GRE Cards Deck A Flashcards

Question

analogous | adj

Answer 1

Definition: Comparable, corresponding in some particular way (making a good analogy) Usage: Apple iPhone5 is analogous to apple iPhone 4s in features. Related Words: Tantamount (equivalent, as in “What he did is tantamount to murder.”)

Answer 2

Definition: Absence of law or government; chaos, disorder Usage: Once the dictator was assassinated, the country fell into total anarchy, as none of the opposition groups were strong enough to seize power. More Info: Anarchism can sometimes mean the political philosophy that the absence of all direct government is ideal and that voluntary associations of individuals would be able to govern themselves.

Answer 3

Definition: Rub or sprinkle oil on; make sacred, such as by a ceremony that includes applying oil to someone Usage: She was anointed superintendent by the school director / In Hindu marriage, oil is anointed on groom's body. More Info: Anoint shares a root with ointment, an oily substance added to the skin. Anointing occurs repeatedly in the Bible; in that time, people rubbed oil on themselves medicinally and for refreshment, and as a means of showing hospitality to guests.

Answer 4

Definition: Deviation from what is common; inconsistency Usage: While the cosmetics division of this company has many female executives, it is an anomaly—in the rest of the company, sadly, only 4% of management positions are filled by women. Related Words: Aberration (departing from normal; mental irregularity or deviation in morality) More Info: The word “anomaly” sometimes pops up in discussions of the supernatural. The show X-Files was about the investigation of anomalies.

Answer 5

Definition: Make hostile or unfriendly Usage: “Josie! Stop antagonizing your little brother! Give him back that firetruck and tell him you’re sorry for pulling his hair!” Related Words: Provoke (anger, enrage, stir up, incite to action) More Info: When discussing literature or films, the protagonist is the main character and the antagonist is the main adversary (The Joker is Batman’s antagonist).

Answer 6

Definition: Deep dislike, aversion, or repugnance, sometimes without reason Usage: As an environmentalist, Mr. Subramanian had nothing but antipathy for the mining company drilling in and polluting his hometown. Related Words: Loathing (strong aversion, dislike, or disgust) More Info: Don’t confuse antipathy with apathy, which means “indifference, not caring.” Antipathy is the opposite of sympathy (note that the root “path” means “feeling”).

Answer 7

Definition: Not caring; absence of feeling; lack of interest or concern Usage: Many parents of teenagers are concerned by their indolent teens’ apathy about the future. Related Words: Indifferent (apathetic or impartial), Lukewarm (moderately warm; having little enthusiasm) More Info: Don’t confuse apathy with antipathy, which means “deep dislike, aversion, or repugnance.”

Answer 8

Definition: Of questionable authenticity; false Usage: I’m sorry, but this putative letter from George Washington that you found at a garage sale is clearly apocryphal—it is riddled with anachronisms (for instance, Washington was long dead by the time silent films were invented), and also, Washington most certainly didn’t refer to Martha Washington as “hey baby.” Related Words: Ersatz (artificial, synthetic, serving as a substitute), Faux (fake, imitation, as in “faux fur”), Specious (pleasing to the eye but deceptive) More Info: The word “Apocrypha” often refers to books that have been rejected for inclusion in (various versions of) the Bible, either due to dubious authenticity or because the Church considered them useful, but not divinely inspired. Obviously, different authorities disagree about what exactly is included in the Apocrypha.

Answer 9

Definition: Pacify, satisfy, relieve; concede to belligerent demands, sometimes at the expense of principles Usage: My mother is so angry she wasn’t the first person we called when the baby was born—I’m hoping to appease her by spending Christmas at her house this year. Related Words: Placate, Mollify, and Assuage are near-synonyms More Info: “Appeasement” is commonly associated with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s policy towards Germany between 1937–1939—as it turned out, giving the Sudetenland to Hitler didn’t actually create “Peace in Our Time.” Today, appeasement is associated with cowardice and giving in to bullies.

Answer 10

Definition: Enough to be perceived, considerable Usage: There is appreciable difference between MS and MBA. Related Words: A near-antonym is Negligible—both words can refer to small amounts, but an appreciable amount or difference is large enough to matter, and a negligible amount or difference is so small it can safely be ignored.

Answer 11

Definition: Based entirely on one’s discretion; capricious, unreasonable, or having no basis Usage: The judge’s rulings were truly arbitrary—one defendant got community service for stealing a television, and another got three years for the same crime. / It doesn’t really matter which brand of baking soda you buy—just arbitrarily pick one so we can get out of this grocery store before dinnertime. More Info: Arbitrary looks a lot like arbiter for good reason—originally, something arbitrary was something that was uncertain because it depended on an arbiter’s decision. As indicated by the definition above, arbitrary can be neutral or negative.

Answer 12

Definition: Known or understood by only a few; obscure, secret Usage: To win at Jeopardy, you must be full of arcane knowledge. Related Words: Esoteric, Abstruse More Info: Arcane comes from the Latin “arca,” for “box”—arcanum is information that is metaphorically shut up in a box.

Answer 13

Definition: Characteristic of an earlier period, ancient, primitive Usage: Mainframes is a archaic technology. Related Words: Obsolete (out of date, no longer used), Antediluvian (extremely old, before the Biblical flood) More Info: “Archaic” is especially used to describe language common to an older time but rare today, such as “thou” or “forsooth.” If a word appears in a dictionary with “archaic” next to a secondary meaning, that meaning is unlikely to be tested on the GRE.

Answer 14

Definition: Very difficult, strenuous; severe, hard to endure Usage: Climbing mount Everest is arduous task.. Related Words: Grueling (very difficult and exhausting) More Info: Don’t confuse arduous with ardor, which means passion.

Answer 15

Definition: Using language in a clear, fluent way (adj); speak distinctly or give clarity to an idea (verb) Usage: She’s so articulate that I’m sure she’ll make a good lawyer. Related Words: Eloquent (speaking in a fluent, powerful, appropriate way) More Info: As an adjective, the last syllable is pronounced “lit.” As a verb, it is pronounced “late.”

Answer 16

Definition: Any object made by humans, especially those from an earlier time, such as those excavated by archaeologists Usage: The archaeologists dug up countless artifacts. More Info: Artifact contains the same root (“fact,” meaning “to make”) as in factory and manufacture.

Answer 17

Definition: Free of deceit or craftiness, natural, genuine; lacking skill or knowledge, crude, uncultured Usage: His artless attempt at negotiating a raise began with “I need more money, please” and ended with “Okay, sorry I asked.” Related Words: Guileless, Ingenuous (synonyms) More Info: Don’t think of artless as a lack of art—think of it as a lack of artifice, or artificiality. Artless can be either positive (free of deceit) or negative (lacking skill).

Answer 18

Definition: Find out with certainty Usage: Hopefully, the investigation will allow us to ascertain who is at fault here. Related Words: Discern (perceive or recognize; tell two or more things apart), Descry (discover, see by looking carefully) More Info: Ascertain is easy to remember—it means “make certain” and has the word “certain” contained inside it.

Answer 19

Definition: abstinent or austere in lifestyle (adj); a person who leads an austere and simple life without material pleasures, esp. someone who does this for religious reasons Usage: Sage lives in ascetic condition. Related Words: Hermit or Anchorite (person who lives away from society, esp. for religious reasons), Recluse (person who lives in solitude) More Info: Don’t confuse ascetic with aesthetic, which means “pertaining to beauty or good taste.”

Answer 20

Definition: Make milder, relieve; soothe, pacify, or calm Usage: After losing a million-dollar account, he tried to assuage his furious boss by pointing out that he was close to winning a new account worth at least as much. Related Words: Placate, Mollify, and Appease are near-synonyms More Info: Assuage shares a Latin root (meaning “sweet”) with suave, which today means smoothly agreeable or polite.

Answer 21

Definition: Very bold or brave, often in a rude or reckless way; extremely original Usage: He audaciously asked for a raise after working at the company for less than two months! Related Words: Insolent (bold in a rude way), Brazen (shameless, contemptuously bold) More Info: Barack Obama wrote a book called The Audacity of Hope. The title suggests that Americans should be bold enough to have hope even in bad circumstances. Audacious can be good (audacious explorers) or bad, as in the employee in the sentence above.

