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GRE Studying > Deck 10 > Flashcards

Deck 10 Flashcards

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GRE® Vocabulary flashcards
1
Q

Caterwaul

A

(verb): to cry or to complain loudly. Think: CAT WAIL. If it’s in heat, a CAT will WAIL loudly and sometimes CATERWAUL all night long.

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2
Q

Impregnable

A

(adjective): unconquerable; impenetrable. Think: IMPOSSIBLE to get PREGNANT. IMPREGNABLE metal chastity belts in the Middle Ages made it IMPOSSIBLE for women who wore them to get PREGNANT.

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3
Q

Opprobrium

A

(noun): public disgrace. Think: OPRAH OPPOSES. Sometimes, OPRAH brings people she OPPOSES on her show to cause them OPPROBRIUM - it’s like “OPRAH-BRIUM”.

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4
Q

Curmudgeon

A

(noun): a grumpy old man. Think: CURSE MUD. Only a CURMUDGEON would CURSE the MUD in the garden on this sunny spring day.

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5
Q

Quintessential

A

(adjective): the most typical; the purest. Think: ESSENTIAL. Watching a Red Sox game at Fenway Park is ESSENTIAL to get the QUINTESSENTIAL Boston experience.

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6
Q

Beguile

A

(verb): to trick. Think: BE GULLIBLE. BE GULLIBLE, and you’ll be easy to BEGUILE.

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7
Q

Ascendancy

A

(noun): dominance; superiority. Think: ASCEND. If you ASCEND the corporate ladder and become chairman of the board, you’ll enjoy ASCENDANCY.

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8
Q

Verisimilar

A

(adjective): seeming to be true. Think: VERY SIMILAR. The conman’s VERISIMILAR story almost tricked me since it was VERY SIMILAR to the truth.

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9
Q

Lovelorn

A

(adjective): without love. Think: LOVE TORN. After his wife died in an accident, the man felt LOVELORN, as though he’d had his LOVE TORN from him.

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10
Q

Waffle

A

(verb): to go back and forth. Think: WAFFLES? When I go out to brunch, I WAFFLE (verb) between getting WAFFLES (noun) and getting eggs.

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11
Q

Illusory

A

(adjective): not real. Think: ILLUSION. The mirage of an oasis in the desert was an ILLUSION; it was therefore ILLUSORY.

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12
Q

Demarcate

A

(verb): to define; to set apart. Think: MARK IT. If you want to DEMARCATE your side of the dorm room, MARK IT with a long piece of masking tape.

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13
Q

Bugbear

A

(noun): something to fear. Think: BUG a BEAR. If you BUG a BEAR, you’ll soon have a very serious BUGBEAR.

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14
Q

Arid

A

(adjective): very dry. Think: ARRID. “Get a little closer; don’t be shy! Get a little closer, with ARRID Extra Dry deodorant (which keeps your armpits ARID)!”

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15
Q

Conundrum

A

(noun): a difficult problem. Think: NUN DRUM. Building a NUN DRUM is a CONUNDRUM because nuns don’t like loud noises.

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16
Q

Extol

A

(verb): to praise highly. Think: EX-TOLL. I EXTOL this highway because it used to charge a toll, but now it’s an EX-TOLL road.

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17
Q

Dismissive

A

(adjective): showing rejection and contempt for. Think: DISMISS. When she sings “Call Me Maybe”, Carly Rae Jepsen is DISMISSIVE because she DISMISSED all the other boys who tried to chase her.

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18
Q

Sanguine

A

(adjective): optimistic. Think: SANG WIN. The penguin SANG that he would WIN; he was SANGUINE.

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19
Q

Gossamer

A

(adjective): delicate; flimsy. Think: GOOSE FEATHER. Wafting through the air, the GOOSE FEATHER was GOSSAMER and felt soft to the touch when it landed on my palm.

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20
Q

Redouble

A

(verb): to intensify. Think: RE-DOUBLE. I know you guys just DOUBLED your efforts, but you’ve got to REDOUBLE them if we’re gonna win this tug-of-war.

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21
Q

Beatify

A

(verb): to bless; to make happy. Think: BEAUTIFY. The makeover will BEAUTIFY your home and BEATIFY your family.

