GRE Barron's 9-10 Flashcards
champion
support militantly. Martin Luther King, Jr., won the Nobel Peace Prize because he championed the oppressed in their struggle for equality.
chary
cautious; sparing or restrained about giving. A prudent, thrifty New Englander, DeWitt was as chary of investing money in junk bonds as he was chary of paying people unnecessary compliments.
chasm
abyss. They could not see the bottom of the chasm.
chasten
correct by punishment or scolding; restrain. No matter how much a child deserves to be chastened for doing wrong, the maxim “Spare the road and spoil the child” never justifies physical abuse.
chastise
punish or scold; reprimand. Mis Watson liked nothing better than to chastise Huck for his alleged offenses.
chauvinist
blindly devoted patriot; zealous adherent of a group or cause. A chauvinist cannot recognize any faults in his country, no matter how flagrant they may be.
check
stop motion; curb or restrain. Thrusting out her arm, Grandma checked Bobby’s lunge at his sister. “Young man,” she said, “you’d better check your temper.”
checkered
marked by changes in fortune; 波瀾万丈の. During his checkered career he had lived in palatial mansions and in dreary boardinghouses.
cherubic
angelic; innocent-looking. With her cheerful smile and rosy cheeks, she was a particularly cherubic child.
chicanery
trickery; deception. Those sneaky lawyers misrepresented what occurred, made up all sorts of implausible alternative scenarios to confuse the jurors, and in general depended on chicanery to win the case.
chide
scold. Grandma began to chide Steven for his lying.
chimerical
fantastically improbably; highly unrealistic; imaginative. As everyone expected, Ted’s chimerical scheme to make a fortune by raising ermines in his backyard proved a dismal failure.
chivalrous
courteous; faithful; brave. Chivalrous behavior involves noble words and good deeds.
choleric
Hot-tempered. His flushed, angry face indicated a choleric nature.
chortle
chuckle with delight. When she heard that her rival had just been jailed for embezzlement, she chortled with joy.
chronic
long established, as a disease. The doctors were finally able to attribute his chronic headaches and nausea to traces of formaldehyde gas in his apartment.
chronicle
report; record (in chronological order). The gossip columnist was paid to chronicle the latest escapades of the socially prominent celebrities.
churlish
boorish; rude. Dismayed by his churlish manners at the party, the girls vowed never to invite him again.
cipher
nonentity; worthless person or thing. She claimed her ex-husband was a total cipher and wondered why she had ever married him.
circuitous
roundabout. Because of the traffic congestion on the main highways, she took a circuitous route.
circumlocution
unnecessarily wordy and indirect speech; evasive language. Don’t beat about the bush, but just say what you want to say: I’m fed up with listening to your circumlocutions.
circumscribe
limit narrowly; confine or restrict; define. The great lords of state tried to circumscribe the queen’s power by having her accept a set of conditions that left the decisive voice in all important matters to the privy council.
circumspect
prudent; cautious. Investigating before acting, she tried always to be circumspect.
circumvent
outwit; baffle; (ずる賢い方法で問題などを)避ける. In order to circumvent the enemy, we will make two preliminary attacks in other sections before starting our major campaign.
clairvoyant
having foresight; fortuneteller. Cassandra’s clairvoyant warning was not heeded by the Trojans.
clamor
noise. The clamor of the children at play outside made it impossible for her to take a nap.
clandestine
secret. After avoiding their chaperon, the lovers had a clandestine meeting.
clangor
loud, resounding noise. The blacksmith was accustomed to the clangor of hammers on steel.
cleave
split or sever; cling to; remain faithful to. With her heavy cleaver, Julia child could cleave a whole roast duck in two.
cleft
split. Trying for a fresh handhold, the mountain climber grasped the edge of a cleft in the sheer rockface.
clemency
disposition to be lenient; mildness, as of the weather; 慈悲、温和. Why did the defense lawyer look pleased when his case was sent to Judge Bland’s chambers? Bland was noted for her clemency to first offenders.
cliché
phrase dulled in meaning by repetition. High school compositions are often marred by such cliches as “strong as an ox.”
climactic
relating to the highest point. When he reached the climactic portions of the book, he could not stop reading.
clime
region; climate. His doctor advised him to move to a milder clime.
clique
small, exclusive group. Fitzgerald wished that he belonged to the clique of popular athletes and big men on campus who seemed to run Princeton’s social life.
clout
great influence (especially political or social). Gatsby wondered whether he had enough clout to be admitted to the exclusive club.
cloying
distasteful (because excessive); excessively sweet or sentimental. Disliking the cloying sweetness of standard wedding cakes, Jody and Tom chose a homemade carrot cake for their reception.
coagulate
thicken; congeal; clot. Even after you remove the pudding from the burner, it will continue to coagulate as it stands.
coalesce
combine; fuse. The brooks coalesce into one large river.
coalition
partnership; league; union. The Rainbow Coalition united people of all races in a common cause.
coda
concluding section of a musical or literary composition; something that rounds out, summarizes, or concludes. The piece concluded with a distinctive coda that strikingly brought together various motifs.
coddle
treat gently; pamper; を甘やかす、をとろ火で煮る. Don’t coddle the children so much; they need a taste of discipline.
coercion
use of force to get someone to obey. The inquisitors used both physical and psychological coercion to force Joan of Arc to recant her assertions that her visions were sent by God.
coeval
living at the same time as; contemporary. Coeval with the dinosaur, the pterodactyl flourished during the Mesozoic era.
cogent
convincing. It was inevitable that David chose to go to Harvard: he had several cogent reasons for doing so, including a full-tuition scholarship.
cogitate
think over. Cogitate on this problem; the solution will come.
