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Vocabulary > Barron's Essential Words for the GRE: Set 3 > Flashcards

Barron's Essential Words for the GRE: Set 3 Flashcards

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1
Q

facetious

A

humorous

The comedian’s facetious comments about prominent politicians kept the audience amused.

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2
Q

not inherent or essential

A

extrinsic

The experiment is designed to exclude factors that are extrinsic to the phenomenon.

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3
Q

the act of estimation by projecting known information

A

extrapolation

Strict determinists believe that it is possible, at least theoretically to extrapolate the future movement of every atom in the universe based on present conditions.

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4
Q

not essential

A

extraneous

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5
Q

to root up; to destroy

A

extirpate

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6
Q

in existence; not lost

A

extant

Unfortunatey for Bible scholars, there are no extant writings of Jesus Christ

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7
Q

explanatory

A

expository

There is no one model of expository prose that a student can emulate, since each piece of good writing is unique.

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8
Q

to explain; interpret; clarify

A

explicate

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9
Q

to atone for

A

expiate

The pilgirms undertook their long journey to expiate their sins.

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10
Q

humorous

A

facetious

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11
Q

laconic

A

using a few words

The laconic actor seemed to be a good choice to play the strong silent hero in the western.

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12
Q

labile

A

likely to change

Blood pressure in human beings is, to varying degrees, labile.

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13
Q

kudos

A

fame; glory; honor

Kudos won by Bob Dylan include an honorary doctorate in music from Princeton University.

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14
Q

place side by side

A

juxtapose

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15
Q

functionalism

A

belief that the outward form of a structure should follow its interior function

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16
Q

huge force destroying everything in its path

A

juggernaut

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17
Q

fond of joking; playful; jocular

A

jocose

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18
Q

jibe

A

to be in agreement

The auditor checked the company’s account books to make sure they jibed with the tax return it filed.

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19
Q

jaundiced

A

having a yellowish discoloration of the skin; affected by envy, resentment or hostility

Norman’s experience as an infantryman during the war has given him a jaundiced view of human nature.

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20
Q

factotum

A

a person who does all sorts of work; handyman

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21
Q

plowed but not sowed; uncultivated

A

fallow

At the beginning of each school year the teacher looks out at the students and thinks of a fallow field, ready to be cultivated.

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22
Q

foolishly self-satisfied

A

fatuous

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23
Q

fawning

A

seeking favor by flattering

The boss has a reputation for hiring fawning employees.

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24
Q

existing in a wild or untamed state

A

feral

Feral dogs returning to an untamed state after domestication sometimes form packs, becoming a threat to humans.

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25
Q

warmth and intensity of emotion

A

fervor

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26
Q

introspective

A

contemplating one’s own thoughts and feelings

In many ways William Wordsworth’s great poem “The Prelude” is an introspective work, retrospectively exploring his thoughts and feelings as he matured.

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27
Q

intimate

A

to make known subtly and indirectly

The editor intimated that substantial changes would have to be made in the book.

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28
Q

to insert; to change by adding new words or material

A

interpolate

Bible scholars vote on which sayings of Jesus they believe to be authentic and which they believe to have been interpolated by other writers.

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29
Q

deadly to both sides

A

internecine

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30
Q

insurmountable; unconquerable

A

insuperable

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31
Q

covered with hair

A

hirsute

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32
Q

heterodox

A

unorthodox, not widely accepted

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33
Q

histrionic

A

relating to exaggerated emotional behavior calculated for effect;

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34
Q

allure

A

the power to entice by charm

The allure of France is great; millions of people around the world study its language and culture.

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35
Q

alacrity

A

speed

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36
Q

allay

A

lessen; ease; soothe

Improvements in antivirus software have allayed many people’s fears of having their computers “infected” with malicious software.

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37
Q

alloy

A

a combination; a mixture of two or more metals

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38
Q

aggrandize

A

to make larger or greater

One of the concerns of the framers of the constitution was that one branch of gov’t would try to aggrandize itself at the expense of others.

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39
Q

alchemy

A

a seemingly magical power or process of transmutation

By what remarkable artistic alchemy did the interior decorator transform the drab living room into a room of vibrant color and light?

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40
Q

aggregate

A

amounting to a whole; total

The aggregate wealth of a country includes private as well as public resources and possessions.

