SAT words - C
| Cacophony - n. harsh, displeasing sound | |
| syn. horrible noise | |
| ant. euphony, pleasing sound | |
| The cacophony of screeching cats woke me from my deep slumber. | |
| Cajole - v. to urge w/ gentle appeals, teasing, flattery | |
| syn. brownnose, entice, induce | |
| ant. discourage, dissuade | |
| It took me months to cajole my parents into letting me buy a high-speed racing motorcycle. | |
| Callous - adj. emotionally hardened | |
| syn. unfeeling, apathetic, heartless | |
| ant. caring, compassionate | |
| Years of fighting in messy cake wars turned the baker into a bitter, angry, and callous man. | |
| Callow - adj. lacking maturity | |
| syn. immature, guileless, inexperienced | |
| ant. sophisticated, worldly | |
| Her callow, young boy had a hard time differentiating right from wrong, so he got into mischief quite frequently. | |
| Camaraderie - n. friendly good-fellowship | |
| syn. companionship, brotherliness | |
| ant. antagonism, bad blood | |
| The fact that those two share everything together is a sign of their camaraderie. | |
| Capitulate - v. to give in | |
| syn. surrender, acquiesce | |
| ant. fight, stand firm | |
| After seeing their top fighter dismember and annihilate my entire army, I was forced to capitulate to the enemy. | |
| Capricious - adj. changing on a whim or "caprice" | |
| syn. impulsive, unsteady | |
| ant. steady, persistent | |
| Our impulsive and capricious teacher suddenly decided to become a Las Vegas poker dealer. | |
| Carp - v. to find fault in a petty, nitpicky way | |
| syn. nag, annoy | |
| ant. support, agree | |
| That perfectionist had to carp and point out that one misspelling in my 50-page paper. | |
| Cataclysm - n. violent upheaval resulting in great destruction | |
| syn. calamity, catastrophe | |
| ant. boon, good fortune | |
| The cataclysm resulting from the tidal wave destroying LA wouldn't be fixed for decades. | |
| Categorical - adj. w/o bias or exception | |
| syn. absolute, certain | |
| ant. ambiguous, conditional | |
| The superstar restated that his categorical decision to retire would never change. | |
| Catharsis - n. a cleansing that releases emotions | |
| syn. purging, release | |
| ant. defilement, containment | |
| A wave of catharsis washed over me when I cried after watching "Titanic." | |
| Caustic - adj. biting | |
| syn. incisive, corrosive | |
| ant. healing, aiding | |
| That crazy nurse poured caustic acid on my wound instead of using medication. | |
| Cavalier - adj. showing arrogant disregard | |
| syn. disdainful, haughty | |
| ant. humble, obliging | |
| Those arrogant losers with cavalier attitudes skipped school like it didn't matter to them. | |
| Censure - n. stern or official condemnation | |
| syn. castigation, admonition | |
| ant. approval, blessing | |
| Howard Stern's insulting radio show seemed to get a censure every single time it aired. | |
| Charlatan - n. a quack or fraud | |
| syn. cheat, imposter | |
| ant. honest person | |
| We were fooled by the human charlatan dressed up as the Martian emperor. | |
| Chastise - v. to scold severely or punish | |
| syn. castigate, censure | |
| ant.encourage, promote | |
| I had to chastise my basketball teammate for mooning the opposing team. | |
| Chicanery - n. deception by trickery/sophistry | |
| syn. cheating, dishonesty | |
| ant. integrity, truthfulness | |
| After living a life of using chicanery daily, he discovered that no one would trust him. | |
| Chimerical - adj. given to unrealistic fantasies | |
| syn. fanciful, highly improbable | |
| ant. probably, definite, possible | |
| I wished my chimerical and unrealistic dream of being surrounded by hot supermodels 24/7 would come true. | |
| Circumlocution - n. a roundabout expression | |
| syn. redundancy, verbiage | |
| ant. brevity, conciseness | |
