Lesson One

1. Lesson One • SAT Words– AP Laying the Foundation Altruistic to Taciturn

2. Altruisticadj—self-less; unselfishly concerned for the welfare of others; generous Some of the richest people in America are also among the most altruistic; Bill Gates is a case in point.

3. Ambivalent-(adj)undecided; having contrary feelings or attitudes I am ambivalent about what college to attend; Virginia has many wonderful options.

4. Angular—adjlean; sharp cornered After being incarcerated, the prisoner’s face appeared gaunt and angular.

5. Arrogant—adjhaughty, proud I can’t believe how arrogant the player was after he won the game; he trounced around the field as if he was invincible.

6. Aversion– nreluctance, loathing; strong disliking Donatti used aversion training, demonstrating the results by shocking a hungry rabbit, to get clients to quit smoking.

7. Discern-v to tell between; differentiate My vision is poor at night and I find it difficult to discern the lines on the roads.

8. Disdain—n.intense dislike; to treat with scorn or contempt He had utter disdain for his mother-in-law, which ultimately led to the couple’s divorce.

9. Disparity—n.inequality; the condition or fact of being unequal There is a disparity of wealth in Ashburn, as evidenced by the varied styles of housing.

10. Disparage—verb-belittle; deprecate; damage; to speak of someone or something in a derogatory manner He disparaged their reputations by posting the pictures of them at the party in the school newspaper.

11. Embellish-verbto decorate; make beautiful with ornamentation She embellished her handwriting with hearts, circles, and flowers, much to her teacher’s dismay.

12. Engender—v—to cause; create; to produce Initially the rallies engendered good will among the participants, but eventually, things became rowdy.

13. Innocuous- adj—harmless, producing no injury, benign I did not mean to offend her; I truly thought my commentwas innocuous.

14. Insipid—adj flavorless; boring; stupid; inane When will we ever get out of this boring and insipid class? The vegetable dish was rather insipid; it begged for salt.

15. Lament—verb—to mourn, to express sorrow in a demonstrative manner The widow lamented the loss of her husband and dressed in black for ten years.

16. Laud—verbto praise; to extol The President was initially lauded for his victories; but lately, he has been criticized repeatedly.

17. Obscure—adjdifficult to see; vague We found an obscure reference to my grandfather in a public document at the National Archives.

18. Ostentatious—adj—showy; pretentious Some people prefer subtle decorations at Christmas, while others love ostentatious displays.

19. Prodigal—adjwasteful, a person given to extravagance The prodigal son was warmly welcomed, even though he had lost his father’s fortune.

20. Repudiate—verbto reject; to disown; to disavow It is said that Chaucer actually repudiated his work, even while others lauded it.

21. Reticence—n.restraint in Speech; reluctance to speak Her reticence at school is out of character with the personality she displays at home.

22. Serene—adj—calm; placid The serene setting was so relaxing, I took a nap.

23. Revere-verb-to honor; to regard with respect We adults were raised in a time when children revered their elders.

24. Subtle- adj-delicate; elusive; not obvious I tasted a subtle hint of cinnamon in the prize winning chili dish.

25. Superfluous—adjbeyond what is needed or required, an overflow Try to weed the superfluous words from your writing; be as direct and precise as you can be.

26. Taciturn—adjquiet; not verbose He had trouble keeping up a conversation with his blind date; she was too taciturn for him.