SAT-Upward Bound

Verbs

100

augment (v.) (The eager student seeks to augment his knowledge of French vocabulary by reading French literature.)

to add to, expand

200

espouse (v.) (I love animals so much that I espouse animal rights.)

to take up as a cause, support

300

atone (v.) (The man atoned for forgetting his wife’s birthday by buying her five dozen roses.)

to repent, make amends

Verbs II

100

convene (v.) (Jason convened his entire extended family for a discussion.)

to call together

200

oscillate (v.) (My uncle oscillated between buying a station wagon to transport his family and buying a sports car to satisfy his boyhood fantasies.)

to sway from one side to the other

Adjectives

100

ephemeral (adj.) (She promised she’d love me forever, but her “forever” was only ephemeral: she left me after one week.)

short-lived, fleeting

200

Astute (v.) (Much of Roger’s success in politics results from his ability to provide astute answers to reporters’ questions)

very clever, crafty

300

esoteric (adj.) (Even the most advanced students cannot understand the physicist’s esoteric theories.)

understood by only a select few

400

orthodox (adj.) (The company’s profits dwindled because the management pursued orthodox business policies that were incompatible with new industrial trends.)

conventional, conforming to established protocol

500

ostensible (adj.) (Jack’s ostensible reason for driving was that airfare was too expensive, but in reality, he was afraid of flying.) ostentatious (adj.) (On the palace tour, the guide focused on the ostentatious decorations and spoke little of the royal family’s history.)

ostensible: appearing as such, seemingly ostentatious: excessively showy, glitzy

Adjectives II

100

equivocal (adj.) (His intentions were so equivocal that I didn’t know whether he was being courteous or rude)

ambiguous, uncertain, undecided

200

convoluted (adj.) (Grace’s story was so convoluted that I couldn’t follow it.)

intricate, complicated

300

inexorable (adj.)(Although I begged for hours, Mom was inexorable and refused to let me stay out all night after the prom.)

incapable of being persuaded or placated

400

indomitable (adj.) (To be honest, Jim, my indomitable nature means I could never take orders from anyone, and especially not from a jerk like you.)

not capable of being conquered

500

Difference between: ingenious (adj.) (Her ingenious use of walnuts instead of the peanuts called for by the recipe was lauded by the other garden club members who found her cake delicious.) ingenuous (adj.) (He must have writers, but his speeches seem so ingenuous it’s hard to believe he’s not speaking from his own heart.)

ingenious: clever, resourceful ingenuous: not devious; innocent and candid

Nouns

100

panacea (n.) (Doctors wish there was a single panacea for every disease, but sadly there is not.)

a remedy for all ills or difficulties

200

enmity (n.) (Mark and Andy have clearly not forgiven each other, because the enmity between them is obvious to anyone in their presence.)

ill will, hatred, hostility

300

epitome (n.) (My mother, the epitome of good taste, always dresses more elegantly than I do.)

a perfect example, embodiment

400

Explain the word and come up with a sentence: paradigm (n.) (Because the new SUV was so popular, it became the paradigm upon which all others were modeled.)

an example that is a perfect pattern or model

500

coup 1. (n.) (Alexander pulled off an amazing coup when he got a date with Cynthia by purposely getting hit by her car.) 2. (n.) (In their coup attempt, the army officers stormed the Parliament and took all the legislators hostage.)

(1)a brilliant, unexpected act (2)the overthrow of a government and assumption of authority