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22
Q

Incensed

A

(adjective): extremely angry. Think: INCENSE. If you’re INCENSED, smoke may be wafting off of your head as if you were a giant stick of burning INCENSE (noun).

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23
Q

Somnolent

A

(adjective): sleepy. Think: INSOMNIA. If you have INSOMNIA you’re probably SOMNOLENT from lack of sleep.

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24
Q

Acme

A

(noun): the highest point. Think: ACNE. Unfortunately, a giant zit made my ACNE the ACME of my nose.

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25
Q

Tendentious

A

(adjective): biased. Think: TENDENCY. Don’t let him judge the beauty contest: he’s TENDENTIOUS and has a TENDENCY to vote for the contestants that flirt with him the most.

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26
Q

Rampant

A

(adjective): widespread; uncontrolled. Think: RAMPAGE. If you’re dumb enough to take bath salts, the destruction after your RAMPAGE will be RAMPANT.

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27
Q

Dogmatic

A

(adjective): stubborn; inflexible. Think: DOG bath. My DOG AUTOMATICALLY becomes DOGMATIC if you try to give him a bath, since he hates water.

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28
Q

Remiss

A

(adjective): careless. Think: RE-MISS. If you are REMISS in your study technique, you’ll miss the point the first time you read then RE-MISS it the nd time.

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29
Q

Auspicious

A

(adjective): favorable. Think: SUSPICIOUS I’m AWESOME. Dude, the chances she’ll go out with me are AUSPICIOUS or “AWE-spicious” because I’m suspicious that I’m AWESOME.

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30
Q

Laconic

A

(adjective): using few words. Think: LACKING KICK. His personality was LACKING KICK; he was so LACONIC that barely even said hello to us.

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31
Q

Stilted

A

(adjective): overly formal; stiff. Think: STILTS. The soldier’s manner of walking was so STILTED that it looked like his legs were actually wooden STILTS.

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32
Q

Zephyr

A

(noun): a gentle breeze. Think: ZEBRA FUR. The summer evening ZEPHYR was as soft as ZEBRA FUR.

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33
Q

Effluvium

A

(noun): an invisible, often harmful, vapor. Think: FLU. The EFFLUVIUM coming from the FLU patient’s mouth infected the nurse.

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34
Q

Plutocracy

A

(noun): government controlled by the wealthy. Think: PLUTO vacation home. Hearing about the senator’s vacation home on PLUTO made me realize we’re in a PLUTOCRACY.

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35
Q

Entreat

A

(verb): to plead. Think: IN RETREAT. IN RETREAT, the fleeing general ENTREATED us to spare his soldiers’ lives.

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36
Q

Servile

A

(adjective): submissive. Think: SERVANT. The SERVANT was so SERVILE that he wouldn’t make eye contact.

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37
Q

Grandiloquent

A

(adjective): loud; colorful; egotistical. Think: GRAND ELOQUENT. If you’re GRANDILOQUENT, you’re GRAND and ELOQUENT with your speech so everyone notices you.

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38
Q

Officious

A

(adjective): bossy. Think: VICIOUS OFFICIAL. The OFFICIAL was VICIOUS enough to measure every fish we caught with a ruler to make sure it was legal.

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39
Q

Bedizen

A

(verb): to decorate in a flashy, gaudy way. Think: BEDAZZLE. BEDIZEN your clothes by BEDAZZLING the butt of your jeans with sparkly rhinestones - it’s tacky, but you’ll get more attention.

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40
Q

Monastic

A

(adjective): strict; secluded; austere. Think: MONASTERY. If you’re a MONK and you live in a MONASTERY, your life is probably MONASTIC - no partying for you.

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41
Q

Heyday

A

(noun): one’s best time period. Think: HEY DAY. During my HEYDAY, when I was the starting quarterback and had a .0, all the girls said HEY to me every DAY.

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42
Q

Effusive

A

(adjective): extremely expressive. Think: FUSSY. Imagine if Nicki Minaj was your grandma? She’s so EFFUSIVE she’d make a FUSS over your every accomplishment.

