GRE Barron's 23-24 Flashcards
hilarity
boisterous mirth; 楽しい気分. This hilarity is improper on this solemn day of mourning.
hindmost
furthest behind. The coward could always be found in the hindmost lines whenever a battle was being waged.
hindrance
block; obstacle. Stalled cars along the highway are a hindrance to traffic that tow trucks should remove without delay.
hireling
one who serves for hire (usually used contemptuously); 金目当てに働く人. In a matter of such importance, I do not wish to deal with hirelings; I must meet with the chief.
hoard
stockpile; accumulate for future use. Whenever there are rumors of a food shortage, people are tempted to hoard food.
hoax
trick; practical joke. Embarrassed by the hoax, she reddened and left the room.
homage
honor; tribute. In her speech she tried to pay homage to a great man.
homespun
domestic; made at home. Homespun wit, like homespun cloth, was often coarse and plain.
hone
sharpen. To make shaving easier, he honed his razor with great care.
hoodwink
deceive; delude, Having been hoodwinked once by the fast-talking salesman, he was extremely cautious when he went to purchase a used car.
horde
crowd. Just before Christmas the stores are filled with hordes of shoppers.
hortatory
encouraging; exhortive. The crowd listened to his hortatory statements with ever-growing excitement; finally they rushed from the hall to carry out his suggestions.
hover
hang about; wait nearby. The police helicopter hovered above the accident.
hubbub
confused uproar. The marketplace was a scene of hubbub and excitement; in all the noise, we could not distinguish particular voices.
hubris
arrogance; excessive self-conceit. Filled with hubris, Lear refused to heed his friends’ warnings.
hue
color; aspect. The aviary contained birds of every possible hue.
humdrum
dull; monotonous. After her years of adventure, she could not settle down to a humdrum existence.
humility
humbleness of spirit. He spoke with a humility and lack of pride that impressed his listeners.
hurtle
crash; rush. The runaway train hurtled toward disaster.
husband
use sparingly; conserve; save. Marathon runners must husband their energy so that they can keep going for the entire distance.
husbandry
frugality; thrift; agriculture. He accumulated his small fortune by diligence and husbandry.
hypercritical
excessively exacting; 酷評の. You are hypercritical in your demands for perfection; we all make mistakes.
hypocritical
pretending to be virtuous; deceiving; 偽善者の. Because he believed Eddie to be interested only in his own advancement, Greg resented Eddie’s hypocritical protestations of friendship.
idiosyncrasy
individual trait, usually odd in nature; eccentricity. One of Richard Nixon’s little idiosyncrasies was his liking for ketchup on cottage cheese.
idyllic
charmingly carefree; simple. Far from the city she led an idyllic existence in her rural retreat.
ignoble
unworthy; not noble. A true knight, Sir Galahad never stooped to perform an ignoble deed.
ignominy
deep disgrace; shame or dishonor. To lose the Ping-Pong match to a trained chimpanzee! How could Rollo endure the ignominy of his defeat?
illicit
illegal. The defense attorney claimed that the police had entrapped his client; that is, they had elicited the illicit action of which they now accused him.
illimitable
infinite. Human beings, having explored the far corners of the earth, are now reaching out into illimitable space.
illusive
deceiving. This is only a mirage; let us not be fooled by its illusive effect.
illusory
deceptive; not real. Unfortunately, the costs of running the lemonade stand were so high that Tom’s profits proved illusory.
imbecility
weakness of mind. I am amazed at the imbecility of the readers of these trashy magazines.
imbibe
drink in. The dry soil imbibed the rain quickly.
imbue
saturate, fill. His visits to the famous Gothic cathedrals imbued him with feelings of awe and reverence.
immaculate
spotless; flawless; absolutely clean. Ken and Jessica were wonderful tenants who left the apartment in immaculate condition when they moved out.
imminent
near at hand; impending. Rosa was such a last-minute worker that she could never start writing a paper till the deadline was imminent.
immolate
offer as a sacrifice. The tribal king offered to immolate his daughter to quiet the angry gods.
immure
imprison; shut up in confinement. For the two weeks before the examination, the student immured himself in his room and concentrated upon his studies.
impale
pierce; 突き刺す. Hi was impaled by the spear hurled by his adversary.
impalpable
imperceptible; intangible. The ash is so fine that it is impalpable to the touch but it can be seen as a fine layer covering the window ledge.
impassable
not able to be traveled or crossed. A giant redwood had fallen across the highway, blocking all four lanes: the road was impassable.
impasse
predicament from which there is no escape; 袋小路、行き詰まり. In this impasse, all turned to prayer as their last hope.
