LSAT Vocabulary: Character

Words for lasting traits, each in a short sentence.

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Twice through the waiver

Before the hearing clerk stamped the waiver, the officer read every line twice, a scrupulous habit that had kept unsigned pages out of the record for years.

  1. 1.As used in the text, what does the word "scrupulous" most nearly mean?

An envelope for the appraisal

In the law library, the rare-book librarian warned the new clerk that a venal appraiser had once raised a valuation after a collector slipped him an envelope.

  1. 2.As used in the text, what does the word "venal" most nearly mean?

The crosswalk, again

Even after the sidewalk vote failed twice, Councilor Ibarra stayed steadfast at the neighborhood council and brought the same crosswalk plan back each spring.

  1. 3.As used in the text, what does the word "steadfast" most nearly mean?

One box of gauze

Dr. Shah kept a parsimonious supply closet at the clinic, counting gauze pads and refusing a second box until the first was empty.

  1. 4.As used in the text, what does the word "parsimonious" most nearly mean?

The memo she gave back

After winning the fee dispute, Ms. Adeyemi of the small firm was magnanimous and told opposing counsel to keep the research memo she had prepared.

  1. 5.As used in the text, what does the word "magnanimous" most nearly mean?

Few words for the examiner

Counsel for the tenant was taciturn through the whole morning in the hearing room, answering in a few words and offering nothing more.

  1. 6.As used in the text, what does the word "taciturn" most nearly mean?

No shorter note

Professor Lang was dogmatic about citation form in the law library and would not hear any argument that a shorter note could be enough.

  1. 7.As used in the text, what does the word "dogmatic" most nearly mean?

Evenings on the bus route

Ms. Nguyen served on the neighborhood council from an altruistic motive, spending her evenings on the bus-route petition and never asking to be paid.

  1. 8.As used in the text, what does the word "altruistic" most nearly mean?

Whichever shift spoke last

The clinic board called Dr. Pell fickle because he backed the night shift one month and the day shift the next, depending on who had spoken to him last.

  1. 9.As used in the text, what does the word "fickle" most nearly mean?

The hardest questions

Junior associate Mara was intrepid in client meetings at the small firm, taking the hardest questions herself when a partner frowned.

  1. 10.As used in the text, what does the word "intrepid" most nearly mean?

Boots on the bench

A boorish spectator in the hearing room talked over the witness, put his boots on the bench ahead, and laughed when the clerk asked for quiet.

  1. 11.As used in the text, what does the word "boorish" most nearly mean?

Shelved before closing

The night librarian at the law library was diligent, shelving every returned treatise before she left and checking the reserve list a second time.

  1. 12.As used in the text, what does the word "diligent" most nearly mean?

Praise, then a quiet burial

Neighbors later called the chair duplicitous: he praised the garden plan at the neighborhood council and then quietly urged the city clerk to bury it.

  1. 13.As used in the text, what does the word "duplicitous" most nearly mean?

No unused doses

Nurse Okada ran a frugal vaccine day at the clinic, using each opened vial fully and scheduling patients so no dose sat unused.

  1. 14.As used in the text, what does the word "frugal" most nearly mean?

The wrong deadline

In the partnership meeting at the small firm, Mr. Cole was candid about the lost client and said the letter had gone out with the wrong deadline.

  1. 15.As used in the text, what does the word "candid" most nearly mean?

No settlement figure

The claimant stayed obstinate in the hearing room after three continuances, refusing every settlement figure and insisting the hearing go forward.

  1. 16.As used in the text, what does the word "obstinate" most nearly mean?

The unnamed copy tab

A benevolent retired partner kept a tab at the law library so students could copy bar outlines without paying the page fee, and she refused to have her name posted.

  1. 17.As used in the text, what does the word "benevolent" most nearly mean?

An apology before the motion

The newest member of the neighborhood council was diffident, reading her motion from a card and apologizing before she had even stated it.

  1. 18.As used in the text, what does the word "diffident" most nearly mean?

Lunch did not move the contract

Vendors learned that the clinic director was incorruptible: lunch invitations and gift cards never moved a supply contract.

  1. 19.As used in the text, what does the word "incorruptible" most nearly mean?

Months looking for a mistake

After a partner at the small firm corrected him in front of a client, Mr. Daley turned vindictive and spent months looking for a mistake he could pin on her.

  1. 20.As used in the text, what does the word "vindictive" most nearly mean?

What the speaker had seen

The hearing officer was prudent with secondhand stories, stopping the account and asking what the speaker had personally seen.

  1. 21.As used in the text, what does the word "prudent" most nearly mean?

