GRE Hit Parade Group 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

abscond

A

(verb) to depart clandestinely; to steal off and hide…To prevent capture, Vietnamese Communists would often abscond as soon as southern Vietnamese military was in sight

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2
Q

aberrant

A

(adj.) deviating from the norm (aberration), the most aberrant and unusual of people often have the most to offer

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3
Q

alacrity

A

(noun) eager and enthusiastic willingness…Your child’s alacrity to help you do the dishes is something I hope my child will develop as well

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4
Q

anomaly

A

(noun) deviation from the normal order, form, or rule; abnormality…A pope ever openly supporting gay marriage would be an anomaly within the Catholic church worldwide

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5
Q

approbation

A

(noun) an expression of approval or praise…the child was only happy or satisfied when she received approbations from her mother for her good work

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6
Q

arduous

A

(adj.) strenuous, taxing; requiring significant effort…What were initially arduous tasks for me when I started work have now become simple and quick.

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7
Q

assuage

A

(verb) to ease or lessen; to appease or pacify…He often tried to assuage his dad’s temper with a bottle of liquor, only to see the opposite effect

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8
Q

audacious

A

(adj.) daring and fearless; recklessly bold (audacity)…Alex had the audacity to ask me out with just a couple months of contact

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9
Q

austere

A

(adj.) without adornment; bare; severely simple; ascetic (austerity)…Life in the peaceful villages of China is often seen to be as austere as it can get

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10
Q

axiomatic

A

(adj.) taken as a given; possession self-evident truth (axiom)…Much of math and science is axiomatic, although there are many theories and hypotheses that still cannot be proven

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11
Q

canonical

A

(adj.) following or in agreement with traditional standards…The pope’s canonical prayers, while said with good intent, will never depart from the old and outdated ways of thinking

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12
Q

capricious

A

(adj.) inclined to change one’s mind impulsively; erratic, unpredictable…Mom’s capricious manner often has a way of affecting her’s and other people’s plans and attitudes as well

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13
Q

censure

A

(verb) to criticize severely…The boss would always censure his employees without granting the opportunity to defend oneself

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14
Q

chicanery

A

(noun) trickery or subterfuge by quibbling or sophistry…the applicant resorted to flattery and chicanery to obtain the highly sough job position

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15
Q

connoisseur

A

(noun) an informed and astute judge in matters of taste; expert…Kalvin is quite the beer and coffee connoisseur, whereas I would be known as the candy connoisseur

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16
Q

convoluted

A

(adj.) complex or complicated…The plans for our Disneyland trip have become so convoluted that the trip just might not happen

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17
Q

disabuse

A

(verb) to undeceive; to set right…I can only hope that her conscience will hi her and she will disabuse her wrongdoings

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18
Q

discordant

A

(adj.) conflicting; dissonant or harsh in sound…the discordant noise of the elementary school band was beginning to give me a headache

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19
Q

disparate

A

(adj.) fundamentally distinct or dissimilar…disparate incomes of high and low class is not only apparent in underdeveloped countries, but in developed countries as well

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20
Q

effrontery

A

(noun) extreme boldness; presumptuous…the effrontery of the soldier to question his general earned him praise as well as harsh discipline

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21
Q

eloquent

A

(adj.) well-spoken, expressive, articulate…David Chiu gives at least 5 speeches a day, resulting in his eloquent oratories

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22
Q

enervate

A

(verb) to weaken; to reduce in vitality…the Vietcong were able to enervate enemies through use of traps

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23
Q

ennui

A

(noun) dissatisfaction and restlessness resulting from boredom or apathy…ennui ensued as she finished her final before the rest of the class and was forced to sit another half an hour before being let out

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24
Q

equivocate

A

(verb) to use ambiguous language w/ a deceptive intent…Kiyoko would often try to equivocate around our questions of where she was the previous night

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25
Q

erudite

A

(adj.) very learned; scholarly…the erudite professor managed to teach at a level of the average student’s understanding, despite his high level of education

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26
Q

exculpate

A

(verb) exonerate; clear of blame…the prisoner was exculpated of all charges after spending 12 years in prison and being found innocent

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27
Q

exigent

A

(adj.) urgent, pressing; requiring immediate action or attention…This is one of the most exigent problems facing the profession today.

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28
Q

extemporaneous

A

(adj.) improvised; done without preparation…She had been so used to speaking in public that the comfort level resulted in an extemporaneous last couple sentences to lift the crowd’s spirits

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29
Q

filibuster

A

(noun) intentional obstruction, especially using prolonged speechmaking to delay legislative action…filibuster is not uncommon when both sides of the House want to prevent or put something in action

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30
Q

fulminate

A

(verb) to loudly attack or denounce…Planning commission meetings are often disrupted by opponents who fulminate proposed plans to build or change

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31
Q

ingenuous

A

(adj.) artless; frank and candid; lacking in sophistication…how would one be able to tell a good actor’s ingenuous feelings from their mere talent in acting?

32
Q

inured

A

(adj.) accustomed to accepting something undesirable…Vietnamese involved in the war were so nationalistic that pain and war was something they inured for the good of the country

33
Q

irascible

A

(adj.) easily angered; prone to temperamental outbursts…my irascible coworker would often slam her keyboard and swear when something did not go her way

34
Q

laud

A

(verb) to praise highly…the father would often laud his son regardless of high or low he achieved in school, as long as he tried his hardest

35
Q

lucid

A

(adj.) clear, easily understood…Despite the erudite professor’s rich background, he always kept his lectures lucid for students to understand

36
Q

magnanimity

A

(noun) the quality of being generously noble in mind and heart, especially in forgiving…The magnanimity in Rowena and Cindy is something I would like to strive for

37
Q

martial

A

(adj.) associated with war and the armed forces

38
Q

mundane

A

(adj.) of the world; typical of or concerned with the ordinary…She often regarded life here as mundane and dreamed of being in worlds of fantasies

39
Q

nascent

A

(adj.) coming into being; in early development stages…The tech industry in San Francisco has become a full-fledged driving force for the US and the world and can no longer be considered nascent in its influences

40
Q

nebulous

A

(adj.) vague, cloudy; lacking clearly defined form…Intelligence is a nebulous quality that has no definition that leads to qualitative measurements.

