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The Top 250 Most Difficult SAT WordsAabjure (v.) to reject, renounce (To prove his honesty, the president abjured the evil policies of his wicked predecessor.)abrogate (v.) to abolish, usually by authority (The Bill of Rights assures that the government cannot abrogate our right to a free press.)acerbic (adj.) biting, bitter in tone or taste (Jill became extremely acerbic and began to cruelly make fun of all her friends.)acrimony (n.) bitterness, discord (Though they vowed that no girl would ever come between them, Biff and Trevor could not keep acrimony from overwhelming their friendship after they both fell in love with the lovely Teresa.)acumen (n.) keen insight (Because of his mathematical acumen, Larry was able to figure out in minutes problems that took other students hours.)adumbrate (v.) to sketch out in a vague way (The coach adumbrated a game plan, but none of the players knew precisely what to do.)alacrity (n.) eagerness, speed (For some reason, Chuck loved to help his mother whenever he could, so when his mother asked him to set the table, he did so with alacrity.)anathema (n.) a cursed, detested person (I never want to see that murderer. He is an anathema to me.)antipathy (n.) a strong dislike, repugnance (I know you love me, but because you are a liar and a thief, I feel nothing but antipathy for you.)approbation (n.) praise (The crowd welcomed the heroes with approbation.)arrogate (v.) to take without justification (The king arrogated the right to order executions to himself exclusively.)ascetic (adj.) practicing restraint as a means of self-discipline, usually religious (The priest lives an ascetic life devoid of television, savory foods, and other pleasures.)aspersion (n.) a curse, expression of ill-will (The rival politicians repeatedly cast aspersions on each others integrity.)assiduous (adj.) hard-working, diligent (The construction workers erected the skyscraper during two years of assiduous labor.)Bblandish (v.) to coax by using flattery (Rachels assistant tried to blandish her into accepting the deal.)boon (n.) a gift or blessing (The good weather has been a boon for many businesses located near the beach.)brusque (adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (The captains brusque manner offended the passengers.)buffet 1. (v.) to strike with force (The strong winds buffeted the ships, threatening to capsize them.) 2. (n.) an arrangement of food set out on a table (Rather than sitting around a table, the guests took food from our buffet and ate standing up.)burnish (v.) to polish, shine (His mother asked him to burnish the silverware before setting the table.)buttress 1. (v.) to support, hold up (The column buttresses the roof above the statue.) 2. (n.) something that offers support (The buttress supports the roof above the statues.)Ccacophony (n.) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound (The elementary school orchestra created a cacophony at the recital.)cajole (v.) to urge, coax (Freds buddies cajoled him into attending the bachelor party.)calumny (n.) an attempt to spoil someone elses reputation by spreading lies (The local officials calumny ended up ruining his opponents prospect of winning the election.)capricious (adj.) subject to whim, fickle (The young girls capricious tendencies made it difficult for her to focus on achieving her goals.)clemency (n.) mercy (After he forgot their anniversary, Martin could only beg Maria for clemency.)cogent (adj.) intellectually convincing (Irenes arguments in favor of abstinence were so cogent that I could not resist them.)concomitant (adj.) accompanying in a subordinate fashion (His dislike of hard work carried with it a concomitant lack of funds.)conflagration (n.) great fire (The conflagration consumed the entire building.)contrite (adj.) penitent, eager to be forgiven (Blakes contrite behavior made it impossible to stay angry at him.)conundrum (n.) puzzle, problem (Interpreting Janes behavior was a constant conundrum.)credulity (n.) readiness to believe (His credulity made him an easy target for con men.)cupidity (n.) greed, strong desire (His cupidity made him enter the abandoned gold mine despite the obvious dangers.)cursory (adj.) brief to the point of being superficial (Late for the meeting, she cast a cursory glance at the agenda.)Ddecry (v.) to criticize openly (The kind video rental clerk decried the policy of charging customers late fees.)defile (v.) to make unclean, impure (She defiled the calm of the religious building by playing her banjo.)deleterious (adj.) harmful (She experienced the deleterious effects of running a marathon without stretching her muscles enough beforehand.)demure (adj.) quiet, modest, reserved (Though everyone else at the party was dancing and going crazy, she