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41
Q

unclear or doubtful in meaning

A

ambiguous

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42
Q

amalgamate

A

to combine into a unified whole

Now separate entities, the 12 colleges will amalgamate to create a single university.

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43
Q

appellation

A

name

Former US Supreme Court Justice Byron White was given the appellation “Whizzer” when he played football in college.

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44
Q

apposite

A

strikingly appropriate and relevant

The writer searched two dictionaries and a thesaurus before finding the perfectly apposite word he was looking for.

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45
Q

apprise

A

inform

The book keeps the reader apprised of the racism black Americans had to endure.

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46
Q

approbation

A

praise; approval

The medal of honor is the highest approbation a soldier can receive.

47
Q

appropriate

A

take possession for one’s own use; confiscate

48
Q

apropos

A

relevant

Apropos of nothing, the speaker declared that the purpose of life is to love.

49
Q

arabesque

A

ornate design featuring intertwined curves

50
Q

asylum

A

place of shelter or refuge

51
Q

atavism

A

return of a trait after a period of absence

Some modern political theorists reject nationalism as a tribal atavism.

52
Q

attenuate

A

weaken

Modern digital radio equipment allows even signals that have been greatly attenuated to be transmitted by one station and received by another station.

53
Q

bold; daring

A

audacious

54
Q

stern; unadorned

A

austere

55
Q

aver

A

to affirm; declare to be true

Materialism is a philosophy that avers that matter is the only reality and denies the existence of idealism and spiritualism.

56
Q

avuncular

A

like an uncle, benevolent and tolerant

57
Q

conundrum

A

a riddle; puzzle with no solution

The paradoxical statement “This statement is false.” presents us with a conundrum.

58
Q

contumacious

A

disobedient; rebellious

The king ordered his army to quell the rebellion by his contumacious subject.

59
Q

continence

A

self-control; abstention from sexual activity

The monk pledged himself to a life of continence.

60
Q

contiguous

A

touching; connecting without a break; neighboring

There are 48 contiguous states in the United States of America.

61
Q

contentious

A

quarrelsome; causing quarrels

When genetic engineering began in the 1970s, there was a contentious and sometimes acrimonious debate among scientists themselves about their dangers.

62
Q

conscript

A

a person compulsorily enrolled for military service; the act to enroll in military service compulsorily

63
Q

diffuse

A

to spread out; disseminate; wordy, rambling, spread out

This essay is so diffuse it is difficult to follow its central argument.

64
Q

digression

A

act of straying from the main point

The novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig contains many fascinating digressions from the main story that discuss topics such as Platonic philosophy.

65
Q

discerning

A

perceptive; exhibiting keen insight and good judgment

One of the aims of English Literature course is to help students become discerning readers.

66
Q

discern

A

to perceive something obscure

Superficially, expressionism can appear to be unrealistic because of its extreme distortion of reality, but upon closer examination, an inner psychological reality can often be discerned.

67
Q

discredit

A

to dishonor; disgrace; cause to be doubted

The candidate’s attempt to discredit his opponent by spreading damaging rumors about him failed.

68
Q

anarchic

A

lacking order or control

The student of mythology speculated that Dionysos was created as a projection of the pleasure-loving, anarchic aspect of human nature.

“Most political scientists do not believe anarchism to be a tenable theory of government.

69
Q

anchronism

A

something out of the proper time

The editor discovered an anachronism in the script; set in 1944, it contained a reference to the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.

70
Q

amenity

A

something that increases comfort

Many amenities considered normal and necessary in developed countries such as indoor plumbing were luxuries only a few generations ago.

71
Q

amenable

A

agreeable; suited; cooperative

The young writer is amenable to suggestions to improve her prose style to maker her work more interesting.

72
Q

ambivalence

A

state of having conflicting emotional attitudes

John felt some ambivalence about getting married before finishing college.

73
Q

analog

A

a noun meaning something is comparable to something else

Some commentators have posited the existence of an analog to Protestant work ethic in Chinese culture, which they call the “Confucian work ethic,” to explain the success of some countries with large Chinese population.

74
Q

dross

A

worthless matter; trivial matter; waste

One of the ways the dross in internet blogs are filtered out from the worthwhile ones is through the links to good blogs provided by other good blogs.

75
Q

doggerel

A

poor verse

Even the doggerel of a great poet like John Milton is interesting.

