gre flashcards 9 magoosh vocab buider advanced

Question 1

promulgate

Answer 1

state of announce

promulgate make known by official proclamation or publication

Mnemonics: - prom+ul+gate -> prom night will happen tomorrow was announced at school’s gate

Question 2

sedulous

Answer 2

done diligently and carefully sedulous -

assiduous - work like an ass (diligently)

Question 3

apostate

Answer 3

a person who has abandoned a religious faith or cause

appo in a state to mock

Question 4

defray

Answer 4

to help pay the cost of, either in part or full

dr. fray acknowledging the bill in parts

Question 5

lecherous

Answer 5

having or showing excessive or offensive sexual desire.

lustful

Question 6

hector

Answer 6

to bully or intimidate

Question 7

untoward

Answer 7

unfavourable, inconvenient
untoward - un toward - not with you ->unfavourable, causing inconvenience

” untoward circumstances”
Mnemonics: conditions which are not towards me are ==> untoward

Question 8

attenuate

Answer 8

to weaken (in terms of intensity); to taper off/ become thinner
at 10, you ate. Else you would have weakened

Question 9

exegetic

Answer 9

serving to explain, elucidative

exegesis - exaggeration of thesis

Question 10

beg

Answer 10

assume something is true

Question 11

saturnine

Answer 11

morose and gloomy

Saturn has 1000 rings but Saturn with 9 rings will be sad

Question 12

supercilious

Answer 12

haughty and disdainful; looking down on others
arrogant
, to be supercilious is to be haughty and disdainful.
That is, when we look down at someone in a demeaning way, we might be tempted to lift our
brows.

Question 13

choleric

Answer 13

prone to outbursts of temper; easily angered

Question 14

expansive

Answer 14

communicative, and prone to talking in a sociable manner

Question 15

vicissitude

Answer 15

change of fortune
Mnemonics: -vicissitude sounds like …WISE ATTITUDE…… whenver there is variation in circumstances or fortune at diffrent
times of life, only a WISE PERSON WHO POSSES WISE(good)ATTITUDE CAN HANDLE THE SITUATION PROPERLY…..

Question 16

fractious

Answer 16

irritable and is likely to cause disruption

fractious -> rakshas

Question 17

byzantine

Answer 17

intricate and complex; convoluted

Question 18

alacrity

Answer 18

Liveliness and eagerness, briskness, smartness.
Mnemonics: take the suffix crity we can link it with creativity. Creative people are so eager to learn n create things
differently

Question 19

arch

Answer 19

to be deliberately teasing

Question 20

remonstrate

Answer 20

to make objections while pleading
football foul or not 
protest, objection
Sound s like demonstrate…n u demonstrate something again only when there is a protest or objection (remonstrance)
against u r first demonstration….

Question 21

quisling

Answer 21

a traitor

quisling -> chisel(kill) a traitor

Question 22

pollyannaish

Answer 22

extremely optimistic
polly and anna wished for the best
hoping to get 100/100

Question 23

sententious

Answer 23

to be moralizing, usually in a pompous sense
syn - pithy terse, aphoristic, concise
Mnemonic:[say so much in one sentence that it is better than a whole story]
[Sentence+less - Someone who can concisely explain his views in just a few sentences (less sentences used).]

Question 24

picayune

Answer 24

trifling or petty (a person)
of little value or significance; petty.
pica - small
yen - money
picayune - less money

Question 25

mulct

Answer 25

extract money from (someone) by fine or taxation.

or swindle

Question 26

arriviste

Answer 26

a person who has recently reached a position of power; a social climber

arise and pay a visit to a person who recently has acquired power

Question 27

malapropism

Answer 27

the confusion of a word with another word that sounds similar
similar to homophones
comic misuse of a word; CF. Mrs. Malaprop
Mnemonics:
• mal (negative) + prop (proper usage) .. improper usage of words

Question 28

tendentious

Answer 28

tendentious - likely to lean towards a controversial view

syn - prepossessed, one-sided, prejudiced, biased, partisan, partial, disposed, bias

Question 29

sybarite

Answer 29

a person who indulges in luxury
This is a person who indulges in luxury. And though the word doesn’t directly relate to wealth, most of
the times a sybarite has to be wealthy (though even the relatively penurious amongst us can live the
life of a sybarite, if he or she isn’t loath to run up several credit cards.)
Despite the fact that he’d maxed out fifteen credit cards, Max was still a sybarite at heart: when the
feds found him, he was at a $1,000 an hour spa in Manhattan, getting a facial.

Question 30

schadenfreude

Answer 30

joy from watching the suffering of others
harm-joy
From his warm apartment window, Stanley reveled in schadenfreude as he laughed at the figures
below, huddled together in the arctic chill.