Answer 22

Definition: Make larger Usage: If you memorize the definitions on all of these flashcards, you will have notably augmented your vocabulary! Related Words: Aggrandize (make greater; exaggerate) More Info: Augment shares a root (“augere,” to increase) with august, meaning “majestic, inspiring reverence.”

Answer 23

Definition: Severe in manner or appearance; very self-disciplined, ascetic; without luxury or ease; sober or serious Usage: Sage life is austere / The graduation speaker delivered an austere message: the economy is bad, and academic success alone isn’t enough to succeed in the job market. Related Words: Ascetic (pertaining to a simple, austere life with no luxuries, such as that of a monk; a person who leads such a life)

Answer 24

Definition: Self-governing, independent Usage: It is normal for young people to desire greater autonomy as they grow up. Related Words: Fiat (dictate or authoritative order, as in “The king rules by fiat.”), Hegemony (domination, authority; influence by one country over others socially, culturally, economically, etc.) More Info: An autonomous region, such as Iraqi Kurdistan, is independent, but not considered its own country.

Answer 25

Definition: Declare or affirm with confidence Usage: I aver that he is having deep knowledge in DBMS systems. More Info: Aver contains the root “ver” (truth), which also appears in verify, veracious, and verisimilitude.

Answer 26

Definition: Enthusiastic, dedicated, passionate; excessively desirous Usage: An avid cyclist, she was on her bike every weekend, and even bought the same bike that Lance Armstrong last used in the Tour de France. Related Words: Ardent (very passionate), Zealous (full of fervor or dedicated enthusiasm for a cause, person, etc.)

Answer 27

Definition: Degrade or humble; to lower in rank, status, or esteem Usage: After messing up at work, the man faced a thorough abasement from his boss; when he realized he had forgotten his own wedding anniversary, he further abased himself in front of his wife. Related Words: Defame (attack the reputation of), Belittle (put down, disparage) Memory Trick: Abasement means degradation or lowering of status—that is, abasement makes you feel like you should go hide in a basement.

Answer 28

Definition: Temporary suspension, inactivity Usage: The deal between India and China for building super fast trains in held in abeyance. Related Words: Hiatus (break or gap in an activity), Dormant (inactive, resting), Deferment or Deferral (postponement) More Info: Abeyance generally occurs in the expression “in abeyance.” Real estate is in abeyance when no one owns it or the owner is unknown.

Answer 29

Definition: Side-by-side. The more common “abreast of” means keeping up with, staying aware of, or remaining equal in progress with. Usage: As the professor walked abreast down the street with her mentor, she was amazed that the old man, long since retired, still kept abreast of all the latest developments in neurobiology. Related Words: Conversant with (familiar by use or study), well versed in (experienced, skilled) More Info: You are conversant with a topic about which you know enough to have an intelligent conversation. Well versed is stronger, implying some expertise. Keeping abreast of a topic implies that you are continually updating your knowledge.

Answer 30

Definition: Cutting off; sudden termination; the separation of leaves, petals, or other parts from a plant or animal Usage: The abscission of leaves from the trees is normal in fall. / An inflamed appendix calls for an immediate surgical abscission. Related Words: Ablation (removal of growths, etc., by surgery or other mechanical means) More Info: “Ab” means “away.” The “scissio” root in abscission means “cut” and is the same as in scissors, excise (cut out or censor), and incision (cut into).

Answer 31

Definition: Depart suddenly and secretively Usage: A robber absconds with stolen goods. Related Words: Decamp (to depart from camp, or to abscond) More Info: “Ab” means “away” and the rest of abscond comes from a Latin word meaning “to put.”

Answer 32

Definition: A deep and vast space or cavity; anything profound or infinite Usage: Walking a tightrope over an active volcano, I was terrified of falling into the abyss. / Now recovering from mental depression, he recalled his bygone experience as an abyss of hopelessness. Related Words: Chasm, Crevasse, Fissure, Gorge are all words for deep openings in the earth, and can be used metaphorically (a fissure in a personal relationship, the chasm between cultures, etc.). More Info: The 1989 classic science fiction movie The Abyss is about a diving team that encounters an underwater alien species.

Answer 33

Definition: Agree, give consent; assume power (usually as “accede to”) Usage: While the Englishman was a strong believer in democracy, he had to accede that watching Prince Charles someday accede to the throne would indeed be exciting. Related Words: Assent also means agree or give in. More Info: When Prince Charles accedes to the throne, he will be succeeding (taking power after) Queen Elizabeth.

Answer 34

Definition: Gradual increase; an added part or addition Usage: Accretion of money in his saving account. Related Words: Augment (grow larger), Agglomerate (form into a mass or cluster, join together) More Info: Bank accounts accrue interest. Good deeds, ideally, accrue rewards.

Answer 35

Definition: Sour; harsh or severe Usage: Lemons are acerbic. Harsh comments are also acerbic, like putting lemon juice on a wound. Related Words: Caustic (capable of burning or corroding; extremely critical or sarcastic), Acrid (sharp or biting, pungent), Astringent (biting, severe; a skin cleaning fluid that clears pores) More Info: An acerbic taste is sour and an acrid taste is unpleasantly bitter, but when used metaphorically, both words mean harsh, critical.

Answer 36

Definition: Slightly acid or sour; sharp or caustic Usage: Grapefruit juice is acidulous. / Boss comments in operation industry are acidulous. Related Words: Acerbic (sour, harsh or severe) More Info: In Latin, “acidus” meant sour, so “acidulus,” a diminutive version, meant “slightly sour.”

Answer 37

Definition: Keen, quick, accurate insight or judgment Usage: His business acumen allowed him to win big contracts from MNC's. Related Words: Perspicacity (acuteness of perception) More Info: Acumen comes from a Latin word for “needle”—hence the idea of being mentally “sharp.”

Answer 38

Definition: Make impure by adding inappropriate or inferior ingredients Usage: Some bars adulterate liquor by pouring cheaper brands into the more expensive brands’ bottles. Related Words: Taint (contaminate, corrupt), Debase (reduce in quality or dignity) More Info: Adulterate is indeed related to adultery (cheating on one’s spouse)—both come from a Latin word meaning “to defile.”

Answer 39

Definition: Give a rough outline of; foreshadow; reveal only partially; obscure Usage: When I took on the lead role in the movie, I agreed not to give away the plot, but I suppose I could give a brief adumbration of the premise. More Info: Adumbrate contains the root “umbra,” Latin for “shadow.” It may seem that “give an outline of” and “obscure” are opposites, but think of it this way—to adumbrate is to give a shadowy, vague picture of something, which could mean giving more information (if starting with nothing) or obscuring information (if starting with a clear picture) in order to reach that point.

Answer 40

Definition: Dwelling or fortress built on a high place; the nest of a bird of prey, such as an eagle or hawk, built on a mountain or cliff Usage: The billionaire smoked a cigar out his window and watched the riots in the streets below, safe in the aerie of his penthouse apartment. Related Words: Stronghold (a well fortified place, especially the central place of a controversial group, as in “Police raided the smugglers’ stronghold.”) More Info: Aerie may also be spelled aery, eyrie, or eyry. It shares an origin with “airy,” coming from a Latin word pertaining to an open field.

Answer 41

Definition: Although, even though Usage: The village leader was illiterate albeit highly intelligent. / The trip was exciting, albeit brief. Related Words: Notwithstanding (in spite of, although, all the same—“Notwithstanding the video of his crime, he was acquitted on a technicality”) More Info: Albeit is a shortening of “although it be.”

Answer 42

Definition: Distant physically or emotionally; reserved; indifferent Usage: Perceiving her parents as cold and aloof, the child was naturally drawn to her loving and caring aunt. Related Words: Detached (impartial or aloof), Standoffish (cold, unfriendly) More Info: A common stereotype is that dogs are affable, while cats are aloof.

Answer 43

Definition: Blend, merge, or unite Usage: Chocolate is amalgamation of milk and coca. Related Words: Agglomerate (collect into a mass), Aggregate (gather together), Commix (mix together), Conglomerate (anything made up of different kinds of materials; blended; to bring together), Consolidate (unite or combine, such as companies or debts)

Answer 44

Definition: Improve; make better or more bearable Usage: If you spill water on your computer keyboard, you can ameliorate the damage by leaving the keyboard upside down to try—it may still be ruined, but that’s still the best chance you’ve got of saving it. Related Words: Mitigate, Palliate, and Alleviate are near-synonyms, all of which could take the place of “ameliorate” in the sentence above. More Info: Ameliorate occasionally appears as meliorate (an Old English version), meaning exactly the same thing.

