SAT Essential Words

unassailable; adj.  Undeniable, actual, and authentic.
The unassailable truth came out when Marla’s little brother realized that their parents were really the tooth fairy.

valid; adj.  Real, authentic, correct; sound and well-grounded.
Benny Lee was able to draw a valid conclusion only after he had discovered all the facts.

veracity; n.  Adherence to truth, reality, accuracy, and precision.
The teacher confirmed the veracity of the student’s late pass by checking with the teacher who supposedly wrote the pass.

veritable; adj.  Being truly so-called; real or genuine.
A veritable stranger was kind enough to give Suzanne enough money to use the phone so she could call home.

aberration; n.  A defect of departure from the normal; deviation or imperfection.
My mother was not sure whether her occasionally seeing her dead great grandmother was real or an aberration.

artifice; n.  Pretense, deception, or ruse.
The young woman was about 90 percent artifice and only 10 percent authentic.

invulnerable; adj.  Impossible to damage or enter; not able to alter the reality.
The front door seemed invulnerable; it was made of steel, and it sported seven strong locks as well.

legitimacy; n.  The quality of being legitimate-authentic, genuine, and according to the law.
The painting was suspect, so the legitimacy of its authenticity was questionable.

materiality; n.  The state of being material.
Esther was so intent upon possessing things that her friends started questioning her focus on materiality.

materiality; n.  Being of real or substantive quality.
In Macbeth, Banquo’s ghost appears to Macbeth with such materiality that he is overwhelmed by guilt over Banquo’s murder.

pragmatic; adj.  Dealing with facts, reality, and actual occurrences.
Aaron’s insubstantial reasons were not pragmatic, so consequently non one believed him.

tangible; adj.  Possible to touch; possible to be treated as fact; real or concrete.
Carlos’s fantasy became tangible when Angie, the girl of his dreams, agreed to go out with him.

tenable; adj.  Capable of being maintained; able to be maintained because of genuineness.
The team’s successful season was barely tenable because of the girls’ growing apathy toward attending practice.

truism; n.  Self-evident truth, actuality, and reality.
The rumor about a possible scandal became a truism once the facts were released to the public.

actuality; n.  The state of being actual or real; truly existing.On Halloween the children were so taken by the costumes that they had a difficult time distinguishing between actuality and pretend.

applicable; adj.  Readily usable; practical.Lorena was not sure that her ideas were applicable to the problem, but she offered them, nevertheless.

authenticity; n.  The quality or condition of being authentic, trustworthy or genuine.Before paying the high price for the painting, the art dealer had to check the authenticity of the work.

bona fide; adj.  Authentic and genuine.Among all the knockoffs in the shoe store, I found an inexpensive pair of bona fide Steve Madens.

bona fide; adj.  Made and carried out in good faith.The offer on the farmhouse was a bona fide agreement; the seller and buyer shook hands to secure the deal.

categorical; adj.  Without exception; absolute and explicit.Nobody in the room doubted that Samuel was the categorical winner of the Lincoln-Douglas debate.

categorical; adj.  Of or relating to categories or arrangement or order.Sammy was so left-brained, logical, and sequential that no one was surprised when she put all her information in precise, categorical order.

defensible; adj.  Justifiable for accuracy.Maria had a defensible position: There was no doubt that she would win the debate.

factual; adj.  Of the nature of fact; real.Even though the book was a work of fiction, it was full of factual information about that historical era.

genuine; adj.  Not counterfeit, but authentic; honest and real; free from hypocrisy or dishonesty; sincere.My uncle gave me a genuine two-dollar bill for my birthday.

invulnerable; adj.  Impossible to damage or enter; not able to alter the reality.The front door seemed invulnerable; it was made of steel, and it sported seven strong locks as well.

legitimacy; n.  The quality of being legitimate-authentic, genuine, and according to the law.The painting was suspect, so the legitimacy of its authenticity was questionable.

spasmodic; adj.
Having the characteristic of a spasm or convulsion.
The doctor said that the medicine could cause spasmodic episodes. Happening intermittently; from time to time. The spasmodic sound of fireworks made the little boy frightened.

sporadic; adj.
Occurring at different intervals, with no set pattern.
The rain this summer has been sporadic, which is why I’ve seen my dad watering the lawn so much.

transitory;adj.
Short-lived; temporary; only passing, not permanent.
Kami was involved in another of her transitory relationships.

vacillate; verb.
To move back and forth, especially being unable to make up one’s mind.
I vacillated between blue socks or red socks all morning.

habitual; adj.
Naturally out of habit or routine; regular and common.
It became habitual for Joseph to brush his teeth every morning.

incessant; adj.
Continuing without interruption, sometimes to an excessive degree.
Incessant snow was becoming overwhelming for my stressed mom.

impalpable; adj.
Not able to be grasped, held, or understood.
Tess struggled with math because she felt it was impalpable.

incidental; adj.
Having little or no importance or impact.
The hurricane caused Jo destruction so it was incidental.

irrelevant; adj.
Unrelated to the matter being considered.
Taylor’s answer to the question was very irrelevant.

modicum; adj.
A small, very modest, or token amount.
Billy took a modicum of Jesse’s birthday cake.

nonessential; adj.
Not essential; of little or trivial importance.
When Sadie looked on Google, she found a lot of nonessential information to what she was looking for.

whit; noun.
The least bit; just an iota.
Savannah didn’t give a whit about finishing her math homework.

considerable; adj.
In a large or impressive amount or significance.
The teacher found her suggestion considerable.

intense; adj.
Of extreme degree, characteristics,strength, or effort.
Alex’s training was so intense that she won a gold medal.

momentous; adj.
Significant and meaningful; sometimes even historically important.
Jonathan made a momentous decision to throw the football which led them to a victory.