GRE Barron's 11-12 Flashcards
connivance
pretense of ignorance of something wrong; assistance; permission to offend; 見て見ぬ振りをすること. With the connivance of his friends, he plotted to embarrass the teacher.
connoisseur
person competent to act as a judge of art, etc.; a lover of an art. Bernard Berenson, the American art critic and connoisseur of Italian art, was hired by wealthy art lovers to select paintings for their collections.
connotation
suggested or implied meaning of an expression. Foreigners frequently are unaware of the connotations of the words they use.
consanguinity
kinship. Wanting to be rid of yet another wife, Henry VII sought a divorce on the grounds of consanguinity, claiming their blood relationship was improperly close.
conscientious
scrupulous; careful; 良心的な、入念な. A conscientious editor, she checked every definition for its accuracy.
consecrate
dedicate; sanctify. In 1804, Napoleon forced Pope Pius VII to come to Paris to consecrate him as emperor, only to humiliate Pius at the last minute by taking the crown from the pope’s hands and crowning himself.
consequential
pompous; self-important. Convinced of his own importance, the actor strutted about the dressing room with a consequential air.
consign
deliver officially; entrust; set apart. The court consigned the child to her paternal grandmother’s care.
console
lessen sadness or disappointment; give comfort. When her father died, Marius did his best to console Cosette.
consonance
harmony; agreement. Her agitation seemed out of consonance with her usual calm.
consort
associate with. We frequently judge people by the company with whom they consort.
constituent
supporter. The congressman received hundreds of letters from angry constituents after the Equal Rights Amendment failed to pass.
construe
explain; interpret. If I construe your remarks correctly, you disagree with the theory already advanced.
consummate
wholly without flaw; supremely skilled; complete and utter. Free of her father’s autocratic rule, safely married to the man she loved, Elizabeth Barrett Browning felt consummate happiness.
contempt
scorn; disdain. The heavyweight boxer looked on ordinary people with contempt, scorning them as weaklings who couldn’t hurt a fly. We thought it was contemptible of him to be contemptuous of people for being weak.
contend
struggle; compete; assert earnestly. In Revolt of the Black Athlete, sociologist Harry Edwards contends that young black athletes have been exploited by some college recruiters.
contention
claim; thesis. It is our contention that, if you follow our tactics, you will boost your score on the GRE.
contentious
quarrelsome. Disagreeing violently with the referee’s ruling, the coach became so contentious that the referees threw him out of the game.
contiguous
adjacent to; touching upon. The two countries are contiguous for a few miles; then they are separated by the gulf.
contortions
twistings; distortions. As the effects of the opiate wore away, the contortions of the patient became more violent and demonstrated how much pain she was enduring.
contravene
contradict; oppose; infringe on or transgress. Mr. Barrett did not expect his frail daughter Elizabeth to contravene his will by eloping with Robert Browning.
contrite
penitent; 深く悔いている. Her contrite tears did not influence the judge when he imposed sentence.
contrived
forced; artificial; not spontaneous. Feeling ill at ease with his new in-laws, James made a few contrived attempts at conversation and then retreated into silence.
controvert
oppose with arguments; attempt to refute; contradict. The witness’s testimony was so clear and her reputation for honesty so well established that the defense attorney decided it was wiser to make no attempt to controvert what she said.
contumacious
disobedient; resisting authority. The contumacious mob shouted defiantly at the police.
conundrum
riddle; difficult problem. During the long car ride, she invented conundrums to entertain the children.
convene
assemble. Because much needed legislation had to be enacted, the governor ordered the legislature to convene in special session by January 15.
conversant
familiar with. In this age of specialization, someone reasonably conversant with modern French literature may be wholly unacquainted with the novels of Latin America and Spain.
conveyance
vehicle; transfer. During the transit strike, commuters used various kinds of conveyances.
conviction
judgement that someone is guilty of a crime; strongly held belief. Even her conviction for murder did not shake Lord Peter’s conviction that Harriet was innocent of the crime..
convoke
call together. Congress was convoked at the outbreak of the emergency.
convoluted
coiled around; involved; intricate. His argument was so convoluted that few of us could follow it intelligently.
copious
plentiful. She had copious reasons for rejecting the proposal.
cordial
gracious; heartfelt; 思いやりのある. Our hosts greeted us at the airport with a cordial welcome and a hearty hug.
corollary
consequence; accompaniment. Brotherly love is a complex emotion, with sibling rivalry its natural corollary.
corporeal
bodily; material. The doctor had no patience with spiritual matters: his job was to attend to his patients’ corporeal problems, not to minister to their souls.
corroborate
confirm; support. Though Huck was quite willing to corroborate Tom’s story, Aunt Polly knew better than to believe either of them.
corrosive
eating away by chemicals or disease. Stainless steel is able to withstand the effects of corrosive chemicals.
coterie
group that meets socially; select circle. After his book had been published, he was invited to join the literary coterie that lunched daily at the hotel.
countenance
approve; tolerate. Miss Manners refused to countenance such rude behavior on their part.
countermand
cancel; revoke. The general countermanded the orders issued in his absence.
covenant
agreement. We must comply with the terms of the covenant.
covert
secret; hidden; implied. Investigations of the Central Intelligence Agency and other secret service networks reveal that such covert operations can get out of control.
covetous
avaricious; eagerly desirous of. The poor man wants many things; the covetous ma, all.
cow
terrorize; intimidate. The little boy was so cowed by the hulking bully that he gave up his lunch money without a word of protest.
cower
shrink quivering, as fro fear. The frightened child cowered in the corner of the room.
coy
shy; modest; coquettish. Reluctant to commit herself so early in the game, Kay was coy in her answers to Ken’s offer.
cozen
cheat; hoodwink; swindle. He was the kind of individual who would cozen his friends in a cheap card game but remain eminently ethical in all his business dealings.
crabbed
sour; peevish; 気難しい、ひねくれた. The children avoided the crabbed old man because he scolded them when they made noise.
crass
very unrefined; grossly insensible. The film critic deplored the crass commercialism of movie-makers who abandon artistic standards in order to make a quick buck.
craven
cowardly. Lillian’s craven refusal to join the protest was criticized by her comrades, who had expected her to be brave enough to stand up for her beliefs.
credence
belief. Do not place any credence in his promises.
credo
creed; 信条. Just two months before his death, as he talked about life with some friends, the writer Jack London proclaimed his credo: “The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
credulity
belief on slight evidence; gullibility. Con artists take advantage of the credulity of inexperienced investors to swindle them out of their savings.
crestfallen
dejected; dispirited; うなだれた、意気消沈した. We were surprised at his reaction to the failure of his project; instead of being crestfallen, he was busily engaged in planning new activities.
crevice
crack; fissure. The mountain climbers found footholds in the tiny crevices in the mountainside.
cringe
shrink back, as if in fear. The dog cringed, expecting a blow.
crotchety
eccentric; whimsical. Although he was reputed to be a crotchety old gentleman, I found his ideas substantially sound and sensible.
crux
essential or main point. This is the crux of the entire problem: everything centers on its being resolved.
cryptic
mysterious; hidden; secret. Thoroughly baffled by Holmes’s cryptic remarks, Watson wondered whether Holmes was intentionally concealing his thoughts about the crime.
cull
pick out; reject. Every month the farmer culls the nonlaying hens from his flock and sells them to the local butcher.
culmination
attainment of highest point. His inauguration as President of the United States marked the culmination of his political career.
culpable
deserving blame. Corrupt politicians who condone the activities of the gamblers are equally culpable.
cumbersome
heavy; hard to manage. She was burdened with cumbersome parcels.
cupidity
greed. The defeated people could not satisfy the cupidity of the conquerors, who demanded excessive tribute.
curator
superintendent; manager. The members of the board of trustees of the museum expected the new curator to plan events and exhibits that would make the museum more popular.
cursory
casual; hastily done. Because a cursory examination of the ruins indicates the possibility of arson, we believe the insurance agency should undertake a more extensive investigation of the fire’s cause.
curtail
shorten; reduce. When Elton asked Cher for a date, she said she was really sorry she couldn’t go out with him, but her dad had ordered her to curtail her social life.
cynosure
object of general attention. As soon as the movie star entered the room, she became the cynosure of all eyes.
dabble
work at in a nonserious fashion; splash around. The amateur painter dabbled at art, but seldom produced a finished piece.
dally
trifle with; procrastinate; 不真面目に扱う、時間を無駄に過ごす. Laertes told Ophelia that Hamlet would only dally with her affections.
damp
lessen in intensity; diminish; mute. Not even the taunts of his brother, who considered ballet no proper pursuit for a lad, could damp Billy Elliot’s enthusiasm for dancing.
dapper
neat and trim. In The Odd Couple, Tony Randall played Felix Unger, an excessively dapper soul who could not stand to have a hair out of place.
dappled
spotted; まだらの. The sunlight filtering through the screens created a dappled effect on the wall.
dauntless
bold. Despite the dangerous nature of the undertaking, the dauntless soldier volunteered for the assignment.
dawdle
loiter; waste time. We have to meet a deadline. Don’t dawdle; just get down to work.
deadpan
wooden; impassive; まじめ腐った、無表情な. We wanted to see how long he could maintain his deadpan expression.
dearth
scarcity. The dearth of skilled labor compelled the employers to open trade schools.
debacle
sudden downfall; complete disaster. In the Airplane movies every flight turns into a debacle, with passengers and crew members collapsing, engines falling apart, and carry-on baggage popping out of the overhead bins.
debase
reduce the quality or value; lower in esteem; degrade. In The King and I, Anna refuses to kneel down and prostrate herself before the king; she feels that to do so would debase her position, and she will not submit to such debasement.
debauch
corrupt; seduce from virtue. Did Socrates’ teachings lead the young men of Athens to be virtuous citizens, or did they debauch the young men, causing them to question the customs of their fathers? Clearly, Socrates’ philosophical talks were nothing like the wild debauchery of the toga parties in Animal House.
debilitate
weaken; enfeeble. Michael’s severe bout of the flu debilitated him so much that he was too tired to go to work for a week.
debonair
urbane and suave; amiable; cheerful and carefree; 礼儀正しい、愛想のいい. Reporters frequently describe polished and charming leading men as debonair.
debunk
expose as false, exaggerated, worthless, etc.; ridicule. Pointing out that he consistently had voted against strengthening antipollution legislation, reporters debunked the candidate’s claim that he was a fervent environmentalist.
decadence
decay. The moral decadence of the people was reflected in the lewd literature of the period.
decapitate
behead; の頭部（指導部）を（除去）排除する. They did not hang Lady Jane Grey; they decapitated her. “Off with her head!” cried the Duchess, eager to decapitate poor Alice.