remained demure.)deprecate (v.) to belittle, depreciate (Always over-modest, he deprecated his contribution to the local charity.)deride (v.) to laugh at mockingly, scorn (The bullies derided the foreign students accent.) desecrate (v.) to violate the sacredness of a thing or place (They feared that the construction of a golf course would desecrate the preserved wilderness.)desiccated (adj.) dried up, dehydrated (The skin of the desiccated mummy looked like old paper.)diaphanous (adj.) light, airy, transparent (Sunlight poured in through the diaphanous curtains, brightening the room.)diffident (adj.) shy, quiet, modest (While eating dinner with the adults, the diffident youth did not speak for fear of seeming presumptuous.)discursive (adj.) rambling, lacking order (The professors discursive lectures seemed to be about every subject except the one initially described.)dissemble (v.) to conceal, fake (Not wanting to appear heartlessly greedy, she dissembled and hid her intention to sell her ailing fathers stamp collection.) dither (v.) to be indecisive (Not wanting to offend either friend, he dithered about which of the two birthday parties he should attend.)Eebullient (adj.) extremely lively, enthusiastic (She became ebullient upon receiving an acceptance letter from her first-choice college.)effrontery (n.) impudence, nerve, insolence (When I told my aunt that she was boring, my mother scolded me for my effrontery.)effulgent (adj.) radiant, splendorous (The golden palace was effulgent.)egregious (adj.) extremely bad (The student who threw sloppy joes across the cafeteria was punished for his egregious behavior.)enervate (v.) to weaken, exhaust (Writing these sentences enervates me so much that I will have to take a nap after I finish.)ephemeral (adj.) short-lived, fleeting (She promised shed love me forever, but her “forever” was only ephemeral: she left me after one week.) eschew (v.) to shun, avoid (George hates the color green so much that he eschews all green food.)evanescent (adj.) fleeting, momentary (My joy at getting promoted was evanescent because I discovered that I would have to work much longer hours in a less friendly office.)evince (v.) to show, reveal (Christophers hand-wringing and nail-biting evince how nervous he is about the upcoming English test.)exculpate (v.) to free from guilt or blame, exonerate (My discovery of the ring behind the dresser exculpated me from the charge of having stolen it.)execrable (adj.) loathsome, detestable (Her pudding is so execrable that it makes me sick.)exigent (adj.) urgent, critical (The patient has an exigent need for medication, or else he will lose his sight.)expiate (v.) to make amends for, atone (To expiate my selfishness, I gave all my profits to charity.)expunge (v.) to obliterate, eradicate (Fearful of an IRS investigation, Paul tried to expunge all incriminating evidence from his tax files.) extant (adj.) existing, not destroyed or lost (My mothers extant love letters to my father are in the attic trunk.)extol (v.) to praise, revere (Violet extolled the virtues of a vegetarian diet to her meat-loving brother.)Ffallacious (adj.) incorrect, misleading (Emily offered me cigarettes on the fallacious assumption that I smoked.)fastidious (adj.) meticulous, demanding, having high and often unattainable standards (Mark is so fastidious that he is never able to finish a project because it always seems imperfect to him.)fatuous (adj.) silly, foolish (He considers himself a serious poet, but in truth, he only writes fatuous limericks.) fecund (adj.) fruitful, fertile (The fecund tree bore enough apples to last us through the entire season.)feral (adj.) wild, savage (That beast looks so feral that I would fear being alone with it.)fetid (adj.) having a foul odor (I can tell from the fetid smell in your refrigerator that your milk has spoiled.)florid (adj.) flowery, ornate (The writers florid prose belongs on a sentimental Hallmark card.)fractious (adj.) troublesome or irritable (Although the child insisted he wasnt tired, his fractious behaviorespecially his decision to crush his cheese and crackers all over the floorconvinced everyone present that it was time to put him to bed.)Ggarrulous (adj.) talkative, wordy (Some talk-show hosts are so garrulous that their guests cant get a word in edgewise.)grandiloquence (n.) lofty, pompous language (The student thought her grandiloquence would make her sound smart, but neither the class nor the teacher bought it.)gregarious (adj.) drawn to the company of others, sociable (Well, if youre not gregarious, I dont know why you would want to go to a singles party!)Hhackneyed (adj.) unoriginal, trite (A girl can only hear “I love you” so many times before it begins to sound hackneyed and meaningless.)hapless (adj.) unlucky (My poor, hapless family never seems to pick a sunny week to go on vacation.)harangue 1. (n.) a ranting speech (Everyone had heard the teachers harangue about gum chewing in class before.) 