GRE Barron's 35-36 Flashcards
pecuniary
pertaining to money. Seldom earning enough to cover their expenses, folk-dance teachers work because they love dancing, not because they expect any pecuniary reward.
pedagogue
teacher. He could never be a stuffy pedagogue; his classes were always lively and filled with humor.
pedagogy
teaching; art of education. Though Maria Montessori gained fame for her innovations in pedagogy, it took years before her teaching techniques became common practice in American schools.
pedant
scholar who overemphasizes book learning or technicalities. Her insistence that the book be memorized marked the teacher as a pedant rather than a scholar.
pedestrian
ordinary; unimaginative. Unintentionally boring, he wrote page after page of pedestrian prose.
peerless
having no equal; incomparable. The reigning operatic tenor of his generation, to his admirers Luciano Pavarotti was peerless: no one could compare with him.
pejorative
negative in connotation; having a belittling effect. Instead of criticizing Clinton’s policies, the Republican made pejorative remarks about his character.
pell-mell
in confusion; disorderly. The excited students dashed pell-mell into the stadium to celebrate the victory.
penitent
repentant; 後悔している. When he realized the enormity of his crime, he became remorseful and penitent.
pensive
dreamily thoughtful; thoughtful with a hint of sadness; contemplative. The pensive lover gazed at the portrait of his beloved and sighed deeply.
perceptive
insightful; aware; wise. Although Maud was a generally perceptive critic, she had her blind spots: she could never see flaws in the work of her friends.
perdition
damnation; complete ruin. Praying for salvation, young Daedalus feared he was damned to eternal perdition.
perforate
pierce; put a hole through. Before you can open the aspirin bottle, you must first perforate the plastic safety seal that covers the cap.
peripatetic
walking about; moving. The peripatetic school of philosophy derives its name from the fact that Aristotle walked with his pupils while discussing philosophy with them.
perjury
false testimony while under oath. Rather than like under oath and perhaps be indicted for perjury, the witness chose to take the Fifth Amendment, refusing to answer any questions on the grounds that he might incriminate himself.
pernicious
vey destructive. The Athenians argued that Socrates’s teachings had a pernicious effect on young and susceptible minds; therefore, they condemned him to death.
peroration
conclusion of an oration. The peroration was largely hortatory and brought the audience to its feet clamoring for action at its close.
perpetrate
commit an offense. Only an insane person could perpetrate such a horrible crime.
perpetual
everlasting. Ponce de Leon hoped to find the legendary fountain of perpetual youth.
perpetuate
make something last; preserve from extinction. Some critics attack The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because they believe Twain’s book perpetuates a false image of blacks in this country.
perquisite
any gain above stipulated salary; 手当. The perquisites attached to this job make it even more attractive than the salary indicates.
personable
attractive. The individual I am seeking to fill this position must be personable since he or she will be representing us before the public.
perspicacious
having insight; penetrating; astute. The brilliant lawyer was known for his perspicacious deductions.
perspicuity
clearness of expression; freedom from ambiguity. One of the outstanding features of this book is the perspicuity of its author; her meaning is always clear.
perspicuous
plainly expressed. Her perspicuous comments eliminated all possibility of misinterpretation.
pert
impertinent; forward; 快活な、小生意気な. I think your pert and impudent remarks call for an apology.
pertinacious
stubborn; persistent. She is bound to succeed because her pertinacious nature will not permit her to quit.
pertinent
suitable; to the point. The lawyer wanted to know all the pertinent details.
peruse
read with care. After the conflagration that burned down her house, Joan closely perused her home insurance policy to discover exactly what benefits her coverage provided.
perverse
stubbornly wrongheaded; wicked and unacceptable. When Jack was in a perverse mood, he would do the opposite of whatever Jill asked him.
perversion
corruption; turning from right to wrong. Inasmuch as he had no motive for his crimes, we could not understand his perversion.
pestilential
causing plague; baneful. People were afraid to explore the pestilential swamp.
petrify
turn to stone. His sudden and unexpected appearance seemed to petrify her.
petty
trivial; unimportant; very small. She had no major complaints to make about his work, only a few petty quibbles that were almost too minor to state.
pharisaical
pertaining to the Pharisees, who paid scrupulous attention to tradition; self-righteous; hypocritical; パリサイ人の、独善的な、偽善的な. Walter Lippmann has pointed out that moralists who do not attempt to explain the moral code they advocate are often regarded as pharisaical and ignored.
philistine
Narrow-minded person, uncultured and exclusively interested in material gain. We need more men and women of culture and enlightenment; we have too many philistines among us.
piebald
of different colors; mottled; spotted. You should be able to identify Polka Dot in this race; he is the only piebald horse running.
piecemeal
one part at a time; gradually. Tolstoy’s War and Peace is too huge to finish in one sitting; I’ll have to read it piecemeal.
pied
variegated; multicolored. The Pied Piper of Hamelin got his name from the multicolored clothing he wore.
pillage
plunder; ぶんどる、略奪する. The enemy pillaged the quiet village and left it in ruins.
pillory
punish by placing in a wooden frame; subject to criticism and ridicule. Even though he was mocked and pilloried, he maintained that he was correct in his beliefs.
pine
languish, decline; long for; yearn. Though she tried to be happy living with Clara in the city, Heidi pined for the mountains and for her gruff but loving grandfather.
pinion
restrain. They pinioned his arms against his body but left his legs free so that he could move about.
pinnacle
peak. We could see the morning sunlight illuminate the pinnacle while the rest of the mountain lay in shadow.
pious
devout; religious. The challenge for church people today is how to be pious in the best sense, that is, to be devout without becoming hypocritical or sanctimonious.
pitfall
hidden danger; concealed trap. The preacher warned his flock to beware the pitfall of excessive pride, for pride brought on the angel’s fall.
pith
core or marrow essence; substance. In preparing a pineapple for the table, first slice it in half and remove the woody central pith.
pithy
concise; meaningful; substantial; meaty. While other girls might have gone on and on about how uncool Elton was, Cher summed it up in one pithy remark: “He’s bogus!”
pittance
a small allowance or wage. He could not live on the pittance he received as a pension and had to look for an additional source of revenue.
pivotal
central; critical. De Klerk’s decision to set Nelson Mandela free was pivotal; without Mandela’s release, there was no possibility that the African National Congress would entertain talks with the South African government.
plait
braid; intertwine; 編む、編んで〜を作る. The maypole dancers plaited bright green ribbons in their hair.
plaudit
enthusiastic approval; round of applause. The theatrical company reprinted the plaudits of the critics in its advertisements
plausible
having a show of truth but open to doubt; specious. Your mother made you stay home from school because she needed you to program the VCR? I’m sorry, you’ll have to come up with a more plausible excuse than that.
plebeian
common; pertaining to the common people. His speeches were aimed at the plebeian minds and emotions; they disgusted the more refined.
plenary
complete; full. The union leader was given plenary power to negotiate a new contract with the employers.
plentitude
abundance; completeness. Looking in the pantry, we admired the plentitude of fruits and pickles we had preserved during the summer.
pliable
flexible; yielding; adaptable. In remodeling the bathroom, we replaced all the old, rigid lead pipes with new, pliable copper tubing.
pliant
flexible; easily influenced. Pinocchio’s disposition was pliant; he was like putty in his tempters’ hands.
plight
condition, state (especially a bad state or condition); predicament. Loggers, unmoved by the plight of the spotted owl, plan to keep on felling trees whether or not they ruin the bird’s habitat.
pluck
courage. Even the adversaries of young Indiana Jones were impressed by the boy’s pluck in trying to rescue the archeological treasure they had stolen.
poignancy
quality of being deeply moving; keenness of emotion. Watching the tearful reunion of the long-separated mother and child, the social worker was touched by the poignancy of the scene.
polarize
split into opposite extremes or camps. The abortion issue has polarized the country into pro-choice and anti-abortion camps.
polemic
controversy; argument in support of point of view. Her essays were, for the main part, polemics for the party’s policy.
polemical
aggressive in verbal attack; disputa-tious. Lexy was a master of polemical rhetoric; she would have worn a T-shirt with the slogan “Born to Debate.”
politic
expedient; prudent; well devised. Even though he was disappointed, he did not think it politic to refuse this offer.
pomposity
self-important behavior; acting like a stuffed shirt. Although the commencement speaker had some good things to say, we had to laugh at his pomposity and general air of parading his own dignity.
ponderous
weighty; unwieldy; 重々しい、退屈な. His humor lacked the light touch; his jokes were always ponderous.
pore
study industriously; ponder; scrutinize; 注意深く読む（調べる）、熟考する. Determined to become a physician, Beth spends hours poring over her anatomy text.
portend
foretell; presage. The king did not know what these omens might portend and asked his soothsayers to interpret them.
portent
sigh; omen; forewarning. He regarded the black cloud as a portent of evil.
posterity
descendants; future generations. We hope to leave a better world to posterity.
posthumous
after death (as of child born after father’s death or book published after author’s death). The critics ignored his works during his lifetime; it was only after the posthumous publication of his last novel that they recognized his great talent.
postulate
self-evident truth. We must accept these statements as postulates before pursuing our discussions any further.
posture
assume an affected pose; act artificially. No matter how much Arnold boasted or postured, I could not believe he was as important as he pretended to be.
potable
suitable for drinking. The recent drought in the Middle Atlantic States has emphasized the need for extensive research in ways of making sea water potable.
potent
powerful; persuasive; greatly influential. Looking at the expiration date on the cough syrup bottle, we wondered whether the medication would still be potent.
potentate
monarch; sovereign; 権力者、支配者. The potentate spent more time at Monte Carlo than he did at home on his throne.
potion
dose (of liquid). Tristan and Isolde drink a love potion in the first act of the opera.
potpourri
heterogeneous mixture; medley; the folk singer offered a potpourri of songs from many lands.
practicable
feasible; 実施できる、実用的な. The board of directors decided that the plan was practicable and agreed to undertake the project.