Answer 45

Definition: Gradually pay off a debt, or gradually write off an asset Usage: A mortgage is a common form of amortized debt. / Since she was in debt and had not much income so she amortized her house worth 5 crores. More Info: Amortize contains the root “mort,” meaning death. Amortization is when a financial obligation dies a long, slow death.

Answer 46

Definition: Something that is not in its correct historical time; a mistake in chronology, such as by assigning a person or event to the wrong time period Usage: Some of the movies today have anachronic characters. More Info: The prefix “ana“ means “against”, and “chron” means “time.” This is one word you can work out entirely with a knowledge of roots: anachronistic means “against time.”

Answer 47

Definition: Pain relief; inability to feel pain Usage: A disease of the spinal cord can cause analgesia, which can be dangerous because the patient doesn’t know when he has injured himself. Related Words: Anodyne (pain relieving medicine or anything that relieves pain)

Answer 48

Definition: Make void or null, cancel, abolish (usually of laws or other established rules) Usage: Can we appreciate the art of a murderer? For many, the value of these paintings is annulled by the artist’s crimes. Related Words: Nullify, Void (synonyms); Abort (stop part way through, remain in an undeveloped state) More Info: Most people associate “annul” with marriage—to get an annulment rather than a divorce, most states require that the marriage have been based on fraud, or that at least one person was not mentally competent to form a contract.

Answer 49

Definition: Medicine that relieves pain (noun); soothing, relieving pain (adj) Usage: While aspirin is a nice analgesic, the construction worker argued that, for sore and tired muscles, nothing beat the anodyne effects of a six-pack of beer. Related Words: Analgesic (pain reliever) More Info: In antiquated slang, a hangman’s noose was once (ironically) called an “anodyne necklace.”

Answer 50

Definition: Be older than, precede in time; assign to an earlier date Usage: Dinosaurs antedate the first human beings by about 65 million years. More Info: Postdate (antonym—“I will write this check now, but I’m postdating it for two weeks from now because I don’t have the money in my account yet.”)

Answer 51

Definition: Directly opposed, opposite; involving antithesis (the rhetorical act of placing two phrases opposite one another for contrast, as in Love me or hate me) Usage: Watching television for hours is antithetical to one’s academic performance. Related Words: Deleterious (harmful, unhealthful), Counterproductive (defeating the purpose; preventing the intended goal), Inimical (unfavorable, harmful) More Info: Antithesis can be properly understood as “anti” and “thesis”—that is, being against the “thesis” (main point) of something else. The philosopher Hegel posed a method of achieving truth by which a thesis and its antithesis are resolved at a higher level of understanding, called synthesis (in normal speech, synthesis means combination into a unified entity).

Answer 52

Definition: Person who deserts a party, cause, religion, etc. Usage: Girls who marry person from different religion, apostate their own religion. Related Words: Recreant (coward or deserter), Perfidy (faithlessness, treachery), Heretic (believer who disagrees with religious authorities; any nonconformist thinker), Quisling (person who betrays his country by aiding an invader), Infidel (unbeliever, person who does not accept a particular faith) More Info: Don’t confuse apostate with apostle—the words are near-antonyms.

Answer 53

Definition: Pioneer of a reform movement (originally, an early follower of Jesus) Usage: Mahatma Gandhi was apostle of the movements that led to India's Independence. Related Words: Champion (person who fights for a cause), Expounder (person who presents an idea in detail), Paladin (leading champion of a cause; trusted military leader) More Info: When capitalized, “Apostles” usually refers to the original 12 disciples of Jesus. In lowercase, an “apostle” could be any major Christian missionary, or a spreader of a non-religious doctrine. Don’t confuse apostle with apostate—the words are near-antonyms.

Answer 54

Definition: Highly appropriate, suitable, or relevant Usage: In GRE, you have to find apposite words in sentence equivalence. Related Words: Apt (appropriate, likely, disposed or prone, as in “Those who are apt to steal will receive an apt punishment”), Condign (appropriate, esp. as a punishment fits a crime) More Info: You can pronounce apposite as ap-uh-zit or uh-poz-it.

Answer 55

Definition: Inform, give notice to Usage: I can’t believe you failed to apprise me that my child got hurt while playing in the class. More Info: If you know Spanish or French, this word might remind you of the verb aprender or apprendre for good reason—both mean “to learn.” Don’t confuse apprise with appraise, which means “to evaluate or assess the value of,” as in “to have jewelry appraised before selling it at auction.”

Answer 56

Definition: Approval, especially formal approval Usage: Team members got the approbation from Managers for starting the new project. Related Words: Imprimatur (approval, a mark of approval, or especially a formal body’s approval to publish a work) Memory Trick: Approbation begins with the same five letters as its near-synonym approval.

Answer 57

Definition: Set aside or authorize (such as money) for a particular purpose; take for one’s own use Usage: I have appropriated some money in my account for pursuing MBA from abroad. Related Words: Arrogate (claim or take presumptuously or without right) More Info: The last syllable of the more common adjective “appropriate” is pronounced “it”; the last syllable of the verb appropriate is pronounced “ate.”

Answer 58

Definition: Judge, umpire, person empowered to decide matters at hand Usage: In a cricket match you will find three arbiter to judge the match. Related Words: Adjudicator (judge or arbitrator, esp. a judge of a competition) More Info: An arbitrator is officially appointed to settle a dispute; an arbiter is more someone whose opinion is valued, as in the expression “arbiter of good taste.”

Answer 59

Definition: Very passionate, devoted, or enthusiastic Usage: I am ardent about travelling to new places and exploring the world. Related Words: Fervent, Fervid, and Perfervid all mean “passionate, fiery, deeply enthusiastic” and come from a common root relating to heat. More Info: Don’t confuse ardor with arduous, which means very difficult. Ardor comes from a Latin word meaning “to burn”, which we can think of here in the sense of “burning with passion.”

Answer 60

Definition: Claim or take presumptuously or without the right to do so Usage: In order to build the oil pipeline, the government arrogated the land of many small farmers who are still fighting for compensation. Related Words: The verb Appropriate has two meanings: set aside or authorize for a particular purpose; take for one’s own use. The second meaning is a synonym for arrogate. Memory Trick: To arrogate is to arrogantly take what doesn’t belong to you.

Answer 61

Definition: Assign or credit to a certain cause or source Usage: He ascribed his good grades in Exam to diligent studying. Related Words: Impute (attribute or ascribe) More Info: Ascribe contains the root “scribe,” meaning “write.”

Answer 62

Definition: Free from germs Usage: It is very important to perform surgery in an aseptic environment. More Info: A septic tank is a place under a house where sewage is stored. Since putting “a-“ before a word means “without,” it makes sense that, if septic means “infected or putrefying,” then aseptic would be the opposite.

Answer 63

Definition: Rigor, severity; harshness or sharpness of tone; roughness of surface Usage: Fresher's in the colleges are shocked by the asperity of the ragging done by Seniors. / The asperity of her cheap, scratchy sweater made her wish she could afford cashmere. More Info: Asperity describes a wide variety of unpleasant things: hardship, people speaking to us in an unnecessarily harsh way, or physical roughness.

Answer 64

Definition: Damaging remarks, defamation, slander Usage: His opponents cast aspersions on his patriotism. Related Words: Slander, Traduce, and Defame all mean “to speak maliciously and falsely of” More Info: Aspersions is often used in the phrase “to cast aspersions,” which has the sense of throwing or tossing insults or malicious lies about someone. One additional (rare) meaning of aspersion is “to sprinkle, such as for baptism.” So, it’s not a long leap to imagine spattering or sprinkling someone with insults.

Answer 65

Definition: Attack violently, assault Usage: One strategy for winning in boxing is to simply assail your opponent with so many blows that he becomes disoriented. Related Words: Batter (beat persistently or hard) More Info: Assail simply means attack, so it can be used metaphorically the same way you would use attack, such as in “assailing one’s homework with great energy.”

Answer 66

Definition: Persevering, diligent, constant Usage: Through assiduous effort over a substantial period of time, anyone can develop a prodigious vocabulary. Related Words: Sedulous, Tenacious More Info: Assiduous contains a variant of the root “sed,” meaning “to sit” (as in sedated or sediment). Think of assiduous as “sitting” in your chair until you finish your work.