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43
Q

Waspish

A

(adjective): irritable. Think: WASP-ISH. The trouble with keeping them as pets is that WASPS are almost always WASPISH - they’ll sting you if you look at them the wrong way.

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44
Q

Exacerbated

A

(verb): made more severe; aggravated. Think: EXASPERATED. I’m EXASPERATED - not only did you get us lost in the woods, but you also EXACERBATED the situation by dropping our phone in that swamp.

45
Q

Faculty

A

(noun): an inherent power or ability. Think: school FACULTY. If someone is a FACULTY member of a school, they probably have the FACULTY of teaching well.

46
Q

Coin

A

(verb): to invent a new word or phrase. Think: COIN (noun). Just as the U.S. mint molds metal into a new COIN (noun), so we can COIN (verb) new expressions.

47
Q

Vivacious

A

(adjective): lively. Think: VIVA LA VIDA. The Coldplay song “VIVA LA VIDA” means “long live life” and makes me want to be VIVACIOUS.

48
Q

Sashayed

A

(verb): strutted or walked in a showy or flashy way. Think: Miss America SASH. Miss America SASHAYED across the stage, showing off her first-place SASH.

49
Q

Winnow

A

(verb): to separate the useful from the not-useful. Think: MINNOWS. WINNOW the MINNOWS from your catch of fish; they’re too small to eat.

50
Q

Deleterious

A

(adjective): harmful. Think: DELETES. Using that old computer could be DELETERIOUS to your grade since it randomly DELETES files.

51
Q

Kismet

A

(noun): fate. Think: KISS MET. I knew it was KISMET that I’d marry her because we KISSED as soon as we MET each other.

52
Q

Camaraderie

A

(noun): togetherness. Think: COMRADES. The Russian camera factory workers shared a sense of CAMARADERIE, calling each other COMRADES.

53
Q

Inexorable

A

(adjective): unstoppable. Think: IN-X-OUT-ABLE. The fighter’s INEXORABLE rise made it impossible to cross his name off the contender list; he was “IN-X-OUT-ABLE”.

54
Q

Remedial

A

(adjective): intended to correct at a basic level. Think: REMEDY. If you are terrible at math, the only REMEDY might be to take a REMEDIAL arithmetic class.

55
Q

Concord

A

(noun): harmony. Think: CONCURRED. We all CONCURRED that we should go into the grape jelly business, so it’s no surprise that our company is enjoying a feeling of CONCORD.

56
Q

Refractory

A

(adjective): stubborn; unmanageable. Think: RE-FRACTURE. The REFRACTORY athlete insisted on playing despite his broken toe; unsurprisingly, he RE-FRACTURED it.

57
Q

Phlegmatic

A

(adjective): sluggish; unresponsive. Think: PHLEGM. When I had the flu, I had so much PHLEGM clogging my respiratory system that I was completely PHLEGMATIC.

58
Q

Grating

A

(adjective): irritating. Think: GRATER. Reading Facebook election posts is GRATING; I’d almost rather rub a cheese GRATER on myself.

59
Q

Algorithm

A

(noun): a mathematical formula or procedure. Think: AL GORE’S RHYTHM. It’s an inconvenient truth that, on the dance floor, AL GORE’S RHYTHM is as dull and predictable as a computer ALGORITHM.

60
Q

Hubris

A

(noun): excessive pride or self-confidence. Think: HUGE BREASTS. If a girl gets implants and suddenly has HUGE BREASTS, she may develop HUBRIS from all the male attention.

61
Q

Lucre

A

(noun): money; profit. Think: LUCRATIVE. When you put in the years of training necessary to secure a LUCRATIVE career, LUCRE is your reward.

62
Q

Rift

A

(noun): a break or split. Think: RIPPED. The RIFT in our friendship was so deep that it felt as though our bond had been RIPPED.

63
Q

Abysmal

A

(adjective): awful. Think: PEPTO-BISMOL. When I had food poisoning, my stomach felt so ABYSMAL that I had to drink a bottle of PEPTO-BISMOL.

64
Q

Glut

A

(noun): too much of something. Think: GLUTTON. Since my dog is a GLUTTON for dog treats, I have a GLUT of Snausages in my house.