cognate
related linguistically; allied by blood; similar or akin in nature. The English word “mother” is cognate to the Latin word “mater,” whose influence is visible in the words “maternal” and “maternity.”
cognizance
knowledge. During the election campaign, the two candidates were kept in full cognizance of the international situation.
cohabit
live together. Many unwed couples who cohabit peacefully for years wind up fighting night and day once they marry.
cohere
stick together. Solids have a greater tendency to cohere than liquids.
cohesion
tendency to keep together. A firm believer in the maxim “Divide and conquer,” the emperor, by lies and trickery, sought to disrupt the cohesion of the free nations.
coin
make coins; invent or fabricate. Mints coin good money; counterfeiters coin fakes. Slanderers coin nasty rumors; writers coin words. A neologism is a newly coined expression.
collate
examine in order to verify authenticity; arrange in order. They collated the newly found manuscripts to determine their age.
colossal
huge. Radio City Music Hall has a colossal stage.
comely
attractive; agreeable. I would rather have a poor and comely wife than a rich and homely one.
comeuppance
rebuke; deserts; 天罰、当然の報い. After his earlier rudeness, we were delighted to see him get his comeuppance.
comity
courtesy; civility; 礼譲. A spirit of comity should exist among nations.
commandeer
to draft for military purposes; to take for public use. The policeman commandeered the first car that approached and ordered the driver to go to the nearest hospital.
commemorative
remembering; honoring. The new commemorative stamp honors the late Martin Luther King, Jr.
commensurate
corresponding in extent, degree, amount, etc.; proportionate. By the close of World War II much progress had been made in assigning nurses rank and responsibilities commensurate with their training and abilities.
commiserate
feel or express pity or sympathy for. Her friends commiserated with the widow.
commodious
spacious and comfortable. After sleeping in small roadside cabins, they found their hotel suite commodious.
communal
held in common; a group of people. When they were divorced, they had trouble dividing their communal property.
compact
agreement; contract. The signers of the Mayflower Compact were establishing a form of government.
compelling
overpowering; irresistible in effect. The prosecutor presented a well-reasoned case, but the defense attorney’s compelling arguments for leniency won over the jury.
compendium
brief, comprehensive summary. This text can serve as a compendium of the tremendous amount of new material being developed in this field.
complacency
Self-satisfaction; smugness. Full of complacency about his latest victories, he looked smugly at the row of trophies on his mantelpiece.
complaisant
trying to please; overly polite; obliging. Fearing that the king might become enraged if his will were thwarted, the complaisant Parliament recognized Henry VII as king of Ireland.
compliance
readiness to yield; conformity in fulfilling requirements. Bullheaded Bill was not noted for his easy compliance to the demands of others.
compliant
yielding; conforming to requirements. Because Joel usually gave in and went along with whatever his friends desired, his mother worried that he might be too compliant.
complicity
involvement in a crime; participation. Queen Mary’s marriage to Lord Darnley, her suspected complicity in his murder, and her hasty marriage to the earl of Bothwell stirred the Protestant lords to revolt.
comport
bear one’s self; behave. He comported himself with great dignity.
concede
admit; yield. Despite all the evidence Monica had assembled, Mark refused to concede that she was right.
conceit
vanity or self-love; whimsical idea; extravagant metaphor; うぬぼれ、自負心. Although Jack was smug and puffed up with conceit, he was an entertaining companion, always expressing himself in amusing conceits and witty turns of phrase.
concentric
having a common center. The target was made of concentric circles.
conception
beginning; forming of an idea. At the first conception of the work, he was consulted.
concerted
mutually agreed on; done together. All the Girl Scouts made a concerted effort to raise funds for their annual outing.
concession
an act of yielding. Before they could reach an agreement, both sides had to make certain concessions.
conciliatory
reconciling; soothing; 和解の、融和的な. She was still angry despite his conciliatory words.
concoct
prepare by combining; make up in concert. How did the inventive chef ever concoct such a strange dish?
concomitant
that which accompanies; 付属物. A decrease of gastric juice secretion may be a congenital abnormality or a concomitant of advanced age.
concord
harmony. Watching Tweedledum and Tweedledee battle, Alice wondered why the two brothers could not manage to live in concord.
concur
agree. Did you concur with the decision of the court or did you find it unfair?
condescend
bestow courtesies with a superior air; 見下すような態度を取る. The king condescended to grant an audience to the friends of the condemned man.
condign
appropriate; deserved (almost always, in the sense of deservedly severe, as in condign punishment). To be concerned about a possible miscarriage of justice is rational; to brood over a guilty man’s just and condign punishment makes no sense.
condole
express sympathetic sorrow. His friends gathered to condole with him over his loss.
condone
overlook; forgive; give tacit approval; excuse. Unlike Widow Douglass, who condoned Huck’s minor offenses, Miss Watson did nothing but scold.
conductive
helpful; contributive. Rest and proper diet are conductive to good health.
confidant
trusted friend. He had no confidants with whom he could discuss his problems at home.
confiscate
seize; commandeer; 没収する、差し押さえる. The army confiscated all available supplies of uranium.
conflate
meld or fuse; confuse; combine into one. The anthropologist Mahmood Mamdani maintains that terrorism is a unique product of the modern world and should not be conflated with Islam.
confluence
flowing together; crowd; 合流点. They built the city at the confluence of two rivers.
conformity
harmony; agreement. In conformity with our rules and regulations, I am calling a meeting of our organization.
confound
confuse; puzzle. No mystery could confound Sherlock Holmes for long.
congeal
freeze; coagulate. His blood congealed in his veins as he saw the dread monster rush toward him.
congenial
pleasant; friendly. My father loved to go out for a meal with congenial companions.
congenital
existing at birth. Doctors are able to cure some congenital deformities such as cleft palates by performing operations on infants.