Answer 67

Definition: Weaken or thin out Usage: Not eating food for few days will attenuate you. More Info: When you attenuate something, it becomes tenuous, which means thin or weak (a tenuous argument).

Answer 68

Definition: In harmony; in sympathetic relationship Usage: Research shows that new mothers are keenly attuned to their babies’ cries; even those who were formerly heavy sleepers often find that they now wake up immediately when their babies need attention. More Info: Attuned is almost always followed by “to.”

Answer 69

Definition: Telling the future, such as through supernatural means Usage: An augur in ancient Rome interpreted omens. Related Words: Prognosticate and Presage also mean to tell the future More Info: An augur or auspex in ancient Rome interpreted omens (sometimes by reading bird entrails) to help guide the making of public decisions.

Answer 70

Definition: Venerable, majestic; inspiring admiration Usage: I welcome you to this august institution. Related Words: Eminent (prominent, distinguished, of high rank), Venerable (worthy of deep respect, hallowed, dignified), Olympian (majestic, superior, lofty) More Info: Emperor Octavian, or Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (an heir to Julius Caesar) was given the name Caesar Augustus upon taking the throne in 27 B.C.

Answer 71

Definition: Insatiable greed; a miserly desire to hoard wealth Usage: That avarice company fraudulently overcharge a struggling school system for new computers to make more money. Related Words: Cupidity (avarice or other excessive desire), Covetousness (greed), Rapacity or Rapaciousness (greedy or grasping; living on prey)

Answer 72

Definition: Self-evident truth requiring no proof; universally or generally accepted principle Usage: We must take it as an axiomatic that earth revolves around the sun. Related Words: Maxim (short statement of general truth, proverb), Postulate (self-evident proposition, such as in math) More Info: When we say something is axiomatic, we mean that it must be true, in the way that 2+2 must equal 4, or all squares must have four sides.

Answer 73

Definition: Refuse to proceed or to do something Usage: He balked to travel in Malaysian Airline Flight because of recent disasters that killed all people on flight. Related Words: Demur (show reluctance or object, especially for moral reasons, as in, “His colleagues wanted him to tell the client that their sales would double, but he demurred.”) More Info: Balk comes from a word for a beam or ridge—when a horse or mule balks, it stops short and refuses to proceed. Occasionally, balk is used as a noun for an impediment, much like a beam or ridge, or a defeat.

Answer 74

Definition: Morally low, mean, dishonorable; of little or no value; crude and unrefined; counterfeit Usage: After two year break from work, he had to balk himself to get the job. Related Words: Debase (lower or reduce in quality or dignity)

Answer 75

Definition: Contradict or misrepresent Usage: The data belied the accepted theory that there is no life on moon. More Info: This word is extremely common in GRE questions that ask you to select the missing word for a blank, as belie allows a sentence to “change directions,” as in the example above.

Answer 76

Definition: Harmless; favorable; kindly, gentle, or beneficial; not cancerous Usage: He was relieved when the biopsy results came back, informing him that the growth was benign. / He’s a benign fellow. I’m sure having him assigned to your team at work will be perfectly pleasant, without changing the way you do things. Related Words: Innocuous (harmless, inoffensive) More Info: Benign contains the root “bene,” meaning “good.” Its antonym is malign (“mal” means “bad”), which as an adjective means “evil, harmful, or malicious” (as a verb, it can also mean “slander or defame”). The variant benignant is used the same way as benign.

Answer 77

Definition: Fake, fraudulent Usage: The back of this bodybuilding magazine is just full of ads for bogus products—this one promises 22-inch biceps just from wearing magnetic armbands! Related Words: Spurious and Sham are synonyms More Info: Bogus is of American origin, originally a device for making counterfeit money. “Bogus!” was also a slang term of the ‘80s (prominent in the 1989 film Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure), meaning “bad” or “unfair.” On the GRE, however, bogus means fake.

Answer 78

Definition: Strengthen or support Usage: Many people use alcohol to bolster their confidence before approaching an attractive person in a bar. Related Words: Buttress means a support against a building but can also be a verb meaning “strengthen or support.” Fortify is most associated with protecting against military attack but also means “strengthen or support.” More Info: Bolster comes from an Old Norse noun for a long, supportive pillow, and can still mean this. Bolster has additional meanings in sailing, metalworking, and other fields, but in every case a bolster is some kind of specialized support.

Answer 79

Definition: Rude, ill-mannered, or insensitive person; a peasant or country bumpkin Usage: James was such a boor that, when Marry Jane Watson brought him home to meet her parents, he made fun of everyone’s hairstyles in old family photos. Related Words: Churl is a synonym and can also be used in its adjective form, churlish. Bumpkin, Yokel, and Rustic are all words for an awkward, uncultured, simple person, generally from the country. More Info: Boor is from a German word for farmer that also gives us the “Boers” in South Africa.

Answer 80

Definition: Government characterized by many bureaus and petty administrators or by excessive, seemingly meaningless requirements Usage: Some nations have a worse reputation for bureaucracy than others—in order to get a Visa, he had to file papers with four different agencies. More Info: There is nothing wrong with bureaus (the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for instance), but bureaucracy takes the idea much too far. While, technically, bureaucracy can simply mean a form of government by bureaus, it is virtually always used in the negative sense of excessive “red tape.”

Answer 81

Definition: Grow or flourish rapidly; put forth buds or shoots (of a plant) Usage: Spending an hour a day on vocabulary studies will soon cause your lexicon to burgeon. More Info: From Old French “burjon,” a shoot or bud. Mushroom is used in a similar metaphorical way, meaning “to spread out in all directions,” as a mushroom grows.

Answer 82

Definition: Support or encourage (verb); a support or prop, esp. projecting from and supporting the wall of a building (noun) Usage: She joined an image consulting class and that really helped to buttress her confidence before interviews. Related Words: Bolster originally was a type of pillow and now is also a verb meaning “support or strengthen.” Fortify is most associated with protecting against military attack but also means “strengthen or support.”

Answer 83

Definition: Past, former (adj); that which is in the past (usually plural noun) Usage: It’s tempting to spend our whole high school reunion talking about bygones, but instead, let’s toast to the future! Related Words: Erstwhile (former), Quondam (former, sometime) More Info: The expression “Let bygones be bygones” means to agree to let go of old disagreements.

Answer 84

Definition: Swell or puff out; increase rapidly Usage: During the dot-com bubble, the university’s investments ballooned to three times their former value. Related Words: Distend (swell, expand), Turgid or Tumid (swollen, inflated; or, metaphorically “inflated,” such as in overblown, pompous speech) More Info: In finance, a balloon payment is a single payment at the end of a loan or mortgage term that is much larger than the other payments.

Answer 85

Definition: Lacking freshness and originality; cliché Usage: The white paper that you have presented on big data is banal - I thinks it's just copies from some books. Related Words: Hackneyed, Inane, Insipid and Trite all mean “lacking freshness and originality, shallow” More Info: Banal comes from the Old French “ban,” a word for compulsory feudal service—that is, something common to everyone. It’s not hard to see how the meaning of “common” could change to “old, stale, and boring” over time.

Answer 86

Definition: Something that ruins or spoils Usage: The new regulations in the country - bane or boon? I think new regulations will ruin the economy. Related Words: The opposite of bane is boon, a benefit or blessing. The words are often used together to ask a question, as in “The new regulations: bane or boon?” More Info: Bane can also mean poison, usually as part of more specific names, like wolfsbane or fleabane. Don’t confuse baneful (destructive, ruinous) with baleful, which means threatening.

Answer 87

Definition: Howling in a deep way, like a dog or wolf Usage: The lonely dog bayed all night as it was very cold. More Info: Bay comes from an Old French word meant to actually sound like the baying of an animal. In a related expression, when a person is “at bay” or “brought to bay,” that means that the person is in a captured position, powerless and unable to flee.

Answer 88

Definition: Doing good Usage: The billionaire had been a mean and stingy fellow, but after his death, his beneficent widow gave all his money to charity. Related Words: Benevolent (expressing goodwill, helping others or charity), Eleemosynary (charitable) More Info: The Latin root “bene” means “good,” and “fic” means “making or producing.” The antonym of beneficent is maleficent (“mal” means “bad”).

