Barron's Essential Words for the GRE: Set 1 Flashcards
Define:
ostentatious
showy;pretentious;trying to attract attention
To adorn yourself with jewelry is considered an ostentatious display of wealth.
Define:
opprobrium
disgrace; contempt
It is hard to imagine the opprobrium heaped upon an apostate or a recreant.
Define:
onerous
burdensome
The task I find most onerous is trying to learn all the words in the English language.
overweening
presumptuous; bold or arrogant; overbearing The ancient Greeks believed that overweening pride - hubris - will be later on punished by the gods.
oligarchy
form of government by which power belongs only to a group of people
An oligarchy refers to a government that is ruled by a select few.
peaen
song of joy; fervent expression of joy
After the end of war, churches rang out paean of joy.
Elysian
blissful; delightful
The novel portrays an Elysian world were pain and death have been eliminated.
effrontery
presumptuousness; shameless boldness
She had the effrontery to question the teaching methods of her teacher, a multi-awarded educator.
elegy
song or hymn of lamentation
The poet wrote an elegy for the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their country.
sylvan
related to the forest and woods
The poet lives in sylvan seclusion, writing about the beauty of nature.
tacit
There was a tacit agreement between Kat and me to never speak of the incident again.
tangential
The judge asked to avoid presenting information tangential to the case.
tenuous
weak; insubstantial; thin
There is a tenuous connection between sibling order and personality.
terrestrial
earthly; commonplace
tautology
unnecessary repetition; redundancy
The English teacher asked the class to consider whether the phrase “past history” or “old adage” are tautologies.
wistful
sadly thoughtful; vaguely longing
All the people visiting the war memorial had wistful looks on their faces.
vivisection
the experimentation done on animals for scientific research
The animal rights group protested against the vivisection done by the university biology lab.
volatile
unsteady; fluctuating; fickle; tencs to vary frequently
Steve advised his friend not to invest in the stock market until it became less volatile.
whimsy
fancy or playfulness
Her stolid features betray her internal whimsy.
whimsical
unpredictable; fanciful
Most of Dr. Seuss’s stories are whimsical in nature.
welter
to be in turmoil; toss about; to wallow or roll
Lost in the welter of conflicting ideas, there was no proof to the theory’s validity.
warranted
justified
Because of his irresponsible behavior, his parents were warranted to grround him for ten months. info: warrant - to attest to the quality of; grant permission
vogue
in practice or in fashion
Beepers were in vogue before cellphones entered the scene.
trepidation
fear and anxiety
She couldn’t let trepidation overcome her ambition.
transgression
act of violating a rule or law
The court punished the convicted criminal’s transgressions severely.
travesty
parody; caricature; exaggerated imitation
Alex’s interpretation of Crime and Punishment was a travesty and insulting even to the open minded.
tryst
agreement bet. lovers to meet; rendezvous
Several trysts after, they split up.
travail
anguish; arduous work; tribulation
The pastor urged his people to face life’s travails cheerfully.
tremuluous
quivering; frugal; timid
The soldier, his voice tremulous, begged his captor not to kill him.
transient
temporary; short-lived; fleeting
The solar eclipse is a transient phenomenon, be sure not to miss it.
axiomatic
something that is taken for granted; believed without proof
Women in nonpolygamous societies take it as axiomatic that only one woman belongs in a marriage to a man.
bacchanalian
pertains to revelry, riotous or drunken revelry
Spring break places emphasis on bacchanalian affairs.
bedizen
dressed in a showy, vulgar manner
Martha was bedizened with fancy jewelry; it was quite off-putting.
bard
poet
Shakespeare was a bard.
bawdy
obscene
The comedian dropped his bawdy jokes when performing in national television.
behemoth
huge creatures; large and powerful
Facebook and Twitter are behemoths in the social networking world.
belie
misrepresent; contradict; give a false impression
Her stolid features belie her playful character.
convivial
sociable
Politicians are expected to be convivial or gregarious with people from all walks of life.
coquette
woman who flirts
Susan has a reputation of being a coquette.
cornucopia
state of abundance
These barren lands belie the cornucopia of plant and wildlife that existed only decades ago.
covert
hidden; secret
The FBI agent relishes in covert affairs.
maelstrom
whirpool; turmoil
Everyone was dragged into the maelstrom of World War II.
