SAT words - B
| Balk - v. to stop and refuse to go on | |
| syn. refuse, resist | |
| ant. allow, accept | |
| The pig balked at the idea of going to the slaughterhouse, but he became sausage anyway. | |
| Balm - n. something that soothes | |
| syn. analgesic, cream | |
| ant. abrasive, irritant | |
| The gladiator needed balm to soothe his wounds after almost getting eaten by the lions. | |
| Banal - adj. commonplace and stale | |
| syn. tride, insipid | |
| ant. new, original | |
| The principal's banal speech on the importance of eating eggplant drove me to sleep. | |
| Banter - n. casual conversation | |
| syn. chitchat, gossip | |
| ant. silence | |
| The two chatty girls engaged in long hours of meaningless telephone banter everyday. | |
| Belligerent - adj. liking to start fights | |
| syn. bellicose, combative | |
| ant. peaceful, pacifist | |
| It took less than 5 minutes for the two belligerant people in the room to start a fight. | |
| Benevolent - adj. showing good will | |
| syn. beneficient, compassionate | |
| ant. malicious, cold-hearted | |
| The run-down school received nearly $20,000 from the benevolent donor. | |
| Benign - adj. mild or favorable | |
| syn. gentle, gracious, kind | |
| ant. malignant, mean | |
| Luckily, the tumor was benign and wouldn't cause any immediate harm. | |
| Bigot - n. one who stubbornly holds to his/her own opinions | |
| syn. extremist | |
| ant. normal | |
| No matter how we tried, the bigot refused to let go of her own beliefs. | |
| Bilious - adj. having a peevish disposition | |
| syn. ill-humored, queasy | |
| ant. well-tempered | |
| No matter how hard the clown tried, he couldn't get rid of the kid's bilious attitude. | |
| Blandishment - n. flattery | |
| syn. bootlicking, adulation | |
| ant. abuse, criticism | |
| The pompous airhead didn't understand why she didn't receive loads of blandishment for fixing the pencil sharpener. | |
| Blasphemy - n. disrespect toward something sacred | |
| syn. irreverence | |
| ant. respect, reverence | |
| The impious atheists act of blasphemy greatly angered the priests. | |
| Blatant - adj. embarrassingly obvious | |
| syn. loud, showy, tasteless, brazen | |
| ant. silent, reserved | |
| The girl's blatant exposure of her body during spring break greatly angered and embarrassed her over-protective and conservative boyfriend. | |
| Blithe - adj. cheerful, lighthearted | |
| syn. casual, heedless | |
| ant. serious, solemn | |
| It's hard not to be happy around such a hyper, excited, and blithe child. | |
| Blurb - n. short notice | |
| syn. article, column | |
| ant. (none) | |
| Though he had built a replica of the Eiffel Tower out of over a million toothpicks, the eccentric artist could only find a short blurb about his accomplishment in the newspaper. | |
| Bombast - n. "windbag" language | |
| syn. pompous language | |
| ant. humility, modesty | |
| President Bush's bombast at the convention did little to gain supporters or change the minds of those who thought he was a complete imbecile. | |
| Boon - n. a benefit | |
| syn. benefit, blessing | |
| ant. drawback, disadvantage | |
| Receiving the earthlings' support would be a boon towards the Martian prime minister's chances at reelection. | |
| Boor - n. rude/insensitive person | |
| syn. clod, barbarian | |
| ant. gentleman, intellectual | |
| After refusing to pay the paperboy and spitting in his face, I realized that I'd become a boor. | |
| Braggart - n. someone w/ a big ego | |
| syn. bigmouth, boaster | |
| ant. milquetoast | |
| I had to tape his mouth shut after that braggart told me about his pie-eating championships. | |
| Brevity - n. conciseness | |
| syn. shortness, briefness | |
| ant. lengthyness, elaborateness | |
| Many wished the speaker had kept brevity in mind before writing a 7-hour speech. | |
| Brusque - adj. curt, abrupt | |
| syn. blunt, short | |
| ant. lengthy, eloquent | |
| His brusque comments weren't enough to fully explain what I did wrong on the test. | |
| Buffer - n. something used to absorb shock/scrutiny | |
| syn. blockade, bumper, bulwark | |
| ant. (none) | |
| If it wasn't for the buffer by the side of the street, the clowns' crashed car would have been more seriously damaged. | |
| Buffet - v. to hit or beat repeatedly | |
| syn. clobber, pummel | |
| ant. restrain oneself | |
| After seeing him make out with my girlfriend, I planned to buffet him in the near future. | |
| Bungler - n. someone who is inept | |
| syn. blockhead, blunderbuss | |
| ant. expert, professional | |
| The unathletic bungler couldn't even through a tennis ball straight. | |
| Burgeon - v. to grow and quickly expand | |
| syn. flourish, bloom | |
| ant. wither, atrophy | |
| Using only the highest quality fertilizer and radioactive material, the mad scientist's seedlings quickly burgeoned into enormous, man-eating plants. | |
| Burnish - v. to polish until shiny | |
| syn. brighten, buff | |
| ant. dull, tarnish | |
| I spent the weekend burnishing my trophies so that they shined brightly. | |
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© Raymond Ma 2004