41
Q

neologism

A

(noun) a new word, expression, or usage; the creation or use of new words or sense…Dr. Won’s class was hard to sit through for a year, especially with her neologism in words of both English and Chinese

42
Q

noxious

A

(adj.) harmful, injurious…I stand by my decision to not eat meat because meat production is one of the most noxious pollutants in our environment

43
Q

obtuse

A

(adj.) lacking sharpness of intellect; not clear or precise in thought or expression…Alan’s obtuse ideas were of no help at all and even started to annoy her

44
Q

obviate

A

(verb) to anticipate and make unnecessary…she wore as many body braces as she could she obviate the risk of serious injury

45
Q

onerous

A

(adj.) troubling; burdensome…His onerous duties caused him sleepless nights

46
Q

paean

A

(noun) a song or hymn of praise and thanksgiving…Paean’s can most often be heard in church

47
Q

parody

A

(noun) a humorous imitation intended for ridicule or comic effect, especially in literature and art

48
Q

perennial

A

(adj.) recurrent through the year or many years; happening repeatedly…biotechnologists are working on converting annual crops into perennial crops

49
Q

perfidy

A

(noun) intentional breach of faith; treachery…her perfidy and deception led to having zero friends

50
Q

perfunctory

A

(adj.) cursory; done without care or interest…she met every guest with perfunctory courtesy and sneaked back up into her room to avoid conversations with old people

51
Q

perspicacious

A

(adj.) acutely perceptive; having keen discernment…She is highly perspicacious for her age and you would be surprised the things she notices and understands

52
Q

prattle

A

(verb) to babble meaninglessly; to talk to an empty and idle manner…The teacher would often prattle on in class without regard to her students’ interests

53
Q

precipitate (verb)

A

(verb) to cause or happen before anticipated or required…heat and high temperatures have been thought to precipitate major earthquakes

54
Q

precipitate (adj.)

A

acting with excessive haste or impulse

55
Q

qualms

A

(noun) misgivings; reservations; cause for hesitancy…Nobody in the group had any qualms with her suggestion, so they went by what she said.

56
Q

recant

A

(verb) to retract, especially a previously held belief…It wasn’t long after the war started that people in the US began to recant their initial support of the cause

57
Q

relegate

A

(verb) to forcibly assign, especially to a lower place or position…Diem would often relegate anyone who opposed him to work in mine fields

58
Q

reticent

A

(adj.) quiet; reserved; reluctant to express thoughts and feelings…Though reticent as a child, she grew up to extremely outspoken

59
Q

solicitous

A

(adj.) concerned and attentive; eager…the driver remained solicitous of the pedestrian’s health after the car crash and followed the victim to the hospital

60
Q

sordid

A

(adj.) characterized by filth, grime, or squalor; foul…the sordid squatter settlements were enough to push the government to push for new housing, maintenance, and clean up of the area

61
Q

sporadic

A

(adj.) occurring only occasionally, or in scattered instances…she would have sporadic moments of anger, but only when she was extremely upset

62
Q

squander

A

(verb) to waste by spending or using irresponsibly…he squandered around at the mall until he realized that there were still 5 chapters of homework he needed to catch up on

63
Q

static

A

(adj.) not moving, active, or in motion; at rest…the static photo captures a moment that was full of life and color

64
Q

stupefy

A

(verb) to stun, baffle, or amaze…Harry Potter often used spells to stupefy and freeze his enemies

65
Q

stymie

A

(verb) to block; to thwart…Ho Chi Minh would never allow foreign country interference to stymie his dedication to the war

66
Q

synthesis

A

(noun) the combination of parts to make a whole…very seldom will you see two opposing parties synthesize and come to an agreement

67
Q

torque

A

(noun) a force that causes rotation…

68
Q

tortuous

A

(adj.) winding, twisting; excessively complicated…the tortuous plot of the TV show caused many viewers to lose interest

69
Q

truculent

A

(adj.) fierce and cruel; eager to fight…wild dogs, before domestication, were truculent and unruly

70
Q

veracity

A

(noun) truthfulness; honesty…one of the best things about children is their veracity and bluntness

71
Q

virulent

A

(adj) extremely harmful or poisonous; bitterly hostile or antagonistic…the virulent queen commanded that the worst be done to kill off the princess

72
Q

voracious

A

(adj.) having an insatiable appetite for an activity or pursuit; ravenous…He was truly voracious about acting, but was never able to follow his dreams due to financial troubles

73
Q

waver

A

(verb) to move to and fro; to sway; to be unsettled in opinion

74
Q

predilection

A

(noun) a disposition in favor of something; preference…seeing as they were a couple and had been dating for years, his predilection for her in the verdict of the case was not surprising

75
Q

prescience

A

(noun) foreknowledge of events; knowing of events prior to their occurring…the government had prescience that an attack on the US would be made, but decided to withhold information from the public to prevent chaos

76
Q

prevaricate

A

(verb) to deliberately avoid the truth; to mislead…when the police came to her door to question her, she was not able to prevaricate the story and ended up being arrested

77
Q

precipitate (adj.)

A

acting with excessive haste or impulse