SAT/ACT Vocabulary List for 08/22/2010

Here is today's word list:

• accommodate (v.): To furnish something as a kindness or favor.
• aggrandize (v.): To cause to appear greatly.
• Anglophobia (n.): Hatred or dread of England or of what is English.
• archipelago (n.): Any large body of water studded with islands, or the islands collectively themselves.
• awaken (v.): To arouse, as emotion, interest, or the like.
• blazon (v.): To make widely or generally known.;
• calumny (n.): Slander.
• clandestine (adj.): Surreptitious.
• concurrent (adj.): Occurring or acting together.
• contraposition (n.): A placing opposite.
• cryptogram (n.): Anything written in characters that are secret or so arranged as to have hidden meaning.
• deliquesce (v.): To dissolve gradually and become liquid by absorption of moisture from the air.
• diatribe (n.): A bitter or malicious criticism.
• dissertation (n.): Thesis.
• ecstatic (adj.): Enraptured.
• engross (v.): To occupy completely.
• excitable (adj.): Nervously high-strung.
• fallible (adj.): Capable of erring.
• foreigner (n.): A citizen of a foreign country.
• generate (v.): To produce or cause to be.
• heartrending (adj.): Very depressing.
• illicit (adj.): Unlawful.
• inarticulate (adj.): Speechless.
• infirm (adj.): Lacking in bodily or mental strength.
• intermediate (adj.): Being in a middle place or degree or between extremes.
• irruption (n.): Sudden invasion.;
• legionary (n.): A member of an ancient Roman legion or of the modern French Legion of Honor.
• lurid (adj.): Ghastly and sensational.
• meliorate (v.): To make better or improve, as in quality or social or physical condition.;
• moderation (n.): Temperance.
• nefarious (adj.): Wicked in the extreme.
• obtrude (v.): To be pushed or to push oneself into undue prominence.
• out-of-the-way (adj.): Remotely situated.
• pathos (n.): The quality in any form of representation that rouses emotion or sympathy.
• perspective (n.): The relative importance of facts or matters from any special point of view.
• plutocracy (n.): A wealthy class in a political community who control the government by means of their money.
• premature (adj.): Coming too soon.;
• propriety (n.): Accordance with recognized usage, custom, or principles.
• raillery (n.): Good-humored satire.
• regicide (n.): The killing of a king or sovereign.;
• resurrection (n.): A return from death to life
• scintillate (v.): To emit or send forth sparks or little flashes of light.
• sinecure (n.): Any position having emoluments with few or no duties.
• stipend (n.): A definite amount paid at stated periods in compensation for services or as an allowance.
• sustenance (n.): Food.
• tirade (n.): Harangue.
• typify (v.): To serve as a characteristic example of.
• valid (adj.): Founded on truth.
• votary (adj.): Consecrated by a vow or promise.

How To Master These Words

1. Create or buy a notebook. It can be named SAT/ACT Vocabulary Notebook or you can create your own name. You will be keeping your weekly words, definitions and assignments in this notebook.
2. Write the words and definitions in your vocabulary notebook.
3. Create your own sentence using each word and write this in your vocabulary notebook.
4. Make Flashcards - Write the word on one side of an index card and put the definition and a sentence on the opposite side. You can find ideas for making flashcards on the Internet by clicking on the link: Resources showing how to create your own flashcards.
5. Online Flashcard Game: Go to this site. lingro.com. Click on "wordlist" at the top of the page. Then click on "create new wordlist." Enter your word list for the week. When finished, click on "games" at the top of the page. Then click on "flashcards" and select your list. See if you can name the definition on each word before clicking on it to see the answer.
6. Use this dictionary link to check the pronounciation of each word. Type each word in the box on the left, then click the sound icon to listen.
7. Use TokBox to practice saying the words aloud. Register to get a free account. Click on "Send a Video Message." A box will open to set up your computer microphone and camera. Click "allow". Press the red "Record" button to begin. Press the "Stop" button when you are finished. Once you have practiced saying the words and recording it, send the video you created to your email account and listen to your video message. Send it to your parents' email account also to show them what you are learning.
8. Create your own crossword puzzle. Click on this link. Enter your words and your clues (definition), then click "Create Crossword Now." A new web page will appear. You can put a title on your puzzle if you wish, then click "Create Crossword." Print this out and complete the puzzle. Insert the completed work in your vocabulary notebook.