SAT VOCAB 11

(adj.) unlucky (My poor, hapless family never seems to pick a sunny week to go on vacation.)

1. (n.) a ranting speech (Everyone had heard the teacher’s 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.)

(adj.) robust, capable of surviving through adverse conditions (I too would have expected the plants to be dead by mid-November, but apparently they’re very hardy.)

(adj.) greatly distressing, vexing (The car crash was a harrowing experience, but I have a feeling that the increase in my insurance premiums will be even more upsetting.)

(adj.) disdainfully proud (The superstar’s haughty dismissal of her costars will backfire on her someday.)

(adj.) shockingly wicked, repugnant (The killings were made all the more heinous by the fact that the murderer first tortured his victims for three days.)

(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.)

(adj.) peculiar to one person; highly individualized (I know you had trouble with the last test, but because your mistakes were highly idiosyncratic, I’m going to deny your request that the class be given a new test.)

(adj.) humiliating, disgracing (It was really ignominious to be kicked out of the dorm for having an illegal gas stove in my room.)

(adj.) not changeable (The laws of physics are immutable and constant.)

(adj.) stoic, not susceptible to suffering (Stop being so impassive; it’s healthy to cry every now and then.)

(adj.) poor (“I fear he’s too impecunious to take me out tonight,” the bratty girl whined.)

(adj.) commanding, domineering (The imperious nature of your manner led me to dislike you at once.)

(adj.) impenetrable, incapable of being affected (Because of their thick layer of fur, many seals are almost impervious to the cold.)

(adj.) rash; hastily done (Hilda’s hasty slaying of the king was an impetuous, thoughtless action.)