Auspicious. Aesthetic. Eclectic. These words may sound vaguely familiar to the teen in your house. But does he know exactly what they mean?
If he's prepping for the SAT, he should. Vocabulary for the test isn't as random as you might think. While it changes for each test sitting, there are certain stalwarts that tend to show up again and again. And if your kid knows the set, his odds of scoring will improve. A lot.
Much money has been spent on teasing out the candidates. And coaching companies aren't giving it all out for free. The Princeton Review offered us 50 words from their stash of "most frequently tested". If nothing else, it's a good start. So drop a few of these words into dinnertime conversation and hope your kid's ears are perked:
- abstract not concrete
- aesthetic having to do with the appreciation of beauty
- alleviate to ease a pain or a burden
- ambivalent simultaneously feeling opposing feelings; uncertain
- apathetic feeling or showing little emotion
- auspicious favorable; promising
- benevolent well-meaning; generous
- candor sincerity; openness
- cogent convincing; reasonable
- comprehensive broad or complete in scope or content
- contemporary current, modern; from the same time
- conviction a fixed or strong belief
- diligent marked by painstaking effort; hard-working
- dubious doubtful; of unlikely authenticity
- eclectic made up of a variety of sources or styles
- egregious conspicuously bad or offensive
- exculpate to free from guilt or blame
- florid flowery or elaborate in style
- gratuitous given freely; unearned; unwarranted
- hackneyed worn out through overuse; trite
- idealize to consider perfect
- impartial not in favor of one side or the other; unbiased
- imperious arrogantly domineering or overbearing
- inherent inborn; built-in
- innovative introducing something new
- inveterate long established; deep-rooted; habitual
- laudatory giving praise
- maverick one who resists adherence to a group
- mollify to calm or soothe
- novel strikingly new or unusual
- obdurate stubborn; inflexible
- objectivity judgment uninfluenced by emotion
- obstinate stubbornly adhering to an opinion
- ornate elaborately decorated
- ostentatious describing a pretentious display
- paramount of chief concern or importance
- penitent expressing remorse for one's misdeeds
- pervasive dispersed throughout
- plausible seemingly valid or acceptable; credible
- profound having great depth or seriousness
- prosaic unimaginative; dull; ordinary
- quandary a state of uncertainty or perplexity
- rancorous hateful; marked by deep-seated ill will
- spurious not genuine; false; counterfeit
- stoic indifferent to pleasure or pain; impassive
- superfluous extra; unnecessary
- tenuous having little substance or strength; unsure; weak
- timorous timid; fearful
- transitory short-lived; temporary
- vindicated freed from blame