Answer 89

Definition: Personal inclination or tendency Usage: He was bent on getting married as soon as possible. Related Words: Predilection (preference or inclination), Propensity (natural tendency or inclination) More Info: In the expression “to the top of one’s bent,” the word bent has the meaning of “the limits of one’s endurance,” as in “Although he didn’t win, he ran the marathon to the top of his bent.”

Answer 90

Definition: Attack, overwhelm, crowd in on or surround Usage: The regiment was besieged by attackers on all sides and finally surrendered. / I cannot go out this weekend—I am besieged by homework! Related Words: Harry (harass or annoy), Hound (harass or pursue relentlessly, as if with hunting dogs), Beleaguer (surround, as with difficulties or attackers) More Info: Besiege is equivalent to the expression “lay siege to” (although that expression is used more in the military sense and less in the metaphorical sense).

Answer 91

Definition: Group of birds or other animals that stay close together; any large group Usage: Bevy of pigeon are seen every morning on the cable wire. Related Words: Covey (a group of birds, or any group), Brood (group of offspring born or hatched at the same time, esp. birds) More Info: Bevy is most commonly associated with birds, and often used to describe groups of people who stick together like a flock of birds—it usually implies a not-very-serious opinion about the group in question.

Answer 92

Definition: To fork into two branches or divide into two halves Usage: The medical student carefully bifurcated the frog. Related Words: Cleave (split or cut, as in a “meat cleaver”) More Info: In math, a midpoint bifurcates a line segment. Bifurcate comes from the Latin “furca,” which also gives us “fork.”

Answer 93

Definition: Cheat or defraud Usage: A company is bilking many students in terms of giving loan without security. Related Words: Hoodwink, Swindle, Con, and Fleece are all verbs for cheating others. Fleece is perhaps more severe, having the connotation of taking everything from the victim, the way one sheers all of the fleece from a sheep. More Info: Bilk can also be a noun for the person who cheats others (“I hope that bilk goes to jail!”) More obscurely, bilk can mean to escape from, frustrate, or thwart. The word comes from the card game cribbage, where it means to play a card that keeps an opponent from scoring.

Answer 94

Definition: Disease that kills plants rapidly, or any cause of decay or destruction (noun); ruin or cause to wither (verb) Usage: Many potato farmers have fallen into poverty as a result of blight killing their crops. / Gang violence is a blight on our school system, causing innocent students to fear even attending classes. / Violence has blighted our town. Related Words: Scourge (punishment, disease, or disaster; a whip or lash), Bane (something that spoils or ruins, as in “Allergies are the bane of my life.”) More Info: Blight is often used to describe unidentified plant diseases that mysteriously cause all the plants to wither—as such, it makes a good metaphor, as in “urban blight,” when everything decays and goes wrong at once.

Answer 95

Definition: Joyous, merry; excessively carefree (so as to ignore more important concerns) Usage: Delighted about meeting his girl friend after a long time, he blithely crossed the street without looking and just narrowly avoided being hit by a bus. Related Words: Jovial (joyous, merry) More Info: Blithe can be positive or negative—it’s nice to be merry, but not so merry that we thoughtlessly trample over other people, disobey the rules, etc.

Answer 96

Definition: (Of speech or writing) far too showy or dramatic than is appropriate; pretentious Usage: Since she comes from a very rich family she always to bombastic about the dresses that she wears. Related Words: Declamatory (pompous, merely oratorical), Magniloquent and Grandiloquent (speaking in a lofty, grandiose style) More Info: The origin of bombastic is related to the idea of being inflated, a metaphor that also comes into play with the related words turgid and tumid, synonyms that can mean literally inflated like a balloon, or using language much too fancy for the sentiment or occasion.

Answer 97

Definition: Friendliness, open and simple good heartedness Usage: There was a lot of cheerful bonhomie amongst the students on the school trip. Related Words: Amity (friendship, peaceful agreement) More Info: Bonhomie is from French—bon homme means “good man.” In English, bonhomie is pronounced “bon-uh-MEE” or “BON-uh-mee” (somewhat ironically, there is no “homey” in bonhomie).

Answer 98

Definition: Shake, wave, or flourish, as a weapon Usage: The fair ended badly, with one drunken fellow brandishing a sword and refusing to leave the ladies’ dressing tent. More Info: Brandish comes from the Germanic “brand,” or sword.

Answer 99

Definition: Suffer or tolerate Usage: I will brook no disobeying of these rules, young man!” Related Words: Condone (overlook or tacitly approve), Countenance (as a noun: face or facial expression; as a verb: approve or tolerate) More Info: Of course, a brook is also a small, freshwater stream. The two “brooks” come from different origins entirely; brook as a verb comes from a Latin root meaning “enjoy.”

Answer 100

Definition: Pertaining to shepherds; suggesting a peaceful and pleasant view of rural life Usage: The play was set in a bucolic village - there were lot of shepherds in the background. Related Words: Pastoral, Idyllic, Georgic, and Arcadian are all words relating to a positive view of rural life and songs or poems on that theme More Info: Bucolic comes from a Greek word for “ox.”

Answer 101

Definition: Polish, make smooth and lustrous Usage: He used to burnish his Shoes daily. Related Words: Gilded means covered with a thin layer of gold (and thus looking like solid gold, but actually only superficially so) and is used as a metaphor for things that look better than they really are. More Info: Burnish can also be used as a noun, meaning “luster or shine,” as in “the beautiful burnish of her hair” or “the burnish of an Ivy League university.”

Answer 102

Definition: Harsh, discordant, or meaningless mixture of sounds Usage: The first day of elementary school marching band practice was nothing but cacophony. Related Words: Din (loud, confused noise), Dissonance (harsh, inharmonious sound), Clamor (noisy uproar, as from a crowd) More Info: “Caco/kako/kaki” is the Greek root for “bad,” occurring in such obscure but useful words as cacography (bad spelling or handwriting) and kakistocracy (rule by evil people). “Eu” is the Greek root for “good” and occurs in the antonym to cacophony, euphony.

Answer 103

Definition: Open, sincere, honest Usage: Allow me to be candid: You look fat in this dress , and I think you should wear something else. Related Words: Frank (direct, straightforward) More Info: Candid photographs are photos “from life,” where the subjects are not posing. Candid Camera was a “hidden camera” style prank show that ran for decades.

Answer 104

Definition: Authorized, recognized; pertaining to the canon, or body of accepted rules, standards or artistic works Usage: School boards often start controversies when replacing canonical books in the curriculum with modern literature. More Info: Canon comes from a Greek word similar to “measuring rod” and which also gives us cane.

Answer 105

Definition: Acting on impulse, erratic Usage: The headmaster’s punishments were capricious—break the rules one day, you get a warning; break them another day, you get expelled. Related Words: Whimsical (fanciful, eccentric), Lark (merry adventure), Mercurial (changing moods), Arbitrary (based on one’s discretion; capricious) More Info: Capricious is generally (but not always) meant in a negative way, as acting on impulse is inappropriate in most contexts. Whimsical is a near-synonym, although generally used in a positive way, to describe using one’s imagination.

Answer 106

Definition: Mapmaking Usage: The invention of better navigation tools had major effects on cartography—the more ships knew precisely where they were sailing. More Info: From the French “carte,” map.

Answer 107

Definition: Criticize severely; punish in order to correct Usage: At the grocery store, the mother attracted stares when she castigated—rather than merely admonished—her child for throwing a box of instant oatmeal. Related Words: Excoriate (berate severely; wear the skin off) More Info: Castigate shares a root (meaning “pure”) with both “castrate” and the “caste system.” That should make it easy to remember that castigation is harsh indeed!

Answer 108

Definition: Causer of change Usage: The young manager was a catalyst at the old company—once he introduced employee laptops, telecommuting, and mobile workstations, even the most conventional of employees totally changed the way they worked. More Info: In chemistry, a catalyst causes or accelerates a chemical reaction but is not, itself, affected (the opposite is an inhibitor). Metaphorically, a catalyst is a person or event that causes a reaction.

