GRE Barron's 31-32 Flashcards
missive
letter. The ambassador received a missive from the Secretary of State.
mite
very small object or creature; small coin. Gnats are annoying mites that sting.
modish
fashionable. She always discarded all garments that were no longer modish.
modulate
tone down in intensity; regulate; change from one key to another. Always singing at the top of her lungs, the budding Brunhilde never learned to modulate her voice.
mogul
powerful person. The oil moguls made great profits when the price of gasoline rose.
mollycoddle
pamper; indulge excessively; を過保護に扱う、甘やかす. Don’t mollycoddle the boy, Maud!
molten
melted. The city of Pompeii was destroyed by volcanic ash rather than by molten lava flowing from Mount Vesuvius.
momentous
very important. When Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium, they had no idea of the momentous impact their discovery would have upon society.
monochromatic
having only one color. Most people who are color blind actually can distinguish several colors; some, however, have a truly monochromatic view of a world all in shades of gray.
monotony
sameness leading to boredom. What could be more deadly dull than the monotony of punching numbers into a computer hour after hour?
monumental
massive. Writing a dictionary is a monumental task.
moodiness
fits of depression or gloom. We could not discover the cause of her recurrent moodiness.
morbid
given to unwholesome thought; moody; characteristic of disease; 恐ろしい、ぞっとさせる、病的な. People who come to disaster sites just to peer at the grisly wreckage are indulging their morbid curiosity.
mordant
biting; sarcastic; stinging. Actors feared the critic’s mordant pen.
mores
conventions; moral standards; customs. In America, Benazir Bhutto dressed as Western women did; in Pakistan, however, she followed the mores of her people, dressing in traditional veil and robes.
moribund
dying. Hearst took a moribund, failing weekly newspaper and transformed it into one of the liveliest, most profitable daily papers around.
mortify
humiliate; punish the flesh. She was so mortified by her blunder that she ran to her room in tears.
mote
small speck; 小さなほこり、小さな欠点. The tiniest mote in the eye is very painful.
motility
ability to move spontaneously. Certain organisms exhibit remarkable motility; motile spores, for example, may travel for miles before coming to rest.
mottled
blotched in coloring; spotted; まだらの、シミだらけの. When old Falstaff blushed, his face became mottled, all pink and purple and red.
mountebank
charlatan; boastful pretender. The patent medicine man was a mountebank.
muddle
confuse; mix up. Her thoughts were muddled and chaotic.
muggy
warm and damp. August in New York City is often muggy.
mulct
defraud a person of something; だまし取る. The lawyer was accused of trying to mulct the boy of his legacy.
munificent
very generous. Shamelessly fawning over a particularly generous donor, the dean kept referring to her as “our munificent benefactor.”
murky
dark and gloomy; thick with fog; vague. The murky depths of the swamp were so dark that you couldn’t tell the vines and branches from the snakes.
muse
ponder. For a moment he mused about the beauty of the scene, but his thoughts soon changed as he recalled his own personal problems.
musty
stale; spoiled by age. The attic was dark and musty.
mutability
ability to change in form; fickleness. Going from rags to riches, and then back to rags again, the bankrupt financier was a victim of the mutability of fortune.
muted
silent; muffled; toned down. Thanks to the thick, sound-absorbing walls of the cathedral, only muted traffic noise reached the worshippers within.
mutinous
unruly; rebellious. The captain had to use force to quiet his mutinous crew.
myopic
nearsighted; lacking foresight. Stumbling into doors despite the coke-bottle lenses on his glasses, the nearsighted Mr. Magoo is markedly myopic. In playing all summer long and failing to store up food for winter, the grasshopper in Aesop’s fable was myopic as well.
myriad
very large number. Myriads of mosquitoes from the swamps invaded our village every twilight.
nadir
lowest point. Although few people realized it, the Dow-Jones averages had reached their nadir and would soon begin an upward surge.
naiveté
quality of being unsophisticated; simplicity; artlessness; gullibility. Touched by the naivete of sweet, convent-trained Cosette, Marius pledges himself to protect her innocence.
