud, or trickery.
abrade v. To wear away the surface or some part of by friction.
abrasion n. That which is rubbed off.
abrogate v. To abolish, repeal.
abscission n. The act of cutting off, as in a surgical operation.
abscond v. To depart suddenly and secretly, as for the purpose of escaping arrest.
absolution n. Forgiveness, or passing over of offenses.
abstemious adj. Characterized by self denial or abstinence, as in the use of drink, food.
abstruse adj. Dealing with matters difficult to be understood.
abut v. To touch at the end or boundary line.
accede v. To agree.
accession n. Induction or elevation, as to dignity, office, or government.
accost v. To speak to.
accouter v. To dress.
accurate adj. Conforming exactly to truth or to a standard.
accusatory adj. Of, pertaining to, or involving an accusation.
acerbity n. Sourness, with bitterness and astringency.
acetate n. A salt of acetic acid.
acetic adj. Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of vinegar.
Achillean adj. Invulnerable.
acme n. The highest point, or summit.
acquiesce v. To comply; submit.
acquiescence n. Passive consent.
acquisition n. Anything gained, or made one's own, usually by effort or labor.
acquittance n. Release or discharge from indebtedness, obligation, or responsibility.
acreage n. Quantity or extent of land, especially of cultivated land.
acrid adj. Harshly pungent or bitter.
acrimonious adj. Full of bitterness.
acrimony n. Sharpness or bitterness of speech or temper.
actionable adj. Affording cause for instituting an action, as trespass, slanderous words.
actuary n. An officer, as of an insurance company, who calculates and states the risks and premiums.
actuate v. To move or incite to action.
acumen n. Quickness of intellectual insight, or discernment; keenness of discrimination.
acute adj. Having fine and penetrating discernment.
adamant n. Any substance of exceeding hardness or impenetrability.
addendum n. Something added, or to be added.
addle v. To make inefficient or worthless; muddle.
adduce v. To bring forward or name for consideration.
adhere v. To stick fast or together.
adjacent n. That which is near or bordering upon.
adjudge v. To award or bestow by formal decision.
adjunct n. Something joined to or connected with another thing, but holding a subordinate place.
adjuration n. A vehement appeal.
adjutant adj. Auxiliary.
admonish v. To warn of a fault.
admonition n. Gentle reproof.
ado n. unnecessary activity or ceremony.
adoration n. Profound devotion.
adroit adj. Having skill in the use of the bodily or mental powers.
adulterate v. To make impure by the admixture of other or baser ingredients.
adumbrate v. To represent beforehand in outline or by emblem.
advent n. The coming or arrival, as of any important change, event, state, or personage.
adverse adj. Opposing or opposed.
adversity n. Misfortune.
advisory adj. Not mandatory.
advocacy n. The act of pleading a cause.
affable adj. Easy to approach.
affect v. To act upon
affectation n. A studied or ostentatious pretense or attempt.
affiliate n. Some auxiliary person or thing.
affix v. To fasten.
affluence n. A profuse or abundant supply of riches.
affront n. An open insult or indignity.
afresh adv. Once more, after rest or interval.
afterthought n. A thought that comes later than its appropriate or expected time.
agglomerate v. To pile or heap together.
aggrandize v. To cause to appear greatly.
aggregate n. The entire number, sum, mass, or quantity of something.
aghast adj. Struck with terror and amazement.
agrarian adj. Pertaining to land, especially agricultural land.
aide-de-camp n. An officer who receives and transmits the orders of the general.
ailment n. Slight sickness.
alabaster n. A white or delicately tinted fine-grained gypsum.
alacrity n. Cheerful willingness.
albeit conj. Even though.
alcove n. A covered recess connected with or at the side of a larger room.
alder n. Any shrub or small tree of the genus Alumnus, of the oak family.
alderman n. A member of a municipal legislative body, who usually exercises also certain judicial functions.
aldermanship n. The dignity, condition, office, or term of office of an alderman.
alias n. An assumed name.
aliment n. That which nourishes.
alkali n. Anything that will neutralize an acid, as lime, magnesia, etc.
allay v. To calm the violence or reduce the intensity of; mitigate.
allege v. To assert to be true, especially in a formal manner, as in court.
allegory n. The setting forth of a subject under the guise of another subject of aptly suggestive likeness.
alleviate v. To make less burdensome or less hard to bear.
allot v. To assign a definite thing or part to a certain person.
allotment n. Portion.
allude v. To refer incidentally, or by suggestion.
allusion n. An indirect and incidental reference to something without definite mention of it.
aloof adv. Not in sympathy with or desiring to associate with others.
altercate v. To contend angrily or zealously in words.
amalgam n. An alloy or union of mercury with another metal.
amalgamate v. To mix or blend together in a homogeneous body.
amatory adj. Designed to excite love.
ambiguous adj. Having a double meaning.
ambitious adj. Eagerly desirous and aspiring.
ambrosial adj. Divinely sweet, fragrant, or delicious.
ambulate v. To walk about
ameliorate v. To relieve, as from pain or hardship
amenable adj. Willing and ready to submit.
amicable adj. Done in a friendly spirit.
ampere n. The practical unit of electric-current strength.
ampersand n. The character &; and.
amphitheater n. An edifice of elliptical shape, constructed about a central open space or arena.
amplitude n. Largeness.
amply adv. Sufficiently.
anachronism n. Anything occurring or existing out of its proper time.
anagram n. The letters of a word or phrase so transposed as to make a different word or phrase.
analogous adj. Corresponding (to some other) in certain respects, as in form, proportion, relations.
analogy n. Reasoning in which from certain and known relations or resemblance others are formed.
anathema n. Anything forbidden, as by social usage.
anecdote n. A brief account of some interesting event or incident.
anemia n. Deficiency of blood or red corpuscles.
anemometer n. An instrument for measuring the force or velocity of wind.
Anglophobia n. Hatred or dread of England or of what is English.
anhydrous adj. Withered.
animadversion n. The utterance of criticism or censure.
animadvert v. To pass criticism or censure.
animalcule n. An animal of microscopic smallness.
animosity n. Hatred.
annalist n. Historian.
annals n. A record of events in their chronological order, year by year.
annex v. To add or affix at the end.
annuity n. An annual allowance, payment, or income.
anode n. The point where or path by which a voltaic current enters an electrolyte or the like.
ante v. In the game of poker, to put up a stake before the cards are dealt.
antecede v. To precede.
antecedent n. One who or that which precedes or goes before, as in time, place, rank, order, or causality.
antechamber n. A waiting room for those who seek audience.
antedate v. To assign or affix a date to earlier than the actual one.
antediluvian adj. Of or pertaining to the times, things, events before the great flood in the days of Noah.
antemeridian adj. Before noon.
antemundane adj. Pertaining to time before the world's creation.
antenatal adj. Occurring or existing before birth.
anterior adj. Prior.
anteroom n. A room situated before and opening into another, usually larger.
anthology n. A collection of extracts from the writings of various authors.
anthracite n. Hard coal.
anthropology n. The science of man in general.
anticlimax n. A gradual or sudden decrease in the importance or impressiveness of what is said.
anticyclone n. An atmospheric condition of high central pressure, with currents flowing outward.
antilogy n. Inconsistency or contradiction in terms or ideas.
antipathize v. To show or feel a feeling of antagonism, aversion, or dislike.
antiphon n. A response or alteration of responses, generally musical.