GRE Cards Deck N Flashcards
naïve
adj
Also naivety or naivete (noun)
Definition: Simple and unsophisticated, unsuspecting, lacking worldly experience and critical judgment
Usage: I was a little naïve during the hiring process—the HR rep asked for my acceptable salary range, and I answered honestly. Of course I got an offer for the very lowest number in the range! Now I know I should have tried to get a number from her first, or named a higher number so I could negotiate down.
Related Words: Dupe (person who is easily fooled or used, or to fool or exploit), Sap (person easily taken advantage of), Credulous (gullible)
More Info: Naïvete (or naïveté) looks strange because it’s French; it just means naïveness. Other strange spellings also pop up in regards to this word: naïf, naïfness, naïfly—all the same word. As a noun, a naïf or naïve is simply a naïve person.
nascent
adj
Definition: Coming into existence, still developing
Usage: The violin teacher was always very encouraging with children. All children sound terrible the first couple of years, so she offered plenty of praise to encourage nascent talents.
Related Words: Inchoate and incipient also mean just beginning, not yet completed, although inchoate can also have the sense of chaotic or disordered.
More Info: Nascent contains a Latin root (“born”) that also occurs in prenatal and neonate (a newborn baby).
nadir
noun
Definition: Lowest point
Usage: It was only when Ming reached her absolute nadir—what her recovery program called “rock bottom”—that she admitted she had a problem and checked herself into rehab.
Related Words: The opposite of the nadir is the zenith, or highest point. Both words are terms from astronomy, referring to points directly below and above the observer on an imaginary sphere on which celestial bodies appear to be projected. On the GRE, these words will be used metaphorically—the nadir of one’s struggles, the zenith (or acme, pinnacle, or summit) of one’s success.
More Info: Finally, a GRE word from Arabic! Nadir comes through Latin from the Arabic nazir, “opposite to”—here, the nadir is opposite to the zenith.
neologism
noun
Definition: New word or phrase (or a new meaning applied to an existing word or phrase)
Usage: You won’t find “fauxhawk” in the dictionary—it’s a neologism that describes a fake mohawk (faux means fake and is pronounced “foe”) created by sculpting the hair into a mohawk-like crest without actually shaving the sides.
More Info: The root “log/loq” refers to speech and also occurs in eloquent, logic, loquacious (talkative) and interlocutor (participant in a dialogue; interrogator).
neophyte
noun
Definition: Beginner, novice; person newly converted to a religion
Usage: It was totally outrageous of our law firm to send a neophyte into the courtroom to defend our case against a team of experienced attorneys.
Related Words: Tyro (beginner)
More Info: Neophyte shares a root (“planted”) with phytoplankton and many other science words. A religious neophyte is someone in whom a faith has been newly “planted.”
nettle
verb
Definition: Irritate, sting, or annoy
Usage: His first year in college, my little brother failed gym. How is that even possible? I always remind him about it just to nettle him. Of course, he usually strikes back by reminding me of that time I crashed an amusement park’s go-cart.
Related Words: Irk and vex also mean to irritate or annoy.
More Info: Literally, nettles are a stinging plant.
noisome
adj
Definition: Offensive, disgusting; harmful
Usage: Everyone knows that smoking is deadly, but even “herbal” cigarettes are a noisome habit—and noisome to your health!
Related Words: Deleterious means harmful, Baneful means very harmful or fatal, and Noxious means harmful or morally corrupting. Fetid means smelly.
More Info: Noisome isn’t really about noise! (The word shares a root with “annoy”). The GRE is not above trying to trick you into picking noisome when you really need a word for “noisy” (like cacophonous or dissonant).
nominal
adj
Definition: Trivial, so small as to be unimportant; in name only, so-called
Usage: A notary public will certify a document for a nominal fee, usually under $3. / The country has a nominal president, but his detractors say he’s just a puppet leader for the more powerful countries providing foreign aid.
Related Words: Putative (supposed or reputed)
More Info: Nominal originally meant “pertaining to names/nouns.” The same root is found in misnomer (an inappropriate name).
nontrivial
adj
Definition: Important or big enough to matter
Usage: The chief of staff told the assembled doctors, “We all make mistakes. But this mistake was nontrivial, and there is going to be an investigation.”
Related Words: Trivial, of course, means “too small to matter,” and has the synonyms trifling and nugatory. Trivia (as in the questions on Jeopardy) is called that because the questions are about small facts and details—that is, you never go on a trivia show and get asked about a nontrivial topic, like the meaning of life.
normative
adj
Definition: Implying or attempting to establish a norm; expressing value judgments or telling people what to do (rather than merely describing that which is happening)
Usage: The reason we are not understanding each other in this argument about grammar is that you are arguing normatively, telling me how people should talk, and I am simply reporting and analyzing how people actually talk.
Related Words: Prescriptive is a synonym (a prescriptive take on nutrition would tell people how to eat, just as a doctor’s prescription also tells you what to do).
Memory Trick: Something normative is trying to make everyone be normal.