| The professor's use of circumlocution bored me to death. Why did she have to repeat everything over and over again? Get to the point already! | |
| Circumspection - n. being prudent or careful | |
| syn. caution, consideration | |
| ant. negligence | |
| That perfectionist nerd used the greatest circumspection and did the project perfectly. | |
| Clairvoyant - n. one who perceives far more than the normal senses would explain | |
| syn. seer | |
| ant. blindman | |
| Why can't I be clairvoyant and find out whether or not I'll ever get a girlfriend? | |
| Clemency - n. lenience or moderation in punishment | |
| syn. mercy, compassion | |
| ant. cruelty, harshness | |
| The serial car-licker on trial asked for clemency and mercy during his sentencing. | |
| Cloying - adj. boring, uninteresting | |
| syn. colorless, commonplace | |
| ant. exciting, fascinating | |
| If I have to spend any more time with my cloying girlfriend, I might die of boredom. | |
| Coalesce - v. to mix or come together from separate elements | |
| syn. fuse, unite | |
| ant. divide, split | |
| To make my unhealthy junk food smorgasbord, coalesce all the junk food you can find. | |
| Coherence - n. having a logical relationship of parts | |
| syn. clinging, conformity | |
| ant. disagreement, inconsistency | |
| The lack of coherence in his essay made it nearly impossible to read or understand. | |
| Company- n. group of performers | |
| syn. troupe, team | |
| ant. individual | |
| The company of circus performers quit their jobs and started performing on highways. | |
| Complacent - adj. self-satisfied | |
| syn. smug, conceited | |
| ant. insecure, uneasy | |
| After all of his international successes, the scientist still wasn't complacent about his own great accomplishments. | |
| Complicity - n. involvement in a crime | |
| syn. collaboration, involvement | |
| ant. (none) | |
| Her complicity in the gluestick robbery was obvious when she gave an obviously fake alibi. | |
| Compulsive - adj. characterized by irresistible impulses to act | |
| syn. overwhelming, irresistable | |
| ant. flexible, independent | |
| No one knew why, but that compulsive person always quacks like a duck at noon everyday. | |
| Conciliate - v. to regain goodwill by pleasant behavior | |
| syn. appease, gratify | |
| ant. aggravate, irritate | |
| In an attempt to conciliate after being caught cheating on his girlfriend, he sent her bundles of roses everyday for a month. | |
| Concord - n. harmony of interests | |
| syn. accord, agreement | |
| ant. conflict, discord | |
| The fighting factions of furry hamsters stopped the battle and reached a concord once they saw the army of hungry cats coming their way. | |
| Concrete - adj. definite, specific | |
| syn. real, tangible | |
| ant. abstract, intangible | |
| We tend to believe in the concrete, material items around us rather than the intagibles, such as love and affection. | |
| Concur - v. to agree | |
| syn. assent, to approve | |
| ant. disagree, dispute | |
| I concur with the president's decision to make all pretty girls wear short miniskirts 24/7. | |
| Condescend - v. to come down in level | |
| syn. unbend, stoop | |
| ant. respect | |
| I don't like that prom queen's condescending attitude and the way she looks down at nerds. | |
| Condone - v. to overlook or pardon | |
| syn. to excuse | |
| ant. forbid, prevent | |
| The photographer had to condone the playboy playmate's pissy attitude to see her naked. | |
| Conducive - adj. apt to promote or assist | |
| syn. helpful, promotive | |
| ant. unfavorable, hindering | |
| The two conducive partners enjoyed helping each other and finished their project quickly. | |
| Conflagration - n. huge fire | |
| syn. blaze, inferno | |
| ant. deluge | |
| The conflagration burned down half the forests on Hawaii. | |
| Congenial - adj. having similar tastes | |
| syn. like-minded, sociable | |
| ant. different, opposite | |
