GRE Barron's 5-6 Flashcards
astral
relating to the stars. She was amazed at the number of astral bodies the new telescope revealed.
astringent
binding; causing contraction; harsh or severe. The astringent quality of the unsweetened lemon juice made swallowing difficult.
astronomical
enormously large or extensive. The government seemed willing to spend astronomical sums on weapons development.
astute
wise; shrewd; keen. The painter was an astute observer, noticing every tiny detail of her model’s appearance and knowing exactly how important each one was.
asunder
into parts; apart. A fierce quarrel split the partner ship asunder.
asylum
place of refuge or shelter; protection. The refugees sought asylum from religious persecution in a new land.
atavism
resemblance to remote ancestors rather than to parents; reversion to an earlier type; throwback. In his love for gardening, Martin seemed an atavism to his Tuscan ancestors who lavished great care on their small plots of soil.
atrocity
brutal deed; 残虐行為. In time of war, many atrocities are committed by invading armies.
atrophy
wasting away. Polio victims need physiotherapy to prevent the atrophy of affected limbs.
attentive
alert and watchful; considerate; thoughtful. Spellbound, the attentive audience watched the final game of the tennis match, never taking their eyes from the ball.
attenuate
make thinner; weaken or lessen (in density, force, degree). The long, dry spell attenuated the creek to the merest trickle.
attest
testify; bear witness. Having served as a member of a grand jury, I can attest that our system of indicting individuals is in need of improvement.
attrition
gradual decrease in numbers; reduction in the work force without firing employees; wearing away of opposition by means of harassment. In the 1960s urban churches suffered from attrition as members moved from the cities to the suburbs.
atypical
not normal. The child psychiatrist reassured Mrs. Keaton that playing doctor was not atypical behavior for a child of young Alex’s age. “Perhaps not,” she replied, “but charging for house calls is!”
audacious
daring; bold, 大胆な、斬新な、厚かましい. Audiences cheered as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia made their audacious, death-defying leap to freedom and escaped Darth Vader’s troops.
augment
increase; add to. Armies augment their forces by calling up reinforcements.
augury
omen; prophecy. He interpreted the departure of the birds as an augury of evil.
august
impressive; majestic. Visiting the palace at Versailles, she was impressed by the august surroundings in which she found herself.
auspicious
favoring success. With favorable weather conditions, it was an auspicious moment to set sail. Thomas, however, had doubts about sailing: a paranoid, he became suspicious whenever conditions seemed auspicious.
austere
forbiddingly stern; severely simple and unornamented. The headmaster’s austere demeanor tended to scare off the more timid students, who never visited his study willingly.
authenticate
prove genuine. An expert was needed to authenticate the original Van Gogh painting, distinguishing it from its imitation.
autocratic
having absolute, unchecked power; dictatorial. A person accustomed to exercising authority may become autocratic if his or her power is unchecked.
avarice
greediness for wealth. Montaigne is correct in maintaining that it is not poverty, but rather abundance, that breeds avarice: the more shoes Imelda Marcos had, the more she craved.
aver
assert confidently or declare; as used in law, state formally as a fact. The self-proclaimed psychic averred that, because he had extrasensory perception on which to base his predictions, he needed no seismographs or other gadgets in order to foretell earthquakes.
averse
reluctant; disinclined. The reporter was averse to revealing the sources of his information.
aversion
firm dislike. Bert had an aversion to yuppies; Alex had an aversion to punks. Their mutual aversion was so great that they refused to speak to one another.
avert
prevent; turn away. She averted her eyes from the dead cat on the highway.
avid
greedy; eager for. He was avid for learning and read everything he could get.
avocation
secondary or minor occupation. His hobby proved to be so fascinating and profitable that gradually he abandoned his regular occupation and concentrated on his avocation.
avow
declare openly. Lana avowed that she never meant to steal Debbie’s boyfriend, but no one believed her avowal of innocence.
awry
distorted; crooked, 斜めに、不首尾に. He held his head awry, giving the impression that he had caught cold in his neck during the night.
bacchanalian
drunken. Emperor Nero attended the bacchanalian orgy.
badger
pester; annoy. She was forced to change her telephone number because she was badgered by obscene phone calls.
badinage
teasing conversation. Her friends at work greeted the news of her engagement with cheerful badinage.
baffle
frustrate; perplex. The new code baffled the enemy agents.
bait
harass; tease. The school bully baited the smaller children, terrorizing them.
baleful
threatening; menacing; sinister; foreshadowing evil. The bully’s baleful glare across the classroom warned Tim to expect trouble after school.
balk
stop short, as if faced with an obstacle, and refuse to continue. The chief of police balked at sending his officers into the riot-torn area.