65
Q

Strident

A

(adjective): harsh; loud. Think: STRIDEX. STRIDEX commercials are as STRIDENT as the salicylic acid in the pads, in an effort to hold teens’ interest.

66
Q

Sap

A

(verb): to weaken. Think: tree SAP. Cutting your initials into a tree can SAP (verb) its vitality because it will make the SAP (noun) leak out.

67
Q

Bellicose

A

(adjective): warlike; inclined to fight. Think: BELLOW. “RRARRGHH!” When I heard the beast’s BELLOW, I knew it was BELLICOSE.

68
Q

Jejune

A

(adjective): dull; juvenile. Think: JUVENILE. My frat brothers’ fart jokes are so JEJUNE that you could almost call them JUVENILE or “jejune-venile”.

69
Q

Cajole

A

(verb): to coax. Think: CAGE HOLE. At the vet, I have to CAJOLE my cat out of the CAGE HOLE so he can get examined.

70
Q

Ubiquitous

A

(adjective): existing everywhere. Think: YOU BIG QUIDDITCH. YOU BIG QUIDDITCH fans have made the Harry Potter sport UBIQUITOUS on college campuses.

71
Q

Garble

A

(verb): to make hard to understand. Think: GARGLE. A bad connection can GARBLE a voicemail to the point that the message just sounds like someone mid-GARGLE.

72
Q

Brevity

A

(noun): shortness of duration. Think: ABBREVIATE. I know your speech is brief but ABBREVIATE it even more - this professor actually awards points for BREVITY.

73
Q

Furtive

A

(adjective): done by stealth. Think: FURTIVE FART. Watch out for that kid - he will FART in class but it’s so FURTIVE that he never gets blamed.

74
Q

Despot

A

(noun): an all-powerful ruler. Think: DESPICABLE. History has shown us that DESPOTS - like Kim Jong Il - are often DESPICABLE human beings.

75
Q

Clandestine

A

(adjective): secret. Think: CLAN of DESTINY. Because we’re the CLAN of DESTINY, we have to keep our meetings CLANDESTINE - otherwise, the empire will kill us all.

76
Q

Acumen

A

(noun): insightfulness. Think: ACCURATE MEN. In business, ACCURATE MEN usually have ACUMEN.

77
Q

Reclusive

A

(adjective): characterized by hiding and avoiding society. Think: Brown RECLUSE. Luckily for us, the deadly poisonous Brown RECLUSE Spider is RECLUSIVE.

78
Q

Histrionic

A

(adjective): overly emotional for effect. Think: HYSTERICAL. Her HYSTERICAL laughter was designed to get attention and was therefore HISTRIONIC.

79
Q

Resolute

A

(adjective): firmly determined. Think: RESOLUTION. It’s no use to make a New Year’s RESOLUTION if you’re not RESOLUTE enough to follow through with it.

80
Q

Listless

A

(adjective): having little interest or energy. Think: LIST-LESS. If you’ve never made a to-do LIST, you’re LIST-LESS and probably LISTLESS.

81
Q

Commensurate

A

(adjective): equal or proportionate. Think: CO-MEASURE IT. Our estimates of the carbon content of this dinosaur bone will be COMMENSURATE if we CO-MEASURE IT.

82
Q

Fabricate

A

(verb): to make up in order to deceive. Think: FABRIC background. The movie set background was FABRICATED, woven from FABRIC to resemble a mountain range.

83
Q

Coerced

A

(verb): forced. Think: COOPERATE by FORCE. I didn’t want to leave the bar, but the bouncer COERCED me to COOPERATE by using FORCE.

84
Q

Haven

A

(noun): a safe place or a place to rest. Think: HEAVEN. HEAVEN: the ultimate HAVEN.

85
Q

Impugn

A

(verb): to attack verbally. Think: IMPLY UGLY. Your insults IMPUGN me; they IMPLY UGLY things.

86
Q

Decadent

A

(adjective): decaying; self-indulgent. Think: DECAYED. In WALL-E, the DECADENT passengers of the spaceship have DECAYED into overweight, lazy, passive lumps.

87
Q

Bygone

A

(adjective): past. Think: BYE GONE. The BYGONE days of my childhood are days I’ve said BYE to cause they’re GONE.