Answer 109

Definition: Capable of corroding metal or burning the skin; very critical or sarcastic Usage: Wait, those chemicals are caustic! You need safety gloves and goggles before performing this experiment, or else you risk not only getting your skin burned off, but also some seriously caustic remarks from our chemistry teacher. Related Words: Acerbic (sour; harsh or severe), Acrid (sharp or biting, pungent), Astringent (caustic, biting, severe; a skin cleaning fluid that clears pores), Excoriate (to rub the skin off of; to criticize very harshly)

Answer 110

Definition: Strong disapproval or official reprimand (noun); to issue such disapproval or reprimand (verb) Usage: The Senator was censured by the Senate for campaign fund improprieties—in fact, he narrowly avoided being expelled from office. Related Words: Don’t confuse censure with censor (to delete objectionable portions of a work). More Info: In 1834, Andrew Jackson became the only U.S. President to ever be censured by the Senate. Since 1789, nine Senators have been censured; this act of formal disapproval does not remove them from office.

Answer 111

Definition: Fanatical patriotism or blind enthusiasm for military glory; undue or biased devotion to any group, cause, etc. Usage: He’s such a chauvinist that he denies that any other nation could be better than ours at anything—he insists our wine is better than France’s, our ski slopes are better than Norway’s, and even that we grow more rice than China! Absurd. Related Words: Bigot (obstinately prejudiced person), Xenophobia (fear of foreigners), Jingoism (extreme chauvinism plus warlike foreign policy) More Info: Don’t confuse chauvinism with sexism—a “male chauvinist” is just one kind. The original chauvinist was Nicholas Chauvin, a possibly fictional soldier wounded 17 times while serving in Napoleon’s army (he really loved Napoleon).

Answer 112

Definition: Arranged in or relating to time order Usage: Joey, I’m afraid you’ve done the assignment wrong—the point of making a timeline is to put the information in chronological order. You’ve made an alphabetical-order-line instead! More Info: The root “chron,” for “time,” also occurs in chronicle (a historical account in time order), chronic (ongoing, usually of an illness), and anachronism (thing out of its own time period). Chronometer is just a fancy word for clock.

Answer 113

Definition: Noisy uproar or protest, as from a crowd; a loud, continuous noise Usage: The mayor couldn’t even make herself heard over the clamor of the protestors. Related Words: Hubbub (loud noise, confusion), (harsh, discordant, or meaningless mixture of sounds), Din (loud, confused noise), Dissonance (cacophony, harsh, inharmonious sound) More Info: Don’t confuse with clamber, which means to climb awkwardly or scramble. Clamor comes from an Anglo-French root meaning “cry out,” a root that also gives us claim.

Answer 114

Definition: Make final or settle conclusively; to fasten or hold together Usage: When their best player was benched, the team fell behind, but once he was allowed back in the game, the team was able to clinch the win. / These two pieces have been clinched together with a clamp while the glue dries. More Info: In sports, to clinch a championship is to gain so great a lead that it is impossible not to win. To clinch a contract is to lock it down. To clinch a nail is to flatten the part that sticks out—that is, to finish your work.

Answer 115

Definition: Come together, unite; fuse together Usage: While at first everyone on the team was jockeying for power and recognition, eventually, the group coalesced and everyone was happy to share credit for a job well-done. / East and West Germany coalesced into a single country in 1990. Related Words: Agglomerate (collect into a mass), Aggregate (gather together), Consolidate (unite, combine, firm up—you can consolidate loans or consolidate power) More Info: A coalition is a group that has coalesced (at least in theory).

Answer 116

Definition: Very convincing, logical Usage: Nurses who work in the Alzheimer’s ward must develop skills for communicating with people who are often not cogent. More Info: Cogent comes from two roots meaning “together” and “drive”—a cogent argument allows you to “drive” your listener to your conclusion. The resemblance of cogent to cognition, cognitive, cogitation, and excogitate—words about thinking—is merely a coincidence, but a helpful one.

Answer 117

Definition: The same in size, extent, etc., equivalent; proportional Usage: To get admission in MBA, you can give GRE or commensurate GMAT. Related Words: Tantamount (equivalent, as in “What he did is tantamount to murder.”) More Info: The Latin “mensuratus” means “measure”—so commensurate means “measure together.”

Answer 118

Definition: Self-satisfied, smug; overly content (and therefore lazy, neglectful, or some other bad quality) Usage: The coach motivated his team: “I know we’ve never won a championship before, but we do have an advantage over the six-time state champions we’re about to play—they have grown complacent with their success, and now they just assume they’ll win without having to sweat.” More Info: Don’t confuse complacent with complaisant, which means “eager to please.”

Answer 119

Definition: Completing; fitting together well; filling mutual needs Usage: “That scarf really complements your outfit,” said Elle. “Thanks for the compliment,” said Dania. More Info: Complementary angles (for instance, 35° and 55°) add to 90 degrees.

Answer 120

Definition: Obeying, submissive; following the requirements Usage: Those who are not compliant with the regulations will be put on probation and possibly expelled. / A compliant child, he never gave his parents any trouble. Related Words: Complaisant and Obliging are words describing people who comply with eagerness.

Answer 121

Definition: Give in, admit, yield; acknowledge reluctantly; grant or give up (such as giving up land after losing a war) Usage: The negotiations were pointless, with each side’s representatives instructed by their home countries to make no concessions whatsoever. / I suppose I will have to concede the argument now that you’ve looked up evidence on Wikipedia. More Info: The Latin “cedere” means “yield, go, withdraw” and also gives us cede (to yield, especially to give up land after losing a war), precede, and succeed.

Answer 122

Definition: Reconciling, appeasing, attempting to make the peace Usage: The hotel manager was horrified at how the guest had been treated, and approached him in a conciliatory manner, offering him numerous freebies and apologizing repeatedly. Related Words: Placate, Mollify, Appease, Pacify and Assuage are all verbs for attempting to calm or make peace.

Answer 123

Definition: Approve, agree Usage: I concur the project funding, said the client. Related Words: Assent (approval, agreement) More Info: Concur is related to concurrent, meaning “occurring at the same time or acting over the same area; coordinating actions,” as in “We recommend that you take calculus before college physics, but it is possible to take them concurrently.”

Answer 124

Definition: Overlook, tolerate, regard as harmless Usage: While underage drinking is illegal, at many universities, it is condoned by administrations that neglect to enforce anti-drinking policies. Related Words: Brook (suffer or tolerate), Countenance (as a noun: face or facial expression; as a verb: approve or tolerate) More Info: Condone shares a root (meaning “give”) with donate. To condone is to give mild, sometimes tacit, approval.

Answer 125

Definition: Consult, compare views; bestow or give Usage: A Ph.D. confers upon a person the right to be addressed as “Doctor” . / Excuse me for a moment to make a call—I can’t buy this car until I confer with my spouse. Related Words: Vest can mean “grant an authority or right,” as in “The ownership of 51% of the stock vests her with the right to make decisions for the company.”

Answer 126

Definition: Expert, especially in the fine arts; person of educated, refined tastes Usage: As Stock Market connoisseur, he always bought right stocks which made him millionaire. Related Words: Epicure (person with discriminating tastes, esp. regarding food and wine) More Info: Connoisseur comes, through French, from the Latin “cognoscere,” meaning “to know,” which also gives us cognition.

Answer 127

Definition: Lessen the suffering or grief of (verb); a control panel, or small table or cabinet (noun) Usage: I was unable to console Tina after she fell asleep at the console of her airplane and thereby failed her pilot’s exam. Related Words: Succor (comfort, provide relief) More Info: As a verb, the word is pronounced “con-SOLE.” As a noun, it’s pronounced “CON-sole.”

Answer 128

Definition: Unite, combine, solidify, make coherent Usage: As group leader, Murli will consolidate all of our research into a single report. Related Words: Agglomerate (collect into a mass), Aggregate (gather together), Commix (mix together), Conglomerate (anything made up of different kinds of materials; blended; to bring together)

Answer 129

Definition: Squeeze, compress; restrict the freedom of Usage: The movement of Tourists in Kashmir is heavily constricted. Related Words: Constringe (cause to shrink) More Info: A Boa constrictor is a snake that squeezes its prey to death.

Answer 130

Definition: Interpret or translate Usage: I don’t know how you construed my comment as an insult. More Info: To misconstrue is to misunderstand or misinterpret.

Answer 131

Definition: Controversial; prone to causing arguments, especially gratuitous or petty ones Usage: The budget proposed out has been the subject of contentious debate since last few days. Related Words: Disputatious and quarrelsome are near-synonyms More Info: A contention is simply a claim, often a thesis or statement that will then be backed up with reasons. To contend can be to argue or to vie for a prize, as in the famous quote from On the Waterfront: “I coulda been a contender.”