balk
foil; 妨げる、失敗させる. When the warden learned that several inmates were planning to escape, he took steps to balk their attempt.
balm
something that relieves pain. Friendship is the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.
balmy
mild; fragrant. A balmy breeze refreshed us after the sultry blast.
banal
hackneyed; commonplace; trite; lacking originality. The hack writer’s worn-out cliches made his comic sketch seem banal. He even resorted to the banality of having someone slip on a banana peel!
bandy
discuss lightly or glibly; exchange (words) heatedly. While the president was happy to bandy patriotic generalizations with anyone who would listen to him, he refused to bandy words with unfriendly reporters at the press conference.
bane
curse; cause of ruin. Lucy’s little brother was the bane of her existence, scribbling on walls with her lipstick and pouring her shampoo down the drain.
baneful
destructive; causing ruin or death. Anointment seems intended to apply the power of natural and supernatural forces to the sick and thus to ward off the baneful influences of diseases and of demons.
bantering
good-naturedly ridiculing. They resented his bantering remarks because they misinterpreted his teasing as sarcasm.
barefaced
shameless; bold; unconcealed. Shocked by Huck Finn’s barefaced lies, Miss Watson prayed the good Lord would give him a sense of his unregenerate wickedness.
baroque
highly ornate; (装飾が)過剰な、華美な. Accustomed to the severe, angular lines of modern skyscrapers, they found the flamboyance of baroque architecture amusing.
barrage
barrier laid down by artillery fire; overwhelming profusion; 一斉射撃、連発. The company was forced to retreat through the barrage of heavy cannons.
bask
luxuriate; take pleasure in warmth, 日光に当たる、恩恵を受ける. Basking on the beach, she relaxed so completely that she fell asleep.
bastion
stronghold; something seen as a source of protection. The villagers fortified the town hall, hoping this improvised bastion could protect them from the guerrilla raids.
bate
let down; restrain. Until it was time to open the presents, the children had to bate their curiosity.
bawdy
indecent; obscene; 下品な. Jack took offense at Jill’s bawdy remarks. What kind of young man did she think he was?
beatific
showing or producing joy; blissful. When Johnny first saw the new puppy, a beatific smile spread across his face.
beatify
bless or sanctify; proclaim someone dead to be one of the blessed.
beatitude
blessedness; state of bliss. Growing closer to God each day, the mystic achieved a state of indescribable beatitude.
bedizen
dress with vulgar finery. The witch doctors were bedizened in their gaudies costumes.
bedraggle
wet thoroughly. We were so bedraggled by the severe storm that we had to change into dry clothing.
befuddle
confuse thoroughly. His attempts to clarify the situation succeeded only in befuddling her further.
beget
father; produce; give rise to. One good turn may deserve another; it does not necessarily beget another.
begrudge
resent; を出し渋る、をねたむ. I begrudge every minute I have to spend attending meetings.
beguile
mislead or delude; cheat; pass time. With flattery and big talk of easy money, the con men beguiled Kyle into betting his allowance on the shell game.
behemoth
huge creature; something of monstrous size or power. Sportscasters nicknamed the linebacker “The Behemoth.”
beholden
obligated; indebted; 恩義を受けて. Since I do not wish to be beholden to anyone, I cannot accept this favor.
behoove
be necessary or proper for; be incumbent upon. Because the interest of the rule and the ruled are incompatible, it behooves the rule to trust no one; to be suspicious of sycophants; to permit no one to gain undue power or influence; and, above all, to use guile to unearth plots against the throne.
belabor
explain or go over excessively or to a ridiculous degree; assail verbally. The debate coach warned her student not to bore the audience by belaboring his point.
beleaguer
besiege or attack; harass. The babysitter was surrounded by a crowd of unmanageable brats who relentlessly beleaguered her.
belie
contradict; give a false impression. His coarse, hard-bit-ten exterior belied his innate sensitivity.
belittle
disparage; deprecate. Parents should not belittle their children’s early attempts at drawing, but should encourage their efforts.
bellicose
warlike; pugnacious; naturally inclined to fight. Someone who is spoiling for a fight is by definition bellicose.
belligerent
quarrelsome. Whenever he had too much to drink, he became belligerent and tried to pick fights with strangers.
bemoan
lament; express disapproval of; を嘆く、を不満に思う. The widow bemoaned the death of her beloved husband. Although critics bemoaned the serious flaws in the author’s novels, each year his latest book topped the best-seller list.
bemused
confused; lost in thought; preoccupied. Jill studied the garbled instructions with a bemused look on her face.
benediction
blessing. The appearance of the sun after the many rainy days was like a benediction.