88
Q

Castigate

A

(verb): to criticize severely. Think: CASTRATE. The worst way for a Mafia boss to CASTIGATE someone is to CASTRATE him.

89
Q

Curtail

A

(verb): to lessen. Think: CUT off your TAIL. If you really want to win this lizard beauty pageant, you’ve got to be shorter. CURTAIL your length - CUT off your TAIL.

90
Q

Flotsam

A

(noun): floating debris. Think: FLOAT. After the Titanic sank, Rose was able to survive by climbing onto a piece of FLOATING FLOTSAM from the wreckage.

91
Q

Florid

A

(adjective): overly decorated; reddish. Think: FLOWERED. The -year-old girl’s room was FLOWERED with hundreds of red-hued decorations - her style was FLORID.

92
Q

Facetious

A

(adjective): playfully funny. Think: FACE “E”. The FACETIOUS comedian made us smile so much that our FACES looked like we were constantly saying “E”. (Try it!)

93
Q

Hegemony

A

(noun): dominance. Think: HUGE MONEY. The country with HUGE amounts of MONEY enjoyed HEGEMONY over its neighbors because it could afford an immense army.

94
Q

Abscission

A

(noun): the shedding of leaves, flowers, or fruits. Think: SCISSORS. Instead of waiting for the grapes to drop off of the vines, speed up the ABSCISSION by getting out there with a pair of SCISSORS.

95
Q

Zealous

A

(adjective): passionate. Think: JEALOUS. Zoe was so ZEALOUS about her first boyfriend that she became JEALOUS of every other girl he knew.

96
Q

Progenitors

A

(noun): direct ancestors. Think: PRODUCED from GENITALS. You were PRODUCED from the GENITALS of your PROGENITORS.

97
Q

Punitive

A

(adjective): involving punishment. Think: PUNISH. The PUNITIVE damages in the O.J. Simpson murder case were clearly designed to PUNISH the defendant.

98
Q

Bifurcated

A

(verb): split in two. Think: BY FORKING. BY FORKING, the road BIFURCATED into the popular road and the road less traveled by.

99
Q

Discriminate

A

(verb): to notice subtle variations. Think: one meaning is criminal; one is neutral. DISCRIMINATE so you’ll know when “discriminate” is about prejudice and when it’s about noticing.

100
Q

Requisite

A

(adjective): necessary. Think: REQUIRES IT. If you fail English, your school REQUIRES IT to be re-taken; it’s REQUISITE that you have four years of English.

101
Q

Genial

A

(adjective): good-natured. Think: GENIE. If you sign up to be a GENIE and to grant people wishes, you’re probably by nature GENIAL.

102
Q

Newfangled

A

(adjective): new, often needlessly so. Think: NEW. This NEWFANGLED yo-yo is so NEW to me that it’s tangled around my entire body.

103
Q

Revamp

A

(verb): to revise, improve, or make over. Think: RETURN as VAMPIRE. If you’re sucked dry by a VAMPIRE, don’t worry - you’ll die, but then be REVAMPED as a strong, new member of the undead.

104
Q

Defenestrate

A

(verb): to quickly throw out. Think: DEFENSE DEMONSTRATE. If you DEFENESTRATE a burglar through a plate-glass window, your home DEFENSE is DEMONSTRATED.

105
Q

Ponderous

A

(adjective): heavy; dull. Think: PONDER. If a subject in school makes you PONDER it for long periods of time, it could just be that it’s PONDEROUS and is either heavy, or dull, or both.

106
Q

Appease

A

(verb): to soothe, satisfy or pacify. Think: PLEASE with PEAS. I APPEASE and PLEASE my baby daughter by hiding her PEAS inside of her mashed potatoes.

107
Q

Robust

A

(adjective): healthy; strong; rich; full. Think: ROBOTS. Humans wouldn’t last long on Mars due to the extreme cold - we sent ROBOTS since they’re more ROBUST.

108
Q

Maudlin

A

(adjective): overly sentimental. Think: MAUDE’s VIOLIN. MAUDE played emotional VIOLIN music every time she made an entrance, so we called her MAUDLIN.

GRE Studying (10 decks)

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