76
Q

effete

A

depleted in vitality; decadent; overrefined

It is interesting to observe how many traditions remain strong while others gradually become effete.

77
Q

eclectic

A

selecting from various sources

78
Q

blandish

A

coax with flattery

Despite the salesman’s blandishments, Donna did not buy the car.

79
Q

blase

A

unconcerned; bored through frequent indulgence

We were amazed by John’s blase attitude towards school; he seems to have made it a rule never to open a book.

80
Q

broach

A

to mention for the first time

Amanda went out with her boyfriend for two years before she broached the subject of marriage.

81
Q

bifurcate

A

divide into two parts

There is a bifurcation in American politics bet. 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.

82
Q

denizen

A

an inhabitant; a regular visitor

The US Census Bureau has the responsibility of collecting information about the denizens of the US.

83
Q

to slur someone’s reputation

A

denigrate

Accdg. to a recent biography of Napoleon Bonaparte. the famous leader felt a need to denigrate women.

84
Q

demotic

A

pertaining to people

Walt Whitman is considered by many to be a quintissentially American poet, a poet who celebrated the glory of the ordinary person; one critic praised him as a poet who was able to “make the demotic sing.”

85
Q

delineate

A

to represent or depict

Quantum theory led to the formulation of the uncertainty principle which was delineated in 1937 by Werner Heisenberg.

86
Q

defunct

A

no longer existing

Solid-state electronic equipment has made vacuum tube equipment defunct in most areas other than very specialized applications.

87
Q

default

A

fail to act

Rather than to default on her car loan payments

88
Q

respect; regard for another’s wish

A

deference

The proposal was dropped in deference to the objections of a number of people.

89
Q

the scientific study of insects

A

entomology

90
Q

enervate

A

to weaken

During WW II, Russian commanders counted on the cold to enervate German soldiers from invading their country.

91
Q

emollient

A

soothing; mollifying

The politician’s speech is filled with emollient phrases to make his message more palatable.

92
Q

beggar

A

mendicant

93
Q

meretricious

A

One of the allures of jargon is that it can make a poor idea worthwhile, or something meretricious plausible because it is dressed in fancy language.

94
Q

dishonest

A

mendacious

The judge declared the witness’s testimony inadmissible because he considered it mendacious.

95
Q

delusions of power or importance

A

megalomania

In his farewell speech, the judge warned his colleagues to beware of megalomania as they exercise their power in the courtroom.

96
Q

maverick

A

an independent individual who does not go along with any group or party

There’s always one maverick who wants to go his own way.

97
Q

to object or protest

A

remonstrate

The right and left wing remonstrated all night regarding the passing of the bill.

98
Q

to go back on one’s word

A

renege

Jill reneged on her promise to take Sandra to the book store.

99
Q

formidable; worthy of respect; arousing fear

A

redoubtable

100
Q

libertine

A

a person with no moral restraint

Don Juan is a legendary, archetypal libertine whose story has been told by many poets.

101
Q

light manner or attitude

A

levity

The comedian has a gift of finding levity even in the most serious of subjects.

102
Q

lethargy; sluggishness

A

lassitude

103
Q

lambaste

A

to thrash verbally or physically

The critic lambasted the movie in her column, calling it “the most insipid, jejune film made in our generation.

104
Q

argot

A

a specialized vocabulary for the specific group

Writers of crime fiction often use the argot of criminals and detectives to create a realistic atmosphere.

105
Q

artifact

A

item made by human craft

Some scholars argue that romantic love is an artifact of culture.

106
Q

guileless; ingenuous; natural

A

artless

107
Q

one who practices self-denial

A

ascetic

108
Q

slander; false rumor

A

aspersion

109
Q

assuage

A

to make less severe

China’s leaders talked with a group of American congressional representatives to assuage fears that China plans to threaten American military preeminence.

110
Q

astringent

A

harsh; severe

111
Q

preempt

A

take for oneself; forestall, preclude; to replace with something of greater priority

The contract preempts lawsuits by company clients.

112
Q

propitiate

A

to win over; appease

They sacrificed lambs to propitiate the gods.

113
Q

provident

A

frugal; providing for the future

The provident ant who saved up food for the winter..

114
Q

prohibitive

A

so high as to prevent the purchase of; preventing; forbidding

…were not able to buy laptops due to the prohibitive price.

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