The stack that would not move

A callous regular at the law library left a crying student at the copy machine and would not move his stack, even after she said her outline was due at noon.

  1. 22.As used in the text, what does the word "callous" most nearly mean?

Early in the hallway

Councilor Reyes was gregarious at the neighborhood council, arriving early so he could greet every person in the hallway before the agenda began.

  1. 23.As used in the text, what does the word "gregarious" most nearly mean?

The locked snack cabinet

The office manager at the clinic was miserly with coffee and snacks, locking the cabinet and telling the night nurses to bring their own.

  1. 24.As used in the text, what does the word "miserly" most nearly mean?

Said at the first meeting

Ms. Kapoor was forthright with the new client and said at once that the small firm could not beat the other side's budget.

  1. 25.As used in the text, what does the word "forthright" most nearly mean?

The claim he dropped

Observers in the hearing room called the advocate pusillanimous because he dropped the strongest claim as soon as the panel looked annoyed.

  1. 26.As used in the text, what does the word "pusillanimous" most nearly mean?

One short break

The archivist at the law library was temperate in his habits, taking one short break, eating a plain lunch, and skipping the late receptions.

  1. 27.As used in the text, what does the word "temperate" most nearly mean?

Language slipped into the packet

A guileful member of the neighborhood council slipped his own zoning language into the printed packet after the draft had already been approved in committee.

  1. 28.As used in the text, what does the word "guileful" most nearly mean?

Credit to the nurses

Dr. Bennett was humble about the clinic's new wing and kept reminding visitors that the nurses had designed the patient flow.

  1. 29.As used in the text, what does the word "humble" most nearly mean?

Memos to a rival shop

The small firm discovered a perfidious associate had been sending client memos to a rival shop while still drawing a salary there.

  1. 30.As used in the text, what does the word "perfidious" most nearly mean?

Tabbed the night before

The staff attorney was assiduous in the hearing room, annotating every exhibit the night before and arriving with a second copy already tabbed.

  1. 31.As used in the text, what does the word "assiduous" most nearly mean?

Listed as a discussant

Though she had written the leading treatise on easements, Professor Walsh was modest and listed herself on the law library talk as a discussant.

  1. 32.As used in the text, what does the word "modest" most nearly mean?

The gavel at two minutes

Chair Holm of the neighborhood council was irascible by long habit, flushing and rapping the gavel whenever a speaker passed the two-minute mark.

  1. 33.As used in the text, what does the word "irascible" most nearly mean?

The same appointment length

The clinic's scheduling lead was equitable, giving the same appointment length to walk-ins and to patients who had called ahead.

  1. 34.As used in the text, what does the word "equitable" most nearly mean?

Files left in the bin

Everyone at the small firm knew the records clerk was indolent: files sat in a bin for weeks while he stretched lunch and left early.

  1. 35.As used in the text, what does the word "indolent" most nearly mean?

She corrected her own mistake

At the hearing, witnesses described the bookkeeper as veracious, the sort of person who corrected her own favorable mistake before anyone else noticed.

  1. 36.As used in the text, what does the word "veracious" most nearly mean?

Back to the carrel

The foreign-law specialist at the law library stayed aloof from the reading-room chatter, answering briefly and returning to his carrel.

  1. 37.As used in the text, what does the word "aloof" most nearly mean?

Translation and childcare

A munificent neighbor funded the neighborhood council's entire translation budget and then added money for childcare during night meetings.

  1. 38.As used in the text, what does the word "munificent" most nearly mean?

Three checks before a signature

Dr. Iqbal was circumspect with new prescriptions at the clinic, checking the chart, the allergy list, and a colleague's note before he signed.

  1. 39.As used in the text, what does the word "circumspect" most nearly mean?

Dark on Sundays

The managing partner of the small firm was obdurate about weekend email, and no amount of pleading moved the rule that the office stayed dark on Sundays.

  1. 40.As used in the text, what does the word "obdurate" most nearly mean?

A cousin on the list

The panel chair in the hearing room was principled enough to step aside when her cousin's shop appeared on the witness list.

  1. 41.As used in the text, what does the word "principled" most nearly mean?

A letter on library paper

The new clerk at the law library was credulous and shelved a forged donation letter because the sender had used the library's own letterhead.

  1. 42.As used in the text, what does the word "credulous" most nearly mean?

Three rent raises

Residents at the neighborhood council called the lot owner rapacious after he raised the garden rent three times in a year and still demanded the toolshed.

  1. 43.As used in the text, what does the word "rapacious" most nearly mean?

