GRE 200 Flashcards
Esoteric
e soh TER ik
Adj. intended for or understood by a small group
The most esoteric course offering this semester is Advanced Pig Latin.
Evanescent
e vahn E sunt
Adj. tending to disappear like vapor; vanish
Exacerbate
ig ZA sur bayt
V. To make worse or more severe
Don’t exacerbate the already bad situation.
Expatiate
ex PAY shee ayt
V. Discuss or write about at length
His ability to expatiate in such a variety of subjects…
Extemporaneous
ek stem por AY nee us
Adj. improvised, done without preparation
Ostentatious
ah sten TAY shus
Adj. characterized by or give to pretentiousness
Syn. Pretentious
The ostentatious display off diplomas…
Ostensible
ah STEN suh bul
Adj. seeming, appearing as such, professed
Even when they are ostensibly written for children, cartoons are actually more entertaining for adults
Abjure
ab JUR
V. to renounce or reject solemnly
Syn. recant, avoid
The reformed socialite abjured her former lifestyle…
Steve had to abjure all indulgence when he started training.
Aberrant
a bur unt
Adj. deviating from the norm
Syn. Abnormal
Jim’s aberrant behavior at the dance raised eyebrows, since he was dancing in his hands.
Someone or something aberrant is an aberration.
Adumbrate
a DUM brayt
V. to foreshadow vaguely, suggest or outline sketchily
The first volume of the trilogy only adumbrates the basics of the story that will be developed in the next two books.
Ambivalence
am BIV uh lunts
N. the quality of having opposing ideas or feelings
Antipathy
an TI puh thee
N. aversion, dislike
Terse
turs
Adj. brief and concise in wording
Keep you promo copy terse.
Umbrage
UM brij
N. offense, resentment
I decided not to take umbrage at his insults…
Unfeigned
un FAYND
Adj. genuine, not false or hypocritical
Her unfeigned warmth as she welcomed us into her home made me feel immediately at ease.
Truculent
TRUK yoo lunt
Adj. fierce, scathing eager to fight
The truculent truck had already been arrested five times this year for starting fights
Her truculent opposition to the building…
Trenchant
TREN chunt
Abj. sharply perceptive, keen; penetrating, biting, clear cut
Vacillate
VA sil ayt
V. to waver indecisively between one course of action or opinion and another, sway from one side to other
Harry kept vacillating between chocolate & vanilla
Karen’s endless vacillation over very decision become annoying.
Vaunt
vahnt
V. to brag or boast
Fred likes to vaunt over his achievements.
Veracity
vuh RAS ut tee
N. truthfulness, honesty
A lie detector is a device to measure the veracity of someone’s statement.
Sanguine
SAYN gwun
Adj. cheerful, confident, optimistic
Rubric
ROO brik
N. authoritative rule, heading, title, or category
The rubric used to score the writing samples emphasizes structure over content.
Reticent
RET uh sunt
Adj. quiet, reserved, reluctant to express thoughts & feelings
Petulant
PET yoo lunt
Adj. impatient, irritable
It’s easy to tell when Brad is feeling petulant because he bites his lip.
Picaresque
pik uh RESK
Adj. involving clever rogues or adventurers
Perspicacious
pur spuh KAY shus
Adj. acutely perceptive, having keen discernment
How very perspicacious of you to notice that I dyed my hair blue.
Pernicious
pur NI shus
Adj. extremely harmful, potentially causing death
Syn. inimical
The effect of her pernicious sarcasm could be felt at ten paces.
Meretricious
mer uh TRI shus
Adj. tawdry, attractive but false, showy
Limpid
LIM pud
Adj. transparent, serene, untroubled, clear & simple in style
Lassitude
LAS uh tood
N. listlessness, weariness
Demur
[dih-mur]
V. to make objection
They wanted to make him the treasurer, but he demurred.
Lament
[luh-ment]
V. to mourn for or over.
To lament his absence.
Subsume
[suhb-soom]
V. to include or place within something larger or more comprehensive
Games and team sports are subsumed under the classification of “recreation”
Reproach
[ri-prohch]
V. to find fault with (a person, group, etc.); blame; censure.
Reprove
[ree-proov]
V. to express disapproval of :to scold
It is not for me to reprove popular taste
Mollify
[mol-uh-fahy]
V. pacify; appease.
He tried to mollify his critics with an apology.
Disabuse
[dis-uh-byooz]
V. to free from error, fallacy, or misconception
Syn. Correct
Let me disabuse you of your foolish notions about married life
Onerous
on-er-uhs
Adj. burdensome, oppressive, or troublesome; causing hardship:
The government imposed onerous taxes on imports.
Recalcitrant
[ri-kal-si-truhnt]
Adj. resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory.
Syn. intractable
The manager worried that the recalcitrant employee would try to undermine his authority
Intractable
[in-trak-tuh-buhl]
Adj. not easily governed, managed, or directed
Syn. recalcitrant
A patient experiencing intractable pain
Prosaic
[proh-zey-ik]
Adj. commonplace or dull;
He has a prosaic writing style.
