SAT Vocabulary for Juniors

Lesson 6

#1 Antipathy: n. an intense dislikesyn: aversion / ant: affinity

First comes antipathy, and then revenge.

“Antipathy, dissimilarity of views, hate, contempt, can accompany true love.”- J. August Strindberg

#2 Elucidate: v. to make clearsyn: explain; clarify / ant: obscure

To elucidate a point, the professor stated it in a variety of ways.

“It is the mission of the twentieth century to elucidate the irrational.”- Maurice Merleau-Ponty

#3 Imminent: adj. likely to happen; threateningsyn: impending; approaching / ant: distant; delayed

“He gets here when he gets here,” said Bruce, stoically expecting the imminent

arrival of the bounty hunter.

“A just fear of an imminent danger, though there be no blow given, is a lawful cause of war”- Francis Bacon, Sr.

#4 Banal: adj. common, ordinarysyn: trivial; insipid / ant: original; fresh

The writer was so afraid of being banal that he resorted to strange and baroque language.

“There's almost a fear that if you understood too deeply the way you arrived at choices, you could become self-conscious. In any case, many ideas which are full of personal meaning seem rather banal when you put words to them.”-Peter Weir

#5 Obdurate: adj. stubborn; hardheartedsyn: inflexible; obstinate / ant: compliant; amenable

Remaining obdurate in the face of unfair criticism, the ambassador completed the

effective plan.

“The fates are not quite obdurate; they have a grim, sardonic way of granting them who supplicate the thing they wanted yesterday.”-Roselle Mercier Montgomery

#6 Peruse: v. to read carefully; scrutinize

Don’t just skim the chapter—peruse it carefully.

“He that shall peruse the political pamphlets of any past reign will wonder why they were so eagerly read, or so loudly praised”-Samuel Johnson

#7 Bedlam: n. a noisy uproar; a scene of wild confusionsyn: mayhem; chaos

It was bedlam in the cafeteria, with food fights breaking out at tables around the

room.

“Let the pen and ink be wholly forbidden as if he were a mad poet of Bedlam.”-Nicolas Biddle

#8 Affluence: n. wealth; richnesssyn: fortune

Willa made sure her children knew that their family’s affluence had not come easily; their wealth had required two

generations of toil and sacrifice, from the coal mines to the board room.

“Affluence means influence”- Jack London

#9 Scurrilous: adj. coarsely abusive; vulgarsyn: indecent / ant: respectable

Scurrilous tactics helped Ethan steal the election.

“Every two years the American politics industry fills the airwaves with the most virulent, scurrilous, wall-to-wall character assassination of nearly every political practitioner in the country—and then declares itself puzzled that America has lost trust in its politicians.”- Charles Krauthammer

#10 Parody: n. a work which imitates another in a ridiculous mannersyn: caricature; burlesque; lampoon

Al likes to create parodies of popular songs by replacing the original lyrics with

his own humorous lyrics.

“Parodies and caricatures are the most penetrating of criticisms.”-Aldous Huxley

#11 Sedulous: adj. hard working; diligentsyn: studious; assiduous / ant: lazy; lax

Dawn’s sedulous pursuit of success as a surgeon required years of patience and

uncanny focus.

An impressively sedulous suitor, he was constantly sending her flowers and other tokens of his affection.

#12 Onerous: adj. burdensome; heavy; hard to enduresyn: crushing; distressing

The state trooper had the onerous burden of informing Eric’s parents that their son

would not be coming home.

“We have the means to change the laws we find unjust or onerous. We cannot, as citizens, pick and choose the laws we will or will not obey.”-Ronald Reagan

#13 Amoral: adj. lacking a sense of right and wrongsyn: corrupt; evil / ant: innocent; virtuous

With amoral indifference, the killer circled the room and executed hostages at

random.

“Your ability to rationalize your own bad deeds makes you believe that the whole world is as amoral as you are.”-Douglas Coupland

#14 Eschew: v. to keep away from; to avoid; to shunant: embrace; welcome

In from the country, Farmer Brown was determined to eschew the evil vices of

the city.

“Eschew the monumental. Shun the Epic. All the guys who can paint great big pictures can paint great small ones.”- Ernest Hemingway

#15 Denouement: n. an outcome; resultsyn: conclusion

If the build-up of a movie doesn’t grab you, you won’t stick around for the

denouement.

“But this invites the occult mind, Cancels our physics with a sneer, And spatters all we knew of denouement, Across the expedient and wicked stones.”-Karl Shapiro