MAT Word List — General Vocabulary
Analogies involving general vocabulary (as distinguished from the vocabulary of specific academic fields) account for 15-20 percent of the Miller Analogies Test. The 165 words on this page are just the sort to which the MAT test makers resort in designing these test items. Review this list to determine the extent to which you're ready for this portion of the MAT.
NOTE: This list is here mainly to help you gauge your current knowledge of MAT-level vocabulary. Expect to find no more than a few of these words on your actual exam.
- abate (v) to put an end to; to decrease in amount, number, or degree
- aberration (n) deviation from the normal or usual
- abeyance (n) a condition of suspended activity
- abjure (v) to renounce (give up or put aside voluntarily) solemnly, esp. by formal declaration
- abrogate (v) to revoke, annul, or rescind
- acumen (n) mental keenness and acuteness; discernment
- adumbrate (v) to foretell, foreshadow, or prophesy vaguely
- affable (adj) agreeable and good-natured
- ambivalent (adj) indecisive due to conflicting feelings about a person or action
- aphoristic (adj) obvious or well-known, as regarding a general truth
- apprise (v) to acquaint, notify, or instruct
- ardent (adj) characterized by warmth of feeling; fervid; zealous
- asperity (n) roughness or bitterness, esp. regarding temper
- assail (v) to attack violently
- assay (n) a test or analysis to determine characteristics, esp. of a metal
- audacious (adj) daring or adventurous
- belie (v) to mislead or misrepresent
- beneficent (adj) producing good by acts of kindness
- berate (v) to scold harshly; upbraid; censure
- bereft (adj) deprived of; lacking
- blandishment (n) speech or action intended to flatter, coax, or cajole
- blithe (adj) lightheartedly joyful or cheerful
- bombast (n) pretentious, wordy speech or writing
- cadge (v) to sponge off of (another person); freeload; mooch
- capricious (adj) acting impulsively and whimsically (without care)
- captious (adj) inclined to find fault
- chary (adj) cautious; circumspect
- cloistered (adj) secluded; hidden away from the world
- cogent (adj) persuasive or compelling
- cogitate (v) to ponder or contemplate
- comely (adj) good-looking; attractive
- commiserate (v) to feel or express pity for another
- complaisant (adj) eager to please; obliging
- conscript (v) to select or enroll by compulsion, esp. for military service
- consign (v) to transfer goods to another for subsequent sale
- contravene (v) to act contrary to
- contrite (adj) repentant; regretful
- convivial (adj) enjoying the pleasures of companionship, eating, and drinking; jovial
- convoke (v) to call together for a meeting; convene
- corroborate (v) to support (help prove) with evidence
- culpable (adj) worthy or deserving of blame, as for a wrongful act; liable
- dally (v) to act playfully; to waste time
- decorous (adj) behaving in a respectful, correct manner
- decry (v) to belittle publicly; disparage; slander; denigrate
- deride (v) to make fun of or scoff at; ridicule
- descry (v) to catch sight of or discover by observation or investigation
- diatribe (n) an angry or bitter attack in speech or writing
- disaffect (v) to make unfriendly where a friendly relationship previously existed; estrange
- discomfit (v) to thwart or frustrate
- disinter (v) to dig up (unearth); exhume
- doctrinaire (adj) merely theoretical, without regard to practical considerations; dogmatic or authoritarian
- dote (v) to pamper adoringly and attentively; coddle
- duplicity (n) deception by pretending
- effusive (adj) gushing; characterized by unrestrained uttering (talking)
- elucidate (v) to clarify by illustration, explanation, or interpretation
- enamored (adj) in love; infatuated (having a crush); smitten
- encomium (n) high or glowing praise; acclaim
- entreat (v) to ask earnestly or urgently; beseech; implore
- equable (adj) even-tempered; characterized by a lack of unpleasant extremes
- equanimity (n) composure (dignified calmness)
- equivocate (v) to dodge or evade (a question or issue) through the use of ambiguous or misleading language; prevaricate
- errant (adj) going astray, esp. doing wrong
- expostulate (v) to reason with a person, esp. in order to dissuade (persuade against); remonstrate
- extant (adj) still in existence; not destroyed
- extemporaneous (adj) not planned ahead of time; impromptu; spontaneous
- extenuate (v) to treat as less serious or important than is apparent; mitigate
- fawn (v) to show affection (as a dog for its master); to court favor in a cringing or flattering manner
- feckless (adj) worthless or meaningless; ineffectual or weak
- feign (v) to intentionally give a false appearance
- felicitous (adj) aptly expressed; possessing the ability to express in a suitable, fitting manner
- flagging (adj) characterized by a decline in spirit, interest, or attention
- furtive (adj) sneaky or sly; stealthy; surreptitious
- germane (adj) pertinent; relevant
- gist (n) the main point of a matter
- glean (v) to collect (pick up) patiently — little by little; garner; cull
- goad (v) to urge; spur; prod
- gratuitous (adj) given or done freely, without compensation
- grudging (adj) reluctant to give