benefactor
gift giver; patron. Scrooge later became Tiny Tim’s benefactor and gave him gifts.
beneficent
kindly; doing good. The overgenerous philanthropist had to curb his beneficent impulses before he gave away all his money and left himself with nothing.
beneficiary
person entitled to benefits or proceeds of an insurance policy or will. In Scrooge’s will, he made Tiny Tim his beneficiary: everything he left would go to young Tim.
benevolent
generous; charitable. Mr. Fezziwig was a benevolent employer who wished to make Christmas merrier for young Scrooge and his other employees.
benison
blessing. Let us pray that the benison of peace once more shall prevail among the nations of the world.
bent
determined; natural talent or inclination. Bent on advancing in the business world, the secretary-heroine of Working Girl had a true bent for high finance.
bequeath
leave to someone by means of a will; hand down; を遺言でゆずる、を後世に残す. In his will, Father bequeathed his watch to Philip.
berate
scold strongly. He feared she would berate him for his forgetfulness.
bereavement
state of being deprived of something valuable or beloved. His friends gathered to console him upon his sudden bereavement.
bereft
deprived of; lacking. The foolish gambler soon found himself bereft of funds.
berserk
frenzied; 凶暴な、荒れ狂った. Angered, he went berserk and began to wreck the room.
beseech
beg; plead with. The workaholic executive’s wife beseeched him to spend more time with their son.
beset
harass or trouble; hem in. Many vexing problems beset the American public school system.
besiege
surround with armed forces; harass (with requests). When the bandits besieged the village, the villagers holed up in the town hall and prepared to withstand a long siege.
besmirch
soil, defile; (名声を)汚す. The scandalous remarks in the newspaper besmirch the reputations of every member of the society.
bestial
beastlike; brutal; inhuman. According to legend, the werewolf was able to abandon its human shape and assume a bestial form.
bestow
confer; 授ける、与える. He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.
betoken
signify; indicate. The well-equipped docks, tall piles of cargo containers, and numerous vessels being loaded all betoken Oakland’s importance as a port.
betroth
become engaged to marry. The announcement that they had become betrothed surprised their friends who had not suspected any romance.
bevy
large group. The movie actor was surrounded by a bevy of starlets.
bicameral
two-chambered, as a legislative body. The United States Congress is a bicameral body.
bicker
quarrel. The children bickered morning, noon and night, exasperating their parents.
biennial
every two years. Seeing no need to meet more frequently, the group held biennial meetings instead of annual ones.
bifurcated
divided into two branches; forked. With a bifurcated branch and a piece of elastic rubber, he made a crude but effective slingshot.
bigotry
stubborn intolerance. Brought up in a democratic atmosphere, the student was shocked by the bigotry and narrowness expressed by several of his classmates.
bilious
suffering from a liver complaint; peevishly ill humored; むかつく、吐き気がする. If your tummy’s feeling bilious, try Carter’s Little Live Pills for fast relief.
bilk
swindle; cheat. The con man specialized in bilking insurance companies.
billowing
swelling out in waves; surging. Standing over the air vent, Marilyn Monroe tried vainly to control her billowing skirts.
blanch
bleach, whiten. Although age had blanched his hair, he was still vigorous and energetic.
blandish
cajole; coax with flattery; 機嫌を取る、まるめこむ. Despite all their sweet-talking, Suzi and Cher were unable to blandish the doorman into letting them into the hot new club.
blare
loud, harsh roar or screech; dazzling blaze of light. I don’t know which is worse: the steady blare of a boom box deafening your ears or a sudden blare of flashbulbs dazzling your eyes.
blasé
bored with pleasure or dissipation. Although Beth was as thrilled with the idea of a trip to Paris as her classmates were, she tried to act supercool and blasé, as if she’d been abroad hundreds of times.
blasphemy
irreverence; sacrilege; cursing. In my father’s house, the Dodgers were the holiest of holies; to cheer for another team was to utter words of blasphemy.
bleak
cold or cheerless; unlikely to be favorable. The frigid, inhospitable Aleutian Islands are bleak military outposts. It’s no wonder that soldiers assigned there have a bleak attitude toward their posting.
blighted
suffering from a disease; destroyed. The extent of the blighted areas could be sen only when viewed from the air.
blithe
carefree and unconcerned (perhaps foolishly so); cheerful and gay. Micawber’s blithe optimism that something would turn up proved unfounded, and he wound up in debtors’ prison.
bloated
swollen or puffed as with water or air. Her bloated stomach came from drinking so much water.
bluff
rough but good-natured. Jack had a bluff and hearty manner that belied his actual sensitivity; he never let people know how thin-skinned he really was.