Infelicitous
[in-fuh-lis-i-tuhs
Adj. not appropriate or well-timed
An infelicitous comment on the weight of the guest of honor at the banquet
Stymie
[stahy-mee]
V. to present an obstacle to : stand in the way of
Syn. hinder, block, or thwart.
Progress on the project has been stymied by lack of money.
Extoll
[ik-stohl, -stol]
V. to praise highly; laud;
The health benefits of exercise are widely extolled.
Facetious
[fuh-see-shuhs]
Adj. meant to be humorous or funny : not serious
He’s just being facetious.
Sagacity
[suh-gas-i-tee]
N. acuteness of mental discernment and soundness of judgment.
Circumspection
[sur-kuhm-spek-shuhn]
N. caution; prudence:
He approached with circumspection.
Predilection
pred-l-ek-shuhn
N. an established preference for something
Syn. partiality
A young lad with a predilection for telling tall tales.
Supplant
suh-plant
V. to replace (one thing) by something else.
syn. supersede
Ostentation
os-ten-tey-shuhn
N. the act of showing or exhibiting; display
syn. pretentious
The actress avoids ostentation. She owns a small house and drives an inexpensive car.
Taciturn
[tas-i-turn]
Adj. inclined to silence; reserved in speech; reluctant to join in conversation.
A taciturn man, he almost never initiates a conversation.
Irreverent
[ih-rev-er-uhnt]
Adj. lacking proper respect or seriousness
He has a delightfully irreverent sense of humor.
Ingratiate
[in-grey-shee-eyt]
V. to establish (oneself) in the favor or good graces of others, especially by deliberate effort
She quickly sought to ingratiate herself with the new administration.
Penurious
puh-noor-ee-uhs
Adj. extremely stingy; parsimonious; miserly.
Syn. Frugal
Blessed are the penurious, for they are able to help themselves.
Probity
proh-bi-tee
N. integrity and uprightness; honesty.
He was a gentlemanly Georgian, a person of early American probity
Cogent
[koh-juhnt
Adj. convincing or believable by virtue of forcible, clear, or incisive presentation; telling.
Syn. valid
Aver
[uh-vur]
V. To affirm positively; declare. to state positively; assert
In these disagreements, participants aver they are for the good of the entire group.
Consternation
[kon-ster-ney-shuhn]
N. a feeling of anxiety, dismay, dread, or confusion
Attempts to accommodate them caused consternation among the unions.
Admonish
[ad-mon-ish]
V. to caution, advise, or counsel against something.
Syn. reprove
Erudite
er-yoo-dahyt
Adj. very learned, scholarly
an erudite professor; an erudite commentary.
Perfunctory
per-fuhngk-tuh-ree
Adj. lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm;
Done routinely and with little interest or care:
The operator answered the phone with a perfunctory greeting.
Penchant
pen-chuhnt
N. a strong inclination, taste, or liking for something:
A penchant for outdoor sports.
Duplicity
doo-plis-i-tee
N. Deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech.
Syn. deceit, deception, dissimulation, fraud, guile, trickery
Veneration
[ven-uh-rey-shuhn
N. Profound respect or reverence: honesty
They were filled with veneration for their priests.
Disabuse
[dis-uh-byooz]
V. To free from a falsehood or misconception:
No one in my family could disabuse me of that belief.
Mellifluous
[muh-lif-loo-uhs]
Adj. Flowing with sweetness or honey.
“polite and cordial, with a mellifluous, well-educated voice”
Milieu
mil-yoo
N. surroundings, location, or setting, especially of a social or cultural nature
In its attempts to suggest a milieu, the book feels underpopulated and devoid of texture.
Platitude
plat-i-tood
N. A trite or banal remark or statement
Syn. cliche
Assiduous
[uh-sij-oo-uhs]
Adj. Unceasing; persistent: diligent
An assiduous worker who strove for perfection.
Succor
[suhk-er]
N. help; relief; aid; assistance.
Syn. Support. Help
Unfettered
[uhn-fet-er]
V. to free from restraint; liberate.
Retrenchment
[ri-trench-muhnt]
N. A cutting down or back; reduction.
Edifice
[ed-uh-fis]
N. a building, especially one of large size or imposing appearance.
observations that provided the foundation for the edifice of evolutionary theory.
Superfluous
[soo-pur-floo-uhs]
Adj. being more than is sufficient or required; excessive.
Precipitate
pri-sip-i-teyt
V. to hasten the occurrence of; bring about prematurely, hastily, or suddenly:
He precipitated himself into the struggle.
Wend
wend
V. to go, proceed, walk
We wended our way through the market, buying vegetables for dinner.
Vitiate
VI shee ayt
V. To reduce the value of, debase, spoil, make ineffective
Virulent
VEER uh lunt
Adj. extremely harmful or poisonous, bitterly hostile or antagonistic
Virulence - extreme harmlessness or bitterness.
The strain of flu virus that year was particularly virulent and caused a national health crisis.
Verisimilitude
ver uh si MIL i tood
N. appearing true or real
The verisimilitude of the wax figures was uncanny; they looked as if they would start to move and speak at any minute.
Torpor
[tawr-per]
N. sluggish inactivity or inertia;lethargic indifference; apathy.
The news aroused him from his torpor.