impeach
charge with crime in office; indict; を弾劾する、非難する. The angry congressman wanted to impeach the president for his misdeeds.
impeccable
faultless. The uncrowned queen of the fashion industry, Diana was acclaimed for her impeccable taste.
impediment
hindrance; stumbling-block. She had a speech impediment that prevented her from speaking clearly.
impel
drive or force onward. A strong feeling of urgency impelled her; if she failed to finish the project right then, she knew that she would never get it done.
impending
nearing; approaching. The entire country was saddened by the news of his impending death.
impenitent
not repentant; 悔い改めのない. We could see by his brazen attitude that he was impenitent.
imperceptible
unnoticeable; undetectable. Fortunately, the stain on the blouse was imperceptible after the garment had gone through the wash.
imperious
domineering; haughty; 横柄な. Jane rather liked a man to be masterful, but Mr. Rochester seemed so bent on getting his own way that he was actually imperious!
impertinent
insolent; rude. His neighbors’ impertinent curiosity about his lack of dates angered Ted. It was downright rude of them to ask him such personal questions.
impetuous
violent; hasty; rash. “Leap before you look” was the motto suggested by one particularly impetuous young man.
impiety
irreverence; lack of respect for God. When members of the youth group draped the church in toilet paper one Halloween, the minister reprimanded them for their impiety.
impious
irreverent. The congregation was offended by her impious remarks.
implicate
incriminate; show to be involved. Here’s the deal: if you agree to take the witness stand and implicate your partners in crime, the prosecution will recommend that the judge go easy in sentencing you.
implore
beg. He implored her to give him a second chance.
impolitic
not wise. I think it is impolitic to raise this issue at the present time because the public is too angry.
imponderable
weightless. I can evaluate the data gathered in this study; the imponderable items are not so easily analyzed.
import
significance. I feel that you have not grasped the full import of the message sent to us by the enemy.
importunate
urging; demanding. He tried to hide from his importunate creditors until his allowance arrived.
importune
beg persistently. Democratic and Republican phone solicitors importuned her for contributions so frequently that she decided to give nothing to either party.
imposture
assuming a false identity; masquerade. She was imprisoned for her imposture of a doctor.
impregnable
invulnerable. Until the development of the airplane as a military weapon, the fort was considered impregnable.
impromptu
without previous preparation; off the cuff; on the spur of the moment. The judges were amazed that she could make such a thorough, well-supported presentation in an impromptu speech.
impropriety
improperness; unsuitableness. Because of the impropriety of the punk rocker’s slashed T-shirt and jeans, the management refused to admit him to the hotel’s very formal dining room.
improvident
thriftless. He was constantly being warned to mend his improvident ways and begin to “save for a rainy day.”
imprudent
lacking caution; injudicious. It is imprudent to exercise vigorously and become overheated when you are unwell.
impudence
impertinence; insolence; 厚かましさ、生意気. Kissed on the cheek by a perfect stranger, Lady Catherine exclaimed, “Of all the nerve! Young man, I should have you horse-whipped for your impudence.”
impugn
dispute or contradict (often in an insulting way); challenge; gainsay. Our treasure was furious when the finance committee’s report impugned the accuracy of his financial records and recommended that he take bonehead math.
impuissance
powerlessness; feebleness. The lame duck president was frustrated by his shift from enormous power to relative impuissance.
impunity
freedom from punishment or harm. A 98-pound weakling can’t attack a beachfront bully with impunity: the poor, puny guy is sure to get mashed.
inalienable
not to be taken away; nontransferable. The Declaration of Independence mentions the inalienable rights that all of us possess.
inane
silly; senseless. There’s no point in what you’re saying. Why are you bothering to make such inane remarks?
inanimate
lifeless. She was asked to identify the still and inanimate body.
inarticulate
speechless; producing indistinct speech. She became inarticulate with rage and uttered sounds without meaning.
inaugurate
begin formally; install in office. The candidate promised that he would inaugurate a new nationwide health care plan as soon as he was inaugurated as president.
incandescent
strikingly bright; shining with intense heat. If you leave on an incandescent light bulb, it quickly grows too hot to touch.
incapacitate
disable. During the winter, many people were incapacitated by respiratory ailments.
incarcerate
imprison. The civil rights workers were willing to be arrested and even incarcerated if by their imprisonment they could serve the cause.
incense
enrage; infuriate; を激怒させる. Cruelty to defenseless animals incensed Kit: the very idea brought tears of anger to her eyes.
inception
start; beginning. She was involved with the project from its inception.
incessant
uninterrupted; unceasing. In a famous TV commercial, the frogs’ incessant croaking goes on and on until eventually it turns into a single word: “Bud-weis-er.”
