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GRE Barron's > Deck 1 > Flashcards

Deck 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

deride

A

to mock; to laugh at in scorn or contempt

Democrats Deride Bush And Dismiss One Another.

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2
Q

derivative

A

something derived; unoriginal

The drug morphine is the principal derivative of opium, which is the juice in the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy.

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3
Q

desiccate

A

to dry completely

The dry desert air caused the bodies of the dead animals to desiccate quickly.

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4
Q

desuetude

A

state of disuse; state of no longer being used or practiced

NASA is considering a plan to refurbish booster rockets from the Apollo Program that have fallen into desuetude.

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5
Q

desultory

A

random; disconnected; rambling

The jury had difficulty following the witnesses’ desultory testimony.

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6
Q

deterrent

A

something that discourages or hinders

During the Cold War, the United States maintained a large number of nuclear weapons as a deterrent to aggression by the Soviet Union and its allies.

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7
Q

detraction

A

the act of taking away; derogatory comment on a person’s character

The writer reponded in a letter to the critic’s long list of detractions about his book.

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8
Q

diaphanous

A

transparent; fine-textured; insubstantial; vague

In World War II, many soldiers went to war with diaphanous dreams of glory, but found instead horror and death.

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9
Q

diatribe

A

bitter verbal attack

The speaker launched into a diatribe against what he called “the evils of technology”.

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10
Q

dichotomy

A

division into two usually contradictory parts

The philosopher is a dualist who argues that there is a dichotomy between the mind and physical phenomena.

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11
Q

diffidence

A

shyness; lack of confidence

As a result of the strength of his opposition to the Vietnam War Senator Eugene McCarthy overcame his diffidence and ran against President Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic nomination for president.

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12
Q

diffuse

A

to spread out

The idea of equality and liberty diffused through society after the French Revolution.

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13
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.

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14
Q

disabuse

A

to free from a misconception

The chairman of the Federal Reserve used his testimony before Congress to disabuse his audience of the idea that the busines cycle had been eliminated by the unprecedented period of prosperity.

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14
Q

discerning

A

perspective; exhibiting keen insight and good judgement

Discerning movie critics have praised the work of producer Stanley Kubrick, who produced such excellent films…

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15
Q

discomfit

A

to make uneasy; disconcert

The young man was discomfited being the only male in the play.

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16
Q

discordant

A

not in tune; disagreeing

In a pluralistic society there exists a cacophony of discordant voices, each shouting to be heard.

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17
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.

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18
Q

discrepancy

A

difference; inconsistency

The book studies the discrepancy in values and outlook between men who fought in the war, whether volutarily or not, and those who remained civilians.

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19
Q

discrete

A

constituting a separate thing; distinct

Like the physicist, the abstract artist strives to identify the discrete elements of reality and to understand how they interact.

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20
Q

discretion

A

quality of showing self-restraint in speech or actions; freedom of judgement or choice

In nineteenth-century Britain gentlemen were expected to behave with discretion.

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21
Q

disingenuous

A

lacking in frankness, candor, or sincerety; falsely ingenuous

When a person starts a sentence, “I don’t mean to appear disingenuous,” one might be tempted to suspect that the person is being just that.

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22
Q

disinterested

A

unprejudiced, objective

The newspaper reporter looked for **disinterested ** witnesses to the events so that she could get an objective account of what had happened.

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23
Q

disjointed

A

lacking order or coherence; dislocated

The technique of telling a story through a disjointed narrative is a technique best left to masters of the modern novel such as James Joyce and William Faulkner.

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24
Q

dismiss

A

to put away from consideratoin; reject

Investigators dismissed the man’s account of a visit to another planet aboard an alien spacecraft as the product of an overactive imagination.

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25
Q

disparage

A

to speak or treat slightingly; depreciate

Though sometimes disparaged as merely an intelletual game, philosophy provides us with a method for inquiring systematically into problems that arise in areas such as medicine, science, and technology.

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26
Q

disparate

A

distinct in kind; dissimilar

Many technological projects are interdisciplinary, requiring a knowledge of fields as disparate as physics and biology.

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27
Q

dissemble

A

to pretend; conceal the truth or real nature of

I believe you are dissembling. I want you to tell me the whole truth about what happened that night.

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28
Q

disseminate

A

to spread; scatter; disperse

Belief in reincarnation appeared as doctrine first in India and was disseminated throughout Asia by Buddhism.

