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G Flashcards

1
Q

gadfly

A

animal-biting fly, an irritating person

Like a gadfly, he irritated all the guests at the hotel; within forty eight hours, everyone regarded him as an annoying busybody.

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2
Q

gaffe

A

social blunder

According to Miss Manners, to call your husband by your lover’s name is worse than a mere gaffe; it is a tactical mistake.

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3
Q

gait

A

manner of walking or running; speed

The lame man walked with an uneven gait.

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4
Q

gall

A

bitterness; nerve

The knowledge of his failure filled him with gall.

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5
Q

gall”

A

annoy; chafe

Their taunts galled him.

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6
Q

galleon

A

large sailing ship

The Spaniards pinned their hopes on the galleon, the large warship; the British, on the smaller and faster pinnace.

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7
Q

galvanize

A

stimulate by shock; stir up

The entire nation was galvanized into strong military activity by the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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8
Q

gambit

A

opening in chess in which a piece is sacrificed

The player was afraid to accept his opponent’s gambit because he feared a trap which as yet he could not see.

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9
Q

gambol

A

skip; leap playfully

Watching children gamboling in the park is a pleasant experience

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10
Q

gamely

A

in a spirited manner; with courage

Because he had fought gamely against a much superior boxer, the crowd gave him a standing ovation when he left the arena.

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11
Q

gamut

A

entire range

In this performance, the leading lady was able to demonstrate the complete gamut of her acting ability.

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12
Q

gape

A

open widely

The huge pit gaped before him; if he stumbled, he would fall in.

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13
Q

garbled

A

mixed up; jumbled; distorted

A favorite party game involves passing a whispered message from one person to another; by the time it reaches the last player, the message has become totally garbled.

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14
Q

gargantuan

A

huge; enormous

The gargantuan wrestler was terrified of mice.

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15
Q

gargolye

A

waterspout carved in groteque figures on a building

The gargoyles adorning the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris are amusing in their grotesqueness.

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16
Q

garish

A

gaudy

She wore a garish rhinestone necklace.

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17
Q

garner

A

gather; store up

She hoped to garner the world’s literature in one library.

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18
Q

garnish

A

decorate

Parsley was used to garnish the boiled potato.

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19
Q

garrulity

A

talkativeness

The man who married a dumb wife asked the doctor to make him deaf because of his wife’s garrulity after her cure

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20
Q

garrulous

A

excessively talkative, especially about unimportant subjects; loquacious; wordy

Many club members avoided the company of the garrulous junior executive because his contant chatter bored them to tears.

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21
Q

gauche

A

clumsy; boorish

Such remarks are gauche and out of place; you should apologize for making them.

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22
Q

gaudy

A

flashy; showy

Her gaudy taste in clothes apalled us.

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23
Q

gaunt

A

lean and angular; barren

His once-round face looked surprisingly gaunt after he had lost weight.

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24
Q

gawk

A

stare foolishly; look in open-mouthed awe

The country boy gawked at the skyscrapers and neon lights of the big city.

