Barron's Essential Words for the GRE: Set 1 Flashcards

Question

transgression

Answer 1

act of violating a rule or law The court punished the convicted criminal's transgressions severely.

Answer 2

parody; caricature; exaggerated imitation Alex's interpretation of Crime and Punishment was a travesty and insulting even to the open minded.

Answer 3

agreement bet. lovers to meet; rendezvous Several trysts after, they split up.

Answer 4

anguish; arduous work; tribulation The pastor urged his people to face life's travails cheerfully.

Answer 5

quivering; frugal; timid The soldier, his voice tremulous, begged his captor not to kill him.

Answer 6

temporary; short-lived; fleeting The solar eclipse is a transient phenomenon, be sure not to miss it.

Answer 7

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.

Answer 8

pertains to revelry, riotous or drunken revelry Spring break places emphasis on bacchanalian affairs.

Answer 9

dressed in a showy, vulgar manner Martha was bedizened with fancy jewelry; it was quite off-putting.

Answer 10

poet Shakespeare was a bard.

Answer 11

obscene The comedian dropped his bawdy jokes when performing in national television.

Answer 12

huge creatures; large and powerful Facebook and Twitter are behemoths in the social networking world.

Answer 13

misrepresent; contradict; give a false impression Her stolid features belie her playful character.

Answer 14

sociable Politicians are expected to be convivial or gregarious with people from all walks of life.

Answer 15

woman who flirts Susan has a reputation of being a coquette.

Answer 16

state of abundance These barren lands belie the cornucopia of plant and wildlife that existed only decades ago.

Answer 17

hidden; secret The FBI agent relishes in covert affairs.

Answer 18

whirpool; turmoil Everyone was dragged into the maelstrom of World War II.

Answer 19

crafty; double-dealing He got promoted through Machiavellian machinations.

Answer 20

schemes or plots

Answer 21

to feign illness to escape a task or duty Stop your malingering and help your mother with the chores.

Answer 22

to speak evil of; traduce Tired of being maligned as a corrupt government official, he stepped down from office.

Answer 23

money; profit The pursuit for lucre is the driving force of Americans.

Answer 24

nobility; generosity His magnanimity endeared him to the community.

Answer 25

flourish Ancient Egypt was burgeoning under Cleopatra's rule.

Answer 26

to polish Movie stars have the tendency to burnish their reputation bydonating to charity.

Answer 27

beg; sponge He was known to cadge money from his friends.

Answer 28

characteristic of the countryside; pastoral or rustic The south end of the park is a bucolic expanse of land perfect for a quiet walk.

Answer 29

false, deliberately misleading story The actress decided to sue the newspaper for posting canard.

Answer 30

basis or standard for judgment; established principle; group of literary work The french composer became a figure in the western musical canon.

Answer 31

cynical; scornfully mocking Satire that is too sardonic loses its effectiveness.

Answer 32

half man, half goat; lecher He was known to be a satyr among his women colleagues.

Answer 33

gloomy Karina's mood can switch from saturnine to cheerful in an instant.

Answer 34

pertaining to tailor Here is my tailor, you can ring him up for any of your sartorial needs.

Answer 35

stubbornness; refusal to compromise The intransigence of both sides will delay progress in peace talks.

Answer 36

deadly to both sides Leaving the portal open between the two universes will have internecine effects.

Answer 37

to insert; change by adding new words or material Scholars doubt the originality of the manuscript; some believe that passages were interpolated.

Answer 38

to prohibit; to halt the activities, entry or advance of The Fringe team interdicted the attempts of the Observers to infiltrate their division.

Answer 39

unconquerable; insurmountable I highly doubt studying for the GRE is insuperable.

Answer 40

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.

Answer 41

cowardly Deserters of the Night's Watch were punished for their craven act.

Answer 42

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.

Answer 43

statement of belief or principle; creed Jane lives by the credo, " no pain, no gain."

Answer 44

desiring something owned by another person Laura was covetous of the connection between Jayson and Amy.

Answer 45

to attach loudly; denounce The reformer fulminates against a society that values the pursuit of lucre over altruism.