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29
Q

dissident

A

person who disagrees

Some of the most notorious concentration camps in history were the Gulag camps used by the Soviet Union to control dissidents.

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30
Q

dissolution

A

disintegration; debauchery

Some philosophers maintain that the dissolution of the body does not mean the destruction of the mind.

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31
Q

dissonance

A

discord; lack of harmony

In psychology, the term “cognitive dissonance” refers to a conflict resulting from inconsistency between one’s beliefs and one’s actions.

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32
Q

distend

A

to expand; swell out

People in an advanced stage of starvation often have distended bellies.

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33
Q

distill

A

to extract the essential elements

In his book…, Bryan Magee manages to distill the essence of leading thinkers such as …

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34
Q

distrait

A

inattentive because of distracting worries; preoccupied

The chairperson became distrait because his secretary was not sitting in her usual position on his right.

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35
Q

diverge

A

to vary; go in different directions from the same point

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36
Q

divest

A

to strip of clothig, ornament, etc.; deprive; rid

The candidate for secretary of defense pledged to divest himself of the shares he held in defense-related companies.

37
Q

divulge

A

to make known something that is secret; disclose or reveal

Under the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war cannot be tortured and forced to divulge information.

38
Q

doctrinaire

A

n. adj. (relating to a) person who cannot compromise about points of a theory or doctrine; dogmatic; unyielding

The doctrinaire Marxists say that capitalism is merely a temporary phenomenon on the road to socialism.

39
Q

document

A

to provide with written evidence to support

The insurance company asked Debbie to document her claim with letters from the doctors who treated her for her condition.

40
Q

doggerel

A

poor verse

In his book…, the literary critic Paul Fussell quotes this bit of doggerel from a U.S. Army latrine during World War II:

Soldiers who wish to be a hero

Are practically zero.

But those who wish to be civilians,

Jesus, they run into millions.
41
Q

dogmatic

A

stating opinions without proof

Since every case is unique, jurists must not be dogmatic in applying precedents to make their decision, but instead must base their decision on a combination of such precedents and the facts of the case at hand.

42
Q

dormant

A

inactive

There is a considerable body of evidence showing that many diseases, such as ulcers, asthma, and hypertension have a large psychological component; the working hypothesis is that they represent manifestations of dormant emotional disturbances.

43
Q

dross

A

waste; worthless matter; trivial matter

One of the ways the dross among blogs on the Internet are filtered out from the worthwhile ones is through links good blogs provide to other good blogs.

44
Q

dupe

A

to deceive; trick

In friendship, as well as in love, the mind is often duped by the heart.”

45
Q

ebullient

A

overflowing with fervor, enthusiasm, or excitement

The ebullient candidate for president appeared before his supporters to announce that he had won in a landslide.

46
Q

eclectic

A

selecting from various sources

But in a shift mirrored by many other Internet users, Mr. Dudley’s interest in the Web is no longer driven by eclectic imagination. When he logs on now, he knows what he wants and he mostly knows where to get it.

(nytimes)

47
Q

effervescence

A

state of high spirits of liveliness; the process of bubbling as gas escapes

A person who believes himself to be physically unattractive might develop an effervescent personality as a compensation for his perceived deficiency.

48
Q

effete

A

depleted of vitality; overrefined; decadent

“A spirit of national masochism prevails, encouraged by an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals.”

49
Q

efficacy

A

efficiency; effectiveness

A cardinal rule of medicine is that the efficacy of a treatment should be measured against the seriousness of its side effects.

50
Q

effrontery

A

shameless boldness; presumptuousness

In her essay the student had the effrontery to argue that school is largely a waste of time.

51
Q

egotistical

A

excessively self-centered; conceited

The critics accused the writer of being egotistical since she wrote only about herself.

52
Q

elicit

A

to provoke; draw out

The Socratic method is designed to elicit responses that guide the student toward understanding.

53
Q

elixir

A

a substance believed to have the power to cure ills

The doctor said that her prescription would help to alleviate my condition but that I could not expect it to be an elixir.

53
Q

Elysian

A

blissful; delightful

* Elysium is described in Homer’s Odyssey as a place of eternal spring where the souls of heroes and others who are blessed by the gods wander blissfully.

54
Q

emaciated

A

thin and wasted, abnormally thin because of lack of nutrition or disease

The prisoner was emaciated after being fed only bread and water for three months.

55
Q

embellish

A

to adorn; decorate; enhance; make more attractive by adding details

The story he had been told was so powerful that the writer felt no need to embellish it.

