SAT Words 57-61

Root 12

57. flagrant

He spent more and more time away from home, telling what turned out to be flagrant

lies about his reasons for travel.

flagrant• (FLAY-grent) adjective

• Looks like: flag rent

• Picture a man and woman parading on the sidewalk in front of their apartment building. Each carries a flag that says, “We have no complaints about this building or our apartment, but we aren’t going to pay our rent and we don’t care who knows it.”

• Other forms: flagrantly (adverb); flagrancy (noun)

• Definition: openly and obviously evil; glaring; conspicuous

58. flippancy

Perhaps you could answer with a little less flippancy this time.

flippancy• (FLIP-an-see) noun

• Sounds like: flip and see

• Picture a man sitting in the electric chair. Just minutes earlier, a storm knocked out power and now one of the guards asks if the electricity is back on. The prisoner smiles casually and gestures to the large switch on the wall next to the chair: “Just flip and see.”

• Other forms: flippant (adj); flippantly (adv)

• Definition: treating a serious situation with arrogant humor or disrespect

59. garish

The plot of the song casts a garish light on the words of that

refrain.

garish

• (GAIR-ish) adjective

• Looks like: car fish

• Picture a fish swimming in the ocean. This fish has fins like a ’58 Chevy, with flashy chrome trim and pinstriping; its scales are two-tone metallic. When it moves past other fish, it turns on a set of blinking lights that act as turn signals, and sounds a horn that plays the theme from “Flipper.”

• Other forms: garishly (adverb); garishness (noun)

• Definition: flashy; gaudy

60. garrulous

For one thing, extroverts are overrepresented in politics, a profession in which only the

garrulous are really comfortable.

garrulous

• (GAIR-uh-luss) adjective

• Sounds like: Gary Loose

• Picture a talkative man named Gary Loose Lips. Gary’s lips are so loose, he can’t stop talking for a second. Gary is wearing a pair of low gray shoes, which are talking.

• Other form: garrulity (noun)

• Definition: very talkative; loquacious

61. genial

He has dark eyes, incipient jowls, and a manner that can change in a moment from

expansively genial to theatrically menacing.

genial

• (JEE-nee-ul) adjective

• Sounds like: Genie Al

• Picture a Genie named Al who has just come out of his bottle. He is extremely friendly and accommodating, wanting very much to please everyone around him.

• Other form: geniality (noun)

• Definition: friendly; gracious; kind

Root 12: past, pastor

The cows lazily spent the day grazing in the pasture.

past, pastor

• Meaning: shepherd

• Sample word: pasture, pastoral