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25
gazette
official publication He read the gazettes regularly for announcement of his promotion.
26
genealogy
record of descent; lineage He was proud of his genealogy and constantly referred to the achievements of his ancestors.
27
geniality
cheerfulness; kindliness; sympathy This restaurant is famous and popular because of the geniality of the proprietor, who tries to make everyone happy.
28
genteel
well-bred; elegant We are looking for a man with a genteel apperance who can inspire confidence by his cultivated manner.
29
gentility
those of gentle birth; refinement Her family was proud of its gentility and elegance.
30
gentry
people of standing; class of people just below nobility The local gentry did not welcome the visits of the summer tourists and tried to ignore their presence in the community.
31
germane
pertinent; bearing upon the case at hand The lawyer objected that the testimony being offered was not germane to the case at hand.
32
germinal
pertaining to a germ; creative Such an idea is germinal; I am certain that it will influence thinkers and philosophers for many generations.
33
gerontacracy
government ruled by old people Gulliver visited a gerontocracy in which the young people acted as servants to their elders, all the while dreaming of the day they would be old enough to have servants of their own.
34
gerrymander
change in voting district lines in order to favor a political party The illogical pattern of the map of this congressional district is proof that the state legislature gerrymandered this area in order to favor the majority party.
35
gestate
evolve, as in prenatal growth While this scheme was being gestated by the conspirators, they maintained complete silence about their intentions.
36
gesticulation
motion; gesture Operatic performers are trained to make exaggerated gesticulations because of the large auditoriums in whic they appear.
37
ghastly
horrible The murdered man was a ghastly sight.
38
gibe
mock As you gibe at their superstitious beliefs, do you realize that you, too, are guilty of similarly foolish thoughts?
39
giddy
light-hearted; dizzy He felt his giddy youth was past.
40
gingerly
very carefully To separate egg whites, first crack the egg gingerly.
41
girth
distance around something; circunference It took an extra-large cummerbund to fit around Andrew Carnegie's considerable girth.
42
glaring
highly conspicuous; harshly bright glaring spelling or grammatical errors in your resume will unfavorably impress potential employers.
43
glaze
cover with a thin and shiny surface The freezing rain glazed the streets and made driving hazardous.
44
glean
gather leavings After the crops had been harvested by the machines, the peasants were permitted to glean the wheat left in the fields.
45
glib
fluent He is a glib and articulate speaker.
46
gloat
express evil satisfaction; view malevolently As you gloat over your ill-gotten wealth, do you think of the many victims you have defrauded?
47
gloss over
explain away No matter how hard he tried to talk around the issue, President Bush could not gloss over the fact that he had raised the taxes after all.
48
glower
scowl The angry boy glowered at his father.
49
glut
overstock; fill to excess The many manufacturers glutted the market and could not find purchasers for the many articles they had produced.
50
glutinous
sticky; viscous Molasses is a glutinous substance.
51
gnarled
twisted The gnarled oak tree had been a landmark for years and was mentioned in several deeds.
52
gnome
dwarf; underground spirit In medieval mythology, gnomes were the special guardians and inhabitants of subterranean mines.
53
goad
urge on He was goaded by his friends until he yielded to their wishes.
54
gorge
narrow canyon; steep, rocky cleft Terrified of heights, George could not bring himself to peer down into the gorge to see the rapids below. \*\* stuff oneself The gluttonous guest gorged himself with food as though he had not eaten for days.
55
gory
bloody The audience shuddered as they listened to the details of the gory massacre.
56
gossamer
sheer; like cobwebs Nylon can be woven into gossaner or thick fabrics.
57
gouge
tear out In that fight, all the rules were forgotten; the adversaries bit, kicked, and tried to gouge each other's eyes out.
58
gourmand
epicure; person who takes excessive pleasure in food and drink goumands lack self-restraint; if they enjoy a particular cuisine, they eat far too much of it.
59
graduated
arraged by degree (of height, difficulty, etc.) Margaret loved her graduated set of Russian hollow wooden dolls; she spent hours happily putting the smaller dolls into their larger counterparts.
60
grandiloquent
pompous; bombastic; using high-sounding language The politician could bever speak simply; she was always grandiloquent.
61
grapple
wrestle; come to grips with He grappled with the burglar and overpowered him.
62
grate
make a harsh noise; have an unpleasant effect; shred The screams of the quarreling children grated on her nerves.
63
gravity
seriousness We could tell we were in serious trouble from the gravity of her expression.
64
grievance
cause of complaint When her supervisor ignored her complaint, she took her grievance to the union.
65
grill
question severely In violation of the Miranda law, the police grilled the suspect for several hours before reading him his rights.
66
grimace
a facial distortion to show feeling such as pain, disgust, etc. Even though he remained silent, his grimace indicated his displeasure.
67
grotesque
fantastic; comically hideous On Halloween people enjoy wearing groteque costumes.
68
grotto
small cavern The Blue Grotto in Capri can be entered only by small boats rowed by natives through a natural opening in the rocks.
69
grouse
complain; fuss Students traditionally grouse about the abysmal quality of "mystery meat" and similar dornitory food.
70
grovel
crawl or creep on ground; remain prostrate Even though we have been defeated, we do not have to grovel before our conquerors.
71
gruel
thin, liquid porridge Our daily allotment of gruel made the meal not only monotonous but also unpalatable.
72
gruff
rough-mannered Although he was blunt and gruff with most people, he was always gentle with children.
73
guffaw
boisterous laughter The loud guffaws that came from the closed room indicated that the members of the committe had not yet settled down to a serious business.
74
guile
deceit; duplicity She achieved her high position by guile and treachery.
75
guileless
without deceit He is naive, simple, and guileless; he cannot be guilty of fraud.
76
guise
appearance; costume In the guise of a plumber, the detective investigated the murder case.
77
gusto
enjoyment; enthusiasm He accepted the assignment with such gusto that I feel he would have been satisfied with a smaller salary.
78

GRE (24 decks)

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