Names after an hour

Even with a full waiting room, the front-desk lead at the clinic stayed civil, using names and thanking people who had been waiting an hour.

  1. 44.As used in the text, what does the word "civil" most nearly mean?

Every morning for three weeks

Ms. Ortega at the small firm was tenacious about the missing invoice, calling the vendor every morning for three weeks until the credit appeared.

  1. 45.As used in the text, what does the word "tenacious" most nearly mean?

Only to see them lose

The comment in the hearing room sounded malevolent: the speaker did not want a remedy, only to see the other family lose the permit.

  1. 46.As used in the text, what does the word "malevolent" most nearly mean?

A bare office

The reading-room director at the law library lived in an austere way, keeping a bare office, a single chair for guests, and no decorations on the wall.

  1. 47.As used in the text, what does the word "austere" most nearly mean?

Never missed a vote

Ms. Adler was a staunch defender of the night bus at the neighborhood council, attending every meeting on it and never missing a vote.

  1. 48.As used in the text, what does the word "staunch" most nearly mean?

Last to take a break

The triage nurse at the clinic was selfless on long shifts, taking the last break herself and sending newer staff to eat first.

  1. 49.As used in the text, what does the word "selfless" most nearly mean?

Excuses the log did not support

Clients of the small firm eventually learned the receptionist was mendacious, inventing excuses for missed calls that the phone log did not support.

  1. 50.As used in the text, what does the word "mendacious" most nearly mean?

Every requested finding

Despite a hostile gallery, the advocate in the hearing room stayed resolute and finished her closing without dropping a single requested finding.

  1. 51.As used in the text, what does the word "resolute" most nearly mean?

A hard stool

The visiting scholar at the law library was ascetic, declining the staff lunch, refusing the comfortable chair, and working from a hard stool.

  1. 52.As used in the text, what does the word "ascetic" most nearly mean?

No delegate, no compromise

The alley committee of the neighborhood council grew recalcitrant, voting down every compromise the chair offered and refusing to send a delegate.

  1. 53.As used in the text, what does the word "recalcitrant" most nearly mean?

One bent instrument

The sterile-processing lead at the clinic was fastidious, rejecting a tray for one bent instrument and making the team start again.

  1. 54.As used in the text, what does the word "fastidious" most nearly mean?

The index rebuilt by hand

When the server failed during a filing week at the small firm, Mr. Shah was stoic, staying late without complaint and rebuilding the index by hand.

  1. 55.As used in the text, what does the word "stoic" most nearly mean?

The bench, the clock, the pitcher

A querulous neighbor used his whole speaking time in the hearing room to list grievances about the bench, the clock, and the water pitcher.

  1. 56.As used in the text, what does the word "querulous" most nearly mean?

Pulled before the form

The student aide at the law library was impetuous, pulling rare volumes for patrons before checking whether the request form had been approved.

  1. 57.As used in the text, what does the word "impetuous" most nearly mean?

Higher fees, no waivers

An avaricious landlord on the neighborhood council argued for higher lot fees at every meeting and never supported a single waiver.

  1. 58.As used in the text, what does the word "avaricious" most nearly mean?

A lower voice at the counter

The billing clerk at the clinic was discreet, lowering her voice at the counter and never repeating a diagnosis where the waiting room could hear.

  1. 59.As used in the text, what does the word "discreet" most nearly mean?

His docket, untouched

The senior clerk at the small firm had become intractable, ignoring the new filing checklist and daring anyone to reassign his docket.

  1. 60.As used in the text, what does the word "intractable" most nearly mean?

The envelope on the chair

People in the hearing room trusted the mediator because he was upright, returning a cash envelope that a party had left on his chair.

  1. 61.As used in the text, what does the word "upright" most nearly mean?

Signature, date, and number

The circulation head at the law library was punctilious, requiring a full signature, a date, and the patron's bar number before a treatise left the desk.

  1. 62.As used in the text, what does the word "punctilious" most nearly mean?

As if it were a drawing

The zoning chair at the neighborhood council gave a supercilious smile and spoke to the block captain as if the petition were a child's drawing.

  1. 63.As used in the text, what does the word "supercilious" most nearly mean?

The form she did not know

The new volunteer at the clinic was ingenuous, telling a patient exactly which form she did not understand instead of pretending she did.

  1. 64.As used in the text, what does the word "ingenuous" most nearly mean?

Twenty minutes on a calendar

Mr. Blake was contentious in every staff meeting at the small firm, turning a calendar change into a twenty-minute dispute.

  1. 65.As used in the text, what does the word "contentious" most nearly mean?