2. (v.) to give such a speech (But this time the teacher harangued the class about the importance of brushing your teeth after chewing gum.)hegemony (n.) domination over others (Britains hegemony over its colonies was threatened once nationalist sentiment began to spread around the world.)Iiconoclast (n.) one who attacks common beliefs or institutions (Jane goes to one protest after another, but she seems to be an iconoclast rather than an activist with a progressive agenda.)ignominious (adj.) humiliating, disgracing (It was really ignominious to be kicked out of the dorm for having an illegal gas stove in my room.)impassive (adj.) stoic, not susceptible to suffering (Stop being so impassive; its healthy to cry every now and then.)imperious (adj.) commanding, domineering (The imperious nature of your manner led me to dislike you at once.)impertinent (adj.) rude, insolent (Most of your comments are so impertinent that I dont wish to dignify them with an answer.)impervious (adj.) impenetrable, incapable of being affected (Because of their thick layer of fur, many seals are almost impervious to the cold.)impetuous (adj.) rash; hastily done (Hildas hasty slaying of the king was an impetuous, thoughtless action.)impinge 1. (v.) to impact, affect, make an impression (The hail impinged the roof, leaving large dents.) 2. (v.) to encroach, infringe (I apologize for impinging upon you like this, but I really need to use your bathroom. Now.)implacable (adj.) incapable of being appeased or mitigated (Watch out: Once you shun Grandmas cooking, she is totally implacable.)impudent (adj.) casually rude, insolent, impertinent (The impudent young man looked the princess up and down and told her she was hot even though she hadnt asked him.)inchoate (adj.) unformed or formless, in a beginning stage (The countrys government is still inchoate and, because it has no great tradition, quite unstable.)incontrovertible (adj.) indisputable (Only stubborn Tina would attempt to disprove the incontrovertible laws of physics.)indefatigable (adj.) incapable of defeat, failure, decay (Even after traveling 62 miles, the indefatigable runner kept on moving.)ineffable (adj.) unspeakable, incapable of being expressed through words (It is said that the experience of playing with a dolphin is ineffable and can only be understood through direct encounter.)inexorable (adj.) incapable of being persuaded or placated (Although I begged for hours, Mom was inexorable and refused to let me stay out all night after the prom.)ingenuous (adj.) not devious; innocent and candid (He must have writers, but his speeches seem so ingenuous its hard to believe hes not speaking from his own heart.)inimical (adj.) hostile (I dont see how I could ever work for a company that was so cold and inimical to me during my interviews.)iniquity (n.) wickedness or sin (“Your iniquity,” said the priest to the practical jokester, “will be forgiven.”)insidious (adj.) appealing but imperceptibly harmful, seductive (Lisas insidious chocolate cake tastes so good but makes you feel so sick later on!)intransigent (adj.) refusing to compromise, often on an extreme opinion (The intransigent child said he would have 12 scoops of ice cream or he would bang his head against the wall until his mother fainted from fear.)inure (v.) to cause someone or something to become accustomed to a situation (Twenty years in the salt mines inured the man to the discomforts of dirt and grime.)invective (n.) an angry verbal attack (My mothers irrational invective against the way I dress only made me decide to dye my hair green.)inveterate (adj.) stubbornly established by habit (Im the first to admit that Im an inveterate coffee drinkerI drink four cups a day.)Jjubilant (adj.) extremely joyful, happy (The crowd was jubilant when the firefighter carried the woman from the flaming building.)juxtaposition (n.) the act of placing two things next to each other for implicit comparison (The interior designer admired my juxtaposition of the yellow couch and green table.)Llaconic (adj.) terse in speech or writing (The authors laconic style has won him many followers who dislike wordiness.)languid (adj.) sluggish from fatigue or weakness (In the summer months, the great heat makes people languid and lazy.)largess (n.) the generous giving of lavish gifts (My boss demonstrated great largess by giving me a new car.)latent (adj.) hidden, but capable of being exposed (Sigmunds dream represented his latent paranoid obsession with other peoples shoes.)legerdemain (n.) deception, slight-of-hand (Smuggling the French plants through customs by claiming that they were fake was a remarkable bit of legerdemain.)licentious (adj.) displaying a lack of moral or legal restraints (Marilee has always been fascinated by the licentious private lives of politicians.)limpid (adj.) clear, transparent (Mr. Johnsons limpid writing style greatly pleased readers who disliked complicated novels.)Mmaelstrom (n.) a destructive whirlpool which rapidly sucks in objects (Little did the explorers know that as they turned the next bend of the calm river a vicious maelstrom would catch their boat.)magnanimous (adj.) noble, generous (Although I had already broken most of her dishes, Jacqueline was magnanimous enough to continue letting me use them.)malediction (n.) a curse (When I was arrested for speeding, I screamed maledictions against the policeman and the entire police department.)malevolent (adj.) wanting harm to befall others (The malevolent old man sat in the park all day, tripping unsuspecting passersby with his cane.)manifold (adj.) diverse, varied (The popularity of Dantes Inferno is partly due to the fact that the work allows for manifold interpretations.)maudlin (adj.) weakly sentimental (Although many people enjoy romantic comedies, I usually find them maudlin and shallow.)mawkish (adj.) characterized by sick sentimentality (Although some nineteenth- century critics viewed Dickenss writing as mawkish, contemporary readers have found great emotional depth in his works.)Mendacio.us (adj.) having a lying, false character (The mendacious content of the tabloid magazines is at least entertaining.)mercurial (adj.) characterized by rapid change or temperamentality (Though he was widely respected for his mathematical proofs, the mercurial genius was impossible to live with.)modicum (n.) a small amount of something (Refusing to display even a modicum of sensitivity, Henrietta announced her bosss affair in front of the entire office.)morass (n.) a wet swampy bog; figuratively, something that traps and confuses (When Theresa lost her job, she could not get out of her financial morass.)multifarious (adj.) having great diversity or variety (This Swiss Army knife has multifarious functions and capabilities. Among other things, it can act as a knife, a saw, a toothpick, and a slingshot.)munificence (n.) generosity in giving (The royal familys munificence made everyone else in their country rich.)myriad (adj.) consisting of a very great number (It was difficult to decide what to do Friday night because the city presented us with myriad possibilities for fun.)Nnadir (n.) the lowest point of something (My day was boring, but the nadir came when I accidentally spilled a bowl of spaghetti on my head.)nascent (adj.) in the process of being born or coming into existence (Unfortunately, my brilliant paper was only in its nascent form on the morning that it was due.)nefarious (adj.) heinously villainous (Although Dr. Meanmans nefarious plot to melt the polar icecaps was terrifying, it was so impractical that nobody really worried about it.)neophyte (n.) someone who is young or inexperienced (As a neophyte in the literary world, Malik had trouble finding a publisher for his first novel.)Oobdurate (adj.) unyielding to persuasion or moral influences (The obdurate old man refused to take pity on the kittens.)obfuscate (v.) to render incomprehensible (The detective did not want to answer the newspapermans questions, so he obfuscated the truth.)oblique (adj.) diverging from a straight line or course, not straightforward (Martins oblique language confused those who listened to him.)obsequious (adj.) excessively compliant or submissive (Mark acted like Janets servant, obeying her every request in an obsequious manner.)obstreperous (adj.) noisy, unruly (Billys obstreperous behavior prompted the librarian to ask him to leave the reading room.)obtuse (adj.) lacking quickness of sensibility or intellect (Political opponents warned that the prime ministers obtuse approach to foreign policy would embroil the nation in mindless war.)odious (adj.) instilling hatred or intense displeasure (Mark was assigned the odious task of cleaning the cats litter box.)officious (adj.) offering ones services when they are neither wanted nor needed (Brenda resented Allans officious behavior when he selected colors that might best improve her artwork.) opulent (adj.) characterized by rich abundance verging on ostentation (The opulent furnishings of the dictators private compound contrasted harshly with the meager accommodations of her subjects.) ostensible (adj.) appearing as such, seemingly (Jacks ostensible reason for driving was that airfare was too expensive, but in reality, he was afraid of flying.)Ppalliate (v.) to reduce the severity of (The doctor trusted that the new medication would palliate her patients discomfort.) pallid (adj.) lacking color (Dr. Van H
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