Opaque: meaning and SAT practice

Opaque (adjective) means: Not allowing light to pass through, not transparent.

Opaque in a sentence

The opaque curtains blocked all sunlight from entering the room.

Similar: dark, murky, cloudy, obscure. Opposite: transparent, clear, translucent.

SAT-style practice: what does “opaque” most nearly mean?

The opaque curtains blocked all sunlight from entering the room.

As used in the sentence, “opaque” most nearly means

  1. lustful
  2. rural
  3. dark
  4. obedient
Show the answer

Answer: C. “opaque” means: Not allowing light to pass through, not transparent. “dark” is the closest match in this sentence. The other choices are real SAT-level words, but none of them carries that meaning here.

On the digital SAT this is the “Words in Context” skill, about 7 of the 54 Reading and Writing questions. The test asks what a word means as used in the passage, so a word’s most common meaning is not always the answer. More of these, with full explanations, are on SAT Words in Context practice questions.

  • abstruse: Difficult to understand; obscure or complex in meaning.
  • arcane: Mysterious and understood by few people only.
  • cryptic: Mysterious and difficult to understand or interpret.
  • enigmatic: Mysterious and difficult to understand or explain.
  • esoteric: Intended for or likely to be understood by only a small group.
  • obfuscate: To make something unclear or intentionally confusing and hard to understand.

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