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GRE Essential > Essential Units 8-14 > Flashcards

Essential Units 8-14 Flashcards

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1
Q

Atavism

A

Atavism (n)

In biology, the reappearance of a characteristic in an organism after several generations of absence; individual or a part that exhibits atavism; return of a trait after a period of absence.

Some modern political theorists reject nationalism as a tribal atavism.

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2
Q

Attenuate

A

Attenuate (v)

To weaken

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

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3
Q

Audacious

A

Audacious (adj)

Bold; daring

The German army commander Erwin Rommel was known as the “Desert Fox” as a result of his audacious surprise attacks on Allied forces in World War 2.

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4
Q

Austere

A

Austere (adj)

Stern; unadorned

Deism is an austere belief that reflects the predominant philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment: a universe symmetrical and governed by rationality.

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5
Q

Autonomous

A

Autonomous (adj)

Self-governing; independent

Some biologists have theorized that our belief in our ability to act as autonomous agents is in conformity with the theory of evolution because it gives us a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives that helps us survive.

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6
Q

Avarice

A

Avarice (n)

Greed

Successful investment bankers are sometimes accused of avarice; their defenders, however, say that they are simply very good at what they do and should be rewarded accordingly.

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7
Q

Aver

A

Aver (v)

To affirm; to declare to be true

Yogis avers that everyone has a guru, wether it’s…

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8
Q

Avocation

A

Avocation (n)

Secondary occupation

Dan was better at his avocation than his real job.

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9
Q

Avuncular

A

Avuncular (adj)

Like an uncle, benevolent and tolerant

Walter Cronkite, who was the anchorman of CBS News during much of the 1970’s and 1980’s, had an avuncular manner that made him one of America’s most trusted personalities.

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10
Q

Asylum

A

Asylum (n)

Place of refuge or shelter

The victim seemed asylum after the trial.

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11
Q

Axiomatic

A

Axiomatic (adj)

Taken for granted

In nineteenth-century geology, uniformtarism was the antithesis of catastrophism, asserting that it was axiomatic that natural law and processes do not fundamentally change,, and that what we observe now is essentially the same as what occurred in the past.

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12
Q

Bacchanalian

A

Bacchanalian (adj)

Pertaining to riotous or drunken festivity; pertaining to revelry.

For some people New Year’s Eve is an occasion for bacchanalian revelry.

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13
Q

Banal

A

Banal (adj)

Commonplace; trite

The writer has a gift for making even the most banal observation seem important and original.

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14
Q

Banter

A

Banter (n)

Playful conversation

The governor engaged in some banter with reporters before getting to the serious business of the news conference.

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15
Q

Bard

A

Bard (n)

Poet

The great bards of English literature have all been masters of the techniques of verse.

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16
Q

Bawdy

A

Bawdy (adj)

Obscene

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is the story of a group of Christian pilgrims who entertain one another with stories, ranging from the holy to the bawdy, on their journey to Canterbury Cathedral.

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17
Q

Beatify

A

Beatify (v)

To sanctify; to bless; to ascribe a virtue

In the year 2000 Pope John Paul 2 traveled to Fatima in Portugal to beatify two of the three children who said they saw the appearance of the Virgin Mary there in 1917

Beatification is the second and next to last step on the path to sainthood.

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18
Q

Bedizen

A

Bedizen (v)

To dress in a vulgar, show manner

Paul went to the costume party bedizened as a seventeenth century french aristocrat.

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19
Q

Behemoth

A

Behemoth (n)

Huge creature; anything very large and powerful

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20
Q

Belie

A

Belie (v)

To contradict; misrepresent; give a false impression

The boxer’s childlike face belies the ferocity with which he can attack opponents in the ring.

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21
Q

Beneficent

A

Beneficent (adj)

Kindly; doing good

The theologian discussed the question of why a beneficent and omnipotent God allows bad things to happen to good people.

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22
Q

Bifurcate

A

Bifurcate (v)

To divide into two parts

Teachers bifurcate their job into two parts- teaching and lesson planning.

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23
Q

Blandishment

A

Blandishment (n)

Flattery

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

Blandish is the verb, meaning to coax with flattery.

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24
Q

Blasé

A

Blasé (adj)

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 again.

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25
Q

Bolster

A

Bolster (v)

To give a boost to; prop up; support

The president has visited the state several times to bolster his sagging popularity there.

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26
Q

Bombastic

A

Bombastic (adj)

Pompous; using inflated language

Nearly lost in the senator’s long, bombastic speech were several sensible ideas.

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27
Q

Boorish

A

Boorish (adj)

Rude; insensitive

Bob apologized for his boorish behavior at the party, saying he hadn’t realized that it was such a formal occasion.

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28
Q

Bovine

A

Bovine (adj)

Cowlike

Following the slow moving group of students up the long path to the school’s entrance, the word bovine popped into the English teachers mind

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29
Q

Brazen

A

Brazen (adj)

Bold; shameless

The brazen student irritated his teacher by saying that he could learn more from a day spent “surfing” the World Wide Web than a day spent in school.

30
Q

Broach

A

Broach (v)

To mention for the first time

Steve’s boss knew that she couldn’t put off warning him about his poor performance and decided to broach the subject the next time she saw him.

31
Q

Bucolic

A

Bucolic (adj)

Characteristic of the countryside; rustic; pastoral

The south end of Toronto’s beautiful high park is a bucolic expanse of land that is perfect for anyone wanting a quiet walk.

32
Q

Burgeon

A

Burgeon (v)

To flourish

After world war 2 came the increased speed of industrialization and the burgeoning world population.

33
Q

Burnish

A

Burnish (v)

To polish

The poet T.S. Eliot burnished his reputation as one the best poets of the twentieth century.