Machiavellian
crafty; double-dealing
He got promoted through Machiavellian machinations.
machinations
schemes or plots
malinger
to feign illness to escape a task or duty
Stop your malingering and help your mother with the chores.
malign
to speak evil of; traduce
Tired of being maligned as a corrupt government official, he stepped down from office.
lucre
money; profit
The pursuit for lucre is the driving force of Americans.
magnanimity
nobility; generosity
His magnanimity endeared him to the community.
burgeon
flourish
Ancient Egypt was burgeoning under Cleopatra’s rule.
burnish
to polish
Movie stars have the tendency to burnish their reputation bydonating to charity.
cadge
beg; sponge
He was known to cadge money from his friends.
bucolic
characteristic of the countryside; pastoral or rustic
The south end of the park is a bucolic expanse of land perfect for a quiet walk.
canard
false, deliberately misleading story
The actress decided to sue the newspaper for posting canard.
canon
basis or standard for judgment; established principle; group of literary work
The french composer became a figure in the western musical canon.
sardonic
cynical; scornfully mocking
Satire that is too sardonic loses its effectiveness.
satyr
half man, half goat; lecher
He was known to be a satyr among his women colleagues.
saturnine
gloomy
Karina’s mood can switch from saturnine to cheerful in an instant.
sartorial
pertaining to tailor
Here is my tailor, you can ring him up for any of your sartorial needs.
intransigence
stubbornness; refusal to compromise
The intransigence of both sides will delay progress in peace talks.
internecine
deadly to both sides
Leaving the portal open between the two universes will have internecine effects.
interpolate
to insert; change by adding new words or material
Scholars doubt the originality of the manuscript; some believe that passages were interpolated.
interdict
to prohibit; to halt the activities, entry or advance of
The Fringe team interdicted the attempts of the Observers to infiltrate their division.
insuperable
unconquerable; insurmountable
I highly doubt studying for the GRE is insuperable.
cozen
To mislead by trick or fraud; to deceive
A common strategy of politicians is to cozen the people by exaggerating a problem and by offering a solution that, conveniently, only they can provide.
craven
cowardly
Deserters of the Night’s Watch were punished for their craven act.
credence
acceptance of something as true
I admit that the professor’s statement is baffling; however, it should be given some credence because of his towering reputation in the field.
credo
statement of belief or principle; creed
Jane lives by the credo, “ no pain, no gain.”
covetous
desiring something owned by another person
Laura was covetous of the connection between Jayson and Amy.
fulminate
to attach loudly; denounce
The reformer fulminates against a society that values the pursuit of lucre over altruism.
fulsome
so excessive as to be disgusting
The honored guest threatened to leave if speakers heaped fulsome praise on her work.
frieze
ornamental band on a wall
Athens boasts of artistic friezes.
fracas
loud quarrel; brawl
The police came to break up a fracas that had erupted at the bar.
fractious
unruly; quarrelsome; rebellious
The troops placated the fractious communities in the war torn country.
futile
ineffective; fruitless
Attempts to understand human behavior are not futile endeavors.
froward
obstinately disobedient; restive
The froward child refuses to go to bed.
abstruse
hard to understand; recondite
You’re not the only one who finds Einstein’s theory of relativity abstruse (recondite).
renege
go back on a promise or commitment; revoke
My so-called best friend promised to help me move, only to renege come Saturday morning.
redoubtable
formidable; arouses fear; worthy of respect
To be interviewed by the redoubtable dean of the law school is a daunting task.
refractory
unmanageable; resists ordinary methods of treatment; stubborn
The school has announced plans to deal with the refractory.
relegate
consigned to an inferior position; assigned to a place of insignificance or oblivion; to exile or banish; to assign to an appropriate place
The theories of these idealists were relegated into the trash bins.
remonstrate
to object or protest
The liberal and conservative parties remonstrated with each other about the issue long into the night.
penury
extreme poverty
The great expense of his legal battles reduced the man to penury.
peregrination
wandering from place to place
The rock band’s peregrinations has taken it to over 50 cities around the world.
pervasive
spread throughout every part
The nature of pervasive developmental disorder is self-explanatory.
peremptory
imperative; lacking no choice
The general’s words were spoken in the peremptory tone of a man who is used to having his commands obeyed without question.
perennial
persistent; present throughout the years
Typhoons are perennial in the Philippines.
perfunctory
not thorough; performed really as a duty
The perfunctory inspection of the airplane failed to expose structural faults in the wing.
perfidious
disloyal; faithless; untrustworthy
The novel tells about the perfidious lover of the hero.
perturb
disturb; make uneasy; cause a body to deviate from its regular orbit
The policeman was perturbed by the murder crime scene.
fetter
bind; confine; manacle
Parental expectations tend to fetter children from the actualization of their potentials.
fetid
bad, nasty smell
Mosquitoes thrive in fetid, inundated cisterns.
finesse
to handle with deceptive strategy
Odysseus overcame his enemies through finesse rather than strength.
fiat
arbitrary order
Potentates abuse their power believing they rule by fiat.
fledgling
immature, inexperienced; negative
The redoubtable task of interviewing the veteran actor for an article intimidated the fledgling writer.
filibuster
use of obstructive tactics to prevent passage of law
We need a two-thirds vote to break the filibuster.
flag
droop; grow weak
Her initial alacrity to increase her vocabulary flagged when she realized that it would a slow process.
guise
outward appearance; false appearance; pretense
Zeus seduced disingenuous women by appearing in different guises.
guileless
artless; ingenuous; free of deceit or chicanery
Leona, guileless as she was, was able to defeat the cunning miscreant.
grandiloquent
bombastic; pompous
Grandiloquent speeches do not feed the hungry.