| The congenial couple had similar interests and enjoyed doing everything together. | |
| Consecrate - v. to make sacred or holy or worthy of respect | |
| syn. hallow | |
| ant. desecrate | |
| A visit from the pope consecrated the new church in Plano, Texas. | |
| Consign - v. to assign | |
| syn. entrust, commit | |
| ant. hold, keep, receive | |
| The leader consigned the task of waxing the car to the new guy in the group. | |
| Contempt - n. total lack of respect | |
| syn. disdain, scorn | |
| ant. esteem, honor | |
| For some reason, he hated the president and had nothing but contempt for him. | |
| Contiguous - adj. adjacent to one another | |
| syn. adjoining, beside | |
| ant. apart, distant | |
| The contiguous United States doesn't include Alaska or Hawaii, only the states connected to each other on the North American continent. | |
| Contrite - adj. sorrowful | |
| syn. repentant | |
| ant. happy, gleeful | |
| His final contrite song expressed his unrelenting love for a girl he knew but was afraid to talk to in high school. | |
| Convivial - adj. friendly and lively of spirit | |
| syn. party-loving, gregarious | |
| ant. mean, unfriendly, narcisstic | |
| Though she acted convivial in public, she was anything but nice in the privacy of her home. | |
| Copious - adj. in plentiful supply | |
| syn. superabundant | |
| ant. scanty, skimpy | |
| Even copious amounts of Clearasil and other acne treatments couldn't cure my acne. | |
| Corporeal - adj. pertaining to the body | |
| syn. anatomical, human | |
| ant. intangible, spiritual | |
| Though the corporeal part of him died, his spirit lives on as the Freaky Ghost of Plano. | |
| Cosmopolitan - adj. having parts from all over the world | |
| syn. global, planetary | |
| ant. insular, provincial | |
| The cosmopolitan toothpick society has toothpick artists from all over the world. | |
| Counterbalance - v. to offset | |
| syn. compensate, counteract | |
| ant. unbalance, overbalance | |
| To counterbalance the fattening effect of the 10 Big Macs, he jogged 20 miles that night. | |
| Courtier - n. attendant for a sovereign | |
| syn. entourage, escort | |
| ant. (none) | |
| The group of courtiers followed the king everywhere and carried out all of his orders. | |
| Craven - adj. weak | |
| syn. chicken, cowardly, gutless | |
| ant. bold, brave, strong | |
| My craven, little sister nearly wet her pants when the fake ghost jumped in front of her. | |
| Credulous - adj. willing to believe almost anything | |
| syn. gullible | |
| ant. hard to convince | |
| That credulous girl actually believed me when I said I could get her a date with Brad Pitt. | |
| Criterion - n. a standard used to make judgements | |
| syn. example, standard | |
| ant. (none) | |
| The extreme criterion used in the interviews eliminated all but 5 of the 100,000 applicants. | |
| Culpable - adj. deserving of blame | |
| syn. blamable, responsible, blameworthy | |
| ant. innocent, inculpable | |
| The culpable criminal went to jail for 50 years after trying to burn down a toothpick factory. | |
| Curative - adj. able to cure | |
| syn. helpful, invigorating | |
| ant. injurious, harmful | |
| The curative balm got rid of my rash very quickly. | |
| Curmudgeon - n. ill-tempered person | |
| syn. bellyacher, complainer, crank | |
| ant. convivial fellow | |
| I hate being around curmudgeons who do nothing but complain all day. | |
| Cursory - adj. not thorough | |
| syn. sketchy, hasty, superficial | |
| ant. thorough, meticulous | |
| My mom's cursory examination of my room insured that my large collection of Playboy and Penthouse magazines would remain a secret. | |
| Curt - adj. rudely brief or abrupt | |
| syn. blunt, brusque | |
| ant. long, loquacious | |
| President Bush's impolite and curt greeting to the Queen of England greatly angered her. | |
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© Raymond Ma 2004