Question 31

limpid

Answer 31

having clarity in terms of expression

limpid -> lucid -> clarity

Question 32

gerrymander

Answer 32

to manipulate voting districts in order to favor a particular political parrty
gerry man(ipulate)s the voting districts
refers to the manipulation of boundaries to favor a certain group.
Years ago, savvy politicians had gerrymandered the city center to ensure their re-election.

Question 33

martinet

Answer 33

strict disciplinarian

Question 34

peremptory

Answer 34

brusque, bossy and domineering

Question 35

execrate

Answer 35

to curse and hiss at; very bad, detestable

She execrated all who opposed her. 2. Shall execrate you with the ungodly.

Question 36

invective

Answer 36

abusive or denunciatory language
Mnemonics: : invi+ctive
invi+ctive..invi(sounds like envy)+active…well an active envy..who doesnt want to see you sucessful…such a person wil try all
ways to bring you down..hence he will use abusive and venomous langauge..to express his ill will for you

Question 37

parvenu

Answer 37

a person who has suddenly become wealthy, but not socially accepted as part of a higher class
This is a person who has recently acquired wealth, and has therefore risen in class. Parvenu has a
derogatory connotation, meaning that if you win the lottery and someone calls you a parvenu they are
not trying to be flattering.
The theater was full of parvenus who each thought that they were flanked by aristocrats.

Question 38

palimpsest

Answer 38

something that has been changes numerous times but on which traces of former iterations can still be seen
eg android -A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,…
M: Sounds like pamphlet and any palimpsest is a sort of pamphlet. . .
Or palim…lets consider the word palm. . .the lines on are palm keep on changing as new lines are made when the
original ones get erased. . .
eg of palimpsest- a poorly erased chalkboard

Question 39

benighted

Answer 39

fallen into a state of ignorance

Question 40

jejune

Answer 40

dull, lacking flavor; immature, childish

Question 41

jaundiced

Answer 41

to be biased against ue to envy or prejudice (envious,hostile, or resentful);
affected by bitterness, resentment, or cynicism.
“they looked on politicians with a jaundiced eye”

Question 42

venial

Answer 42

(of a sin AND NOT A PERSON)easily excused or forgiven; pardonable
eg venial offence
Mnemonics: -replace the first word with d and the word “denial” means to deny something or give excuse to something

Question 43

bilious

Answer 43

irritable; always angry; suffering from indigestion; sick from having too much bile;
bilious can be compared with bile, which is produced by liver, when we have too much of it we become ill
According to Hippocrates, he of the bodily humors, if we are filled with too much bile, we are angry.
Therefore, to be bilious is to be constantly irritable and ready to bite somebody’s head off.

Question 44

pyrrhic

Answer 44

describing a victory that comes at such a great cost that the victory is not worthwhile
King Pyrrhus had the unfortunate luck of going up against the Romans. Some would say that he was
actually lucky in that he actually defeated the Romans in the Battle of Asculum. Pyrrhic was perhaps
more ambivalent, quipping, “One more such victory will undo me.”
So any win that comes at so great a cost that it is not even worth it is a pyrrhic victory.
George W. Bush’s win in the 2000 election was in many ways a pyrrhic victory: the circumstances of his
win alienated close to half of America.
IVE WON BUT AT WHAT COSTS

Question 45

raconteur

Answer 45

a person skilled in telling anecdotes
. Raconteur: story-teller; one who tells stories with wit and skill.
Mnemonics: : divide it like re(means)+conte+ur(sounds like count)..So you are counting in how many minutes you can
REmemeber this story again and tell to people.

Question 46

prolixity

Answer 46

boring verbosity

Question 47

impute

Answer 47

attribute (responsibility or fault) to something
represent as being done, caused or possessed by someone
attribute; ascribe
Mnemonic : IMPUT + E so attribute the credit to somebody

Question 48

temerity

Answer 48

audacity, fearless daring

Question 49

bowdlerize

Answer 49

edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
syn - expurgate censor
Mnemonic- note ‘bow’ sound in it.. relate it to your dog. Imagine, you are recording a tape. your dog barked twice or thrice in
between.. you will edit and omit it because its indelicate

Question 50

plucky

Answer 50

marked by courage and determination, brave, courageous

pluck - pluck flowers wala

Question 51

redoubtable

Answer 51

causing fear,inspiring fear or awe
M: redoubtable can be re+doubt(able)..so if you have REpeated DOUBTs in any subject just before the exam, it might
CAUSE FEAR

Question 52

umbrage

Answer 52

a feeling of anger caused by being offended
umbrage(noun): resentment; anger; sense of injury or insult; a feeling of anger caused by being offended
Ex. take umbrage at his rudeness
synonyms : offence , offense
Mnemonics:
 umbrage == angrez ..who ruled India for a 100 years were very insulting to the Indians.
 notice the last 4 letters…RAGE