Answer 132

Definition: Place in context, such as by giving the background or circumstances Usage: The book contextualize the history of creation of Taj Mahal. More Info: Context, from the Latin, can simply be thought of as “the text that comes with.” The root “text” itself is the same in both “textbook” and “textile”—it means “weave,” just as we would weave either cloth or a story.

Answer 133

Definition: Riddle, the answer to which involves a play on words; any mystery Usage: How to count the entire population accurately—including those without fixed addresses—is a bit of a conundrum. Related Words: Enigma (puzzle, mystery), Paradox (contradiction, or seeming contradiction that is actually true)

Answer 134

Definition: Move towards one another or towards a point; unite Usage: I know we’re driving to the wedding from different states, but our routes ought to converge when each of us hits I-95—maybe we could converge at a Cracker Barrel for lunch! More Info: The antonym of converge is diverge.

Answer 135

Definition: Knowledgeable about or experienced with Usage: She is conversant in current affairs. Related Words: Abreast (keeping up with, staying aware of, or remaining equal in progress with) More Info: Conversant does NOT mean talkative—it means having enough knowledge to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation about a topic.

Answer 136

Definition: In an opposite way; on the other hand Usage: I am not here to argue that lack of education causes poverty. Conversely, I am here to argue that poverty causes lack of education. Related Words: The expression “to the contrary” is sometimes used in the same way as conversely. More Info: In logic, the converse of a statement is a simple reversal, from “Bachelors are unmarried men” to “Unmarried men are bachelors.” The converse is not always true, such as in the case of “All schnauzers are dogs” and “All dogs are schnauzers.”

Answer 137

Definition: Twisted; very complicated Usage: Your argument is so convoluted that I’m not even able to understand it enough to start critiquing it. / To get from the hotel room to the pool requires following a convoluted path up two staircases and down two others—to get to someplace on the same floor we started on! Related Words: Tortuous (twisting, not direct, deceitful), Labyrinthine (tortuous, resembling a labyrinth), Byzantine (complex or intricate; relating to the Byzantine Empire and its highly intricate art and architecture style)

Answer 138

Definition: Plentiful, bountiful Usage: Although she took copious notes in class, she found that she was missing a big picture that would have tied all the information together. / The fertile, copious land yielded a rich harvest. Related Words: Profuse (giving or done in a free, abundant way) More Info: Copious shares a root with cornucopia, a “horn of plenty” (the symbol of the American Thanksgiving holiday).

Answer 139

Definition: Support, add evidence to Usage: You’re telling me you were thirty miles away from school when there was theft in the accounts section of the school. Is there anyone who can corroborate your story? Related Words: Substantiate and verify also mean to prove true or provide evidence in favor of. More Info: Corroborate shares a Latin root (“robur,” for oak or strength) with robust.

Answer 140

Definition: Belonging to the entire world, at home globally; free from local or national prejudices or attachments Usage: Trapped in a small town, he dreamed of a more cosmopolitan existence filled with world travel, exotic cuisine, and scintillating parties where he would meet famous authors and other cosmopolites. Related Words: Urbane (elegant, sophisticated, suave; suitable to social life in major cities) More Info: The magazine Cosmopolitan was originally named to evoke the image of a wordly, sophisticated woman. A “cosmopolitan” is also a cocktail popularized by the show Sex and the City. Most New Yorkers do not think that drinking “cosmos” is cosmopolitan.

Answer 141

Definition: Facial expression or face (noun); approve or tolerate (verb) Usage: Her countenance said it all—the look on her face was pure terror. / I saw you cheating off my paper, and I can’t countenance cheating—either you turn yourself in or I’ll report you. Related Words: Brook (suffer or tolerate), Condone (overlook or tacitly approve) More Info: Countenance shares a root with continence, meaning “self control.” The use of countenance to mean “approve or tolerate” makes sense when you think about a similar expression: “I cannot look you in the face after what you did.” (We would usually say “I cannot face you” when the speaker is the guilty party).

Answer 142

Definition: Against what one would intuitively expect Usage: Although it seems counterintuitive, for some extreme dieters, eating more can actually help them to lose weight, since the body is reassured that it is not facing a period of prolonged starvation. Related Words: Paradoxical (contradictory, or seemingly contradictory but actually true)

Answer 143

Definition: Contrasting item, opposite; a complement; the use of contrast or interplay in a work of art Usage: The play’s lighthearted, witty narrator provides a welcome counterpoint to the seriousness and grief expressed by the other characters. / The hot peppers work in counterpoint to an otherwise sweet dish. Related Words: Foil (a character in a drama, or any entity, that contrasts with another, as in “Fortinbras is a foil to Hamlet in that each wishes to avenge his father’s death, but Fortinbras acts decisively, which only serves to point out Hamlet’s weakness.”) More Info: The humor publication The Onion is known for its amusing “Point/Counterpoint” articles in which two speakers disagree on a topic.

Answer 144

Definition: Defeating the purpose; preventing the intended goal Usage: The candidate’s attempt to win votes in Ohio was actually counterproductive—following his speech, his poll numbers actually went down 5%. Related Words: Feckless (ineffectual), Bootless (unsuccessful), Inimical (unfavorable, harmful, as in “Drinking unclean water is inimical to health.”)

Answer 145

Definition: Secret, veiled, undercover Usage: Soldiers were trained to be part of covert operations, moving silently and remaining out of the enemy’s sight. Related Words: Clandestine, Surreptitious, and Furtive all mean secret, undercover.

Answer 146

Definition: Cunning, skillful in deception or underhanded schemes Usage: A crafty play in basketball is the “head-fake”—moving the head in one direction slightly prior to running in the other direction. Related Words: Cunning, Guileful, and Wily are synonyms. More Info: Crafty is connected to “arts and crafts” in the sense of being skilled. Of course, if you somehow used yarn to trick people, you’d be doubly crafty.

Answer 147

Definition: Very cowardly, lacking courage Usage: The nervous soldier feared he would turn craven in his first firefight, but he actually acted quite bravely. Related Words: Timorous (timid, fearful), Pusillanimous (cowardly), Dastardly (cowardly in a treacherous, sneaky way)

Answer 148

Definition: Believability, trustworthiness Usage: Company has to maintain the credibility to keep brand on the top. More Info: The root “cred,” meaning “believe” also gives us credit, creed, credo, incredulous, discredit, and accreditation. Don’t confuse credible with credulous, meaning gullible. Finally, while we often use incredible to mean “great,” it really means “not believable.”

Answer 149

Definition: Gullible; prone to believing or trusting too easily or without enough evidence Usage: Kids are credulous - they would believe you what you say. More Info: The opposite of credulous is incredulous, which means skeptical. The root “cred,” meaning “believe” also gives us credit, creed, credo, discredit, and accreditation.

Answer 150

Definition: Steady increase in force, intensity, or the loudness of a musical passage; a climactic moment or peak Usage: The administration tried to ignore the protest, but finally had to address the issue when the demonstration reached a crescendo. Related Words: Ascension (rising to the top), Culminate (reach a high point or final stage), Surge (strong forward movement, swelling wave) More Info: Crescendo is originally a musical term; its antonym is decrescendo, although that word is less often used metaphorically.

Answer 151

Definition: Reach the highest point or final stage Usage: A Ph.D. program generally culminates in a written dissertation. Related Words: Acme, Summit, Pinnacle, and Apex are all words for a high point or peak. Denouement means conclusion or ending, such as of a literary work, esp. one that “wraps up all the loose ends.”

Answer 152

Definition: Thinking the worst of others’ motivations; bitterly pessimistic Usage: Shilpa was so cynical that even when her friends threw her a surprise party, she figured that they only did it so they wouldn’t feel so guilty about all the mean things they must be saying behind her back. Related Words: Misanthrope (hater of humankind) More Info: The original Cynics were ancient Greek philosophers who held that self-control was the only virtue. They are rumored to have been quite contemptuous towards their philosophical opponents.

Answer 153

Definition: Malicious lie intended to hurt someone’s reputation; the act of telling such lies Usage: I’ve had enough of your calumnious accusations on others! Admit that you made up all those wicked things about me. Related Words: Slander is a synonym. Libel is the written version of slander. Traduce, Vilify, and Defame are verbs meaning “to slander, to damage a person’s reputation with lies.” More Info: Pronounce calumny as “CAL-um-nee.”

