Up Your Score (21 page)

In a small
maritime
village, there lived a
morose
review book author named Manek. Most of the citizens were
magnanimous
to him because he was a
meticulously
clean
mendicant
, but there was a
minuscule
-brained
malevolent
gang in town (led by Michael) who
maliciously
maligned
him. “Hey, Manek,” they would yell. “You’re more
malodorous
than a
moo
-cow. Yeah, Manek is a
misnomer:
You should be called
moo
-nek!”

Manek bore the
mendacious
gang no
malice
, though he wished he could, through some ingenious
maneuver
,
meander
through the town’s
myriad
streets without these
monotonous
,
mordant
maledictions
. He grew
melancholy
and suffered from a great
malaise
as he
morosely
contemplated their
malignancy
. He could be found sitting, listening to the
mellifluous
ocean waves, with a virtual
miasma
over him, snuffling quietly. There, that story wasn’t so
macabre
, was it?

absolutely lowest point

Note:
The word
zenith
is the opposite of nadir. If you ever get these two confused, just remember that no one would name their brand of TV “Nadir.”

Nadine knew their relationship had reached its
nadir
when she asked her husband to watch the Superbowl with her and he said, “
Nah, dear
.”

lacking in worldly wisdom or experience

After God expelled them from Eden, Adam said, “The time is
nigh, Eve
. We can no longer be
naive
.”

coming into being; emerging (see
RENASCENT
)

Your
nascent
vocabulary will cause a
n ascent
in your verbal score.

evil

No fairy is nefarious
.

vengeful enemy

In the book of Genesis, the Serpent is Eve’s
nemesis
.

a newly coined word, phrase, or expression

Note:
Decode this word.

Whoever made up the word
neologism
created a
neologism
.

beginner

The
neophyte
boxer was
new
to
fighting
.

bond or link between things

A
nexus
is a bond that co
nnects
us.

offensive; disgusting; filthy; malodorous

Note:
Don’t be fooled; this word has nothing to do with noise. My parents get angry when I don’t clean my
noisome
room. It really an
noys ’em
.

appearing casual, cool, indifferent, chilled out

Because the hare considered the race against the tortoise a
nonchallenge
, he was
nonchalant
about it and ended up losing.

perplexed; baffled

She had expected to get an A-plus on the test; when she received an A-minus, she was
nonplussed
.

famous for something bad; infamous

The nefarious noteperson was
notorious
for leaving nasty
notes
on people’s doors.

On the SAT this won’t refer to a literary genre. It will mean
new; unusual; different

Years ago there was
no Vel
cro. Then someone had the
novel
idea of inventing it.

beginner; person new to something

He was a
novice
when it came to carpentry—he had
no vise
.

harmful to health or morals

In industrial cities, the water can be
noxious
, and the people ob
noxious
.

subtle variation in color, meaning, or some other quality

I could tell by the subtle
nuance
in her voice that my
new aunt
thought I was being a
nu
isa
nce
.

The
nefarious
villain had reached the
nadir
of his
notorious
career. He had run into his
nemesis
, Nice Ned, the sheriff, after stealing some counterfeit cash (he often didn’t notice the
nuances
of forged bills). Now he lay dying from two fatal ear-lobe wounds near a
noisome
junkyard in the desert.

Looking back, he recalled his
nascent
life as an outlaw. He had started as a
naive
novice
in New York, but when the
noxious
city fumes got to him, he headed west, where a
novel
future awaited him. In later years, no longer a
neophyte
, his
nonchalant
attitude had left him
nonplussed
. Now nearly dead, he wanted to establish a
nexus
with his lost youth, but it was too late.

hardened against good influence

I can’t en
dure it
when I try to reason with you because you’re
obdurate
.

state of being totally forgotten

Lincoln will never fall into
oblivion
. No,
Abe’ll live on
in our memories forever.

fawning; too easily compliant

“May I polish your toenails and peel you some grapes?” asked her
obsequious
attendant.

out of style; outdated

In the age of iPods, the compact disc is becoming
obsolete
.

unruly; defiant; boisterous

High school librarians always say things like, “Let’s keep the noise level to a minimum,” “Cut the chatter,” and “Don’t be
obstreperous
in the library.”

to force oneself or one’s ideas on others; to ex
trude
; to stick out

You gotta be some kinda social sl
ob t’ rude
ly
obtrude
your opinions on others.

You may remember that in math an angle is called
obtuse
if it is greater than 90 degrees. However, the meaning that would be on the SAT is
stupid, thick-headed (think: an
obtuse
angle is “thick” and so is an
obtuse
person).

Note:
An acute angle is less than 90 degrees and an acute person is sharp-minded—the opposite of
obtuse
.

The
obtuse
man could not draw an
obtuse
angle.

pertaining to supernatural phenomena

A cult
holds
occult
rituals.

offensive; hateful

The drug dealer was
odious
—he was trying to “
O.D.” us
.

obnoxious and pushy in giving opinions

“Swimming in the lake is prohibited!” yelled the lifeguard to the drowning people. To which they replied, “
Oh
,
fish us
out and don’t be
officious
!”

to stare at

The skier
ogles
through her
goggles
all the cute ski instructors who whiz by.

pertaining to the sense of smell

The stench of that
ol’ factory
was offensive to the
olfactory
sense.

all-powerful

Note:
This word is totally decodable:

Lex Luthor desires to be the
omnipotent
ruler of the Earth, but Superman always defeats him.

all-knowing

Note:
Also decodable:

He read every old issue of
Omni
science
magazine in the hope that he would become
omniscient
.

burdensome

Would you
honor us
by helping us carry this
onerous
box of lead?

rich

Opulent
Oprah always wore
opals
—and diamonds and rubies and emeralds and . . .

small hole, opening, or vent