gre flashcards 9 magoosh vocab buider advanced
promulgate
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
sedulous
done diligently and carefully sedulous -
assiduous - work like an ass (diligently)
apostate
a person who has abandoned a religious faith or cause
appo in a state to mock
defray
to help pay the cost of, either in part or full
dr. fray acknowledging the bill in parts
lecherous
having or showing excessive or offensive sexual desire.
lustful
hector
to bully or intimidate
untoward
unfavourable, inconvenient
untoward - un toward - not with you ->unfavourable, causing inconvenience
” untoward circumstances”
Mnemonics: conditions which are not towards me are ==> untoward
attenuate
to weaken (in terms of intensity); to taper off/ become thinner at 10, you ate. Else you would have weakened
exegetic
serving to explain, elucidative
exegesis - exaggeration of thesis
beg
assume something is true
saturnine
morose and gloomy
Saturn has 1000 rings but Saturn with 9 rings will be sad
supercilious
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.
choleric
prone to outbursts of temper; easily angered
expansive
communicative, and prone to talking in a sociable manner
vicissitude
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…..
fractious
irritable and is likely to cause disruption
fractious -> rakshas
byzantine
intricate and complex; convoluted
alacrity
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
arch
to be deliberately teasing
remonstrate
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….
quisling
a traitor
quisling -> chisel(kill) a traitor
pollyannaish
extremely optimistic
polly and anna wished for the best
hoping to get 100/100
sententious
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).]
picayune
trifling or petty (a person) of little value or significance; petty. pica - small yen - money picayune - less money
mulct
extract money from (someone) by fine or taxation.
or swindle
arriviste
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
malapropism
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
tendentious
tendentious - likely to lean towards a controversial view
syn - prepossessed, one-sided, prejudiced, biased, partisan, partial, disposed, bias
sybarite
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.
schadenfreude
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.
limpid
having clarity in terms of expression
limpid -> lucid -> clarity
gerrymander
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.
martinet
strict disciplinarian
peremptory
brusque, bossy and domineering
execrate
to curse and hiss at; very bad, detestable
She execrated all who opposed her. 2. Shall execrate you with the ungodly.
invective
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
parvenu
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.
palimpsest
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
benighted
fallen into a state of ignorance
jejune
dull, lacking flavor; immature, childish
jaundiced
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”
venial
(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
bilious
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.
pyrrhic
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
raconteur
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.
prolixity
boring verbosity
impute
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
temerity
audacity, fearless daring
bowdlerize
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
plucky
marked by courage and determination, brave, courageous
pluck - pluck flowers wala
redoubtable
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
umbrage
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