Answer 154

Definition: Rumor, a false or baseless story Usage: The idea that we only use 10% of our brains is a tired, old canard; actually, even the dumbest people use all of their brains. More Info: Canard is simply the French word for “duck.” The use of “duck” to mean, essentially, “urban legend” may come from an old French expression “to half-sell a duck.” Sounds pretty sketchy! Just like a canard

Answer 155

Definition: Chief, most important Usage: In church, the cardinal elect and advise pop. Related Words: Principal (first, highest in rank) More Info: Cardinal can also mean an official in the Catholic church, a bright red bird, or a deep red color. Cardinal comes from a Latin word for “hinge”—as in, a thing which other things “hinge” or depend on.

Answer 156

Definition: Universal, broad-minded Usage: The U.S. Constitution took a more catholic approach, declaring that “All men are created equal.” Related Words: Liberal (aside from the use of Liberal in American politics, Liberal means “favorable to reform; favorable to maximum possible individual freedom; free from prejudice, tolerant, open-minded”) More Info: The Catholic Church, of course, goes by that name because it intends (as do many religions) to be universal.

Answer 157

Definition: Trickery, deception by knowingly false arguments Usage: The defense lawyer’s strategy to prevent the murderer from prosecution was nothing but chicanery. Related Words: Quibbling (the use of ambiguous, petty, or irrelevant arguments, especially to evade the real issue), Sophistry (deliberately tricky argumentation) More Info: Chicanery is from French, hence the pronunciation: shi-KAY-nuh-ry.

Answer 158

Definition: Strictly limit a role, range of activity, or area; in math, to be constructed around so as to touch as many points as possible Usage: Our land is circumscribed by hedges and fences. More Info: “Circum” is the Latin root for “around,” and “scribe” for “write.” The “scribe/script” root also occurs in proscribe (prohibit) and conscript (draft into military service).

Answer 159

Definition: Cautious, prudent; careful to consider the circumstances and consequences Usage: This is very sensitive case requiring extreme circumspection. Related Words: Staid (restrained, prim, settled) More Info: The root “circum” means “around” and “spect” means “see”—thus, circumspect people “look around” before acting, much as in the idiom “look before you leap.”

Answer 160

Definition: Climb awkwardly or with difficulty, scramble Usage: They clambered over the mountain. More Info: Clamber comes from the same root as climb. Don’t confuse it with clamor, which means “noisy shouting or protest.”

Answer 161

Definition: Disgustingly or distastefully sweet Usage: I do like visiting our grandmother, but I can’t stand those cloying movies she watches / I do like cake, but I find that honey-covered angel food cake positively cloying. Related Words: Treacly and Saccharine are synonyms. Maudlin means “overly tearful and sentimental,” and might also possibly describe the orphan/pony movie described above.

Answer 162

Definition: Cause a liquid to become solid or semisolid Usage: Hemophilia is a medical condition in which the blood doesn’t coagulate, meaning that a hemophiliac can easily bleed to death from a small wound. Related Words: Curdle also means “go from liquid to solid” but tends to be used to describe milk spoiling, or metaphorically, as in “Her scream made my blood curdle.” Clot has the same definition as well, and often describes blood (a blood clot in an artery can cause a heart attack). Some desserts involve clotted cream.

Answer 163

Definition: Final part of a musical composition; an ending, esp. one that sums up what has come before Usage: “You play this middle section twice, then move to the coda,” the music teacher explained to the child. “The coda always comes last.” Related Words: Recapitulation (summary or the act of summing up), Précis (summary or abstract) More Info: Coda comes from the Latin “cauda,” meaning “tail.” (A caudate animal has a tail and an acaudate animal lacks one.)

Answer 164

Definition: Chest for storing valuables; financial resources, a treasury Usage: Rather than rent a safety-deposit box, I keep my priceless antique coins in a coffer here at home. Related Words: A strongbox is also a chest for storing valuables. More Info: Coffer comes from the same root as “coffin,” another type of box. When used metaphorically, coffers is generally used in the plural.

Answer 165

Definition: Conspire; cooperate for illegal or fraudulent purposes Usage: After two competing software companies doubled their prices on the same day, leaving consumers no lower-priced alternative, the federal government investigated the companies for collusion. Related Words: Cabal (a conspiratorial group)

Answer 166

Definition: Concise but complete summary; a list or collection Usage: This movie review is compendious—in just 500 words ,it tells every single thing that happens in the entire film. Related Words: Digest (a periodical containing shortened versions of works published elsewhere), Recapitulation (summary or the act of summing up), Précis (summary or abstract)

Answer 167

Definition: Eager to please; cheerfully complying Usage: Coming from a more uptight corporate background, Chris found the soup kitchen volunteers remarkably complaisant—when he asked the greeters to sweep the floor and the cooks to wash dishes, everyone happily moved to their new positions. More Info: Don’t confuse complaisant with complacent, which means “smug, self-satisfied.”

Answer 168

Definition: Confuse, frustrate; mix up or make worse Usage: He was already a little confused in regards to differential equations, but reading an incorrectly-edited Wikipedia page on the topic only confounded the problem. Related Words: Baffled, Flummoxed, and Nonplussed are all words for “confused.”

Answer 169

Definition: Suggest or imply in addition to the precise, literal meaning Usage: The word “titanic” simply means large or majestic, but because of the word’s association with the sunken ship, “titanic” has a negative connotation to many people. Related Words: Evoke (call forth, esp. of feelings or imagination) More Info: A denotation is the literal meaning of a word; a connotation is the feeling that accompanies that word.

Answer 170

Definition: Things that are opposing; either of two opposite things Usage: Contrary to all our expectations, he's found a well-paid job and a nice girlfriend . Related Words: Counterpoint (a contrasting element) More Info: The expression to the contrary means “to the opposite effect of the thing we were just talking about, as in “Although you say the plan will please everyone, to the contrary, our biggest client has already informed us that they will find a new supplier if we proceed.”

Answer 171

Definition: Remorseful; feeling sorry for one’s offenses or sins Usage: The boy seemed contrite as he broke the windshield of his father's car. Related Words: Penitent is a synonym. Atone means “to make amends for.” More Info: Interestingly, contrite comes from a Latin root meaning “to grind.” Perhaps hating to admit we’re wrong is truly universal.

Answer 172

Definition: Rebellious; stubbornly disobedient Usage: He is very contumacious - he will never do what his boss demands. Related Words: Obstreperous, Recalcitrant, and Refractory are synonyms More Info: Contumacious and contumely are not as closely related as they sound: contumely means “contemptuous treatment or a humiliating insult.”

Answer 173

Definition: Call together, as to a meeting Usage: The dean has convoked this gathering to discuss the recent firing in the school campus by a student. Related Words: Convene is a synonym More Info: The root “voc/vok” in convoke means “to call” and also appears in words such as vocal, invoke, and vocation.

Answer 174

Definition: Treat as a pet, pamper Usage: Children need to be cosseted - they love pampering. Related Words: Coddle (treat tenderly or indulgently) More Info: As a noun, a cosset is a pet lamb or any pet. The root in cosset actually comes from a word meaning “to kiss.”

Answer 175

Definition: Close or exclusive group, clique Usage: The pop star never traveled anywhere without a coterie of assistants and managers. Related Words: Cabal (conspiracy, group of people who plot), Entourage (group of attendants) More Info: In French, a coterie was a group of tenant farmers.

Answer 176

Definition: Greed, great or excessive desire Usage: The doctor’s medical license was revoked after it was discovered that, out of sheer cupidity, he had diagnosed people with illnesses they didn’t have and pocketed insurance money for performing procedures they didn’t need. Related Words: Avarice (insatiable greed), Covetousness (greed), Rapacity or Rapaciousness (greedy or grasping; living on prey)

Answer 177

Definition: Bad-tempered, difficult person; grouch Usage: The college students’ party was hampered by constant complaints from a curmudgeonly neighbor who insisted that making noise after 8pm was unreasonable, and called the police. Related Words: Crotchety (grouchy, picky, given to odd notions), Cantankerous (disagreeable, contentious), Crank (an unbalanced person who is fanatical about a private, generally petty cause) More Info: Curmudgeon, like crotchety, is almost always used to describe old men (a fact that is perhaps unfair to old men).