Answer 46

so excessive as to be disgusting The honored guest threatened to leave if speakers heaped fulsome praise on her work.

Answer 47

ornamental band on a wall Athens boasts of artistic friezes.

Answer 48

loud quarrel; brawl The police came to break up a fracas that had erupted at the bar.

Answer 49

unruly; quarrelsome; rebellious The troops placated the fractious communities in the war torn country.

Answer 50

ineffective; fruitless Attempts to understand human behavior are not futile endeavors.

Answer 51

obstinately disobedient; restive The froward child refuses to go to bed.

Answer 52

hard to understand; recondite You're not the only one who finds Einstein's theory of relativity abstruse (recondite).

Answer 53

go back on a promise or commitment; revoke My so-called best friend promised to help me move, only to renege come Saturday morning.

Answer 54

formidable; arouses fear; worthy of respect To be interviewed by the redoubtable dean of the law school is a daunting task.

Answer 55

unmanageable; resists ordinary methods of treatment; stubborn The school has announced plans to deal with the refractory.

Answer 56

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.

Answer 57

to object or protest The liberal and conservative parties remonstrated with each other about the issue long into the night.

Answer 58

extreme poverty The great expense of his legal battles reduced the man to penury.

Answer 59

wandering from place to place The rock band's peregrinations has taken it to over 50 cities around the world.

Answer 60

spread throughout every part The nature of pervasive developmental disorder is self-explanatory.

Answer 61

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.

Answer 62

persistent; present throughout the years Typhoons are perennial in the Philippines.

Answer 63

not thorough; performed really as a duty The perfunctory inspection of the airplane failed to expose structural faults in the wing.

Answer 64

disloyal; faithless; untrustworthy The novel tells about the perfidious lover of the hero.

Answer 65

disturb; make uneasy; cause a body to deviate from its regular orbit The policeman was perturbed by the murder crime scene.

Answer 66

bind; confine; manacle Parental expectations tend to fetter children from the actualization of their potentials.

Answer 67

bad, nasty smell Mosquitoes thrive in fetid, inundated cisterns.

Answer 68

to handle with deceptive strategy Odysseus overcame his enemies through finesse rather than strength.

Answer 69

arbitrary order Potentates abuse their power believing they rule by fiat.

Answer 70

immature, inexperienced; negative The redoubtable task of interviewing the veteran actor for an article intimidated the fledgling writer.

Answer 71

use of obstructive tactics to prevent passage of law We need a two-thirds vote to break the filibuster.

Answer 72

droop; grow weak Her initial alacrity to increase her vocabulary flagged when she realized that it would a slow process.

Answer 73

outward appearance; false appearance; pretense Zeus seduced disingenuous women by appearing in different guises.

Answer 74

artless; ingenuous; free of deceit or chicanery Leona, guileless as she was, was able to defeat the cunning miscreant.

Answer 75

bombastic; pompous Grandiloquent speeches do not feed the hungry.

Answer 76

tranquil, calm; prosperous; happy; golden Halcyon years are characteristic of Elysian settings in novels.

Answer 77

holy; sacred Hallowed be Your name.

Answer 78

ape-like; relating to apes Many people in the 19th century denied the evolutionary significance of of the simian characteristics of human beings.

Answer 79

winding; intricate; complex The sinuous road curves along the mountainside.

Answer 80

unique; odd; extraordinary His singular appearance makes it easier to pick him out from the crowd.

Answer 81

attentive; eager; concerned Italian mothers are very solicitous of their children that they cook for them all day.

Answer 82

entanglement; complicated situation It took him many wrong turns before he could unravel the imbroglio he found himself in.

Answer 83

unchangeable The philosopher searches for immutable truths, striving to gain a comprehensive view of reality.

Answer 84

impecunious Juan Ponce Enrile narrated his life story from being an impecunious student to becoming one of the puissant men in government.

Answer 85

showing no emotion The judge remained impassive as he listened to the witness relate sordid details about the defendant's actions.

Answer 86

stale, overused expression The motivational speaker was full of platitudes, "Try, try, until you succeed.

