GRE Barron's 37-38 Flashcards
precipice
cliff; dangerous position. Suddenly Indiana Jones found himself dangling from the edge of a precipice.
precipitous
steep; overhasty; 険しい、大急ぎの. This hill is difficult to climb because it is so precipitous; one slip, and our descent will be precipitous as well.
précis
concise summing up of main points. Before making her presentation at the conference, Ellen wrote a neat precis of the major elements she would cover.
preclude
make impossible; eliminate. The fact that the band was already booked to play in Hollywood on New Year’s Eve precluded their accepting the offer of a New Year’s Eve gig in London.
precocious
advanced in development; ませた、早熟な. Listening to the grown-up way the child discussed serious topics, we couldn’t help remarking how precocious she was.
predetermine
predestine; settle or decide beforehand; influence markedly. Romeo and Juliet believed that Fate had predetermined their meeting. Bea gathered estimates from caterers, florists, and stationers so that she could predetermine the costs of holding a catered buffet.
predicament
tricky or dangerous situation; dilemma. Tied to the railroad tracks by the villain, Pauline strained against her bonds. How would she escape from this terrible predicament?
predilection
partiality; preference. Although the artist used various media from time to time, she had a predilection for watercolors.
predispose
give an inclination toward; make susceptible to. Oleg’s love of dressing up his big sister’s Barbie doll may have predisposed him to become a fashion designer. Genetic influences apparently predispose people to certain forms of cancer.
preeminent
outstanding; superior. The king traveled to Boston because he wanted the preeminent surgeon in the field to perform the operation.
preen
make oneself tidy in appearance; fell self-satisfaction. As Kitty preened before the mirror, carefully smoothing her shining hair, she couldn’t help preening herself on her good looks.
prefatory
introductory. The chairman made a few prefatory remarks before he called on the first speaker.
prelude
introduction; forerunner. I am afraid that this border raid is the prelude to more serious attacks.
premeditate
plan in advance. She had premeditated the murder for months, reading about common poisons and buying weed killer that contained arsenic.
premonitory
serving to warn. You should have visited a doctor as soon as you felt these premonitory chest pains.
preponderance
superiority of power, quantity, etc. The rebels sought to overcome the preponderance of strength of the government forces by engaging in guerrilla tactics.
preposterous
absurd; ridiculous. When the candidate tried to downplay his youthful experiments with marijuana by saying he hadn’t inhaled, we all thought, “What a preposterous excuse!”
prerogative
privilege; unquestionable right. The President cannot levy taxes; that is the prerogative of the legislative branch of government.
prescience
ability to foretell the future. Given the current wave of Japan-bashing, it does not take prescience for me to foresee problems in our future trade relations with Japan.
presentiment
feeling something will happen; anticipatory fear; premonition. Saying goodbye at the airport, Jack had a sudden presentiment that this was the last time he would see Jill.
pretentious
ostentatious; pompous; making unjustified claims; overambitious. The other prize winner isn’t wearing her medal; isn’t it a bit pretentious of you to wear yours?
pretext
excuse. She looked for a good pretext to get out of paying a visit to her aunt.
prevail
induce; triumph over. He tried to prevail on her to type his essay for him.
prevalent
widespread; generally accepted. A radical committed to social change, Reed had no patience with the conservative views prevalent in the America of his day.
prim
very precise and formal; exceedingly proper. Many people commented on the contrast between the prim attire of the young lady and the inappropriate clothing worn by her escort.
primogeniture
seniority by birth. By virtue of primogeniture, in some cultures the first-born child has many privileges denied his brothers and sisters.
primp
groom oneself with care; adorn oneself; めかしこむ、着飾る. The groom stood by idly while his nervous bride-to-be primped one last time before the mirror.
privation
hardship; want. In his youth, he knew hunger and privation.
privy
secret; hidden; not public. We do not care for privy chamber government.
proclivity
inclination; natural tendency. Watching the two-year-old voluntarily put away his toys, I was amazed by his proclivity for neatness.
procurement
obtaining. The personnel department handles the procurement of new employees.
prod
poke; stir up; urge. If you prod him hard enough, he’ll eventually clean his room.
prodigious
marvelous; enormous. Watching the champion weight lifter heave the weighty barbell to shoulder height and then boost it overhead, we marveled at his prodigious strength.
prodigy
highly gifted child; marvel. Menuhin was a prodigy, performing wonders on his violin when he was barely eight years old.
profane
violate; desecrate; treat unworthily. The members of the mysterious Far Eastern cult sought to kill the British explorer because he had profaned the sanctity of their holy goblet by using it as an ashtray.
profligate
dissipated; wasteful; wildly immoral. Although surrounded by wild and profligate companions, she managed to retain some sense of decency.
profusion
overabundance; lavish expenditure; excess. Freddy was so overwhelmed by the profusion of choices on the menu that he knocked over his wine glass and soaked his host. He made profuse apologies to his host, the waiter, the busboy, the people at the next table, and the man in the men’s room giving out paper towels.
progenitor
ancestor. The Roth family, whose progenitors emigrated from Germany early in the nineteenth century, settled in Peru, Illinois.
progeny
children; offspring. He was proud of his progeny but regarded George as the most promising of all his children.
prognosticate
predict. I prognosticate disaster unless we change our wasteful ways.
prolific
abundantly fruitful. She was a prolific writer who produced as many as three books a year.
prolixity
tedious wordiness; verbosity; 冗長. A writer who suffers from prolixity tells his readers everything they never wanted to know about his subject (or were too bored to ask).
