Page 202 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary

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P – Q: SAT Words
procrastinate (proh CRAS tin AYT) vi. to put off doing something to a future
time and to do this habitually; to often postpone
• When it comes to doing homework, the better students are generally not
the ones who procrastinate.
• The motto of the true procrastinator (one who procrastinates) is “Never do
today what you can put off ’til tomorrow.”
[-d, procrastinating]
procure (proh KYUR mint) vt. to get or bring about by some effort; obtain; secure
• It was the sergeant’s job to procure supplies.
• We must procure the right tools for doing the job.
[-d, procuring, -ment* n.] [Syn. get]
profundity (pruh FUHN di tee) n. 1. of great depth, especially intellectually;
2. a profound matter, idea, etc.
• Some people find great profundity in the works of Salvadore Dali; others
just find them funny or clever.
• The works of Gilbert and Sullivan are generally lacking in profundity, yet
they are very entertaining.
• Do not underestimate the profundity of needing to solve the problem of
global warming.
profusion (PRUH FYOO zhin) n. 1. a pouring forth with great abundance;
2. great liberalness and wastefulness; 3. a rich or lavish amount
• Strawberries, which are scarce throughout the winter, are available in
profusion come spring.
• Every Congress passes a profusion of bills that waste taxpayers’ money on
local projects.
• Wild blackberries and black raspberries may be found growing in great
profusion by roadsides throughout the Northeast every summer.
prolific (pruh LIF ik) adj. 1. producing an abundance of fruit or offspring;
2. producing many works of the mind (writings, musical compositions, art, etc.)
• Some breeds of cat are very prolific, having litters of six to eight kittens at a
time.
• Franz Joseph Haydn was prolific enough to produce over 150 symphonies
during his lifetime, 104 of which still exist in today’s repertoire, although
only the last 16 are performed frequently.
• Shakespeare has to have been one of the most prolific playwrights of the
seventeenth century.
[-ally adv.] [Syn. fertile]
protagonist (pruh TAG uhn ist) n. 1. the main character in a story, play,
drama, etc. around whom the action takes place; 2. the actor who plays that role
• Sam Spade, the protagonist created by Dashiell Hammett, first appeared in
1929 and made it big in The Maltese Falcon.
• Spade appeared in a few films, with Humphrey Bogart as the protagonist,
and when the Hammett stories were exhausted, Bogart continued as
Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe.