GRE Barron's 15-16 Flashcards
dishearten
discourage. His failure to pass the bar exam disheartened him.
disheveled
untidy. Your disheveled appearance will hurt your chances in this interview.
disinter
dig up; unearth. They disinterred the body and held and autopsy.
disjunction
act or state of separation; disunity. Believing the mind could greatly affect the body’s health, the holistic doctor rejected the notion of a necessary disjunction of mind and body.
dislodge
remove (forcibly). Thrusting her fist up under the choking man’s lower ribs, Margaret used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the food caught in his throat.
dismantle
take apart. When the show closed, they dismantled the scenery before storing it.
dismember
cut into small parts. When the Austrian Empire was dismembered, several new countries were established.
dispassionate
calm; impartial. Known in the company for his cool judgement, Bill could impartially examine the causes of a problem, giving a dispassionate analysis of what had gone wrong, and go on to suggest how to correct the mess.
dispatch
speediness; prompt execution; message sent with all due speed. Young Napoleon defeated the enemy with all possible dispatch; he then sent a dispatch to headquarters, informing his commander of the great victory.
dispel
scatter; drive away; cause to vanish. The bright sunlight eventually dispelled the morning mist.
disperse
scatter. The police fired tear gas into the crowd to disperse the protesters.
dispirited
lacking in spirit. The coach used all the tricks at his command to buoy up the enthusiasm of his team, which had become dispirited at the loss of the star player.
disport
amuse. The popularity of Florida as a winter resort is constantly increasing; each year, thousands more disport themselves at Miami and Palm Beach.
disputatious
argumentative; fond of arguing. Convinced he knew more than his lawyers, Tony was a disputatious client, ready to argue about the best way to conduct the case.
disquietude
uneasiness; anxiety. When Holmes had been gone for a day, Watson felt only a slight sense of disquietude, but after a week with no word, Watson’s uneasiness about his missing friend had grown into a deep fear for Holmes’s safety.
disquisition
a formal systematic inquiry; an explanation of the results of a formal inquiry. In his disquisition, he outlined the steps he had taken in reaching his conclusions.
dissertation
formal essay. In order to earn a graduate degree from many of our universities, a candidate is frequently required to prepare a dissertation on some scholarly subject.
dissimulate
pretend; conceal by feigning. Although the governor tried to dissimulate his feelings about the opposing candidate, we all knew he despised his rival.
dissipate
squander; waste; scatter. He is a fine artist, but I fear he may dissipate his gifts if he keeps wasting his time playing Trivial Pursuit.
dissuade
persuade not to do; discourage. Since Tom could not dissuade Huck from running away from home, he decided to run away with his friend.
distant
reserved or aloof; cold in manner. Her distant greeting made me feel unwelcome from the start.
distraught
upset; distracted by anxiety. The distraught parents frantically searched the ravine for their lost child.
diurnal
daily. A farmer cannot neglect his diurnal tasks at any time; cows, for example, must be milked regularly.
divine
perceive intuitively; foresee the future. Nothing infuriated Tom more than Aunt Polly’s ability to divine when he was not telling the truth.
docile
obedient; easily managed. As docile as he seems today, that old lion was once a ferocious, snarling beast.
doddering
shaky; infirm from old age; よぼよぼの. Lear’s cruel daughters treat him as a doddering old fool, too aged and infirm to be taken seriously.
doff
take off. A gentleman used to doff his hat to a lady.
dogged
determined; stubborn. Les Miserables tells of Inspector Javert’s long, dogged pursuit of the criminal Jean Valijean.
doldrums
blues; listlessness; slack period; 憂鬱、不振、低迷. Once the excitement of meeting her deadline was over, she found herself in the doldrums.
doleful
mournful; causing sadness. Eeyore, the lugubrious donkey immortalized by A. A. Milne, looked at his cheerful friend Tigger and sighed a doleful sigh.
dolorous
sorrowful; 悲しみに満ちた. The conflict between Lancelot’s love for Guinevere and his loyalty to King Arthur led to Arthur’s “dolorous death and departing out of this world.”
dolt
stupid person; dunce. The heroes of Dumb and Dumber are, as the title suggests, a classic pair of dolts.
domicile
home. Although his legal domicile was in New York City, his work kept him away from his residence for many years.
domineer
rule over tyrannically. Students prefer teachers who guide, not ones who domineer.
don
put on. When Clark Kent had to don his Superman outfit, he changed clothes in a convenient phone booth.
dote
be excessively fond of; show signs of mental decline. Not only grandmothers bore you with stories about their brilliant grandchildren; grandfathers dote on the little rascals, too.
dour
sullen; stubborn. The man was dour and taciturn.
douse
plunge into water; drench; extinguish; をずぶぬれにする、（火を）消す. They doused each other with hoses and water balloons.
dowdy
slovenly; untidy. She tried to change her dowdy image by buying a fashionable new wardrobe.
downcast
disheartened; sad. Cheerful and optimistic by nature, Beth was never downcast despite the difficulties she faced.
drab
dull; lacking color; cheerless. The Dutch woman’s drab winter coat contrasted with the distinctive, colorful native costume she wore beneath it.
draconian
extremely severe. When the principal canceled the senior prom because some seniors had been late to school that week, we thought the draconian punishment was far too harsh for such a minor violation of the rules.
dregs
sediment; worthless residue. David poured the wine carefully to avoid stirring up the dregs.
drivel
nonsense; foolishness. Why do I have to spend my days listening to such idiotic drivel?
droll
queer and amusing. He was a popular guest because his droll anecdotes were always entertaining.
drone
idle person; male bee. Content to let his wife support him, the would-be writer was in reality nothing but a drone.
drudgery
menial work; 退屈な重労働、苦役. Cinderella’s fairy godmother rescued her from a life of drudgery.
ductile
malleable; flexible; pliable. Copper is an extremely ductile material: you can stretch it into the thinnest of wires, bend it, even wind it into loops.
dulcet
sweet sounding. The dulcet sounds of the birds at dawn were soon drowned out by the roar of traffic passing our motel.
dumbfound
astonish. Egbert’s perfect score on the GRE dumbfounded his classmates, who had always considered him to be utterly dumb.
duress
forcible restraint, especially unlawfully. The hostages were held under duress until the prisoners’ demands were met.
dutiful
respectful; obedient. When Mother told Billy to kiss Great-Aunt Hattie, the boy obediently gave the old woman a dutiful peck on her cheek.
dwindle
shrink; reduce. The food in the lifeboat gradually dwindled away to nothing; in the end, they ate the ship’s cook.
dyspeptic
suffering from indigestion; 消化不良の、胃弱の、気難しい、不機嫌な. All the talk about rich food made him feel dyspeptic.
earthy
unrefined; coarse. His earthy remarks often embarrassed the women in his audience.
ebb
recede; lessen. Sitting on the beach, Mrs. Dalloway watched the tide ebb: the waters receded, drawing away from her as she sat there all alone.
eclipse
darken; extinguish; surpass. The new stock market high eclipsed the previous record set in 1985.
edict
decree (especially one issued by a sovereign); official command. The emperor issued an edict decreeing that everyone should come see him model his magnificent new clothes.
edify
instruct; correct morally. Although his purpose was to edify and not to entertain his audience, many of his listeners were amused and not enlightened.
eerie
weird. In that eerie setting, it was easy to believe in ghosts and other supernatural beings.
efface
rub out; こすって消す、ぬぐい去る. The coin had been handled so many times that its date had been effaced.
effectual
able to produce a desired effect; valid. Medical researchers are concerned because of the development of drug-resistant strains of bacteria; many once-useful antibiotics are no longer effectual in curing bacterial infections.
effigy
dummy; かたどったもの、肖像. The mob showed its irritation by hanging the judge in effigy.
effluvium
noxious smell. Air pollution has become a serious problem in our major cities; the effluvium and the poisons in the air are hazards to life.
effusion
pouring forth; 流出、ほとばしり. The critics objected to her literary effusion because it was too flowery.
egregious
notorious; conspicuously bad or shocking. She was an egregious liar; we all knew better than to believe a word she said.
egress
exit. Barnum’s sign “To the Egress” fooled many people who thought they were going to see an animal and instead found themselves in the street.
elated
overjoyed; in high spirits. Grinning from ear to ear, Bonnie Blair was clearly elated by her fifth Olympic gold medal.
elliptical
oval; ambiguous, either purposely or because key words have been left out. An elliptical billiard ball wobbles because it is not perfectly round; and elliptical remark baffles because it is not perfectly clear.
eloquence
expressiveness; persuasive speech. The crowds were stirred by Martin Luther King’s eloquence.
elucidate
explain; enlighten. He was called upon to elucidate the disputed points in his article.
elusive
evasive; baffling; hard to grasp. No matter how hard Tom tried to lure the trout into taking the bait, the fish was too elusive for him to catch.
emanate
issue forth; 発する、放射する、広まる. A strong order of sulfur emanated from the spring.
embargo
ban on commerce or other activity. As a result of the embargo, trade with the colonies was at a standstill.
embark
commence; go on board a boat; begin a journey. In devoting herself to the study of gorillas, Dian Fossey embarked on a course of action that was to cost her her life.
embezzlement
stealing. The bank teller confessed his embezzlement of the funds.
embroil
throw into confusion; involve in strife; entangle. He became embroiled in the heated discussion when he tried to arbitrate the dispute.
embryonic
undeveloped; rudimentary. The CEO reminisced about the good old days when the computer industry was still in its embryonic stage and start-up companies were being founded in the family garage.
emend
correct, usually a text. In editing Beowulf for his new scholarly edition, Professor Oliver freely emended the manuscript’s text whenever it seemed to make no sense.
emetic
substance causing vomiting. Ingesting an emetic like mustard is useful in some cases of poisoning.
emissary
agent; messenger. The Secretary of State was sent as the president’s special emissary to the conference on disarmament.
emolument
salary; compensation. In addition to the emolument this position offers, you must consider the social prestige it carries with it.
enamored
in love. Narcissus became enamored of his own beauty.
encipher
encode; convert a message into code. In one of Bond’s first lessons he learned how to encipher the messages he sent to Miss Moneypenny so that none of his other lady friends could read them.
enclave
territory enclosed within an alien land. The Vatican is an independent enclave in Italy.
encompass
surround or encircle; enclose; include. A moat, or deep water-filled trench, encompassed the castle, protecting it from attack.
encroachment
gradual intrusion. The encroachment of the factories upon the neighborhood lowered the value of the real estate.
