GRE Barron's 27-28 Flashcards
inviolable
secure from corruption, attack, or violation; unassailable. Batman considered his oath to keep the people of Gotham City safe inviolable: nothing on earth could make him break this promise.
invocation
prayer for help; calling upon as a reference or support. The service of Morning Prayer opens with an invocation during which we ask God to hear our prayers.
invoke
call upon; ask for. She invoked her advisor’s aid in filing out her financial aid forms.
iota
very small quantity. She hadn’t and iota of common sense.
irate
angry. When John’s mother found out that he had overdrawn his checking account for the third month in a row, she was so irate that she could scarcely speak to him.
irksome
annoying; tedious. He found working on the assembly line irksome because of the monotony of the operation he had to perform.
irrefutable
indisputable; incontrovertible; undeniable. No matter how hard I tried to find a good comeback for her argument, I couldn’t think of one: her logic was irrefutable.
irreparable
not able to be corrected or repaired. Your apology cannot atone for the irreparable damage you have done to her reputation.
irrepressible
unable to be restrained or held back. My friend Kitty’s curiosity was irrepressible: she poked her nose into everybody’s business and just laughed when I warned her that curiosity killed the cat.
irreproachable
blameless; impeccable. Homer’s conduct at the office party was irreproachable; even Marge had nothing bad to say about how he behaved.
irretrievable
impossible to recover or regain; irreparable. The left fielder tried to retrieve the ball, but it flew over the fence, bounced off a wall, and fell into the sewer: it was irretrievable.
irreverence
lack of proper respect. Some people in the audience were amused by the irreverence of the comedian’s jokes about the pope; others felt offended by his lack of respect for their faith.
irrevocable
unalterable; irreversible. As Sue dropped the “Dear John” letter into the mailbox, she suddenly had second thoughts and wanted to take it back, but she could not: her action was irrevocable.
jabber
chatter rapidly or unintelligibly. Why does the fellow insist on jabbering away in French when I can’t understand a word he says?
jaded
fatigued; surfeited. He looked for exotic foods to stimulate his jaded appetite.
jaunty
lighthearted; animated; easy and carefree. In Singing in the Rain, Gene Kelly sang and danced his way through the lighthearted title number in a properly jaunty style.
jettison
throw overboard; を投げ捨てる. In order to enable the ship to ride safely through the storm, the captain had to jettison much of his cargo.
jocund
merry. Santa Claus is always cheerful and jocund.
jollity
gaiety; cheerfulness. The festive Christmas dinner was a merry one, and old and young alike joined in the general jollity.
jostle
shove; bump; ぶつかる. In the subway he was jostled by the crowds.
jovial
Good-natured; merry. A frown seemed out of place on his invariably jovial face.
jubilation
rejoicing; 歓喜、祝賀. There was great jubilation when the armistice was announced.
judicious
sound in judgement; wise. At a key moment in his life, he made a judicious investment that was the foundation of his later wealth.
juncture
crisis; joining point. At this critical juncture, let us think carefully before determining the course we shall follow.
ken
range of knowledge. I cannot answer your question since this matter is beyond my ken.
killjoy
grouch; spoilsport; 楽しみに水を差す人. At breakfast we had all been enjoying our bacon and eggs until that killjoy John started talking about how bad animal fats and cholesterol were for our health.
kindle
start a fire; inspire. One of the first things Ben learned in the Boy Scouts was how to kindle a fire by rubbing two dry sticks together.
kindred
related; similar in nature or character. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were two kindred spirits.
knave
untrustworthy person; rogue; scoundrel. Any politician nicknamed Tricky Dick clearly has the reputation of a knave.
knead
mix; work dough. Her hadns grew strong from kneading bread.
knit
contract into wrinkles; grow together. Whenever David worries, his brow knits in a frown. When he broke his leg, he sat around the house all day waiting for the bones to knit.
knotty
intricate; difficult; tangled. What to Watson had been a knotty problem to Sherlock Holmes was simplicity itself.
laborious
demanding much work or care; tedious. In putting together his dictionary of the English language, Doctor Johnson undertook a laborious task.