SAT words - U-Z
| Ubiquitous - adj. seemingly everywhere | |
| syn. widespread, pandemic | |
| ant. isolated, rare | |
| The supermodel's ubiquitous nude photos could be found in nearly all the newspapers. | |
| Unctuous - adj. showing insincere earnestness | |
| syn. friendly, amiable | |
| ant. hateful, antisocial | |
| That unctuous foreigner from Latvia had no problems making friends. | |
| Undermine - v. to sap the strength of by undercutting | |
| syn. weaken, destroy | |
| ant. support, aid | |
| President Bush's stupidity undermines anything positive he could have done during his term. | |
| Uniform - adj. the same | |
| syn. consistent | |
| ant. varied | |
| Thanks to the assembly line, nearly all cars produced are uniform and identical. | |
| Unobtrusive - adj. not noticeable | |
| syn. inconspicuous | |
| ant. aggressive | |
| The unobtrusive vampire wasn't noticed by anyone as he sucked the blood out of the blonde. | |
| Urbane - adj. smooth and sophisticated | |
| syn. suave | |
| ant. rugged, simple, clumsy | |
| Unlike the country bumpkin, the urbane city boy had no trouble getting a girlfriend. | |
| Vacillate - v. to change from one opinion to another | |
| syn. fluctuate, hesitate | |
| ant. continue, remain | |
| Her indecision forced her to spend hours vacillating over what dress to wear. | |
| Vacuous - adj. lacking substance | |
| syn. empty, shallow | |
| ant. deep, full | |
| That vacuous hole is just waiting to be filled. | |
| Veneer - n. covering on furniture | |
| syn. coating, cover | |
ant. (none) |
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| My parents don't let us eat in the living room because we might get crumbs on the veneer. | |
| Venerate - v. to admire | |
| syn. revere, respect | |
| ant. hate, malign | |
| As a perverted male, I venerate those men who are constantly surrounded by hot girls. | |
| Venial - adj. easily forgiven | |
| syn. pardonable | |
| ant. guilty | |
| It's really hard to stay mad at my venial girlfriend, who looks like she can do no wrong. | |
| Veracious - adj. honest | |
| syn. truthful, accurate | |
| ant. deceitful | |
| The veracious boy tells nothing but the truth. | |
| Verbose - adj. using more words than necessary | |
| syn. wordy | |
| ant. laconic, concise | |
| President Bush's verbose speech contained words he didn't know the meaning of and lasted nearly 7 hours. | |
| Verve - n. enthusiasm | |
| syn. energy, eagerness | |
| ant. apathy, languor | |
| She showed plenty of verve and eagerness as she energetically made out with me. | |
| Vicarious - adj. felt or experienced secondhand | |
| syn. indirect, subsidiary | |
| ant. direct | |
| My sister brought me back pictures of China so that I could have a vicarious experience. | |
| Vilify - v. to defame someone's name | |
| syn. slander, malign | |
| ant. praise, laud | |
| The sex scandal vilified President Clinton's reputation and shot down his popularity. | |
| Vindictive - adj. eager for revenge | |
| syn. spiteful | |
| ant. forgiving | |
| The vindictive jock came after me with a knife after I flirted with his girlfriend. | |
| Virtuoso - n. a highly skilled performer | |
| syn. professional | |
| ant. amateur | |
| Yo-Yo Ma, a virtuoso cello player, brought the audience to tears with his amazing playing. | |
| Vitriolic - adj. burning like acid | |
| syn. caustic, corrosive | |
| ant. base | |
| It's not a good idea to apply anything vitriolic, like acid, to open wounds. | |
| Vituperation - n. verbal abuse | |
| syn. abuse, slander | |
| ant. acclaim, adulation | |
| I could only stand so much of his vituperation and insults before I kicked his ass. | |
| Volition - n. use of your own will | |
| syn. accord, willingness | |
| ant. indecision | |
| No one forced me to give myself a wedgie, for I did it out of my own volition. | |
| Voluminous - adj. extremely large in volume or size | |
| syn. numerous, gigantic, immense | |
| ant. minute, miniscule | |
| The voluminous encyclopedia set weighed 4000 pounds and included 40 million pages. | |
| Vociferous - adj. persistently vocal | |
| syn. loud, clamorous | |
| ant. quiet, laconic | |
| The vociferous activist yelled and screamed in the picket line for 7 straight hours. | |
| Voracious - adj. insatiably hungry for something | |
| syn. ravenous | |
| ant. full | |
| My voracious hamster ate an entire 8-poud steak once. He died of high cholestrol later. | |
| Vulnerable - adj. open to physical or mental damage | |
| syn. unprotected | |
| ant. safe, secure | |
| I must protect my weak and vulnerable pet fish from the evil Cat People! | |
| Waive - v. to give up voluntarily | |
| syn. relinquish, forgo, postpone | |
| ant. hold on to, keep | |
| In order to become an A student, I had to waive my social life for the time being. | |
| Wanton - adj. lacking human kindness | |
| syn. malicious, unchecked | |
| ant. kind, generous | |
| Her wanton behavior in the competition instantly made her the enemy of everyone. | |
| Whet - v. to excite; to sharpen | |
| syn. hone, stimulate | |
| ant. bore, dull | |
| Just looking at the 16-ounce tenderloin steak whet my appetite and made my stomach growl. | |
| Writhe - v. to twist sideways in pain or suffering | |
| syn. agonize, bend, distort | |
| ant. straighten, uncoil | |
| The crushed ant writhed and wiggled for a minute before dropping dead. | |
| Zealot - n. someone devoted beyond reason to a cause or belief | |
| syn. fanatic | |
| ant. uncaring/indifferent person | |
| Though she knew that she'd die, the zealot gave her life to defend the rights of guinea pigs. | |
| Zenith - n. the highest point | |
| syn. apex, acme | |
| ant. bottom | |
| I got the frisbee stuck in the zenith of the tree, where no one could reach it. | |
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© Raymond Ma 2004