Answer 87

to congratulate oneself in a self-satisfied way He plumed himself on his ability to recall 10 000 trivia facts.

Answer 88

excess; overabundance; surfeit There was a plethora of household goods stacked on shelves in their basement.

Answer 89

someone who affects an attitude or identity to impress others Poseurs make me uncomfortable, what is so difficult about remaining true to yourself?

Answer 90

to combine into a unified whole Six municipilaties were amalgamated into one city.

Answer 91

rude; peevish The mother chastised her son for his petulant behavior.

Answer 92

arouse; stimulate; fleeting feeling of hurt pride He was piqued that the woman she loved secretly chose to love another.

Answer 93

pleasantly pungent; attractive; appealingly stimulating Most Indian cuisine consist of piquant sauces.

Answer 94

mournful; melancoly Plaintive hymns played in the background of a funeral.

Answer 95

something that arises from great destruction

Answer 96

facial features

Answer 97

one who asks humbly and earnestly The trembling supplicant asked the king to forgive them for their transgressions.

Answer 98

beseeching They called out with suppliant voices to the Gods.

Answer 99

to replace English superseded Spanish as the lingua franca in recent years.

Answer 100

a kind of deductive reasoning that consists of a major premise, minor premise and conclusion

Answer 101

various I want to live a life composed of sundry adventutres.

Answer 102

the act to assume to be real or true Scientists proceed in their work with the supposition that everything can be explained.

Answer 103

to urge on; to prod Larry's friends goaded him to join the army.

Answer 104

talkative; wordy The garrulous witness kept on digressing from the main issue by relating funny anecdotes.

Answer 105

to scoop out; overcharge; to tear They gouged another channel for the river.

Answer 106

to separate into voting districts

Answer 107

fluent in an insincere; offhand Her parents were annoyed by her glib response.

Answer 108

sheer; light and delicate (eg.a cobweb)

Answer 109

caper; prance around; frolick The sheep gamboled along the fields.

Answer 110

steady; unvarying; serene Throughout the crisis, the president remained equable.

Answer 111

calmness; composure Nurses and doctors are trained to maintain equanimity especially in an emergency situation.

Answer 112

to deliberately use ambiguous language It is better to equivocate than to prevaricate, at least somewhere there is truth to what you say.

Answer 113

admirable; can be estimated His character was estimable.

Answer 114

to attempt; to subject to a test The child essayed going up the stairs for the first time.

Answer 115

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.

Answer 116

to cancel She found out that the seller was a fraud; she rescinded her order to get her money back.

Answer 117

fret; complain Do not repine over lost opportunities, there will be new ones to come.

Answer 118

morally unprincipled person Every compassionate being has a tendency to hope that reprobates are not lost causes.

Answer 119

to reject as having no authority

Answer 120

retaliatory action or retort

Answer 121

a trick; crafty stratagem; subterfuge

Answer 122

lascivious; lustful

Answer 123

healthful The salubrious effects of exercise..

Answer 124

conducive to one's health; likely to cause improvement

Answer 125

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.

Answer 126

kindly; doing good

Answer 127

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.

Answer 128

rude and insensitive

Answer 129

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.

Answer 130

support; to prop up; to give a boost

Answer 131

pompous; using inflated language Try to make your speech solemn and sincere and less bombastic.

Answer 132

to mention for the first time

Answer 133

a person possessing expert knowledge or training; a person of informed and discriminating taste

Answer 134

verbal abuse

Answer 135

something felt to resemble vitriol especially in caustic quality; especially : virulence of feeling or of speech A film critic noted for the vitriol and sometimes outright cruelty of his pronouncements

Answer 136

ornamentation or embellishment Canons of modern English frown upon rhetorical flourishes.

Answer 137

sink; fail; collapse The negotiations foundered when an agreement could not be reached.

Answer 138

threatening; menacing The team spent the weekend planning schemes on how to overcome the formidable defenses of its opponent.

Answer 139

renounce; repudiate When she became a US citizen, Jilliane forswore allegiance to any other countries and pledged to defend the US.

