SAT Vocabulary Page 31

• viol n. A stringed instrument of the violin class.
• viola n. A musical instrument somewhat larger than a violin.
• violator n. One who transgresses.
• violation n. Infringement.
• violoncello n. A stringed instrument held between the player's knees.
• virago n. A bold, impudent, turbulent woman.
• virile adj. Masculine.
• virtu n. Rare, curious, or beautiful quality.
• virtual adj. Being in essence or effect, but not in form or appearance.
• virtuoso n. A master in the technique of some particular fine art.
• virulence n. Extreme poisonousness.
• virulent adj. Exceedingly noxious or deleterious.
• visage n. The face, countenence, or look of a person.
• viscount n. In England, a title of nobility, ranking fourth in the order of British peerage.
• vista n. A view or prospect.
• visual adj. Perceptible by sight.
• visualize v. To give pictorial vividness to a mental representation.
• vitality n. The state or quality of being necessary to existence or continuance.
• vitalize v. To endow with life or energy.
• vitiate v. To contaminate.
• vituperable adj. Deserving of censure.
• vivacity n. Liveliness.
• vivify v. To endue with life.
• vivisection n. The dissection of a living animal.
• vocable n. a word, especially one regarded in relation merely to its qualities of sound.
• vocative adj. Of or pertaining to the act of calling.
• vociferance n. The quality of making a clamor.
• vociferate v. To utter with a loud and vehement voice.
• vociferous adj. Making a loud outcry.
• vogue n. The prevalent way or fashion.
• volant adj. Flying or able to fly.
• volatile adj. Changeable.
• volition n. An act or exercise of will.
• volitive adj. Exercising the will.
• voluble adj. Having great fluency in speaking.
• voluptuous adj. having fullness of beautiful form, as a woman, with or without sensuous or sensual quality.
• voracious adj. Eating with greediness or in very large quantities.
• vortex n. A mass of rotating or whirling fluid, especially when sucked spirally toward the center.
• votary adj. Consecrated by a vow or promise.
• votive adj. Dedicated by a vow.
• vulgarity n. Lack of refinement in conduct or speech.
• vulnerable adj. Capable of receiving injuries.
• waif n. A homeless, neglected wanderer.
• waistcoat n. A vest.
• waive v. To relinquish, especially temporarily, as a right or claim.
• wampum n. Beads strung on threads, formerly used among the American Indians as currency.
• wane v. To diminish in size and brilliancy.
• wantonness n. Recklessness.
• warlike adj. Belligerent.
• wavelet n. A ripple.
• weak-kneed adj. Without resolute purpose or energy.
• weal n. Well-being.
• wean v. To transfer (the young) from dependence on mother's milk to another form of nourishment.
• wearisome adj. Fatiguing.
• wee adj. Very small.
• well-bred adj. Of good ancestry.
• well-doer n. A performer of moral and social duties.
• well-to-do adj. In prosperous circumstances.
• whereabouts n. The place in or near which a person or thing is.
• whereupon adv. After which.
• wherever adv. In or at whatever place.
• wherewith n. The necessary means or resources.
• whet v. To make more keen or eager.
• whimsical adj. Capricious.
• whine v. To utter with complaining tone.
• wholly adv. Completely.
• wield v. To use, control, or manage, as a weapon, or instrument, especially with full command.
• wile n. An act or a means of cunning deception.
• winsome adj. Attractive.
• wintry adj. Lacking warmth of manner.
• wiry adj. Thin, but tough and sinewy.
• witchcraft n. Sorcery.
• witless adj. Foolish, indiscreet, or silly.
• witling n. A person who has little understanding.
• witticism n. A witty, brilliant, or original saying or sentiment.
• wittingly adv. With knowledge and by design.
• wizen v. To become or cause to become withered or dry.
• wizen-faced adj. Having a shriveled face.
• working-man n. One who earns his bread by manual labor.
• workmanlike adj. Like or befitting a skilled workman.
• workmanship n. The art or skill of a workman.
• wrangle v. To maintain by noisy argument or dispute.
• wreak v. To inflict, as a revenge or punishment.
• wrest v. To pull or force away by or as by violent twisting or wringing.
• wretchedness n. Extreme misery or unhappiness.
• writhe v. To twist the body, face, or limbs or as in pain or distress.
• writing n. The act or art of tracing or inscribing on a surface letters or ideographs.
• wry adj. Deviating from that which is proper or right.
• yearling n. A young animal past its first year and not yet two years old.
• zealot n. One who espouses a cause or pursues an object in an immoderately partisan manner.
• zeitgeist n. The intellectual and moral tendencies that characterize any age or epoch.
• zenith n. The culminating-point of prosperity, influence, or greatness.
• zephyr n. Any soft, gentle wind.
• zodiac n. An imaginary belt encircling the heavens within which are the larger planets.