Stolid: meaning and SAT practice

Stolid (adjective) means: Calm and not easily excited or disturbed by emotion.

Stolid in a sentence

The stolid security guard remained unmoved even during the chaotic emergency.

Similar: calm, impassive, unflappable, composed. Opposite: excitable, emotional, reactive.

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

The stolid security guard remained unmoved even during the chaotic emergency.

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

  1. calm
  2. pompous
  3. ignorant
  4. serious
Show the answer

Answer: A. “stolid” means: Calm and not easily excited or disturbed by emotion. “calm” 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.

  • bovine: Relating to or resembling cattle; calm and slow-moving.
  • equanimous: Calm and even-tempered, not easily disturbed or angered.
  • imperturbable: Remaining calm and composed even in difficult or stressful situations.
  • mollify: To calm or reduce the anger of someone.
  • phlegmatic: Calm and not easily excited or bothered by things.
  • placate: To make someone less angry.

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