nascent
incipient; coming into being; 発生（出現）しようとしている. If we could identify these revolutionary movements in their nascent state, we would be able to eliminate serious trouble in later years.
natty
neatly or smartly dressed. Priding himself on being a natty dresser, the gangster Bugsy Siegel collected a wardrobe of imported suits and ties.
nauseate
cause to become sick; fill with disgust. The foul smells began to nauseate her.
nebulous
vague; hazy; cloudy. Phil and Dave tried to come up with a clear, intelligible business plan, not some hazy, nebulous proposal.
nefarious
very wicked. The villain’s crimes, though various, were one and all nefarious.
nemesis
someone seeking revenge. Abandoned at sea in a small boat, the vengeful Captain Bligh vowed to be the nemesis of Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers.
nepotism
favoritism (to a relative). John left his position with the company because he felt that advancement was based on nepotism rather than ability.
nether
lower. Tradition locates hell in the nether regions.
nettle
annoy; vex. Do not let her nettle you with her sarcastic remarks.
nib
beak; pen point. The nibs of fountain pens often become clotted and corroded.
nicety
precision; minute distinction. I cannot distinguish between such niceties of reasoning.
niggardly
meanly stingy; parsimonious; ケチな、乏しい. The niggardly pittance the widow receives from the government cannot keep her from poverty.
niggle
spend too much time on minor points; carp. Let’s not niggle over details.
nip
stop something’s growth or development; snip off; bite; make numb with cold. The twins were plotting mischief, but Mother intervened and nipped their plan in the bud. The gardener nipped off a lovely rose and gave it to me.
noisome
foul-smelling; unwholesome. The noisome atmosphere downwind of the oil refinery not only stank but also damaged the lungs of everyone living in the area.
nomenclature
terminology; system of names. Sharon found Latin word parts useful in translating medical nomenclature: when her son had to have a bilateral myringotomy, she figured out that he needed a hole in each of his eardrums to end his earaches.
nominal
in name only; trifling; 名前だけの、ほんのわずかの. He offered to drive her to the airport for only a nominal fee.
nonchalance
indifference; lack of concern; composure. Cool, calm, and collected under fire, James Bond shows remarkable nonchalance in the face of danger.
noncommittal
neutral; unpledged; undecided. We were annoyed by his noncommittal reply for we had been led to expect definite assurances of his approval.
nondescript
undistinctive; ordinary. The private detective was a short, nondescript fellow with no outstanding features, the sort of person one would never notice in a crowd.
nonentity
person of no importance; nonexistence. Because the two older princes dismissed their youngest brother as a nonentity, they did not realize that he was quietly plotting to seize the throne.
novelty
something new; newness. The computer is no longer a novelty around the office.
noxious
harmful. We must trace the source of these noxious gases before they asphyxiate us.
oaf
stupid, awkward person. “Watch what you’re doing, you clumsy oaf!” Bill shouted at the waiter who had drenched him with iced coffee.
obeisance
bow. She made an obeisance as the king and queen entered the room.
obfuscate
confuse; muddle; cause confusion; make needlessly complex. Was the president’s spokesman trying to clarify the Whitewater mystery, or was he trying to obfuscate the issue so the voters would never figure out what went on?
obituary
death notice. I first learned of her death when I read the obituary in the newspaper.
oblique
indirect; slanting (deviating from the perpendicular or from a straight line). Casting a quick, oblique glance at the reviewing stand, the sergeant ordered the company to march “Oblique Right.”
obliterate
destroy completely. The tidal wave obliterated several island villages.
oblivion
obscurity; forgetfulness. After a decade of popularity, Hurston’s works had fallen into oblivion; no one bothered to read them any more.
oblivious
inattentive or unmindful; wholly absorbed. Deep in her book, Nancy was oblivious to the noisy squabbles of her brother and his friends.
obloquy
slander; disgrace; infamy. I resent the obloquy that you are casting upon my reputation.
obnoxious
offensive. I find your behavior obnoxious; please mend your ways.
