Gruber’s SAT WORD MASTER Gruber’s SAT WORD MASTER The Most Effective Way to Learn the Most Important SAT Vocabulary Words Gary R Gruber, PhD Copyright © 2009 by Gary R Gruber Cover and internal design © 2009 by Sourcebooks, Inc Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.—From a Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders Sourcebooks, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor in this book Published by Sourcebooks, Inc P.O Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410 (630) 961-3900 Fax: (630) 961-2168 www.sourcebooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gruber, Gary R Gruber’s SAT word master : the most effective way to learn the most important sat vocabulary words / by Gary R Gruber p cm SAT (Educational test)—Study guides English language—Examinations— Study guides Vocabulary tests—Study guides I Title II Title: SAT word master LB2353.57.G786 2008 378.1’662—dc22 2009015899 Printed and bound in the United States of America VP 10 Recent and Forthcoming Study Aids From Dr Gary Gruber Gruber’s Essential Guide to Test Taking: Grades 3–5 Gruber’s Essential Guide to Test Taking: Grades 6–9 Gruber’s Complete SAT Guide 2009 (12th Edition) Gruber’s SAT 2400 Gruber’s Complete SAT Reading Workbook Gruber’s Complete SAT Writing Workbook Gruber’s Complete SAT Math Workbook Gruber’s Complete SAT Guide 2010 (13th Edition) Gruber’s Complete ACT Guide 2010 www.sourcebooks.com www.drgarygruber.com Contents Introduction  /  ix Purpose of This Book  /  x What This Book Contains  /  xi How to Use This Book Most Effectively  /  xii Vocabulary Building That Is Guaranteed to Raise Your SAT Score  /  Knowing Word Meanings Is Essential for a Higher SAT Score  /  Ten Steps to Word Power  /  Developing Your Vocabulary Through Prefixes, Roots, and Suffixes That Can Give You the Meaning of Over 200,000 Words  /  The Hot Prefixes and Roots That Denote the Same Meaning or Feeling  /  29 Prefix-Root-Suffix Test with Answers (Ten Questions)  /  37 Three Vocabulary Strategies  /  43 Practice Using the Fifty Gruber Prefixes and Roots  /  59 The Most Frequent Positive-Negative SAT Words— Words That Have the Same Meaning; Practice Questions with Answers  /  75 The 2300 Vocabulary Word Review List  / 89 Fifty Vocabulary Practice Tests of One Thousand Words Whose Meanings You Should Know  /  145 A List of Words Appearing More Than Once on the SAT  /  261 Words Commonly Confused  /  265 Introduction This book is aimed at tremendously increasing your vocabulary and helping you develop a fast way to figure out the meanings of words if you don’t know them The Gruber Prefixes, Roots, and Suffixes can give you the meaning of more than 200,000 words! Vocabulary strategies will allow you to figure out meanings of words you don’t know And if you prefer to strictly memorize words, there’s a list of 2300 words that appear on the SAT and other standardized tests Here’s an example of a word strategy: Suppose you don’t know the meaning of the word “inextricable.” How would you figure it out? Well, maybe you’d say that “in” is a prefix that means “not.” But what about “extric”? You’d associate that word with another word: “extra.” But “not” to “extra” does not make sense So you don’t give up—you try another word for “extric,” such as “extract.” “Not” to “extract” does make sense—it means “inseparable,” or unable to take apart! Here’s an example of a way to use one of the Gruber Prefixes and Roots: Suppose you want to find the meaning of the word “precursory.” The prefix and root in this word are part of the prefixes and roots list that gives you the meaning of over 200,000 words: “Pre” means “before” “Curs” means “to run” So “precursory” means running before or going before If you read through this book chapter by chapter, you will increase your vocabulary tremendously 258   •  Gruber’s SAT Word Master Test 45 Test 46 Test 47 Test 48 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 E A C D A D C B C B B D C D A E A A D B C B A C E A D A E E D E E A E D C B C A B E B B C C E A D C C E C E A E D D E E B C A C B E C E A B D C D B B A D B A A fifty Vocabulary Practice Tests   •   259 Test 49 Test 50 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 A B D E E B D A B D E C B C C A B A D A B E C D A A D B A B A B D B B A C A A E A list of Words Appearing More Than Once on the SAT A List of Words Appearing More than Once on the SAT   •   263 We have made a computerized analysis of frequently occurring words on 47 complete SAT exams (1,175 questions have been examined.) Following is a list of 167 SAT words or associated words appearing more than once on these 47 actual SAT exams The definitions of these words have not been included here because we want you to refer to a dictionary to learn the meanings of these words, which have been repeated in subsequent SAT question sections Note that after each word a numeral indicates the number of times that the word has appeared on the 47 actual SAT exams Also note