SAT Special (Vocabulary IV)

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• Innate (adj) inborn; existing from birth. Mary has an innate affinity for well dressed people. Josh has an innate talent of blowing a whistle through his nose :P.
• Sycophant (n) someone who flatters people in power to gain favors. I don't know how bosses cannot distinguish between sycophants and hard workers.
• Amiable (adj) of a friendly disposition. Amiable Amy is always ready to help anyone with their Maths course.
• Esoteric (adj) understood only by a few. An esoteric ancient language. The esoteric script of the movie went over my head.
• Extraneous (adj) irrelevant; not essential or required. Most of the clothing Mary brought for the drama was extraneous. Don't divert the discourse to extraneous topics. On the shore, amidst the water. an extraneous sign read "No parking!"
• Tedious (adj) boring because of being long or monotonous; tiresome. The tedious algebra exercise wasn't even worth looking at. The tedious song was a pain for my ears, all it consisted of was the chorus. She worked tediously on her assignment for a week but still got a B.
• Caustic (adj) corrosive or acrid; sarcastic or hurting. Scrooge was as caustic and cold as ever, pompously neglecting the woes of the people around him.
• Inadvertent (adj) careless or resulting from carelessness (advert is to pay attention). The inadvertent boy didn't complete the assignment for 3 days in a row, much to the ire of the teacher. The inadvertent construction workers didn't coat the sides of the road with reflective paint. The doctor inadvertently injected the medicine into the artery rather than the vein.
• Exhaustive (adj) thorough or complete. An exhaustive account of the life of the army general. The exhaustive report on the incident covered 500 pages.
• Incongruous (adj) not harmonious or consistent. The pattern on that wall is incongruous to the one beside it. The juxtaposition of soldiers and recusant schoolchildren was both shocking and incongruous. The red of the rock against the blue sky, an incongruous sight of water in the desert.
• Belittle (v) to make or seem little. The mammoth 300 odd run 7th wicket stand between Broad and Trott was belittled by spot fixing allegations. The superb performance of Jay Sean was belittled by the fire accident behind the stage. The air force belittled the mass UFO sighting by putting forward bizarre scientific causes.
• Digress (v) to go off central topic. "But the Americans also did it," digressed Tom. I have to digress here a moment to explain the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist.
• Appease (v) too satisfy, pacify or calm. Timothy appeased his thirst with a long cool drink. Molly appeased her critics with a tremendous book.
• Frivolous (adj) not serious or with a hint of levity. I was frivolous about starting a relationship with her, I hope she doesn't take it seriously. We send a lot of texts to our friend each other, some rather frivolous, others a tad serious.
• Instigate (v) to stir up or to give rise to. The killing of the innocent boy instigated a citywide riot. Don't you even think of instigating a fight with Lee, he may look skinny at first glance but he is a trained martial artist.
• Sage (adj) somebody possessing wisdom and reverence due to experience. The sage, old fighter didn't take the abusive provocations of his opponent seriously, he let out his ire after the coup de grâce.
• Jeopardy (n) in question. The injury put the future career of the star sportsman in jeopardy.
• Tangible (adj) touchable; can be felt; actual or concrete. Lack of tangible evidence has given him a chance to win the legal battle. We shuddered together in the dark cave, the blizzard and the creatures of the night calling out to us, but my mind never responded to anything until I suddenly felt Josh's hand go limp and tangibly cold. (40 Nights)
• Indulgent (adj) generally tolerant and permissive; yielding to desire. The nice grandma was indulgent of her grandchildren letting them have her special dark chocolate pudding every time they came asking for it. An indulgent professor. Tom was a self-indulgent person, when he wanted to bang a girl he won't wait.
• Remorse (n) feeling\realization of guilt or regret. The bliss of having so much money at you disposal wasn't lasting, I was overcome by remorse, my happy trip had hit a dead end, faces of the people I killed were coming back to haunt me...(Mafioso)
• Respite (n) rest or delay. The devilish puppy realized my need for a respite and went back without causing his trademark mayhem. The respite between the earthquake shocks.
• Stoic (adj) indifferent or impassive; someone remaining patient in the face of adversity. The stoic general didn't here what the woman had to say and killed her. Bruce Willis is a stoic, brawny man.
• Peripheral (adj) outlying, not significant. A peripheral shake of the hand went unnoticed and the surgeon continued with the operation despite the anesthesia being incorrectly administered.
• Hedonistic (adj) seeking pleasure. There is a lot more to sex rather than just hedonism. The hedonistic lifestyle of Yoshi came to an end when his lottery winnings came to an end.
• Benefactor (n) a generous donor. The Earl was the soul benefactor of the new church. He was the most famous benefactor in town, giving away loads of money in charity.
• Apocryphal (adj) not true but widely regarded as truth. The apocryphal movie, 2012, had many a people worried about their future. An apocryphal story about Don.
• Virtuoso (n) exceptional music performer or a talented person. Altair, the 13th century fictional assassin, was a virtuoso of his craft. The animal trainer made the gifted walrus a virtuoso of  the saxophone.
• Slander (v) to defame or speak false of someone. Imran Khan sued Ian Botham for slandering and libel and won $ 400,000 in compensation.
• Animosity (n) hostility. Rats and squirrels are both quite similar rodents, but you don't show the same animosity to squirrels as you do to rats. (Inglorious Basterds)