- harrow (v) to torment or torture; vex
- impart (v) to make known; to transmit, esp. information
- impede (v) to interfere with the progress of; hinder; obstruct; hamper
- impend (v) to hover or hang threateningly; loom
- imperious (adj) domineering or overbearing; commanding or lordly
- impugn (v) to call into question; to oppose as false; gainsay
- incise (v) to cut into
- incursion (n) sudden, temporary invasion; raid; attack
- inimical (adj) adverse or unfavorable; hostile or unfriendly
- inimitable (adj) without peer or match; not capable of being imitated
- iniquitous (adj) wicked or immoral
- innocuous (adj) harmless; benign; inoffensive
- insipid (adj) uninteresting; flavorless; flat; stale
- insolent (adj) showing disrespect or contempt through behavior or language
- intractable (adj) not easily controlled; obstinate
- inveigle (v) to entice or win over by ingenuity or flattery
- inviolate (adj) not violated; unprofaned
- ire (n) anger; wrath
- jibe (v) to be in agreement or accord
- lassitude (n) weariness or fatigue; languor
- loll (v) to lounge; loaf; laze
- lucid (adj) clear-minded; easily understood; bright or shiny
- macerate (v) to cause to waste away; to soften and break apart by moistening
- malinger (v) to pretend to be ill so as to avoid duty
- meretricious (adj) gaudy; tawdry; flashy
- nascent (adj) coming into existence; beginning to grow
- obsequious (adj) humbly or overly attentive, as to a person in authority; fawning; sycophantic
- occlude (v) to obstruct, shut in, or close up
- onerous (adj) oppressive or burdensome
- ossified (adj) turned to bone; fossilized
- ostracize (v) to exclude from a group by common consent
- palpable (adj) evident; obvious; manifest
- panegyric (n) an oration or writing of praise for a person (esp. a eulogy) or thing
- parsimonious (adj) excessively frugal or sparing; miserly
- peripatetic (adj) walking or traveling about; itinerant
- parry (v) to evade, dodge, or ward off (as in fencing)
- pedantic (adj) making an excessive show of learning; overly concerned with rules and details; didactic
- peruse (v) to examine or study; scrutinize
- pied (adj) having patches of two or more colors; particolored
- pithy (adj) full of substance, vigor, and meaning (as in a pithy observation or remark), usually concise and to-the-point
- poignant (adj) deeply affecting (moving) the emotions; keenly distressing
- placate (v) to quiet or calm; appease; pacify
- plaintive (adj) expressing sorrow or melancholy; mournful; lugubrious
- pliant (adj) bending or yielding readily; easily influenced; compliant; acquiescent
- pragmatic (adj) emphasizing practicality and realistic consequences
- precept (n) a direction (instruction) given as a rule or principle of conduct; maxim; axiom
- probity (n) integrity; uprightness; honesty
- proclivity (n) natural inclination of tendency; bent; disposition
- prodigious (adj) extraordinary, esp. in size or amount; wonderful or marvelous
- prolix (adj) tediously long and wordy in speech or writing
- propriety (n) conformity to established standards of proper behavior or manners
- protract (v) to draw out or lengthen in time; prolong
- rail (v) to complain or denounce vehemently
- raze (v) to tear down; demolish; level to the ground
- recalcitrant (adj) resisting authority or control; rebellious; refractory
- rectitude (n) moral virtue or strength
- recumbent (adj) lying down; prone; prostrate; supine
- regale (v) to give lavish pleasure to; delight; amuse
- relegate (v) to send or assign to a particular class, position or condition (especially an inferior one)
- repine (v) to be fretfully (agitatedly) discontent
- repugnant (adj) repulsive; offensive; revolting
- resplendent (adj) shining brilliantly or brightly
- sate (v) to fully satisfy an appetite or desire; satiate
- seemly (adj) fitting or proper with respect to propriety and good taste
- sere (adj) dry; withered
- sinecure (n) comfortable job or position requiring little work
- slake (v) to satisfy thirst or desire
- sodden (adj) soaked or drenched
- soporific (adj) causing sleepiness; sleepy or drowsy
- sordid (adj) dirty or filthy; morally shameful; meanly selfish
- spurious (adj) not genuine or authentic; bogus; counterfeit
- spurn (v) to reject with disdain; shun
- stanch (v) to stop the flow of
- stygian (adj) devilish; diabolical
- tacit (adj) silent; understood without being openly expressed; implicit
- temperance (n) showing moderation and restraint when indulging in appetites and passions
- temporize (v) to gain time by delaying with evasiveness or indecisiveness
- tout (v) to solicit support for by praising or boasting about
- unstinting (adj) unrestricted or unlimited in quantity, amount, or degree, esp. regarding devotion or charity
- untenable (adj) indefensible, esp. an argument; unreasonable; unsupportable
- vacillate (v) to waver in opinion or decision
- vagary (n) an unpredictable, erratic, or whimsical idea or occurrence; caprice
- vanquish (v) to conquer or subdue by superior force
- vex (v) to annoy, anger, or provoke; abrade; perturb
- vitiate (v) to impair the quality of; mar; degrade
- waft (v) to drift or float over water or through the air
- wield (v) to exercise or use, esp. a weapon or instrument; to gain control over