promiscuous
mixed indiscriminately; haphazard; irregular, particularly sexually; 誰とでも寝る、見境のない、手当たり次第の. In the Opera La Boheme, we get a picture of the promiscuous life led by the young artist of Paris.
promulgate
proclaim a doctrine or law; make known by official publication; 宣伝する、広める、推奨する. When Moses came down from the mountaintop prepared to promulgate God’s commandments, he was appalled to discover his followers worshipping a golden calf.
prone
inclined to; prostrate; 〜しがちな、うつぶせの. She was prone to sudden fits of anger during which she would lie prone on the floor, screaming and kicking her heels.
propagate
multiply; spread. Since bacteria propagate more quickly in unsanitary environments, it is important to keep hospital rooms clean.
prophylactic
used to prevent disease. Despite all prophylactic measures introduced by the authorities, the epidemic raged until cool whether set in.
propinquity
nearness; kinship. Their relationship could not be explained as being based on mere propinquity. They were more than relatives; they were true friends.
propitious
favorable; fortunate; advantageous. Chloe consulted her horoscope to see whether Tuesday would be a propitious day to dump her boyfriend.
propound
put forth for analysis. In your discussion, you have propounded several questions; let us consider each one separately.
propulsive
driving forward. The jet plane has a greater propulsive power than the engine-driven plane.
prosaic
dull and unimaginative; matter-of-fact; factual. Though the ad writers had come up with a highly creative campaign to publicize the company’s newest product, the head office rejected it for a more prosaic, down-to-earth approach.
proselytize
induce someone to convert to a religion or belief. In these interfaith meetings, there must be no attempt to proselytize; we must respect all points of view.
prostrate
stretch out full on ground; ひざまずかせる、ひれ伏させる. He prostrated himself before the idol.
protean
versatile; able to take on many forms. A remarkably protean actor, Alec Guinness could take on any role.
protract
prolong. Seeking to delay the union members’ vote, the management team tried to protract the negotiations endlessly, but the union representatives saw through their strategy.
protrude
stick out. His fingers protruded from the holes in his gloves.
provenance
origin or source of something. I am not interested in its provenance; I am more concerned with its usefulness than with its source.
provender
dry food; fodder. I am not afraid of a severe winter because I have stored a large quantity of provender for the cattle.
provisional
tentative; 仮の、一時的な. Kim’s acceptance as an American Express cardholder was provisional: before issuing her a card, American Express wanted to check her employment record and credit history.
proviso
stipulation. I am ready to accept your proposal with the proviso that you meet your obligations within the next two weeks.
prowess
extraordinary ability; military bravery. Performing triple axels and double lutzes at the age of six, the young figure skater was world famous for her prowess on the ice.
proximity
nearness. Blind people sometimes develop a compensatory ability to sense the proximity of objects around them.
proxy
authorized agent. Please act as my proxy and vote for this stale of candidates in my absence.
prude
excessively modest or proper person. The X-rated film was definitely not for prudes.
prudent
cautious; careful. A miser hoards money not because he is prudent but because he is greedy.
prune
cut away; trim. With the help of her editor, she was able to prune her manuscript into publishable form.
prurient
having or causing lustful thoughts and desires. Aroused by his prurient impulses, the dirty old man leered at the sweet young thing and offered to give her a sample of his “prowess”; his prurience appalled her.
pry
inquire impertinently; use leverage to raise or open something; 詮索する、をてこで動かす. Though Nora claimed she didn’t mean to pry, everyone knew she was just plain nosy. With a crowbar Long John Silver pried up the lid of the treasure chest.
puerile
childish. His puerile pranks sometimes offended his more mature friends.
pugnacity
combativeness; disposition to fight. “Put up your dukes!” he cried, making a fist to show his pugnacity.
pulchritude
beauty; comeliness. I do not envy the judges who have to select this year’s Miss America from this collection of female pulchritude.
pulsate
throb; 鼓動する、振動させる. We could see the blood vessels in his temple pulsate as he became more angry.
pulverize
crush or grind into very small particles. Before sprinkling the dried herbs into the stew, Michael first pulverized them into a fine powder.
pummel
beat or pound with fists. Swinging wildly, Pammy pummeled her brother around the head and shoulders.
pundit
authority on a subject; learned person; expert. Some authors who write about the GRE as if they are pundits actually know very little about the test.
punitive
punishing. He asked for punitive measures against the offender.
puny
insignificant; tiny; weak. Our puny efforts to stop the flood were futile.
purchase
firm grasp or footing; つかむこと、手（足）がかり. The mountaineer struggled to get a proper purchase on the slippery rock.
purge
remove or get rid of something unwanted; free from blame or guilt; cleanse or purify. The Communist government purged the party to get rid of members suspected of capitalist sympathies, sending those believed to be disloyal to labor camps in Siberia.
purse
pucker; contract into wrinkles; 唇をすぼめる. Miss Watson pursed her lips to show her disapproval of Huck’s bedraggled appearance.
putative
supposed; reputed. Although there are some doubts, the putative author of this work is Massinger.
putrid
foul; rotten; decayed. When the doctor removed the bandages, the putrid smell indicated that the wound had turned gangrenous.
quack
charlatan; impostor; ヤブ医者、ほら吹き. Don’t be misled by the exorbitant claims of this quack; he cannot cure you.
quaint
odd; old-fashioned; picturesque. Her quaint clothes and old-fashioned language marked her as an eccentric.
quandary
dilemma. When both Harvard and Stanford accepted Laura, she was in a quandary as to which school she should attend.
quarry
victim; object of a hunt. The police closed in on their quarry.
quarry
dig into. They quarried blocks of marble out of the hillside.