A recess for a missing page

The officer in the hearing room was merciful to the first-time filer, allowing a short recess so she could find the page she had forgotten.

  1. 66.As used in the text, what does the word "merciful" most nearly mean?

Face-down on the shelf

A bigoted patron at the law library insisted that only certain law schools belonged on the display shelf and tried to turn the others face-down.

  1. 67.As used in the text, what does the word "bigoted" most nearly mean?

Chairs in a circle

After adjournment, Councilor Diaz was convivial at the neighborhood council, pulling chairs into a circle so every new member had someone to walk out with.

  1. 68.As used in the text, what does the word "convivial" most nearly mean?

Back to the schedule

Dr. Cho at the clinic was reticent about her own illness, steering coworkers back to the patient schedule whenever they asked how she was.

  1. 69.As used in the text, what does the word "reticent" most nearly mean?

The list, rewritten

Nothing rattled the office manager at the small firm, who stayed phlegmatic when a deadline moved up a day and simply rewrote the task list.

  1. 70.As used in the text, what does the word "phlegmatic" most nearly mean?

Personal ties over the canons

Colleagues in the hearing room remembered the former advocate as licentious, brushing off conflict rules and joking that personal ties mattered more than the canons.

  1. 71.As used in the text, what does the word "licentious" most nearly mean?

Walked to the right stack

The reference librarian at the law library was amicable with every reader, remembering names and walking lost students to the right stack.

  1. 72.As used in the text, what does the word "amicable" most nearly mean?

A finger at the chair

A truculent speaker at the neighborhood council refused the time limit, jabbed a finger at the chair, and dared anyone to escort him out.

  1. 73.As used in the text, what does the word "truculent" most nearly mean?

Agreeing with every complaint

The junior administrator at the clinic was servile around visiting donors, agreeing with every complaint and never offering the staff's own view.

  1. 74.As used in the text, what does the word "servile" most nearly mean?

Rush couriers for ordinary mail

The entertainment budget at the small firm turned prodigal under the old office manager, who ordered rush couriers for documents that could have gone by regular mail.

  1. 75.As used in the text, what does the word "prodigal" most nearly mean?

No smile for a harmless joke

The examiner's saturnine manner never lifted in the hearing room: he spoke in a flat voice and did not smile even when a witness told a harmless joke.

  1. 76.As used in the text, what does the word "saturnine" most nearly mean?

One transposed digit

The cataloger at the law library was meticulous, recording a pamphlet's every former owner and correcting a single transposed digit in a call number.

  1. 77.As used in the text, what does the word "meticulous" most nearly mean?

The whole block, not the fence

His intemperate remarks at the neighborhood council ran long and harsh, attacking the whole block instead of the single fence variance on the agenda.

  1. 78.As used in the text, what does the word "intemperate" most nearly mean?

A refund the same day

The lab director at the clinic was honorable about a billing error, calling the patient the same day and refunding the charge before anyone complained.

  1. 79.As used in the text, what does the word "honorable" most nearly mean?

When the filing cost more

Ms. Feldman at the small firm was pragmatic about small claims, advising clients to settle when the filing cost would exceed the amount in dispute.

  1. 80.As used in the text, what does the word "pragmatic" most nearly mean?

The speech already ruled out

A refractory witness in the hearing room ignored three directions to answer and kept returning to a speech the panel had already ruled out.

  1. 81.As used in the text, what does the word "refractory" most nearly mean?

An extra hour

The evening librarian at the law library was compassionate toward bar applicants, keeping the room open an extra hour when she saw how exhausted they were.

  1. 82.As used in the text, what does the word "compassionate" most nearly mean?

The same three questions

The chair of the neighborhood council stayed impartial during the alley dispute, giving each block the same ten minutes and asking both sides the same three questions.

  1. 83.As used in the text, what does the word "impartial" most nearly mean?

Talking through the consent line

The intake volunteer at the clinic was garrulous, chatting through every form and still talking as patients tried to read the consent line.

  1. 84.As used in the text, what does the word "garrulous" most nearly mean?

Tea and a small salad

Mr. Ellis of the small firm was abstemious at client lunches, ordering tea and a small salad while the table split rich entrees.

  1. 85.As used in the text, what does the word "abstemious" most nearly mean?

A snatched form

The property manager was churlish with the clerk in the hearing room, snatching the form, refusing a greeting, and muttering that the questions were stupid.

  1. 86.As used in the text, what does the word "churlish" most nearly mean?

Asking before the cart moved

The new pages at the law library were docile, following the shelving map exactly and asking before they moved any cart the supervisor had marked.

