Ets official gre verbal reasoning SE Flashcards
Retrofitted
VERB
To retrofit a machine or a building means to put new parts or new equipment in it after it has been in use for some time, especially to improve its safety or make it work better.
Much of this business involves retrofitting existing planes. [VERB noun]
Damaged houses have been repaired, roads repaved and buildings retrofitted. [VERB noun]
Retrofit is also a noun.
A retrofit may involve putting in new door jambs.
The retrofit program will be carried out at the Montreal facilities.
insipid
- ADJECTIVE
If you describe food or drink as insipid, you dislike it because it has very little taste.
[disapproval]
It tasted indescribably bland and insipid, like warmed cardboard.
Synonyms: tasteless, bland, flavourless, watered down More Synonyms of insipid - ADJECTIVE
If you describe someone or something as insipid, you mean they are dull and boring.
[disapproval]
On the surface she seemed meek, rather insipid.
They gave an insipid opening performance in a nil-nil draw with Peru.
Synonyms: bland, boring, dull, flat
atop
PREPOSITION
If something is atop something else, it is on top of it.
[US, also British, literary]
Under the newspaper, atop a sheet of paper, lay an envelope.
Synonyms: on top of, over, upon, higher than
shunned
VERB
If you shun someone or something, you deliberately avoid them or keep away from them.
From that time forward everybody shunned him. [VERB noun]
He has always shunned publicity. [VERB noun]
This extremist organization has shunned conventional politics. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: avoid, steer clear of, keep away from, snub
kindred
- UNCOUNTABLE NOUN [with poss]
Your kindred are your family, and all the people who are related to you.
[dialect, or old-fashioned]
The offender made proper restitution to the victim’s kindred.
Synonyms: family, relations, relatives, connections More Synonyms of kindred - ADJECTIVE [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
Kindred things are similar to each other.
[formal]
I recall many discussions with her on these and kindred topics.
Synonyms: similar, like, related, allied
imperative
- ADJECTIVE [usually verb-link ADJECTIVE]
If it is imperative that something is done, that thing is extremely important and must be done.
[formal]
It was imperative that he act as naturally as possible.
That’s why it is imperative to know what your rights are at such a time.
The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.
Synonyms: urgent, essential, pressing, vital More Synonyms of imperative - COUNTABLE NOUN
An imperative is something that is extremely important and must be done.
[formal]
The most important political imperative is to limit the number of U.S. casualties.
…the needs of those unable to respond to the imperatives of an enterprise culture. - SINGULAR NOUN
In grammar, a clause that is in the imperative, or in the imperative mood, contains the base form of a verb and usually has no subject. Examples are ‘Go away’ and ‘Please be careful’. Clauses of this kind are typically used to tell someone to do something. - COUNTABLE NOUN
An imperative is a verb in the base form that is used, usually without a subject, in an imperative clause.
outspokenly
ADVERB
in a manner which is candid or bold (in speech)
He will defend them outspokenly.
He was outspokenly critical of the scheme.
mortified
ADJECTIVE [usually verb-link ADJECTIVE]
If you say that someone is mortified, you mean that they feel extremely offended, ashamed, or embarrassed.
If I reduced somebody to tears I’d be mortified.
heterodox
ADJECTIVE
Heterodox beliefs, opinions, or ideas are different from the accepted or official ones.
[formal]
Synonyms: unorthodox, dissident, heretical, revisionist
omnipresent
ADJECTIVE
Something that is omnipresent is present everywhere or seems to be always present.
[formal]
The sound of sirens was an omnipresent background noise in New York.
The obsessive thoughts became so omnipresent that her memory was affected.
Synonyms: ubiquitous, ever-present, pervasive
outmoded
ADJECTIVE
If you describe something as outmoded, you mean that you think it is old-fashioned and no longer useful or relevant to modern life.
The country badly needs aid to modernize its outmoded industries.
What hope is there, if people in positions of power continue to promote outmoded attitudes?
The political system has become thoroughly outmoded.
Synonyms: old-fashioned, passé, dated, out
herald
- VERB
Something that heralds a future event or situation is a sign that it is going to happen or appear.
[formal]
…the sultry evening that heralded the end of the baking hot summer. [VERB noun]
Their discovery could herald a cure for some forms of impotence. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: indicate, promise, precede, pave the way More Synonyms of herald - COUNTABLE NOUN
Something that is a herald of a future event or situation is a sign that it is going to happen or appear.
[formal]
I welcome the report as a herald of more freedom, not less. [+ of]
For her, it was the herald of summer.
Synonyms: forerunner, sign, signal, indication More Synonyms of herald - VERB [usually passive]
If an important event or action is heralded by people, announcements are made about it so that it is publicly known and expected.
[formal]
Her new album has been heralded by a massive media campaign. [be VERB-ed + by]
Tonight’s big game is being heralded as the match of the season. [be VERB-ed + as]
Synonyms: announce, publish, advertise, proclaim More Synonyms of herald - COUNTABLE NOUN
In former times, a herald was a person who delivered and announced important messages.
ruthless
- ADJECTIVE
If you say that someone is ruthless, you mean that you disapprove of them because they are very harsh or cruel, and will do anything that is necessary to achieve what they want.
[disapproval]
The President was ruthless in dealing with any hint of internal political dissent. [+ in]
…an invasion by a ruthless totalitarian power.
The late newspaper tycoon is condemned for his ruthless treatment of employees.
ruthlessly ADVERB [ADVERB with verb]
The Party has ruthlessly crushed any sign of organised opposition.
ruthlessness UNCOUNTABLE NOUN
…a powerful political figure with a reputation for ruthlessness. - ADJECTIVE
A ruthless action or activity is done forcefully and thoroughly, without much concern for its effects on other people.
Her lawyers have been ruthless in thrashing out a settlement. [+ in]
Successfully merging two banks requires a fast and ruthless attack on costs.
ruthlessly ADVERB
…a ruthlessly efficient woman.
ruthlessness UNCOUNTABLE NOUN
…a woman with a brain and business acumen and a certain healthy ruthlessness.
sway
- VERB
When people or things sway, they lean or swing slowly from one side to the other.
The people swayed back and forth with arms linked. [VERB adverb/preposition]
The whole boat swayed and tipped. [VERB]
…a coastal highway lined with tall, swaying palm trees. [VERB-ing]
Synonyms: move from side to side, rock, wave, roll More Synonyms of sway - VERB
If you are swayed by someone or something, you are influenced by them.
Don’t ever be swayed by fashion. [be VERB-ed]
…last minute efforts to sway the voters in tomorrow’s local elections. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: influence, control, direct, affect More Synonyms of sway - See to hold sway
- See under the sway of sb/sth
impair
VERB
If something impairs something such as an ability or the way something works, it damages it or makes it worse.
[formal]
Consumption of alcohol impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery. [VERB noun]
His movements were painfully impaired by arthritis. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: worsen, reduce, damage, injure More Synonyms of impair
impaired ADJECTIVE
The blast left him with permanently impaired hearing.
Synonyms: damaged, flawed, faulty, defective