Answer 140

flowing; a continuous moving The educational system is in a state of flux, struggling to catch up with changes in society.

Answer 141

delay; to prevent Negotiators worked frantically to forestall the outbreak of hostilities.

Answer 142

incite; arouse; pique The country accused the neigboring country of employing agents to foment revolution.

Answer 143

treat scornfully The student's essay flouts the rules of written English.

Answer 144

ruddy; reddish; ornate; flowery Avoid a florid style when writing business letters or reports.

Answer 145

to make invalid

Answer 146

ordinary; commonplace

Answer 147

Many nostrums for correcting English have been proposed but the language has been robust and has survived such attempts.

Answer 148

center; a means of connection; a connected group or series Although intelligence agents have identified parts of the terrorist organization, they are still working to locate its nexus.

Answer 149

new word or expression

Answer 150

sentimental longing for a past time The advertisment is based on nostalgia for an America that probably never existed.

Answer 151

beginner; novice

Answer 152

black magic Television might seem like necromancy to a time traveler from the fifteenth century.

Answer 153

fawning attentiveness; overly submissive The assertiveness training course helped Jeremy go from being obsequious to being assertive and confident.

Answer 154

to make unnecessary; to anticipate and prevent Nuclear power has obviated the needs for submarines to refuel frequently, allowing long undersea voyages.

Answer 155

practices connected with supernatural phenomena The occult is described as what does not fit into a rationalistic view of the world.

Answer 156

block; to shut An eclipse happens when either the sun or the moon occludes the other.

Answer 157

invalid; trifling; lacking importance The book is entertaining, but its contributions to Shakespearean scholarship are nugatory.

Answer 158

lacking in importance or solid worth; trivial; lazy; frivolous Trifling (gift, fellow, talk)

Answer 159

quest; a long voyage or journey

Answer 160

funeral ceremony

Answer 161

show plainly; be an indication of The Oxford Dictionary evinces the scholarship of a large team of dedicated scholars.

Answer 162

tending to call to mind or produce a reaction The novel describes settings evocative of New England in winter.

Answer 163

based on an attitude that one's group is superior

Answer 164

inoffensive terms

Answer 165

pretentious; phony

Answer 166

fondness; liking; similarity

Answer 167

increase in amount; growth in size Over the years the university's computer system has grown so much by accretion.

Answer 168

to accumulate; grow by additions Tom's savings account has accrued $3000 in interest over the last ten years.

Answer 169

reprimand; caution The poet admonished the critic for failing to appreciate the subtle changes in his poem's meter.

Answer 170

to corrupt; to make impure Consumers demand food that is not adulterated with additives.

Answer 171

something added, attached or joined Most courses in college are taught by adjunct professors.

Answer 172

ostentatious

Answer 173

Define: opprobrium

Answer 174

overweening

Answer 175

effrontery

Answer 176

tangential

Answer 177

terrestrial

Answer 178

vivisection

Answer 179

trepidation

Answer 180

transgression

Answer 181

tremuluous

Answer 182

bacchanalian

Answer 183

cornucopia

Answer 184

Machiavellian

Answer 185

machinations

Answer 186

magnanimity

Answer 187

intransigence

Answer 188

internecine

Answer 189

interpolate

Answer 190

insuperable

Answer 191

redoubtable

Answer 192

refractory

Answer 193

remonstrate

Answer 194

peregrination

Answer 195

peremptory

Answer 196

perfunctory

Answer 197

perfidious

Answer 198

filibuster

Answer 199

grandiloquent

Answer 200

solicitous

Answer 201

impecunious

Answer 202

amalgamate

Answer 203

physiognomy

Answer 204

supplicant

Answer 205

supposition

Answer 206

gerrymander

Answer 207

equanimity

Answer 208

equivocate

Answer 209

reparation

Answer 210

salubrious

Answer 211

beneficent

Answer 212

blandishment

Answer 213

connoisseur

Answer 214

formidable

Answer 215

forbearance

Answer 216

multifarious

Answer 217

necromancy

Answer 218

obsequious

Answer 219

ethnocentrism

Answer 220

adulterate