  1. 87.As used in the text, what does the word "docile" most nearly mean?

Seated in the public row

Though she had chaired finance at the neighborhood council for a decade, Ms. Brooks was unassuming and sat in the public row until her item was called.

  1. 88.As used in the text, what does the word "unassuming" most nearly mean?

Winters she had promised

The night pharmacist was loyal to the free clinic, turning down higher pay elsewhere because she had promised to cover winters.

  1. 89.As used in the text, what does the word "loyal" most nearly mean?

The clause that would matter

Clients of the small firm sought Ms. Rahman because she was sagacious, spotting which contract clause would actually matter and which ones were noise.

  1. 90.As used in the text, what does the word "sagacious" most nearly mean?

A lifted hand

The lead examiner in the hearing room was imperious, pointing at seats, cutting off answers, and expecting the room to move when she lifted a hand.

  1. 91.As used in the text, what does the word "imperious" most nearly mean?

Pages he said were blank

A devious borrower at the law library returned a treatise with the key map removed and claimed the pages had been blank when he checked it out.

  1. 92.As used in the text, what does the word "devious" most nearly mean?

Signatures the next weekend

After the park levy failed at the neighborhood council, the block captain was resilient, redrafting the proposal and gathering signatures the next weekend.

  1. 93.As used in the text, what does the word "resilient" most nearly mean?

Back to his awards

The visiting specialist at the clinic was vainglorious, steering every case discussion back to awards and correcting colleagues who forgot his title.

  1. 94.As used in the text, what does the word "vainglorious" most nearly mean?

A steady appointment book

The receptionist at the small firm stayed placid through a shouting client, speaking softly and keeping the appointment book steady in her hands.

  1. 95.As used in the text, what does the word "placid" most nearly mean?

So the transcript would be complete

The recording clerk in the hearing room was conscientious, replaying a muffled answer and asking the witness to repeat it so the transcript would be complete.

  1. 96.As used in the text, what does the word "conscientious" most nearly mean?

A locked carrel

The treatise editor at the law library was reclusive, working in a locked carrel and declining every group lunch the staff arranged.

  1. 97.As used in the text, what does the word "reclusive" most nearly mean?

A smooth tone in a hot room

Councilor Mensah was urbane in heated meetings of the neighborhood council, greeting opponents by name and keeping his tone smooth while the room argued.

  1. 98.As used in the text, what does the word "urbane" most nearly mean?

Rewritten before the ink dried

Staff at the clinic called the scheduler capricious: she rewrote the weekly template without notice, then rewrote it again before the ink was dry.

  1. 99.As used in the text, what does the word "capricious" most nearly mean?

Praise for an unread brief

The summer clerk at the small firm was sycophantic, laughing at every partner's joke and praising briefs he had not read in hopes of a return offer.

  1. 100.As used in the text, what does the word "sycophantic" most nearly mean?

Sanctions before the facts

The association's lawyer was bellicose from the first minute in the hearing room, demanding sanctions before the panel had heard a single fact.

  1. 101.As used in the text, what does the word "bellicose" most nearly mean?

Carts left in the aisle

A lackadaisical shelver at the law library left carts in the aisle and penciled call numbers so faintly that the next shift had to redo them.

  1. 102.As used in the text, what does the word "lackadaisical" most nearly mean?

Names she would not learn

The committee vice chair at the neighborhood council was haughty with renters, refusing to learn their names and speaking only to the homeowners.

  1. 103.As used in the text, what does the word "haughty" most nearly mean?

The label, explained again

The nurse at the clinic was tactful when a patient misread the dosage, pointing to the label and explaining it again without a hint of scorn.

  1. 104.As used in the text, what does the word "tactful" most nearly mean?

A mutter at the copier

The file clerk at the small firm was morose on ordinary days, answering in a flat mutter and never joining the small talk at the copier.

  1. 105.As used in the text, what does the word "morose" most nearly mean?

Water and a calm morning

The hearing assistant was amiable, offering water, explaining the seating, and wishing each witness a calm morning.

  1. 106.As used in the text, what does the word "amiable" most nearly mean?

Nothing left for the fall

The acquisitions lead at the law library was improvident, spending the whole annual fund by March and leaving no money for the fall supplements.

  1. 107.As used in the text, what does the word "improvident" most nearly mean?

The same calm voice

The parliamentarian at the neighborhood council stayed dispassionate while neighbors shouted, applying the motion rules in the same calm voice to both sides.

  1. 108.As used in the text, what does the word "dispassionate" most nearly mean?