1. ACT Vocabulary
Sophomores –

2. Abbreviate- to shorten;abridge
Michael Grant Thomas John LeMay II was named after his father, but he decided early in life to abbreviate his lengthy name to Jr.

3. Abstinence-act of refraining from
Katarina had an extreme weakness for chocolate, but due to health reasons, she decided to practice abstinence in regards to her chocolate consumption.  

4. Adulation- high praise
Elvis Presley was once the object of such adulation that young girls screamed and fainted at the sight of him.

5. Adversity- misfortune, difficulties
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” ― Abraham Lincoln

6. Aesthetic- pertaining to beauty
At the end of my two week painting workshop, the result was an aesthetic wonder of black and white that made my instructor speechless with pleasure.
“Aesthetics have substantial political consequences. How one views oneself as beautiful or not beautiful or desirable or not desirable has deep consequences in terms of one’s feelings of self-worth and one’s capacity to be a political agent.”  ― Cornel West

7. Amicable- agreeable; without serious disagreement or rancor
Though the lawsuit accused him of libel and slander, the defendant had hope that there would be an amicable settlement of the dispute.

8. Anachronistic- out-of-date; something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time.
The crowd laughed as I walked down the hallway in my tie-dyed, anachronistic bellbottoms, but I knew I had the most unique costume for Spirit Week! 

9. Anecdote- short account of events
In The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Franklin tells anecdotes related to his ancestors that he thinks will interest the reader.

10. Anonymous-nameless
Many Scottish ballads have an anonymous author because they were composed many years before they were recorded.

11. Antagonist- opponent (opposing force)
Though some people may believe Creon is the protagonist, Sophocles, the author of Antigone, considered Creon to be the antagonist because the story focuses upon Antigone’s actions and Creon’s opposition to her.

12. Arid- extremely dry 
While Shawn enjoys traveling west, he does not enjoy the arid climate. 

13. Assiduous- 1) hard-working 2) showing great care and effort
The scientists were assiduous in researching the latest facts and figures, for they knew their findings were vital in the development of a new vaccine. 

14. Asylum- sanctuary 
Because their lives were in danger in their native country, the refugees were granted asylum in the United States.

15. Benevolent- 1) friendly, helpful 2) charitable
He was a member of many benevolent organizations that tried to alleviate the suffering of impoverished people around the world. 

16. Camaraderie- trust among friends.
Old Major tried to emphasize the idea that camaraderie should exist among the animals, even though this concept is not followed by his successor.  

17. Censure- to criticize harshly
“On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy, who had led the fight in Congress to root out suspected Communists from the Federal Government.” (Ourdocuments.gov )

18. Circuitous- indirect, roundabout
Since I-75 is blocked due to road work, we took a circuitous route to Lexington, which added one hour to our travel time. 

19. Clairvoyant (can be used as a noun or adjective)- able to see the future
In the play Antigone, readers may classify Tieresias as clairvoyant, a man who is able to reveal the destruction that is in Creon’s future. 

20. Collaborate- to work together.
“In the long history of humankind and animal kind, those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed” –Charles Darwin

21. Compassion- Sympathy or Mercy
Jessica worked at the church food pantry every weekend; she has a lot of compassion for those people who are less fortunate.

22. Compromise- to settle differences
Because Man had been the enemy for so long, the animals refused to compromise with Mr. Jones. 

23. Condescending- patronizing (“looking down” upon someone)
Even though he speaks sternly, Old Major's speech is not condescending to the other animals. 

24. Conditional- provisional, contingent
An agreement was formed upon the ideals of fairness and was conditional on both parties’ cooperation in the matter. 

25. Conformist- follower of customs
Guy Montag, a character in Fahrenheit 451, is a conformist at the beginning of the novel; however, he seeks to change his society by rebelling against the established norms. 

26. Congregation- crowd of people
Though the congregation was rather lively in manner, they paid close attention to the preacher’s sermon.   

27. Convergence- joining of parts  Other definitions:  1) a location where airflows or ocean currents meet, characteristically marked by upwelling (of air) or down welling (of water).  2) the act of moving toward uniformity (union) 
While looking at the map, the tourist realized that the town was located at the convergence of two rivers.  

28. Deleterious- harmful 
The lack of food has a deleterious effect upon the animals; it is a catalyst for their revolution. 

29. Demagogue- rabble-rousing leader
 The corporate executives blamed the strike of the United Mine Workers on a few demagogues who inspired (or provoked) the workers to demand higher wages. 

30. Digression – straying away from the main point
The student’s digression in his essay resulted in a grade of a D.

31. Diligent – Hard-working
It is no surprise that John, who was always a very diligent student, is graduating from the Naval Academy at the top of his class and is pursuing a career as a helicopter pilot for the United States Navy.

32. Discredit – dishonor, disgrace
The students were discredited when they were publicly reprimanded for plagiarizing an assignment.

34. Disdain – To regard with scorn
The student felt disdain towards his friend for telling his mother that he had disobeyed her orders.

35. Divergent – variant, moving apart
It took the spouses five years to discover that their tastes were divergent.

36. Empathy – Sharing of feelings
Mark, who had spent last year watching from the sidelines due to an injury, had empathy towards his brother as he was being carted off the field with a broken leg.

37. Emulate – follow an example
Mrs. White encouraged us to emulate her annotations, but she was going faster than I could keep up.

38. Enervating – Tiring, weakening
Although only thirty minutes, this workout is very enervating.

39. Ephemeral – Momentary, fleeting
The older one gets, the more he/she realizes that life is very ephemeral.

40. Evanescent – short-lived, as an image
We would have all missed the evanescent moment if not for the photographer’s speed and skill.

41. Exasperation – irritation, frustration
The coach’s exasperation was evident as he called his entire second string from the bench and told them to prepare to enter the game in place of the starters.

43. Exemplary - outstanding
The students’ exemplary efforts were rewarded with a monetary gift at the end of the year.