halcyon
tranquil, calm; prosperous; happy; golden
Halcyon years are characteristic of Elysian settings in novels.
hallowed
holy; sacred
Hallowed be Your name.
simian
ape-like; relating to apes
Many people in the 19th century denied the evolutionary significance of of the simian characteristics of human beings.
sinuous
winding; intricate; complex
The sinuous road curves along the mountainside.
singular
unique; odd; extraordinary
His singular appearance makes it easier to pick him out from the crowd.
solicitous
attentive; eager; concerned
Italian mothers are very solicitous of their children that they cook for them all day.
imbroglio
entanglement; complicated situation
It took him many wrong turns before he could unravel the imbroglio he found himself in.
immutable
unchangeable
The philosopher searches for immutable truths, striving to gain a comprehensive view of reality.
impecunious
impecunious
Juan Ponce Enrile narrated his life story from being an impecunious student to becoming one of the puissant men in government.
impassive
showing no emotion The judge remained impassive as he listened to the witness relate sordid details about the defendant’s actions.
platitude
stale, overused expression
The motivational speaker was full of platitudes, “Try, try, until you succeed.
plume
to congratulate oneself in a self-satisfied way
He plumed himself on his ability to recall 10 000 trivia facts.
plethora
excess; overabundance; surfeit
There was a plethora of household goods stacked on shelves in their basement.
poseur
someone who affects an attitude or identity to impress others
Poseurs make me uncomfortable, what is so difficult about remaining true to yourself?
amalgamate
to combine into a unified whole
Six municipilaties were amalgamated into one city.
petulant
rude; peevish
The mother chastised her son for his petulant behavior.
pique
arouse; stimulate; fleeting feeling of hurt pride
He was piqued that the woman she loved secretly chose to love another.
piquant
pleasantly pungent; attractive; appealingly stimulating
Most Indian cuisine consist of piquant sauces.
plaintive
mournful; melancoly
Plaintive hymns played in the background of a funeral.
phoenix
something that arises from great destruction
physiognomy
facial features
supplicant
one who asks humbly and earnestly
The trembling supplicant asked the king to forgive them for their transgressions.
suppliant
beseeching
They called out with suppliant voices to the Gods.
supersede
to replace
English superseded Spanish as the lingua franca in recent years.
syllogism
a kind of deductive reasoning that consists of a major premise, minor premise and conclusion
sundry
various
I want to live a life composed of sundry adventutres.
supposition
the act to assume to be real or true
Scientists proceed in their work with the supposition that everything can be explained.
goad
to urge on; to prod
Larry’s friends goaded him to join the army.
garrulous
talkative; wordy
The garrulous witness kept on digressing from the main issue by relating funny anecdotes.
gouge
to scoop out; overcharge; to tear
They gouged another channel for the river.
gerrymander
to separate into voting districts
glib
fluent in an insincere; offhand
Her parents were annoyed by her glib response.
gossamer
sheer; light and delicate (eg.a cobweb)
gambol
caper; prance around; frolick
The sheep gamboled along the fields.
equable
steady; unvarying; serene
Throughout the crisis, the president remained equable.
equanimity
calmness; composure
Nurses and doctors are trained to maintain equanimity especially in an emergency situation.
equivocate
to deliberately use ambiguous language
It is better to equivocate than to prevaricate, at least somewhere there is truth to what you say.
estimable
admirable; can be estimated
His character was estimable.
essay
to attempt; to subject to a test
The child essayed going up the stairs for the first time.
reparation
amends; compensation
He would not be sentenced to jail on the condition/stipulation that he make full reparations to the family victimized by his crime.
rescind
to cancel
She found out that the seller was a fraud; she rescinded her order to get her money back.
repine
fret; complain
Do not repine over lost opportunities, there will be new ones to come.
reprobate
morally unprincipled person
Every compassionate being has a tendency to hope that reprobates are not lost causes.
repudiate
to reject as having no authority
riposte
retaliatory action or retort
rue
to regret
ruse
a trick; crafty stratagem; subterfuge
salacious
lascivious; lustful
salubrious
healthful
The salubrious effects of exercise..
salutary
conducive to one’s health; likely to cause improvement
brazen
bold; shameless
The brazen student irritated the teacher by pointing out that she can learn faster searching the net than staying in school for a day.
beneficent
kindly; doing good
bifurcate
to divide into two parts
There is a bifurcation in American politics between a tradition that believes that interference in the affairs of other countries is imprudent, and an idealistic streak that seeks to use American power to help other countries.
boorish
rude and insensitive
blase
bored because of frequent indulgence; unconcerned
We were amazed by John’s blase attitude toward school; he seems to have made it a rule never to open a book.
blandishment
flattery
bolster
support; to prop up; to give a boost
bombastic
pompous; using inflated language
Try to make your speech solemn and sincere and less bombastic.
broach
to mention for the first time
bovine
cow-like
connoisseur
a person possessing expert knowledge or training; a person of informed and discriminating taste