34
Q

Buttress

A

Buttress (v)

To reinforce; support

Innocent until proven guilty is argued as to being too difficult a criteria and they buttress their case by citing research.

35
Q

Cacophonous

A

Cacophonous (adj)

Unpleasant or harsh-sounding

Some people call that type of music cacophony noise.

36
Q

Cadge

A

Cadge (v)

To beg; sponge

The Great Depression created people cadging for money.

37
Q

Callous

A

Callous (adj)

Thick-skinned; insensitive

Jim’s terrible experiences in the war have made him callous about the suffering of others.

38
Q

Calumny

A

Calumny (n)

False and malicious accusation; slander

“Be thou chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny.”

39
Q

Canard

A

Canard (n)

False, deliberately misleading story

Most politicians do not want to be associated with the old canard that big government in Washington can solve all of America’s problems.

40
Q

Canon

A

Canon (n)

An established principle; a basis or standard for judgment; a group of literary works

Star Wars canon

41
Q

Cant

A

Cant (n)

Insincere talk; language of a particular group

Many of the beat artists of the 1950’s reacted against what they regarded as the cant of bourgeois society.

42
Q

Cantankerous

A

Cantankerous (adj)

Irritable; Ill-humored

Many of us have in our mind the stereotype of the cantankerous old man who is constantly complaining about something or other.

43
Q

Capricious

A

Capricious (adj)

Fickle

The rule of law is regarded as a great achievement since citizens are no longer subjugated to capricious decisions and verdicts.

44
Q

Captious

A

Captious (adj)

Fault finding; intended to entrap, as in an argument

The pendantic and captious critic seems incapable of appreciating the merits of even the most highly regarded books.

45
Q

Cardinal

A

Cardinal (adj)

Of foremost importance

The cardinal rule of any weight-loss diet must be limiting the intake of calories.

46
Q

Carnal

A

Carnal (adj)

Of the flesh or body; related to physical appetites

The yogi’s god is to achieve nirvana through, among other things, the overcoming of carnal desires.

47
Q

Carping

A

Carping (v)

To find fault; complain

Cost-benefit analysis owes much of it’s origin to utilitarian thought; despite the carping of critics that such analysis is based on faulty premises, the technique has proved useful in many areas.

48
Q

Cartography

A

Cartography (n)

Science of making maps

Satellites in Earth orbit take pictures of topography that have greatly aided cartography.

49
Q

Caste

A

Caste (n) any of the hereditary social classes of Hindu society; social stratification

The Dalits, formerly known as untouchables, are at the bottom of the thousands of castes that make up Indian society.

Caste is also an adjective.

50
Q

Cataclysm

A

Cataclysm (n)

a violent upheaval that causes great destruction and change

The French Revolution of 1789 was cataclysm whose effects are still felt today.

51
Q

Catalyst

A

Catalyst (n)

Something causing change

Among the catalysts of the romantic movement were the libertarian ideals of the French Revolution.

52
Q

Categorical

A

Categorical (adj)

Absolute; without exception

53
Q

Caucus

A

Caucus (n)

Smaller group within an organization

The workers formed an informal caucus to discuss their difficulties

54
Q

Causal

A

Causal (adj)

Involving a cause

Plato believed there is a causal relationship between income equality, political discontent and crime.

55
Q

Caustic

A

Caustic (adj)

Sarcastically biting; burning

The columnists caustic comments on government policy did not win her any friends among government officials.

56
Q

Celestial

A

Celestial (adj)

Concerning the sky or heavens; sublime

Astronomers make use of the Doppler effect to measure the velocities and distance from Earth of stars and other celestial objects.

57
Q

Centrifugal

A

Centrifugal (adj)

Moving away from a center

As the empire expanded, there was an ever-increasing centrifugal stress as remote colonies sought autonomy.

58
Q

Centripetal

A

Centripetal (adj)

Moving or directed toward a center

Astronomers calculate that the centripetal forced exerted by the Earth’s gravity on the moon will keep the moon in orbit around Earth for billions of years.

59
Q

Champion

A

Champion (v)

To defend or support

Robin Hood is famous for championing the underdogs of England.

60
Q

Castigation

A

Castigation (n)

Punishment; chastisement; criticism

Many British writers recall with loathing the castigation they received at school.

61
Q

Chasten

A

Chasten (v)

To correct by punishment or reproof; to restrain or subdue

The child’s behavior improved after she had been chastened by punishment.

62
Q

Chicanery

A

Chicanery (n)

Trickery; fraud

The governor ordered an audit to investigate alleged financial chicanery.

63
Q

Chivalry

A

Chivalry (n)

The qualities idealized by knighthood such as bravery and gallantry toward women.

64
Q

Churlish

A

Churlish (adj)

Rude; boorish

According to the chivalric code, a knight was never supposed to be churlish, especially toward noble ladies, to whom he was supposed to be unfailingly gentle and courteous.

65
Q

Circuitous

A

Circuitous (adj)

Roundabout

According to Hindu philosophy, some souls take a circuitous path through many births to reach God.

66
Q

Clairvoyant

A

Clairvoyant (n)

One who can predict the future; psychic

He was a famous clairvoyant.

67
Q

Clamor

A

Clamor (n)

Noisy outcry

Over the past 12 years or so the clamor for better protection for the Earth’s rain Forrest’s had increased dramatically.

68
Q

Clique

A

Clique (n) a small, exclusive group

69
Q

Cloister

A

Cloister (v)

To confine; seclude

The writer cloistered herself in a country house to finish her novel.

Cloistered (adj)

To shut away from the world

70
Q

Coagulate

A

Coagulate (v)

Thicken; congeal

In normal individuals, blood behind to coagulate about 20 seconds after a wound is sustained, thus preventing further bleeding.

GRE Essential (8 decks)

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