56
Q

gullible

A

easily deceived or cheated

In the nineteenth century, snake oil salesmen traveled around America selling elixirs to gullible people.

57
Q

garner

A

[穀物倉・貯蔵庫などに]蓄える、蓄積する to get; acquire; earn

The politician has found a grassroots approach to garnering support to be most efficacious.

58
Q

conceited

A

having an excessively favorable opinion about one’s ability, appearance, etc

59
Q

emollient

A

soothing; mollifying

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

60
Q

emulate

A

to imitate; copy

Bionics uses technology to emulate nature, but sometimes a similar process occurs in reverse, in which scientists use technology as a heuristic tool to better understand natural processes.

61
Q

encomium

A

a formal expression of praise

The prime minister asked her speechwriter to compose an encomium for the retiring general.

62
Q

endemic

A

natural to or characteristic of specific people or place

Malaria, once endemic to the area, has now been largely eradicated.

63
Q

enervate

A

to weaken

During World War II Russian commanders counted on the bitter cold to enervate German soldiers invading their country.

64
Q

engender

A

to cause; produce

Hatred engenders violence.

65
Q

enunciate

A

to pronounce clearly

In everyday speech the sounds of many words are not enunciated clearly.

66
Q

prodigious

A

extraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, force, etc.

a prodigious research grant

67
Q

emancipate

A

to free from restraint, influence, or the like

Charles Darwin emancipated science from the ideologies of philosophy and religion by being fiercely independent in his thinking, rejecting all prevailing dogmas…

67
Q

ephemeral

A

short-lived

Impressioninst painters such as Claude Monet share with Romantics an affinity for nature, but the Impressionists took a more scientific interest in it, attempting to accurately depict ephemeral phenomena such as the play of light on water.

68
Q

equable

A

free from many changes or variations; serene

Throughout the crisis the president remained equable.

69
Q

equitable

A

characterized by equity or fairness; just and right; fair; reasonable

equitable treatment of all citizens

70
Q

equanimity

A

mental or emotional stability or composure; calmness

Emergency room doctors and nurses are trained to maintain their equanimity when treating patients.

71
Q

equivocate

A

to intentionally use vague language

The businessperson has earned a reputation as someone who never equivocates and can be trusted to do exactly what he promises.

71
Q

errant

A

mistaken; straying from the proper course

The pitcher’s errant fastball struck the batter on the shoulder.

72
Q

erudite

A

characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly

Fredercik Copleston, author of the nine-volume History of Philosophy, was undoubtedly one of the most erudite people who ever lived.

73
Q

esoteric

A

hard to understand; known only to a few

Epidemiologists, using esoteric statistical analyses, …, investigate the cause of a disease, its distribution, method of spread and measures for preventing or controlling it.

74
Q

essay

A

to try; attempt; subject to a test

The composer began work on a sonata, a form she had not previously essayed.

75
Q

estimable

A

admirable; possible to estimate

Alistair Cooke’s book Six Men contains character studies of estimable modern figures including …

76
Q

veer

A

to change direction or turn about or aside; shift

The missile had to be destroyed after it veered off course.

77
Q

overshadow

A

to be more important or significant by comparison

an author who does not allow facts to be overshadowed by politics

78
Q

illuminate

A

to supply or brighten with light; light up

79
Q

obscure

A

adj.v. not clear or plain; ambiguous

this author does not permit them to obscure his comprehensive description of what we know about our biosphere.

80
Q

temperance

A

moderation or self-restraint in action, statement, etc.; self-control

Temperance is the best physic.

81
Q

tumultuous

A

full of tumult or riotousness; marked by disturbance and uproar; 騒然とした; 動乱の; 無秩序の

The more his eminence as an artist increased, the more tumultuous his life became.

82
Q

providence

A

the foreseeing care and guidance of God or nature over the creatures of earth; 神の導き

83
Q

dispassionate

A

free from or unaffected by passion; devoid of personal feeling or bias

a dispassionate critic

84
Q

precarious

A

dependent on circumstances beyond one’s control; uncertain; unstable

a precarious livelihood

85
Q

relentless

A

unyieldingly severe, strict, or harsh; 無慈悲な; 容赦ない

a relentless enemy

86
Q

trifling

A

of very little importance; trivial; insignificant

a trifling matter

87
Q

ameliorate

A

to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve

ameliorate a condition

GRE Barron's (7 decks)

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