that certain pairs of words have a left-side bracket The bracket indicates that the words are very closely allied in meaning—so if you learn the meaning of one of the two words in the pair, you will easily arrive at the meaning of the other word of the pair Learn the meanings of these words, as they have a tendency to be repeated in questions of the SAT abolish abridge abstemious accent accented accolade acquiesce affirmation amass ambivalence ambivalent ambulatory ameliorate amity anchor antediluvian ascendancy atrophy bane baneful bizarre blunder bungle burgeon capitulate capitulation capricious clemency coalesce coalescence cohere coherent compress compression confide confidential confound congeal contaminant contaminate converge convivial copious corroborate corrugated corrupt corruption cursory daunt dauntless debilitate deplete discrepancy disentangle disputatious dispute distend distention drawback efface effervesce effervescent enhance enigmatic ephemeral equilibrium euphonious euphony evacuate evanescent expedite expeditious expendable expenditures exclude facilitate fallow fertile flourish flower fraudulent fruitful fruitless garner 264   •  Gruber’s SAT Word Master guile hackneyed hefty hideous hilarity humane hypocrisy hypocritical innocuous irascible jettison kindle leniency lenient levity levitate listless maladroit mitigate mobile munificent munificence myriad nefarious obscure obscurity opaque opacity parsimony paucity penury peripheral periphery placate precise precision premature premeditated prevalent proclivity prodigal prodigious profuse profusion pulverize pulverized rant recalcitrant recant replete rescind reserve ruffle rupture saccharine salubrious somber specify specificity spurn squander stymie subtle summary summon sumptuous surreptitious surreptitiously tantamount tenacious tenacity transience transient turbulence venturesome viable vibrancy vibrant vilification virulence virulent whet zany Words Commonly Confused Words Commonly Confused   •   267 aggravate/irritate —to make worse —to annoy allusion/illusion —reference —error in vision arbiter/arbitrary —a supposedly unprejudiced judge —prejudiced ascent/assent —upward movement —agreement; to agree ascetic/aesthetic —self-denying —pertaining to the beautiful averse/adverse —disciplined —opposed ban/bane —prohibit —woe canvas/canvass —coarse cloth —examine; solicit capital/capitol —excellent; chief town; money; punishable by death or life imprisonment —state house censure/censor —find fault —purge or remove offensive passages 268   •  Gruber’s SAT Word Master complacent/complaisant —self-satisfied; smug —kindly; submissive complement/compliment —that which completes —praise consul/council/counsel —diplomatic representative —group of advisors —advice contemptible/contemptuous —despicable —scornful continual/continuous —occurring in steady, but not unbroken,   order —occurring without interruption cosmopolitan/metropolitan —sophisticated —pertaining to the city credible/creditable —believable —worthy of praise demure/demur —pretending modesty —hesitate; raise objection deprecate/depreciate —disapprove regretfully —undervalue discreet/discrete —judicious; prudent —separate Words Commonly Confused   •   269 disinterested/uninterested —unprejudiced —not interested divers/diverse —several —varied elicit/illicit —extract —unlawful emend/amend —correct a text or manuscript —improve by making slight changes eminent/imminent —high in rank —threatening; at hand equable/equitable —even-tempered —just exult/exalt —rejoice —raise; praise highly formally/formerly —in a formal manner —at a previous time gourmet/gourmand —lover of good food —glutton gorilla/guerrilla —large ape —mercenary hail/hale —frozen pellets; to call; originate —strong, healthy 270   •  Gruber’s SAT Word Master healthy/healthful —possessing health —bringing about health imply/infer —indicate or suggest —draw a conclusion from incredible/incredulous —unbelievable —unbelieving indigent/indigenous —poor —native ingenious/ingenuous —skillful; clever; resourceful —frank; naïve internment/interment —imprisonment —burial maize/maze —corn —confusing network martial/marital —warlike —pertaining to marriage mendacious/meritorious —lying —possessing merit; praiseworthy personal/personable —private —attractive perspicacious/perspicuous —shrewd; acute —clear; lucid Words Commonly Confused   •   271 practical/practicable —sensible; useful —timely; capable of being accomplished prodigal/prodigious —wastefully lavish —extraordinarily large prophecy/prophesy —prediction —to predict provided/providing —on condition that —furnishing; giving regal/regale —royal —entertain lavishly respectfully/respectively —with respect —in the order already suggested sanction/sanctity —authorize —holiness social/sociable —pertaining to human society —companionable; friendly statue/stature —piece of sculpture —height urban/urbane —pertaining to the city —polished; suave venal/venial —corrupt, mercenary —pardonable